History Drives the Fiction
The writing of A Journey Far: Ibere, has been quite a journey for me. For 20 years – first putting pen to paper, then fingertips to keys, then rewrites and revisions – this book developed from a college assignment to random thoughts and ideas to a cohesive tale and now – a published novel.
The 1st 10 years of my journey in writing A Journey Far: Ibere, consisted of spending hours and days in the libraries of the St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida campuses of the University of South Florida researching historical documents that spanned the tumultuous times of the novel’s setting (1840s – 1860s U.S.A.). But, with the invention of the wonderful Wikipedia along with the glorious Google and its sensational Search Engine Optimizations, the efficiency of my research increased 1,000-fold. Searches that physically took days now electronically took seconds, allowing me to delve deeper into the history of the times and in turn, make the tapestry of my tale more intricate. I was able to investigate historical documents and locations, and the subtlety of events more thoroughly.
Indeed, this research efficiency changed my narrative in many places. One was in the final division of my four-division novel, Transitions. There, the protagonist, James, was living in New York City, earning a living while attending college. I had planned on having James hold President Lincoln on a level of esteem reserved for Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman.
The narrative was flowing. My ideas had clarity. The path was sure. James held Lincoln on par with Frederick Douglass, just below Harriet Tubman, his earthly savior. He believed they all shared the same commitment to the cause of justice and equality for all men embodied in the preamble to the U.S. Constitution – all men are created equal. All that changed when James read Lincoln’s Inauguration Address of 186 well, until I read it. One night after a long day of work and several rewrites, I stumbled across Lincoln’s initial State of the Union address of March 4, 1861, and it changed not only that scene, but the trajectory of the story.
I was four hours into a re-re-rewrite as I approached midnight of a workday. To avoid telling my readers the dates or years specifically, I wanted to infuse the time at this point of the narrative and give James a jolt of encouragement because he was having difficulty at New York University
I decided, since it was first part of 1861, to have him read Lincoln’s Inaugural Address to buoy his spirits. He was going to read how Lincoln was going to grab the reigns of right and grind the wheels of wrong that permeated through the country at that time. Lincoln was going to ensure equality and justice for all through his presidency. Or so I thought. Boy was I wrong.
Like I said earlier, it was approaching midnight, I had already worked an 8-hour-day plus worked on the book for 4+ hours, and now I’m preparing to read some comforting words that I would soon intertwine into my tale. But my dreams of sweet dreams turned into a nightmare.
Lincoln said this, and I quote and paraphrase, “Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern states that by the accession of a Republican administration their property . . . are to be endangered.” Yeah, their property. President Abraham Lincoln referred to slaves as property. Later on, Lincoln adds, “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery . . . I have no lawful right to do so, and . . . no inclination to do so.”
So, after reading this section of his address 3 or 4 more times, I went to bed to sleep on it. I believed (and hoped) I was misreading something. I woke up the next morning and neither the words nor the meaning had changed. A Google search of Lincoln’s first inaugural address yielded the same document from the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institute, the New York Times, the History Channel, the National Constitutional Center, and on and on. I recognized – I had to accept that this was a historical fact. What do I do? Keep the story as it is. Absolutely not.
Understand, it was my 3rd rewrite. The framework had been established. I was preparing for review by agents and publishers. But, to use the vernacular of 2025, what was needed wasn’t an update, refresh, or reboot, but a reimage. I had to accept that the story needed to be changed.
I began to rewrite as my altered point of view became James’ point of view of Lincoln. I knew of Lincoln’s role in the emancipation of slaves, but that’s not what he said on March 4, 1861. At that moment, he was no longer a champion of the African American cause. He was no longer representing the political party of the Abolitionists. He was nothing more than another politician selling out. As one of my characters – Mrs. Howard – was fond of saying, “He said what he wished to get what he wished then he did what he wished.” Truly the revelation of Lincoln changed James’ demeanor as well as his attitude toward Lincoln.
Another instance, in the division Who Am I?, the main character, James, was self-educating himself while left alone in the Big House. Once, I had him ‘read’ the opening sentence of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, then muse how it related to his existence. The problem was that the timeline was all wrong. At that time in the narrative, the year was 1851, 8 years BEFORE Dickens published that literary masterpiece. Hmm, what to do, huh?
I instead had James ‘read’ a portion of Robinson Crusoe where Mr. Crusoe was trying to explain the devil to Friday in the 1851 timeline. Then James went into a mini tirade toward God, comparing the devil to slavery as he longed to be free. Later in the timeline (1859) once James escaped to the North, he read the opening sentence of A Tale of Two Cities as the newest Dickens novel and commented on how he felt a kinship to Dickens’ characters.
I feel it’s important to maintain the authenticity of Historical Fiction novels, with accurate history immersed in realistic fiction. I take care to double and triple-check my sources. Then I keep them out of my mouth (as the narrator) and in the mouths of my characters (as dialogue). But always, the history drives the fiction. This is historical fiction – with the emphasis on “historical facts”. Yes, the history must be factual, and the fiction must be real.
A Journey Far: Ibere. Yes, it’s a story of hurt. Humiliation. Heartache. But it’s much more than that. It’s a story of relationships. It’s a story of discovery. It’s a story of victory. It’s a story of faith. It’s a story of hope. It’s a story of love. It’s a story embedded in the most tumultuous time in the history of America. A Journey Far: Ibere. By AJ Sam.