Last Run of the Whisperer by Calvin J. Boal ~~~Interview and BOOK GIVEAWAY!

Last Run of the Whisperer: A Story of a Soldier of the Connecticut Line

Last Run of the Whisperer is a historical fiction novel based upon the Revolutionary War records of William Waterman of Norwich, Connecticut colony. The author has taken the information that William Waterman has provided to us through his own account of his service in the American Revolution, when he petitioned the United States Congress in 1832, for a pension for said service.

The author has taken the information provided by William Waterman and completed extensive research on the battles and areas of service that our hero served in, embellishing and expounded upon this information, to develop an exciting and accurate historical story surrounding our hero, William Waterman.

William Waterman himself, in his petition to the United States Congress identifies one severe wound received in said service, at the battle of White Plains, in the colony of New York, above New York City. This wound by itself could have cost our hero his life. That he survived this wound and the numerous other battles and action that he undoubtedly saw was extraordinary.

Although William Waterman lists a number of battles and theatres of war he saw service in, he does not describe the details of these battles. The author takes his literary liberty, upon researching these battles and events to interject our hero into the battles. That William Waterman is involved in each and everyone of these battles or theatres of war in based upon William Waterman’s own account.

Upon his completion of service in the Continental army, William Waterman listed his next service as a privateer, that is as a licensed pirate. The author has taken the liberty to believe that William Waterman engaged as a privateer in the cause of the upstart Americans and prayed upon British shipping , as he makes no mention of serving the British in his petition to the United States Congress, and in fact lists his service as a privateer in his petition for his pension, indicating that all of his papers and records of his service in the Continental army were lost when the ship he was engaged on as a privateer was sunk, leading to his subsequent imprisonment by the British on the prison ship “Jersey”. Our hero, William Waterman also does not identify the name of the ship on which he was engaged as a privateer. Again the author takes his literary liberty to name the privateer ship, and thus we have the “Last Run of the Whisperer”.

During the course of our adventure, William Waterman looses his boyhood friend to the cause of the American Revolution, learns that his father is fighting against him on the side of the British, looses his first love to another man while he is imprisoned, and eventually finds the girl he is to marry while hiding from the British. William Waterman finds peace and contentment spending his life after the war living in the Green Mountains of Vermont.

You can buy the book here.

About the Author

The origins of this book can be traced back to extensive genealogical work completed by author Calvin J. Boal regarding his family, as well as his lifelong interest in history, particularly the French and Indian War and American Revolution colonial eras.

You can contact the author at: boal1620@gmail.com

INTERVIEW TIME!

At what age did you decide you wanted to write a book? How long did it take you to get this book published?

I was probably around forty-nine when I decided I wanted to write a book. When I received the Revolutionary war record back from the National Archives for the “hero” of my book, William Waterman, and read what he recorded his service during the American Revolution, and realized that with a little research and time to sit down and write, that there was a book waiting to be written. How long did it take me to get published? Well, that isn’t an easy question to answer. Once I had the book written, which was a rough draft, my wife decided to look for a publisher (since I was still working and didn’t have a lot of time myself to look for a publisher), and she found a Christian publisher, Westbow Press, out of Indiana and submitted my manuscript. And what do you know, they liked it. Of course there was a lot of editing, and more editing, and more editing, etc, etc, to do, you get the idea, but finding a publisher and getting published didn’t take that long really.

What gave you the courage to proceed and get this book self-published?

I went forward with self-publishing because it seemed to be the easiest way to get published, as long as the publisher liked the manuscript/story, and it seems that more and more writers are going that route to get their books published and get them out there. Then perhaps one of us, one day, will become “noticed” not that that is why everyone writes. I think I wrote my book because I had a story to tell about an ancestor who an a unique/interesting experience during the American Revolution.

Where did you find the idea for this story?

I found my story, as I said earlier, through getting Revolutionary War records from the National Archives. I was prompted to request those records by doing genealogical work on my family and found a number of ancestors who fought in the American Revolution (as well as other wars that the United States has fought in), and requested the war records from the National Archives if they existed.

Are you a history buff? What’s your favorite time to research in history?

I am a history buff. I love history, particularly American history and particularly the colonial period of American history. I really enjoy the periods from early 1700′s through the French and Indian War and the American Revolution, but all aspects of American history interest me. I believe my earliest ancestor came to settled in America in the Jamestown colony in Virginia in 1617 and arrived on the ship George. The next ancestors that I can trace coming to America are I believe three families on the Mayflower in 1620 at the Plymouth colony.

Any thoughts if you will write another book?

I think I probably will write another book or two perhaps. My thoughts are to write a book on the Siege of Fort Pitt, that occurred in 1763, right after the French and Indian War, which was part of Pontiac’s Rebellion and another book on part of the French and Indian War that took place in northern New York around Crown Point/Fort Ticonderoga, and leading up to the fall of Quebec. Make it kind of a trilogy of books on colonial wars. But we’ll see. Time will tell.

What sport/team do you wish you had season tickets for?

If I were to have seasons tickets to a sport team it would have to be the New England Patriots, or Army football games. There is such a great atmosphere at Westpoint with the cadets and college football.  Go figure!

Do you have good “sea legs?” Do you own a boat? What would you name a boat if you had one?

I don’t have good sea legs. I get motion sickness quite easily due to a medical issue, but I would love to have a sailboat and sail the great lakes or even the New England coast into the Canadian Maritimes, and of course, I would have to name my boat the “Whisperer.”

Favorite TV shows?

That is a hard one, umm…, I like watching sports, football, and I like watching Hogan’s Heroes on the old shows TV network.

What are some of your favorite movies?

I like historical movies, like old cavalry movies, WW II, movies, anything historical etc, but if I had to give you a movie or two, I would say Ben Hur, or All Quiet on the Western Front, the newer version.

Any pets, a talking parrot perhaps?

We live on small farm, 35 acres and right now we only have barn cats. Up until last year we had horses, three white Arabians, and they were a lot of fun and had become part of our family. I miss them greatly.

Any advice for others that are too intimidated to follow their dreams?

Looking at life from this end, life is too short. I wrote a book and I never thought I would, but now that I have, I’m glad that I did, even with what I consider to be some harsh criticisms. Follow your dreams and do them. Don’t look back in your later years wishing you had done something, that you could have done, but didn’t because of some needless fear. To sum it up, if I could accomplish writing a book, you can do it too, or whatever you dream is.

The Giveaway

For anyone that’s interested, the author is providing his book Last Run of the Whisperer to give away to one lucky reader. To be entered jump on the Rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A winner will be chosen from those entries and selected on October 1, 2012. Good luck!