Barbara Martinez's Blog

Meet the Characters of A Disloyal Element

ABEL -




Abel kept one eye on the street while he buffed the boots of his first customer of the day. Tonight he’d open the door to the room at Libby Prison that seemed to interest Julian Payne so keenly.

Meet the Characters of A Disloyal Element

SILAS ANDREWS




“Doing what’s right isn’t always easy. Sometimes there’s nothing in it for you.”

Meet the Characters of A Disloyal Element

MATTHEW COOPER




Matthew was now at the upward ascent portion of the tunnel, just inches away from freedom. Keep it together, keep it together. With his last bit of strength, he pulled himself up and onto level ground. He put his coat back on against the frigid chill of night air and looked up and down the street. He saw no one as he proceeded through the gate, mindful of his surroundings.

Meet the Characters of A Disloyal Element

ANNIE CAMPBELL



“I want to find my brother. I have to find him. That’s all I want."

Meet the Characters of A Disloyal Element

HANNAH WEBSTER -



A Disloyal Element


"There’s women who will never see their menfolk again. They’re dead on some godforsaken field. Buried where nobody goin’ to find them. Maybe your own brother. Women have their men and babies snatched from them and sold away. Never hold them again. Never see them again. How can you say you don’t care? You want everything to be rose covered cottages. To be perfect. Look around you, girl. Ain’t nothing perfect. There’s death and destruction. It ain’t all about you. But you can help. You can believe in something. Or you can sit there and wallow in your pity. I thought you were better than that. I guess I was wrong.”

The Alienist

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Caleb Carr has New York City in his DNA, even when it comes to a time he didn't live in. I felt transported to 1890s New York City and could feel the pulse of the city, complete with all of its many flaws. The Alienist brings together a uniquely talented group of people successful in their careers who also bring their own personal baggage. It's set in a time period when America is changing rapidly and we see evidence of this in Dr. Kreizler's career as an alienist, Sara Howard's fight to get ahead in a man's world, the Isaac Brothers forays into cutting edge forensics. This is a must-read novel.



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Travel Back in Time

I haven’t been able to go to Richmond, Virginia where my novel is set. I’d love to visit the sites where the action took place, but a lot of that is gone now. My next best thing is to visit the actual sites as they appeared when my story takes place in 1864 through photographs of the locations and people who lived there.




My main character, Annie Campbell, walked the dusty sidewalks of Richmond, shopped at its stores and sold eggs at its restaurants. I imagine myself standing in her boots as she watches prisoners of war march down the street to Libby Prison. I can see Libby Prison as it was then and imagine Matthew Cooper escaping from Rat Hell on February 9, 1864. I can read contemporaneous newspaper articles that describe the escape of 109 prisoners of war and how it was accomplished under the noses of the guards.





Viewing old photos not only have given me a glimpse of the people who lived there but also of the city which is a character of its own. Our locations are important and giving them life whether they really existed or are a figment of our imagination helps the reader immerse themselves in the world we create.

A Disloyal Element

The Joy of Writing Historical Fiction

I’d be willing to bet that anyone who writes historical fiction enjoys the research part of their writing maybe more than the average writer. After all, history is the bread and butter of our stories and the real people who lived during our fictional time periods have stories begging to be told.

My novel, A Disloyal Element, takes place in Richmond, Virginia during the Civil War. There are thousands of stories to be told in this place and during these years. I tried to include as many of those people as made sense in my story. One such person is one of my favorite supporting characters, Abel, a 14-year old boy. He was created in my mind after I read about the boy gangs of Richmond that existed before the Civil War and for several years after. They might look tame in comparison to today’s gangs, but they terrorized Richmond nonetheless.

There were dozens of these gangs in Richmond. Their members were mostly children who were just young enough that they hadn’t yet been conscripted to fight. Maybe they were influenced by the war in their turf fights. They fought over strips of land with stones, bricks and slingshots while their older counterparts fought the war with real bullets not far away. Names of the gangs sometimes mirrored the neighborhoods they were from. Shockoe Hill Cats, the Butchertown Cats, the Clyde Row Gang, the Bumtowners, the Oregon Hill Cats, the Fourth Street Horribles, and the Sparrows of Monroe Park were a few of the picturesque names the gangs went by. The use of the word “cats” in some of their names originated as a slur, but eventually became another word for boys.

The Shockoe Hill Cats were from a more affluent part of town and had a particularly heated rivalry with The Butchertown Cats who hailed from the wrong side of the tracks. In 1861, The Richmond Whig published this story about one of their battles.

“ROCK BATTLE.” – From time immemorial the boys in Adams Valley, (popularly known as “Butchertown,”) and those residing on the north side of Shockoe Hill, have engaged, every successive summer, in “rock battles,” rallying under the distinctive titles of “Butcher Cats” and “Hill Cats.” Last Sunday afternoon the contending parties waged a fierce contest on Navy Hill, about one hundred boys being engaged on each side. – Stones and other missiles flew as thick, almost, as the Minie balls at the battle of Manassas, and it is wonderful that some of the belligerents were not maimed or seriously hurt. The progress of the fight was fortunately arrested by the timely arrival of officer, Chalkley, Seal, Davis, Quarles and Crone, in one direction, and officers Pleasants, Perria and others, in an opposite direction. At the sight of the police, the boys fled the field, but all of them did not make their escape. Six white boys and ten negro boys were captured and taken to the station house. The former were eventually bailed out; but the others were detained until next morning, when they were conducted to the presence of the Mayor.
Richmond Whig, 9/10/1861

I have imagined Abel as a member of the Butchertown Cats who may have learned his lesson early on and grew up fast when he became the sole breadwinner of his family and was responsible for the support of his mother and younger sister.

That is the joy of historical fiction. We get to tell the stories of people we could not have known, but through our work, we come to know completely.