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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

Historical Surprises: Deepest Roots of the Heart

by Chautona Havig · 35 Comments

Historical fiction

Historical fiction requires a completely different writing process from contemporary fiction that takes place in completely fictional locales.

My research for the Rockland Chronicles is usually limited to ensuring that I have the right style of phone for the era, seeing how to make candles from tallow, or learning how to best use poison to kill someone.  Yeah, as Nicole Deese and I said during our interview, if the US government ever decides to check out my Google history, I’m toast.

But historical fiction doesn’t give a lot of leeway.

Yes, there are always people who buck the system–who are mavericks in their eras.  But most people follow the culture and customs of their times.  Add to that misconceptions of the era (Regency novels so often have Victorian social customs applied to them–so annoying) and you can write a piece of historical heresy!  (hyperbole there, but you get my point).

But historical research is also fascinating–all those research surprises  While it does get annoying to have to lose a funny quip in your novel because “Amy get your gun” doesn’t work in 1945–the play Annie Get Your Gun wasn’t performed until 1946 and the movie (where someone from Napa, California would likely see/hear of it) didn’t come out until 1950–learning those tidbits is also exciting.

For example, I assumed that the price of a bottle of soda would have risen after WWII.  The Depression is over, soldiers are home, the economy is booming–why isn’t the price of soda rising?  It turns out that that it was crazy expensive to change the machines over to require a higher price.  The price of soda bottles didn’t change until around 1959!

battle of san jacinto historical
Image courtesy of Wikipedia

(Note: links in this post may be affiliate links which provide a small commission to me at no expense to you).

But by far the most interesting tidbit I learned for Deepest Roots of the Heart came as I wrote about the Battle of San Jacinto.  I remember this battle from my history books.  After Santa Anna’s crushing blow at the Alamo, American textbooks are eager to share Houston’s defeat of the Mexican Army at San Jacinto.

However, there are two little facts–tiny little tidbits–that I do not remember from my textbooks.

  1. The battle lasted 20 minutes.  That’s right  20 minutes.  Now think about this.  This happened back when the Kentucky long rifle was a popular gun for snipers.  And it takes the better part of a minute for the average Joe to load this gun.  So that means that if an amazing sniper could use this gun to fire at the enemy, the best he could hope for was a whopping 40 shots.  Whoa… That’s just not very many in the grand scheme of things.
  2. Santa Anna’s army (or at least his higher ranking officers) was/were asleep at around 4:30 in the afternoon. ASLEEP.

No wonder only 9 Texians died compared to 630 Mexicans  (and the 730 who were captured).  I’m still astounded.  20-minute battle.  That so was not in my history textbook–and it should have been.  Wow.

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Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: Deepest Roots of the Heart

Previous Post: « Inspiration for Legacy of the Vines
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Comments

  1. Alicia Grab says

    January 21, 2015 at 5:20 pm

    Google+’d it! 🙂

    Reply
  2. Carolyn G. says

    January 21, 2015 at 3:16 pm

    I e-mailed it to my mom!

    Reply
  3. Tristan says

    January 21, 2015 at 1:13 pm

    I shared it on Facebook too.

    Reply
  4. Elisabeth says

    January 21, 2015 at 9:45 am

    Email. :O)

    Reply
  5. Paige Trueheart says

    January 21, 2015 at 5:36 am

    Emailed!!

    Reply
  6. Cathy says

    January 21, 2015 at 5:34 am

    Sent email.

    Reply
  7. Carol Paine says

    January 21, 2015 at 2:48 am

    On facebook last night

    Reply
  8. Mollie Cutchall says

    January 21, 2015 at 1:33 am

    Shared on face book. I enjoy history too. I think I’d really like doing this kind of research.

    Reply
  9. Laurel Anderson says

    January 21, 2015 at 12:06 am

    I shared the link on facebook!

    Reply
  10. Deborah G says

    January 20, 2015 at 9:21 pm

    shared!

    Reply
  11. Jackie says

    January 20, 2015 at 8:05 pm

    Fb

    Reply
  12. Judy Lipcsak says

    January 20, 2015 at 6:57 pm

    I tweeted and shared on Facebook.

    Reply
  13. Maureen says

    January 20, 2015 at 6:45 pm

    Shared on Facebook and Pinterest

    Reply
  14. Allison says

    January 20, 2015 at 6:17 pm

    Pinterest

    Reply
  15. susan says

    January 20, 2015 at 6:12 pm

    facebook

    Reply
  16. Cory Pearson says

    January 20, 2015 at 5:53 pm

    Yay! something new to read – or is that something old?

    Reply
  17. bn100 says

    January 20, 2015 at 5:51 pm

    shared via email

    Reply
  18. Emily Grace says

    January 20, 2015 at 5:04 pm

    I shared on twitter. 🙂

    Reply
  19. Lucinda says

    January 20, 2015 at 4:58 pm

    shared on FB

    Reply
  20. Hannah says

    January 20, 2015 at 4:53 pm

    I emailed! 🙂

    Reply
  21. Jessica S says

    January 20, 2015 at 4:34 pm

    Shared on FB! Thanks for the new historical trivia!

    Reply
  22. Jen Harris says

    January 20, 2015 at 4:28 pm

    Shared on FB!

    Reply
  23. Cathie Radlein says

    January 20, 2015 at 4:23 pm

    Love your books. Sent it to Facebook.

    Reply
  24. Tanya says

    January 20, 2015 at 4:02 pm

    Pinterest

    Reply
  25. Dell says

    January 20, 2015 at 3:48 pm

    Fascinating read! Shared on Facebook.

    Reply
  26. Brenda says

    January 20, 2015 at 3:44 pm

    Shared in Facebook and pinned!

    Reply
  27. Sylvia Miller says

    January 20, 2015 at 3:40 pm

    I tweeted this post. 1940’s books are always interesting. I’m looking forward to reading this one.

    Reply
  28. Angel says

    January 20, 2015 at 3:38 pm

    Pinterest

    Reply
  29. Cathe Swanson says

    January 20, 2015 at 3:33 pm

    facebook – google – tweet

    Reply
  30. April says

    January 20, 2015 at 3:26 pm

    Shared on Facebook!

    Reply
  31. Charlene says

    January 20, 2015 at 3:19 pm

    I love History. They don.t teach it in Public Schools here in Pittsburgh, Pa anymore. My grandchildren haven,t missed out, as their father, was a History Major in College.
    I am sharing this book on Facebook and have just started reading it.

    Reply
  32. dhbarbara says

    January 20, 2015 at 3:08 pm

    pinned and plus’d 🙂

    Reply
  33. Libby says

    January 20, 2015 at 3:08 pm

    Shared on Facebook and on Goodreads as well as review on amazon. I LOVE this book!

    Reply
  34. Susan says

    January 20, 2015 at 3:06 pm

    Shared on Facebook. I think I would enjoy the research but not the criticism.

    Susan

    Reply
  35. Virginia McGuire says

    January 20, 2015 at 3:04 pm

    On Facebook!

    Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 215: A Chat with Henry O. Arnold
byChautona Havig

I had a chat with actor and author Henry O. Arnold a while back, and boy did we have a lot of fun. His Song of Prophets and Kings series features the advent of Israel’s kings from Samuel’s birth through David hiding from Saul (so far) and onward. Listen in as we chat about his most recent release, The Singer of Israel.

 

note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

What Made David Such a Man after God’s Heart?

I think this series will show us. I love that Henry O. Arnold started back at Samuel’s story to prepare us for the story of arguably the most influential king of Israel. Yes, Solomon was the wisest and richest, but David offered something that Solomon didn’t have. He was an average guy—a shepherd, no less—chosen by God to lead his country.

In a sense, it’s kind of the ancient Jewish version of a poor, everyday guy growing up to become President of the United States. If you know what I mean.

This five-book series is available as an eBook, in print, and as an audiobook, too! Henry read a snippet of it to us, and boy you get a feel for his love of Scripture and God’s people as he reads.

And if that wasn’t enough, he even gave us a hint of his upcoming Christian suspense/thriller “series. He says he has two books planned for sure, so… at least a duology, but maybe we can talk him into a trilogy at least? Get those odd numbers and everything?

The Singer of Israel by Henry O. Arnold

A singer’s voice inspires a troubled nation…A shepherd’s courage vanquishes a giant

The last official act of the prophet of Yahweh was to secretly anoint a replacement for the king of Israel who has been brought low by an unbalanced mind. The great prophet of Israel lives in fear of the wrath of the king. Then out of the hills of Bethlehem emerges the last-born son of a family of shepherds to become the unforeseen hero of Israel.

When David sings of the glory of Yahweh, this shepherd wins the hearts of the royal family and restores King Saul’s troubled mind. But when the singer/shepherd defeats the champion of the Philistines in single combat, David becomes forever known as “the giant slayer.” Saul quickly sees that David is now a threat to his kingdom and secretly plots to have him killed.

David may be the champion of the people of Israel, but he must live under the constant threat of Saul’s wrath until he is finally forced to flee for his life.

The Singer of Israel is a tale of triumph and tribulation, deepest love, and burning rivalries; the new epoch is given a voice…and it is The Song of Prophets and Kings.

You can learn more about Henry on this WEBSITE.

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Episode 215: A Chat with Henry O. Arnold
Episode 215: A Chat with Henry O. Arnold
March 24, 2023
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