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The Shenandoah Spy an eBook by Francis Hamit Available at: Amazon.com |
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The Shenandoah Spy an eBook by Francis Hamit Available at: Amazon.com |
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The following information was sent to the Round Table on November 7, 2006:
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: AMAZON SHORTS COMPLETES "THE SHENANDOAH SPY" : ALL 14 PARTS NOW ONLINE The Amazon Shorts program for electronic literature at Amazon.com accelerated the publication of Francis Hamit's Civil War novel about the early career of Belle Boyd, the teen aged girl from Martinsburg, Virginia, who became the best-known Confederate spy and who was the first woman in American History to be commissioned an army officer. The fact-based novel had to be divided into 14 parts to accommodate its 43 chapters and more than 500 pages. |
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"At 49 cents per part, this is a tremendous bargain for the readers,"
Hamit said, "And it also allows them to sample the novel to see if they want
to read the entire thing. It turns out that they do. We had several requests
to accelerate the publication schedule, so that they could finish reading it.
Of course, we were happy to oblige." "I am also very happy to be part of the Amazon Shorts program. I think it's a great deal for readers. There are over 600 titles and over 400 authors there, and they keep adding more." Hamit added, "There are also requests for a regular hardbound edition and that will happen next year. It will cost more, of course, because print publication involves materials and processes we don't have to deal with in this electronic form. "Belle's story is one I discovered when I was working for the Encyclopaedia Britannica about 25 years ago. I always thought it would make a terrific novel. This first book in what has become a series of novels about the Confederate Secret Service and the women who worked for it covers the period between July 1861 and July 1862. Almost every character in it is based upon a real person and it follows actual events fairly closely. My research involved not just the Official Records but also the diaries and letters of some of these characters. The central event is The Battle of Front Royal, which was the kickoff for Stonewall Jackson's famous Valley Campaign. Belle did significant duty for the South that day. Her actions, which included carrying a message across the battlefield under fire and making a situation report to Jackson, are verified by more than one source. This is why she was promoted." Hamit acknowledges that Belle Boyd was a controversial figure whose deeds were later disputed. "I did a lot of research. Belle was attacked by the Northern newspapers during the war and by male historians after it. There was a fair amount of male chauvinism and just plain jealousy in what was written and said about her. Hopefully, this novel will set the record straight." Hamit, who has a degree from the Iowa Writer's Workshop, is best known as a journalist, but for the last several years has written fiction and drama almost exclusively. He served in military intelligence during the Vietnam War. He currently lives in California. For further information call Francis Hamit at (661) 242-1686 or e-mail him at francishamit@earthlink.net |