September 1, 2023 Volume One, Issue One

Welcome to my first newsletter from lcrwriter.com

Hello, and thank you so much for subscribing to my newsletter. If you didn’t subscribe, you may be following my Facebook Page, LCRWriter, and so you are also receiving this newsletter. Please feel free to opt out at any time by sending me an email. There will be several drawings for free autographed copies of my novel and other merch for my subscribers, so you may want to at least give this a try.

Full disclosure, I am definitely better at writing fiction novels than writing newsletters. I suppose because I can hide within my characters. Also, writing a novel allows for endless research, rewrites and revision before publication. Writing this newsletter, on the other hand, is more personal and constrained by a deadline.You’ll receive this newsletter every two weeks, roughly the 1st and 15th of each month. Biweekly or bimonthly? You choose, both are considered correct.

The breaking news right now is that I have signed with Acorn Publishing for the publication of my debut historical fiction novel, Hatfield, 1677. I will post updates on my publication journey here and on my website, lcrwriter.com, but dive deeper in this newsletter into my historical research and my writing process.

Let’s start with the state of communications in 1677 Hatfield, Massachusetts. Imagine a power outage that takes out electricity, internet, wifi, and cell phones, except that it lasts indefinitely and globally. You have candles you made yourself from tallow (melted sheep, beef, pig or deer fat), a quill pen, an ink pot, and parchment paper. You have a Bible, letters you cherish from distant friends and family, and perhaps, if you can afford them, imported books from England, such as Paradise Lost by Milton, or perhaps the sonnets of William Shakespeare.

Your letters are carried within the New England colonies by horseback, either with a friend or a friendly Native American, and ones from your grandparents in England arrive at Richard Fairbanks’ tavern in Boston after spending at least two weeks at sea. Your replies to them can be sent once a month by the new horseback post between New York and Boston. (The Old Boston Post Road is part of today’s Route 1.) 

https://highways.dot.gov/highway-history/general-highway-history/back-time/transportation-americas-postal-system

The nearest town to you with a printing press is a five-day ride away at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but it doesn’t yet print newspapers. It has, however, printed Bibles for the past 14 years. That is why you can read. You are obliged to learn how, because although you have the freedom to worship if you are a Puritan in Massachusetts Bay Colony, you do not have the freedom to NOT worship. (An entirely other subject for another newsletter).

You and your children had been reading since Ye Old Deluder Satan Act was passed in 1647, requiring parents to ensure their children’s ability to read. In 1653, the act required towns of 50 to 99 families to hire a teacher, and towns of 100 or more families had to support a grammar school to prepare boys to attend Harvard and girls, to be able to read their love letters, I suppose, and teach their children. Hatfield has less than 50 families, so the education of the children is up to their parents.

https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1032/old-deluder-satan-act-of-1647

When you read my novel, Hatfield,1677, you will find that just before Hatfield was attacked, Martha was teaching her four-year-old daughter the alphabet, from a book that was not translated from Latin into English until 1690. Poetic license:)

I hope you enjoyed this first newsletter. Let me know your thoughts. I am most familiar with the history of North America and Europe from about 1650 forward. Let me know what content you’d like to see! Also, I’ve cited my sources here, in case you want to learn more, although most are readily available with a discerning Google search.

Until next time,

Laura C. Rader, author