|
MEET THE AUTHOR
|
|
|
Jeffrey Keenan Interview, Do you recall how your interest in writing began? In my late teens I got the idea for a novel about humans being surgically altered to be enabled to fly. My sister was in nursing school at the time and she informed me that putting wings on people would not work. Of course, Jack Patterson took a similar idea decades later and wrote a bestseller. I didn't try writing again until I was in my forties. What do you see as the influences on your writing? History, and my voracious appetite for books in most genres, motion pictures, theater, and of course television! Those last three inspired me to write in a visual way. I want the reader to 'see' what I am writing. What are your current projects? I'm fiddling with a prequel to Benning's War that relates Isaac's father's experiences in the French and Indian War. I'm also struggling with a Science Fiction piece called Space Pirate. You write both historical fiction and science fiction. How do you explain these diverse genres existing in your mind at the same time? My love of reading was born in science fiction. As a child, I hated to read. My father bought me Edgar Rice Burroughs The Moon Maid and The Moon Men and I was hooked. I read every science fiction novel my father had. He bought Analog magazine every month and I devoured that as well. That love of SF remained with me. But as I grew and discovered other genres, I found great enjoyment in reading histories. Particularly American history and biographies of Americans. American History has been my passion for a long time. But I still enjoy a well-written SF story. In my mind, both genres, when written well, are tremendous adventures. Compare Rise And Fight Again with Heinlein's Starship Troopers and you will see what I mean. Is there some personal reason you are interested in the topic of war? Although relatives served in the army and marines, I never enlisted. I just missed the draft, becoming eligible in 1973. It isn't so much that war interests me, it's more that war is the great leveler. War can destroy or create nations and empires. So I wanted to show what the common soldier might feel, witness, and experience in war. What was the idea that inspired you to write a book? A chapter in Rise And Fight Again, about the American Revolution, described the Massacre at the Waxhaws. It was sad and interesting, and I tried to find more information about it. It occurred to me that a magazine might like an article about the event. But the article never felt right, the short story was too weak, and the next thing I knew I was writing a novel. Benning's War is about Isaac Benning, a young man who went to war to find 'glory' and found bloodshed and misery instead. The story begins with his experience at the Battle of the Waxhaws, and follows his adventures afterward. It's an adventure tale, a romance, a story of growth. Do you wish you led the life of one of your characters? No! The 1780's were a very hard time in which to live. But I do wish I had the strengths of my main characters. Life for a soldier in the eighteenth century was hard. Extremely hard. Men rarely had enough to eat, and often went days without food. They would forage the areas around them for anything edible, and often were marching through places already stripped of food and game. Supplying the troops was difficult and beset with problems - transport was hard to come by, money was in short supply, and suppliers were corrupt. To find a cornfield was like reaching heaven. Soldiers would eagerly eat green corn, drink molasses, and eat unripe apples. Tents were sometimes available to troops, but sleeping in the open was probably the norm for militias. They would wrap themselves in a blanket for warmth and sleep with their muskets in their arms. Clothing was truly 'rag-tag' and led to mocking comments from the British and Loyalists. Even the French were appalled at the aspect of an army without proper uniforms, but the sight of these lean, tall, hard American men impressed the French a good deal. These men had no shoes, or wrapped their feet in rags. And they still went forward to fight for their freedom. It amazes me. I could not do it. To give an idea of the conditions of these fighting men, let me paraphrase the words of an observer following the battle of Trenton. "You could have followed the Americans by the bloody footprints they left in the snow." As far as medicine, they had leeches for bleeding, and amputations for bad wounds. They suffered from smallpox, typhus, and dysentery. Prisoners of the British faced starvation and disease on the dreaded prison ships. Discipline was spotty at first, but became harsher as the war went on and Washington needed a more disciplined army. Hanging offenses included striking an officer and desertion. Flogging was a common form of punishment. The Battle of The Waxhaws was an unimportant skirmish of the American Revolution, fought at the border of the Carolinas in 1780. The results of that battle would have consequences for the Loyalists not long after at the Battle of Kings Mountain. Tarleton's 'British Legion' was sent to prevent the last American Army in the Southern Theater from escaping into North Carolina. On the other side, Colonel Buford, the commander of the Third Virginia Regiment, made two huge mistakes. Upon learning that Tarleton was closing in on him, he sent his wagons and artillery ahead into North Carolina to prevent their capture. Instead, they could have stopped Tarleton's force. When Tarleton brought the Virginian's to bay, Buford gave the order to hold fire until the Legion had come within thirty yards. The Virginians would have no time to reload their muskets in the face of charging cavalry. That was an inexcusable blunder that led to defeat. The British Legion refused to accept the surrender of the defeated Americans. After that battle the cry of 'Tarleton's Quarter', meaning 'No surrender accepted!' became a rallying cry. It would be heard in many places in the south after that. Of course, the Americans defeated the British in this war for Independence from Great Britain. My other book tells the story of the French and Indian War in the late 1750's through 1763. The American colonists and British fought the French and their Indian Allies for control of the Ohio Valley. That war spread worldwide and British victory over the French resulted in the loss of Canada to the British Empire, as well as India. It also aroused feelings of independence and American pride in the colonists, which would later lead to the Revolution. Many who fought in that war would later fight in the Revolution on both sides. I found it interesting that the Revolution and the French and Indian War were both due to a lack of understanding as to what was happening in the Colonies. The British completely misunderstood the feelings of their subjects in America, and they believed a little force would suffice. Both times, they were wrong and had to pour more troops into the wars to try and win. In the 1750's they did, in 1776 they didn't. One hundred years before the Declaration of Independence, Americans rose in rebellion against the British, fighting oppression, arbitrary laws, lack of protection against foreign invaders (Indians in this case) and venal, brutal corruption of the Colonial Government. The rebellion was suppressed in Virginia (Bacon's Rebellion), and the British took over direct control of the government. King Phillip (King Phillip's War in New England) was finally killed, no thanks to the British. But that year - 1676 - saw the American Colonies begin to stir against the King. And few understood what was coming. To learn more about Jeffrey Keenan, go to his website
at
http://www.benningswritingpad.freeservers.com/.
Benning's War
|
