1. How much research do you complete before you feel confident enough to write in the voice of the historical figures in your novel?

Typically, I read 50-60 books for each book that I write, nearly all of them original sources (diaries, memoirs, collections of letters etc.).  Once I feel I have my cast of characters and that I’m comfortable speaking for them, then I’m ready to write.  I never write a little, then research a little.

2. A school of thought argues that historical fiction is beneficial to education because it encourages readers to research the back-story of characters, thus learn more about history. Is this at all a goal of your writing?

I didn’t start out with that goal, and I can’t really let that guide me even now.  I was astounded to hear from teachers who were using my books in their classrooms, and it made me see that I had a responsibility to “get it right.” Don’t mess around with the facts.   Even though I am now aware that students might be reading my stories, I still focus on telling that story as accurately and as completely as I can.  I never want to target a single audience or what marketing people would call a “demographic.”

3. You have written that readers argue that there are many other civil war stories to tell, but you do not have the time, or the backing, to dedicate to every Civil War story.  What makes a story worth telling for you? This question is particularly in reference to your focus on minor characters of history like Thomas Gage – why them.

There is some guidance that comes from my publisher, who insists that, for now anyway, I stick to large scale “epic stories” (thus, they rejected an idea for the War of 1812).  So, if I’m going to focus on a larger story I need to find the voices who will do that story justice.  Usually this starts with the people at the top, the commanders, those who are responsible for the decisions that change history.  That also includes those voices on the “other side,” the bad guys, if you will, whose decisions are equally as crucial.  But once I reached the 20^th century in my stories, I realized that those guys at the top were no longer leading their troops into the fight, and so, I had to find voices much closer to the action.  Thus, now, in all my books, there have to be those characters who are often composites, who bring the reader (and me) right into the action.  I have found that it makes a good contrast to the meetings and command decisions taking place far in the rear, to have to character out front who must endure or accomplish what someone else has simply drawn on paper.

4. You recommend getting the “lay of the land” before one begins to write about a certain moment in history, much like an actor attempts to live with the family of a real life character they are going to portray.  Would you say that you take on the role of each of these characters in your process, that you’ve somehow “lived” through many American Civil Wars?

I do feel that way.  It’s critically important for me to walk the ground before I write any story (though sometimes that isn’t terrible practical, such as my first WW2 story which takes place mostly in Libya and Tunisia).  But seeing the ground, stepping through rocks, feeling the sand or the mud, all of that is important for me.  It makes sense to me that if I’m going to put you into the mind of a character who is charging up a hill into the guns of the enemy, it’s much better if I’ve walked (or run) up that same hill, rather than just looking at a photo in a book.  Once I feel comfortable with that part of the research, I do try to find those characters who I can relate to.  If I can’t get into someone’s head, it’s very hard to speak for them.  Ultimately, the characters you see in my books are people I feel very close to.

5. When you first decided to write the prequel and sequel to The Killer Angels, you had no previous experience in writing. How did you prepare for this new undertaking? Did you take any classes or consult any writers?

One of the first lessons my father would give to his creative writing students at Florida State was: “I can’t teach you creative writing.”   With all due respect to those who write “how-to” books on writing, I don’t believe those can produce a writer.  I didn’t talk to anyone about how to go about tackling this, but I knew that in the end, my father was most concerned about telling a good story.   I knew the kinds of research he had done to put The Killer Angels together, that he had relied on the personal rather than just the historical references.  I did the same.  But from that point on, I have no idea how the story flows from the mind to the written page.  Every writer is probably different in how they approach this, but in my case, I visualize the scene, I hear the dialog, and I just write it down.  That sounds a little strange, I know.  But I don’t understand it myself.

6. In writing Gods and Generals, how much was your father, Michael Shaara’s style in The Killer Angels an influence on your approach to the story?

His format was very important- carrying you through the time-line from different points of view, switching back and forth.  I’ve adopted that in every book I’ve done, but he was the first that I’m aware of to do that with a historical novel.  Beyond that, I made no attempt to mimic his writing style.  I don’t think anyone can do that for long- you run out of energy for it, or you spend so much time focusing on the style, that you lose the story-telling.  Many people have used the word “seamless” to describe the transition from my father’s work to my own, which I take as an amazing compliment (and also, I take it with a grain of salt.  I’m a long way from being compared to Michael Shaara).  But my sister made the observation that my father’s writing has probably influenced me more than anyone else, and in fact, I learned to type as a kid by re-typing his manuscripts (long before there were computers).

7. (In reference to Gods and Generals) As an author, was it difficult parting with your interpretations and leaving them to the mercy of director Ronald F. Maxwell?

Yes.  I will never allow that to happen in that way again.  I had no input at all into the script for the film version of Gods and Generals.  I understand that a director or screenwriter has his own idea of how the story should be told, but if you’re going to use my work, and my name, there should be more of my story included than the 10-15% or so that ended up in the movie.

8. After so many books, why do Civil War stories still demand your attention?

Three things:  My own interest in the subject.  My publisher’s interest in the subject.  And most importantly, the size of the audience for those stories.  It is a passionate audience, which I really appreciate.

9. Is there any historical figure, in or outside of American History that given the chance you would write about?

One that greatly appeals to me is Napoleon.  I hope that one day down the road, I can tell that story.

Fave FIVE:

1)   Favorite moment in history?

July 4, 1776

2)   Favorite place to write?

My own office – quiet and solitude

3)   Favorite childhood memory?

Going fishing in a boat by myself when I was six years old.  My father trusted me to run the motor, to know what to do.  And, I caught fish.  I doubt that sort of thing is done much these days.

4)   Favorite historical site?

Three: Gettysburg; The American cemetery at Omaha Beach, Normandy; and The Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor

5)   Favorite word?

Brenda

Shaara’s latest novel, The Final Storm, is available now.

Interview by Lynnette Repollet

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I haven’t been able to sleep the past few nights. I’ve got a tangled mess of butterflies, nerves, and every other anxious creature living in my stomach. I feel as if the next part of my life will be a lie. I’m a fraud.

I’ve never taught a lesson. I know nothing about a child’s brain. I’m not an Education major. I’m an English major. I am not a teacher. I am a writer.

Yet I am a teacher, according to Harrison High School in Colorado Springs. I leave in three weeks to organize my classroom, attend professional development days, and write out nametags. My focus as a writer will be pushed under the rug. I will not have time to ponder the assignment I have yet to finish—I will be berating the students who have yet to do theirs. I will be grading instead of editing, holding parent teacher conferences instead of contacting publishers.

But the part of this gig that I can’t really wrap my head around is the fact that I will be teaching these kids how to write. I write, I don’t talk about it. I’m overwhelmed at the thought of tapping into a part of myself that has never been drawn out. I think of writing as a tangible thing the same way I think about biting my nails: I don’t think about it. I do it. It is more than a habit, it is me.

Not every person is a good writer. Not every person will be a good writer. I do not believe it is my job as a teacher to make good writers. A good writer, like a good singer, has grace. They were born that way. But every single student deserves the tools necessary to craft and strengthen her or his voice. I think that everyone has their own story and every person deserves to have a way to share it. This is what I want to teach in my classroom: the ability to share one’s thoughts, ideas, opinions, and emotions in a way that will be heard. Writing is meant to be read. Our voices are meant to be heard. As a teacher, I want to provide students with the space and tools necessary to craft their thoughts into words and have those words be significant.

Writing is the human voice etched on paper. I’m not a good speaker. I’ve been told I stop talking before a conversation is over. I get distracted by people’s hair or shape of their nose, and forget to make eye contact. I’ve been known to walk away from an argument because I just can’t quite say what I want to say. But on the page, I am in control. I can manipulate, persuade, and coax emotion from the reader like a Siren’s song. Every person should have the power to do the same. Writing is an outlet for anger and frustration. It is a vessel for questions, a vein that carries thoughts into the world and fuels us to want to know more. Writing grants a person the freedom to not only use her voice, but provides the opportunity to be listened to. When I think of it this way, when I think of cultivating a garden of growing voices, I am overwhelmed with excitement, fear, and those tangled knots of nerves.

I guess its not so bad…

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More than you might think.

A few weeks ago Snookie from the The Jersey Shore was paid more money to speak at Rutgers than Nobel Prize winner, Pulitzer Prize Winner Toni Morrison.

Well, I guess that makes sense, both are bestsetllingwriters…

I’m sure the recent novel Shore Thing and Beloved are…like… pretty much the same thing.

I must say, I cannot get over the recent rise in celebrity-turned-bestselling writer. Snookie joins the ranks of her Jersey peer, J-Woww, Bristol Palin, Miley Cyrus, George W. Bush, Shania Twain, and Sarah Palin on the New York Times Bestseller List.

Hm.

There seems to be a growing divide between good literature and a good marketing tool. More and more teenage memoirs (what could they possibly have to say?), beach-read-novellas, and personal narratives flooding the bookstores, all with photograph of the “writer” on the cover.

For an aspiring writer who doesn’t have a reality show, fluke-political campaign, or pop-star career, this can be a little disheartening. These writers are redefining a successful book to be based solely on money and fame. Which, any writer knows is NOT the reason to write.

I think next time I stop in the local Borders I’ll think twice about what’s on the posters and what’s on display… perhaps I’ll go down the road a little to the independent store and peruse the shelves, pick up a copy of Beloved and remind myself what true literary success is: a voice etched on the page, never losing its luster, no matter how many Snookies, Pookies, or Cookies come through.

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So, it’s my first day as a University of Connecticut alumni, and I don’t know what to feel. Happy? Sure. Sad? A tad. Nostalgic? You betcha. Excited? I guess.

I think the difficulty in pinpointing my emotions comes from the fact that, right now, I am in the beginning of summer vacation. Whether or not I graduated this year, summer vaction falls at the same point in time, and so it doesn’t feel all too real. It doesn’t feel over. I’ve had friends tell me that it really only hits you when the Fall rolls around and you don’t find yourself back in school, and that makes sense to me: I’ve been a student for the past sixteen years of my life. I don’t know what it will feel like to not be in school.

UConn has been a true home away from home for me, and I can’t tell what I will miss most about it. The amazing faculty and staff of the Creative Writing Program and the English Department are for sure up there on the list. But so are all of the friends that I may never see again. So are all of the classes I didn’t get to take, and so are all of the lines on my bucket list that I didn’t have a chance to scratch off. I’m going to miss finding friends in the library at one in the morning, gathering for impromtu lunches and dinners between classes. I’m going to miss the stress, the exams, the people, the familiarity.

I noted to myself just last week as I was walking back to my dorm after classes that I know the UConn Storrs campus like the back of my hand. I know the shortcuts, the scenic routes, the secrets. And now I come to the point in my career where I leave those things to the next generation. It will be hard, but I think I can cope with it. But I ask one thing from all of you newcomers.

Take care of the place.

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