Special July 4 Interview

Long-time friend Alton Gansky interviews me on a special edition of WRITER’S TALK. We discuss the American Family Portrait series and my latest novel, The Arm of God.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PDr7ntIsNA&list=UUgZtb2gNWiBz60Xor1z6Ixg

You can learn more about the American Family Portrait series by clicking HERE

You can learn more about The Arm of God by clicking HERE

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AVAILABLE NOW!

AOG Website headerNEW HISTORICAL FICTION

The Arm of God

A novel set in the biblical days of Samson

OF ALL THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL, only one fails to seize the land apportioned to them by God at Shiloh. When key families of the tribe of Dan abandon their promised land and migrate north, Eri ben Helek remains behind, pledging to lead his tribe and claim God’s will for his people. Arrayed against them is the mighty Philistine Pentapolis with walled cities, iron weapons and chariots, and armored soldiers outnumbering them a hundred to one.

FOLLOW THE INTREPID DANITE SOLDIERS as they make daring raids on a Philistine armory, suffer reprisals by the ruthless Seren of Ashdod, march into battle with the Ark of the Covenant, and witness the exploits of the legendary Samson that thrust the tiny village of Zorah into an epic underdog battle for their very existence.

THE ARM OF GOD is a biblical adventure of personal faith, ruthless ambition, merciless revenge, seduction, betrayal, and supreme courage.

KINDLE EDITIONclick here to purchase

NOOK EDITIONclick here to purchase

SMASHWORDSclick here to purchase

PRINT EDITIONclick here to purchase

Or search your favorite e-reader store!

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The Making of The Allies

 

Making of Christian Historical Fiction

 

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 SHOW NOTES:

In today’s episode, I talk about some of the dramatic events of The Great War (World War I) and the making of Book 5 in the American Family Portrait series, The Allies.

  • While preparing this podcast episode, it became clear to me that The Allies is one of my favorite books and time periods. I’ve already used it twice in other episodes on this website. You can find them by clicking the following links:

FROM MY LIBRARY AUDIO: An eyewitness account of a London zeppelin raid

VIDEO PODCAST: The Incredible Power of Historical Fiction (if you haven’t watched this one yet, you should!) 

  • Historical fiction novels about World War I are not as popular as other time periods. The most popular time period for American history novels is the Civil War, with World War II second most popular. 
  • For those who enjoy reading historical biographies, I would highly recommend William Manchester’s excellent trilogy on Winston Churchill, The Last Lion. Volume II describes the time period covering World War I.
  • In The Allies, I follow three dramatic historical threads: the emergence of aviation, espionage, and heroic women in the war.
  • The aviation story begins in (of all places) Colombus, New Mexico and proceeds to France and the legendary Lafayette Escadrille, an elite American air squadron.
  • The espionage story includes the night the Black Tom Factory in New Jersey exploded as a result of German sabotage. The explosion was so great, it damaged the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and was heard as far away as Philadelphia. It was the 9/11 of the era.
  • One of the most dramatic story lines in The Allies follows the adventures of American nurse ambulance drivers during the war who were led and inspired by the legendary Edith Cavell. I’ll devote the next podcast to Ms. Cavell and her heroic nurses.

CLICK HERE to start reading the American Family Portrait series in minutes!

Other episodes in this series: 

VIDEO

  1. Why I Write Christian Historical Fiction
  2. The Incredible Power of Historical Fiction
  3. The Making of The Puritans
  4. The Making of The Colonists
  5. The Making of The Patriots
  6. The Making of The Adversaries

AUDIO

  1. Sports on Sundays: Keeping the Sabbath in the Days of The Puritans
  2. My 13-year Odyssey to Getting Published
  3. John Winthrop: The Forgotten Founding Father
  4. A Middle-Aged Male Author Attempts to Write Poetry From a Teenage Character
  5. 300-year-old Bible stolen
  6. The Incredible Patience Wright
  7. The Making of Behold
  8. The Making of The Pioneers
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The Making of The Pioneers

Making of Christian Historical Fiction

 

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 SHOW NOTES:

In today’s episode, I share some behind-the-scenes research and incidents while writing Book 5 in the American Family Portrait series, The Pioneers.

  • Because this is a family generation series, one of the fun things for me is having characters in one book cross over into the next book. Sarah Morgan, who struggled to become a published author in The Adversaries, provides a convenient bridge to the opening chapters of The Pioneers. Her rags-to-riches stories have become successful and her greatest fan is her nephew, Jesse Morgan.
  • Her success, and the genre of stories she writes, is based on the historical author, Horatio Alger who is best know for his juvenile novels about young impoverished boys who rise from humble backgrounds to middle-class security through hard work, determination, courage, and honesty.
  • You can listen to an audio reading of Horatio Alger’s most successful novel, Ragged Dick, courtesy of the Gutenberg Project by clicking on this link: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20689
  • The Pioneers begins in the tenements of New York City’s Lower East Side, where people lived impoverished lives and children worked dangerous jobs in factories. Photographer Jacob Riis documented life in the tenements.
  • You can watch a video of Jacob Riis’s photographs by clicking here: http://youtu.be/SZl4KXsaKVE  or a slideshow of his photographs, here: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma01/davis/photography/images/riisphotos/slideshow1.html
  • People in the late 1890s were fascinated by the approaching end of the millennium, so were Americans when I was writing this story in 1995.
  • Famous investigative journalist Nelly Bly makes an appearance in this story and is influential in the life of another character in the first book of my Great Awakening Series, Proof. This four book series is set during times of great revival in America. My co-author for the series was Dr. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ. You can find out more about the series by clicking on this link: http://jackcavanaugh.com/176-2/
  • The final scene in The Pioneers is set in the historic Brown Palace Hotel in Denver, Colorado. You can take a virtual tour of the historic Atrium Lobby by clicking here: http://www.brownpalace.com/Virtual-Tours
  • The cover for The Pioneers was almost released with a three-legged horse. Luckily, the error was caught in time. And on the subject of covers, during the writing of this story I pondered – this being a Christian spiritual series and all – if there would ever be a picture of an overweight woman on the cover of a Christian novel. So I created a character for The Pioneers who was winning, highly personable, deeply spiritual and . . . overweight. Little steps. But maybe someday we can get over our obsession with body size and focus more on inner character.

CLICK HERE to start reading the American Family Portrait series in minutes!

Other episodes in this series: 

VIDEO

  1. Why I Write Christian Historical Fiction
  2. The Incredible Power of Historical Fiction
  3. The Making of The Puritans
  4. The Making of The Colonists
  5. The Making of The Patriots
  6. The Making of The Adversaries

AUDIO

  1. Sports on Sundays: Keeping the Sabbath in the Days of The Puritans
  2. My 13-year Odyssey to Getting Published
  3. John Winthrop: The Forgotten Founding Father
  4. A Middle-Aged Male Author Attempts to Write Poetry From a Teenage Character
  5. 300-year-old Bible stolen
  6. The Incredible Patience Wright
  7. The Making of Behold

Jack’s Next Post
PODCAST: The Making of The Allies

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Behold Trailer

FREE KINDLE EBOOK!

MAY 17 – 19, 2013

httpv://youtu.be/Ehkw-XaCogQ

Order your free copy of Behold by clicking here: http://amzn.to/YXdJub

Get your free Amazon Reader for your computer, tablet, or phone by clicking here: http://amzn.to/13At970

 

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