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BLOG: A Voice In The World - from the Heart of Ginny Dye

April 18, 2014

I hope you don't mind if this Blog post is relatively short. I'm very aware I have

a book due in all your hands in just 3 weeks, so I trust you agree with me that

is my top priority right now. :)

I am often asked how far in advance I plan the next book. That answer is easy - not until I've written the one that comes before it. All I knew about Carried Forward By Hope is that it was going to take place from April 1865 - April 1866. Quite honestly, I wasn't at all sure there was enough going on in history to support a large novel for that time piod. HAH!

When I started research, my mind was blown by what I discovered. One of the most important things I learned in doing the first 5 books covering the Civil War was that I knew NOTHING about the Civil War - though I would have told you differently in the beginning. The research - discovering the truth through hundreds of hours of digging - is every bit as much fun as writing. Leaving the war behind has made me realize I knew more than NOTHING about Reconstruction. I have been appalled, exhilarated and enlightened...

Research is also what creates the next book. It would be so easy to have created an outline for 10 books - deciding far in advance what is going to happen with each character - and then writing the books to bring that to reality.

That approach also has absolutely nothing to do with how life is lived.

Think about it... wouldn't it be easy to plan exactly what you're going to do today if you knew for certain what your life was going to be one year from now?

None of us have that privilege. We make our plans, and then we roll with whatever life throws our way. 12 months from now may look exactly like what you had planned; it may also look NOTHING like what you had planned...

We never really know what is going to happen - a death... a new life... a failure... a success... an historical event... sickness... the beginning of a relationship... the ending of a relationship... new job... losing a job... financial struggles... or an unexpected windfall. The list could go on, but the important thing is that every single one of these situations can totally change the path of our life.

It really is true that how we live our life has very little to do with what happens to us - it has everything to do with how we handle what happens. It has everything to do with our choices... with our attitudes... with our ability to trust there is a plan and a power much bigger than us that will help us walk through.

So... I finished The Last, Long Night and then began to do my research for Carried Forward By Hope. I created what happened with Carrie, Robert, Rose, Moses and the rest around what happened in our country. I have the joy of being surprised along with the rest of you as I realize one of the character's lives isn't going to unfold as I thought it would because the reality of life isn't going to let that happen.

Do I follow my own outline? Hah! I always write one up, but then it takes on a life of its own. You would probably not recognize the first 5 books from any of the outlines! :) For instance, with Carried Forward By Hope, I realized I was going to have to make some changes when I got to Chapter 12 in the outline, but actually had 22 Chapters and 300 pages by then. Yikes! Since I really didn't want to write an 800 page book, I knew I had to make some changes. Once again, life & history dictated...

That's what keeps the process so much fun. It is most certainly never boring!

I can't wait to hear what all of you think about Carried Forward By Hope! You'll have it soon!!

I'm going to end by repeating something I said above:

Next week?? I have a rather massive surprise for you... :)

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Have you made me cry?? Or laugh?? Or made me so very glad I have the best readers in the world??

If you've written a review of one of my books, you probably did. :) Every time I get a little overwhelmed by the pressures of research or writing, I go to Amazon and read my Reviews. They never fail to give me the motivation and energy to continue forward.

As I press through to finish Carried Forward By Hope, it would mean the world to me if you would go and leave a review for one (or more) of The Bregdan Chronicles. I will consider it a personal message from you to me...

I'm even going to make it easy for you. :)

Two of the reviews I received this week:

I found the whole series to be a wonderful read. Although it is fiction, there is so much history of the time entwined through the pages it brings one to an awareness that may not have been felt before. As it happens, I just returned from an educational trip with 5th graders to the very places in the book, Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. It brought it all into reality and gave me an even deeper appreciation for this series. Can't wait to read the sixth book.

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I have just read other reviews that could have been mine!! Apparently we all concur that we have been transported back in time just as assuredly as a time traveler through the succinct histrionics brought to life by Ginny Dye. She boarded us on that trek with her first book Storm Clouds Rolling In, and, as all will agree, we were absolutely unable to and unwilling to end the journey. Her amazing characters became so tangible to us. We easily could relate to all their true hearts and strengths and characters. She made the entirety of the Civil War become a documentary in our mind's eyes and entwined our hearts with unforgettable people we wait with baited breath to carried forward in their lives post Civil War!! Ginny, you are Epic!!!

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Thank you! I'm diving back into research and writing. Thank you in advance for your reviews that will keep me going!

Blessings,

Ginny Dye

Release Date:

May 15th!