Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have a question you'd like me to answer? Feel free to email me, and I'll do my best to answer.
Is this a true story?
It's an accurate story.
I heard a phrase once attributed to Washington Irving. It was, "It's the truth, but it ain't all true." I kept thinking about that as I tried to discover what really happened during the years of the feud. 100 years ago, newspapers functioned under different rules of journalism. People i interviewed had seventy-year old memories. Other folks were telling me what their mother told them, who heard it from someone else in the first place. Once I realized that all this was true about researching history, I gave up trying to find any ultimate truth. Instead, I worked at recording accurately what sources told me. To me, history became a cacophony of voices echoing in the shadows of our memories. My book is not an untouched photograph. It is a portrait of life in Wilcox Bend from 1918 through 1925.
What did you change in the telling of the story?
Well, I left out many details that were edited out in revision. For instance, in one cut, I took out 50 pages. This information went into Hadley's ancestors more, and all his sisters and brothers. I got a little carried away, but if you've ever done genealogy, you can sympathize with how mesmerizing it can be. I learned some fascinating stories going into the Civil War, which I was convinced readers would be just as thrilled to know. Alas, they got lost. So by letting the manuscript sit for a while, I calmed down and was able to revise to help the flow of the piece.
Something else I deleted from earlier drafts is that Hadley told me three different chain of events. What I mean is that the events in the book changed their order in three different versions. Initially I was honest about this as I told the story. But presenting three different scenarios was just too confusing to the poor reader. Therefore, I finally chose the one that seemed to have the most substantiation from other sources and went with that. However, if you read carefully, you'll notice other contradictions between the newspaper, Crismon, and the Thompson accounts.
This gets back to the idea of "truth" in a funny way. Maybe the truth is that we all see and remember events differently.
Two details I specifically changed: If a person acted in what today might be called a negative manner, and that person did not appear in the newspaper or court records in a way that backed up what was said about him, and if I was unable to reach the family, I changed the name. This choice was also described in the notes at the back.
Last, the Thompsons had a pair of draft horses named Nig and Nell. I changed the names in the story. Readers perseverated on this detail, believing it signified Klan involvement when it was a more typical, albeit unflattering, sign of the times.
Did you know there is a typo in the text?
I wish I had you on my proofreading team. But it's not too late! Can you please email me the issue you found? Then we could change the text and stop frustrating other readers!
How much of Hadley's voice was actually his?
Readers will note that when the narrator Hadley speaks, that text is not in quotation marks. This is because most of these words were not his exact words spoken together at one time. These sections are based on many interviews with Hadley as well as other individuals. In addition, more formal references were often used to provide information for these sections. But some parts of these sections are complete and exact quotations from Hadley. The notes at the back of the book address this process in more detail.
At the time of the writing, I was carting kids around to school, band, and golf practice. When I was waiting for that dentist appointment to conclude, I often listened to the tapes I'd made. Then I started noting the grammatical structures Hadley used: phrases, sentence types, and so on. It was a long process of many drafts and dead ends, but eventually I ended up composing in a way that mimicked Hadley's speech. As I mentioned in the book, Hadley read a few of these sections before he died and commented, "Victoria, it was like you was there."
Why don’t you have an acknowledgement page?
Nobody has actually asked me this, but I wish they would, because I feel really bad about it. In truth, about every one of my friends and family helped with this book. I didn’t keep track in any complete way. Thus, although tried to write down names toward this end, I was afraid I’d leave someone out. I used many libraries and archives and those professionals were always amazing. There were so many people who helped with the writing of this book. Well, except for one particularly grouchy person who shall, like the over one hundred people I’m thankful for, remain nameless. Thank you to everyone I came in contact with during the researching and writing of this story. Even the grouchy librarian.
Do you supply questions for book clubs?
Really? I have to write the book and ask all the questions? Sure. I’ll give it a try.
Discuss the line between fact and fiction and how it applies to this story.
Name all of Grant Thompson’s children. Why or why not? (I’m trying to get fired from this job.)
Today, almost exactly 100 years later, circumstances are quite different than they were at the time of this story. As you were reading, what things seemed the same as they were 100 years ago?
What do you think makes a great book? (I love discussing this question and think it applies to all stories.)
In my dreams, a book club would ask the questions and help me answer them as well. And if I plan it just right, they often do! Thank you for your interest in my writing and in Blood River Rising.