Archive | November 2009
November 12, 2009  

All or Nothing November News

Hey, everyone

I wanted to share the following tidbit with you – it’s an honor to even be MENTIONED with these amazing authors…

The ACFW Book Club is currently voting on the following books to determine what they’ll be reading in January 2010 and All or Nothing  is on the voting list. We’ve got a lot of great books to choose from for January.  Please join the ACFW Book Club and cast your vote in the poll!

  • o Here Inheritance Forever by Lyn Cote
  • o Montana Rose by Mary Connealy
  • o Cowboy Christmas by Mary Connealy
  • o The Husband Tree by Mary Connealy
  • o All or Nothing by Ashley Ludwig
  • o The Blue Enchantress by M.L. Tyndall
  • o Love Thine Enemy by Louise M. Gouge
  • o Spring Creek Bride by Janice Thompson
  • o Prisner of Versilles by Golden Keyes Parsons
  • o Maggie Rose by Sharlene Maclarin
  • o The Unfinished Gift by Dan Walsh
  • o A Lady Like Sarah by Margaret Brownley
  • o Stealing Home by Allison Pittman
  • o Cottonwood Whispers by Jennifer Erin Valent
  • o Love Rescues by Tammy Barley

Anyone can join the book club by sending a blank e-mail to acfwbookclub-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Membership is free.

Go to the Poll and vote! So many excellent books — I’m in awe…
Thanks for your support!

November 4, 2009  

Interviewed Today with Lena Nelson Dooley

Hey, everyone…

I’ve had the pleasure of being interviewed today by the lovely Lena Nelson Dooley.

Come on over and join me, as we discuss All or Nothing, and my road to publication. One lucky commenter will receive a complimentary e-book.

“A Christian Writer’s World: Ashley Ludwig“

 

~Ashley

November 2, 2009  

A Recipe for Historical Romance

All story is built on an idea. Like a great oak is born from a tiny acorn, every idea has to start somewhere. The difference is, unlike growing one plant from one seed, ideas can germinate from multiple sources, blending more into a recipe or blend to serve your own nefarious purposes – to get your hero and heroine, and quite likely your villain, into the proper space and time.

All or Nothing, cover art by Kimberlee Mendoza

All or Nothing, cover art by Kimberlee Mendoza

All or Nothing is historical fiction, based upon facts. A series of interesting points from the same time period in Arizona Cavalry history, when mixed together became the story that it is today. What I needed:

  • A setting – I chose Tucson, Arizona of the late 1870s. Having grown up there, I used to spend hours daydreaming about the people who inhabited the fort, built the adobe structures, looked upon those same mountains…
  • A motivating/inciting incident for my brooding hero – I chose an incident from history that was in my backfile – a newspaper article by Tucson reporter, Bonnie Henry, when she discussed the horrors of the Camp Grant Incident from 1871. A group of powerful citizens of Tucson took it upon themselves to pal up with one side of a Native American war, and see to it they obliterated the Apache tribe under supplication to the military. This horrified me when I read it, and even more when I realized that so many streets, districts of Tucson boasted the names of the men in charge of the mess. How would a soldier with a conscience, doing as told, have handled such a massacre? Thus, became Bowen’s backstory.
  • A reason for my heroine to head west, and meet said brooding hero—well, what did a woman do in the 1870s? She was either a wife, a teacher, possibly a nurse, a seamstress. As I’ve always loved the art of stitching—seamstress she became. And, her erstwhile hubby—a dreamer and schemer—received a contract to make military uniforms for Fort Lowell…that she must fulfill after his murder.
  • A mechanism for such a strong minded heroine to lean so heavily upon her hero/and a mystery for them to solve, together—An Arizona Highways article led me to the brief blurb about El Tejano, one of the bandits who roamed the Tucson area mountain trails in the late 1870s, terrifying his victims with a horrible mask and the Mexican phrase, Todo o Nada…All or Nothing. Not only the title, but his catch phrase. And, who better for him to set upon than a young widow traveling through the mountains, flying by the seat of her pants, powered by faith that someday things would be better for her.

Years ago, while an archaeology student at the  University of Arizona, I studied the laundresses of Fort Lowell, under the tutelage of the Museum Curator, David Faust. He loves to talk about the women who worked the fort, how the officers’ wives felt about them, and how important and unsung they were. Mr. Faust told me about the landscape of the area, gifted me with articles that described the area rivers in detail—now dry and dusty, diverted to reservoirs. I’ve moved those files with me from home to home over the course of fifteen years, and finally found a story worthy of using them.

While I had the framework of the idea, and the story in full swing, occasionally I’d find myself in need of “seasoning.” I no longer had the luxury of running to the Arizona Historical Society to view their archives of photographs, but I did have their web site to sift through. And, thanks to the Google Book Project, I had access to writings and journals from people who lived in the time period and place I was researching. I poured over Martha Summerhayes’ Vanished Arizona, her account of growing up in the west, a new Cavalry wife, available in the public domain. Though only a small portion takes place at Fort Lowell, she taught this writer about what it was like to travel during that time, to be a mother during that time, and provided the name of my hero from one of her lesser characters. Bowen. Loved it. Had star quality, even if her description is a far cry than my own devastatingly handsome hero.

With yellow pad in hand, I took notes. On Martha’s remembered sights, scents, sounds. It was a start, but I needed more. I needed details on dress, costume, what resources were available for a woman in a remote fort. What would she buy at the post store? How would she ride a horse? How long would it take to go by horseback from the fort to the city? To the edge of the mountains? Plus, I had the advantage of hiking that terrain most of my life, and an author’s imagination of how someone from a time with no air conditioning in the heat of the summer, no indoor plumbing, and no ready access to a Walmart would handle the perils and pitfalls of being a woman during that period of history.

Of course, there was creative license. It’s fiction, after all—and sometimes, even with the history in hand, you need to bend facts to meet your plot-needs. But, before bending them, you need to know what really happened, and make it work for your modern audience.

So, how’d it all pan out?

Reviews of All or Nothing have been overwhelmingly positive, remarking on detail, setting, and story. The recipe was sound, the ingredients meshed together in proper flavor, and the seasoning enough to provide an intriguing event for my hero and heroine to reach their happily ever after.

Researching the elements of history were key to success, and most of it, from the comfort of my living room couch, courtesy of my wireless internet access.

Yes, it’s barely necessary to darken the doorways of a library anymore –though I do, whenever possible—because nothing can replace the skills of a knowledgeable librarian, and the scent of book stacks.

Inventing history?

While writing this article, I’ve discovered something about historical research. It’s possible, when you talk about something long enough, devotedly enough, that you can in fact put your own thumbprint on history. Research of El Tejano, more often than not, brings up blog posts I’ve written on this unsung villain of our desert. See my comments on him here:

https://ashleyludwig.wordpress.com/2009/09/15/of-bandits-and-buried-treasure/

http://petticoatsandpistols.com/2009/07/13/ashley-ludwig-fiction-fact-or-figment-of-author%E2%80%99s-imagination/

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