Laura C. Rader's Blog

What’s New: Hatfield, Tilt, & Poldark

For those of us concerned about the overreach or incompetence of the current federal government, this year feels like COVID-19 all over again. Stocking the pantry before tariffs shoot the prices higher, donating to charities to help the poor with food and medications, and
avoiding doom scrolling by reading novels and streaming on Netflix.

Which brings me to two reviews: the debut novel Tilt by Emma Pattee and the Netflix revival of the 2015-19 BBC series, Poldark, based on the 1970s historical novels by Winston Graham, who passed away in 2003.
https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001HOMBNW/about

Tilt is told from the first-person perspective of a young pregnant woman speaking to her baby during a catastrophic earthquake in Portland, Oregon. She is trying to reunite with her husband, without transportation or a cell phone. A parallel dual timeline flashes back, marching forward month by month during the year, while her present plays out hour by hour. Character- driven and literary, yet suspenseful. Well-written. Made me laugh and cry.

If you haven’t seen Poldark, do so—historical fiction at its best. Ross Poldark is a British soldier who returns from fighting against the colonists in America to find his father dead, his home in ruins, and his beloved Elisabeth married to his cousin. It is filmed on location in gorgeous Cornwall, England, has raw emotion and ballrooms, miners and gentry, authentic costumes, excellent acting, a plausible storyline, class conflict, family feuds, and long-suffering
wives and girlfriends. Best of all, it has lovely male and female leads, especially Aidan Turner in the titular role. Think Bridgerton but with closed-door vs. staircase escapades and people who actually ride horses well, roll up their sleeves, and sweat.

I suppose every author dreams of someday having their novel be an Amazon Editors’ Pick with starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers’ Weekly, as Tilt has done, or transformed and released as a movie or series like Poldark, either during their lifetime or posthumously. I know I do. I would cast Jack Lowden as Benjamin Waite and Danielle Campbell as Martha Waite. Martin Sensmeier as Ashpelon. I’d film it in Deerfield, MA, which hasn’t changed much in 300 years, the Green Mountains of Vermont, Lake George and Lake Champlain, and Quebec.

In other news, I’ve dropped the prices online for Hatfield 1677, and I’m also offering it for free on Kindle Unlimited from today through January 31. Why? Because in the end, I want readers more than I want income. I want to feel that buzz again. Please tell everyone you know that if they want the e-book, it’s free on Kindle Unlimited and only $7.95 to buy. If you want the pretty cover, the paperback is $16.95, and soon the price for the hardcover will drop to $26. It’s a
book club/holiday gift sort of book, wink-wink. Read here.

I am currently revising one novel, The Lark, a biographical historical fiction inspired by the true story of Paul Tietjens, a young pianist who composed the score for the sold-out but now almost forgotten 1902 Broadway musical of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I’m working with the History Quill coaching program, which I highly recommend to historical fiction authors everywhere. I am also writing the first draft of Lady Libertié, a biographical historical romance inspired by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, sculptor of the Statue of Liberty, and his muse, model, mistress, and eventually wife, Jeanne-Emélie Bahuex. Each of them, I hope, will be as affecting as Tilt or Poldark, or at the very least, strong follow-ups to my award-winning debut, Hatfield
1677.

Check back here and on my Facebook Page for updates.
https://www.facebook.com/LCRWriter/

Happy reading and streaming! Laura

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi

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Wonderful Review

Hatfield 1677

Awards and Accolades

I am thrilled to share the awards and glowing editorial reviews Hatfield 1677 has earned. I hope they encourage those who haven’t yet bought or read my book to do so.

FIRST PLACE 2024 Chanticleer Chaucer Award for pre-1750 Historical Fiction

FIRST PLACE 2024 Chanticleer Fiction Cover Award

SECOND PLACE Feathered Quill Debut Author Award

BREW Seal of Excellence 2024

BREW Readers’Choice Award 2024-2025 Honoree

Spotlyts Story Award 2025

2024 American Writing Awards Finalist, Fiction-Historical

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Kirkus Reviews – Get It

“Rader paints a stirring picture with the subtlest of brush strokes—this is no simplistic struggle between good and evil…Martha, in particular, is an impressively drawn character, deep and complex…overall, this is a moving work, dramatically compelling and historically searching. An engrossing novel that challenges stale narratives of colonial America.”—Kirkus Reviews

Feathered Quill – “Hatfield 1677 is…a romantic epic story reminiscent of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie, in that readers…experience the perils and hardships of a time when…our contemporary creature comforts, did not exist.

“Rader has a significant amount of knowledge about American colonialism and how the English language was spoken during that timeframe in American history. The storyline itself also flows nicely; the work is told using first-person point of views and is linear in its construction, so it makes it easier to follow while also getting immersed in the complicated lives of 1600s European colonial settlers and oppressed Native American populations.

“Rader, because of her ability to perform pain-staking research and to tell a comprehensive tale, fully understands the cultural mores, struggles, and confrontations that shaped the United States of America, no matter how gruesome or unethical the historical events were.

“The most compelling storyteller in Hatfield 1677 is Ashpelon, who is avenging the deaths of his people by taking European community members hostage. With a keen ear for dialogue and an understanding of the mind and how it works, Rader fleshes out what it…must have been like to be living peacefully on your own lands, and for them to be suddenly taken away by opportunistic poachers and devious charlatans who…claim to be friendly but end up being murderous thieves.

“Hatfield 1677 is still successful at keeping the audience engaged and connected with the main characters and their respective sometimes dramatic, sometimes tragic, sometimes thrilling, journeys through the primitive American wilderness.

“Quill says: Rader’s debut novel is an engaging, solid, well-researched piece of writing…”

Literary Titan – 5 Stars

“Hatfield 1677 is a vivid historical novel rooted in the real-life events of King Philip’s War. The story centers on Ben and Martha Waite, a Puritan couple whose lives are ripped apart by conflict between English settlers and Native tribes in colonial Massachusetts. When Martha and her children are captured by Native warriors, Ben sets out on a perilous mission to bring them home. Through alternating perspectives, including that of a Nipmuc sachem, the novel explores survival, love, loss, and the brutal toll of war.

“From the first chapter, where Ben says goodbye to his wife and children before riding off to war, the writing has this warm, steady heartbeat. It’s historical fiction, but it never feels dry or overly formal. Rader’s prose strikes a compelling balance between lyrical and grounded. She captures intimate, sensory moments with remarkable clarity, Martha rinsing her hair in lavender water, Ben riding through the ruins of Deerfield, the tense stillness before a storm. The detail is immersive without becoming excessive. Even in the opening chapter, as Ben says a quiet, emotional goodbye to his daughters, the writing evokes a tenderness and fear that is both deeply human and hauntingly real.

“What really struck me, though, was the moral weight Rader builds into the action. She doesn’t sugarcoat anything. The chapter on the Falls Fight was gutting. When Ben storms a Native camp and ends up sparing a young mother and child, it’s not some triumphant moment; it’s raw and messy. He throws up afterward. His pistol shakes in his hand. He can’t even speak about it when he gets home. It’s that emotional honesty that makes the violence and grief in this book hit so hard. And then you get Ashpelon’s chapter, a Native leader telling a parable about greedy squirrels, and suddenly, the whole war feels even more tragic. It’s layered and thoughtful without being preachy.

“One thing I didn’t expect and ended up loving was Martha’s voice. She’s not just “the wife back home.” She’s smart, she’s tough, and she’s trying to survive just like everyone else. Her scene with Hannah, when they talk about love, abuse, and the impossible choices women face, felt painfully modern. There’s one line, when Martha’s holding her daughter and watching her husband ride off, where she says, “Your fair beard will need a trim when you return.” That crushed me. Because it’s not really about his beard, it’s hope, and fear, and trying not to fall apart.

“Hatfield 1677 is a love story wrapped in a war story, with sharp writing and real emotional stakes. If you’re into historical fiction with heart and teeth or if you just want a book that’ll leave you thinking about it long after the last page, this one’s for you. Fans of Cold Mountain, The Last of the Mohicans, or even Outlander (minus the time travel) would feel right at home. I highly recommend this book to readers who like stories that are as much about people as they are about history.”

Housekeeping

Not sweeping, dusting, churning butter or making soap and candles, but the 21st century kind – cleaning up this website. I realize it isn’t what I want it to be, and I promise I’m going to round up some techie person to help me organize it. Now that my debut novel is published and marketed, I can turn my attention to my website.

Speaking of my debut novel, Hatfield 1677 has won numerous awards and received some fantastic editorial and reader reviews since I last posted. I will list all of those in my next post.

As an author, the pride I take in those awards and reviews is overshadowed by the admiration I have for my characters and the magic that is storytelling. Once a book is published it truly becomes a work apart from the author, and instead belongs to the people whose lives inspired it, and to the readers who experience it.

A Memorable Day

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Regardless of whether or not you are happy about today’s inauguration and another four years under Donald Trump’s reign (sic), you must admit the extreme irony of his inauguration landing on the anniversary and holiday dedicated to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. King believed in equality and justice for all, and advocated tirelessly for those who do not have equal access to education, employment, voting, property and the myriad of rights and privileges most middle to upper middle class white people enjoy.

Donald Trump, on the other hand, is promising that in the first days of his term, he intends to disenfranchise and deport people who came to our country seeking those very things. Who thought the promise written on the plaque of the Statue of Liberty meant something. Who believed America valued “huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

My debut novel, Hatfield 1677, has done very well: with sales exceeding 500 since its release May 21 2024; glowing editorial reviews from Kirkus, Feathered Quill, Brew, American Writing Awards; 4 and 5-star ratings and reviews on Amazon and Goodreads; and most meaningful, personal responses from my readers telling me how much they loved my book, and asking would I please write another soon?

I’ve been trying, and I hoped to use my work in progress as an explanation for why I haven’t posted a blog on this website since October. In all honesty, my work in progress isn’t coming together as quickly as I’d hoped.

In hopes of extending the story of Hatfield 1677 to the descendents of Benjamin and Martha Waite, I’m creating a historical novel set during the Revolutionary War. I have been researching, outlining, and writing various chapters since October. The story of Hatfield 1677, as one reviewer said, is “on its thinnest outer layers, a simple love story.” And that is what made it, at least initially, manageable for me as an author and attractive to readers.

What I’m undertaking now is an epic. Because of what I view as the dire threats of Project 2025, and the coinciding 250th anniversary of our country’s Declaration of Independence, I have imbued my simple sequel with the onus of a magnum opus. A treatise on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I’m becoming an expert on minutemen, militias and regiments; the Loyal Nine and The Sons of Liberty; battles from Bunker Hill to Trenton.

Yet I know what my readers want, what I want, is the human side of the story. The people. The emotions. The motivations. So I’m setting aside my research, for the moment, so I can regroup and restart my novel with what ultimately matters. The men and women who had a vision for a country conceived in liberty, and how each of them played a part. The story of individuals who believed in a common good. Who had a dream.

Especially, today, January 20, 2025.

MY PODCAST INTERVIEW

I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Colin Mustful, owner of History Through Fiction, historian and historical fiction author. https://www.historythroughfiction.com/podcast

Much of his work involves Native American history in the Great Lakes region, so I knew I was in good hands. He did such an insightful and professional job as host. Here’s the 30 minute Apple Podcast about my debut historical fiction novel, Hatfield 1677: the origin of the story, my writing process and challenges, and more. Thank you for listening.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/history-through-fiction-the-podcast/id1526996657?i=1000673016355

JOURNEY BACK IN TIME to Hatfield 1677

Sorry I’ve been out of touch for a while. Marketing my debut novel, Hatfield 1677, is a full-time job, around which I’m trying to squeeze in writing a sequel to it and querying another historical fiction novel to literary agents.

The highlight of this month was definitely my invitation from the Hatfield Historical Society to present Hatfield 1677 at an author event on September 19—the 347th anniversary of the Sept 19, 1677, attack on Hatfield. It was held at the Congregational Church next door to the Hatfield Historical Museum—likely the site of the meeting house in the town and my novel. My daughter and I stayed in the Olde Mill lnn which was once Meekins Mill and millhouse. We drove the road north to Deerfield that Ben followed in his pursuit of the captives and drove up Mount Sugarloaf to the likely spot of Martha’s first night in captivity. Then we continued up the Connecticut River and cut northwest to Burlington, again tracing the Winooski river and Martha and her children’s long journey with Ashpelon’s Algonquian band.

Writing about times past, and then walking in the footsteps of those long gone, was a magical experience. Here are some photos of Hatfield, the book signing, and my journey/the 1677 journey. Enjoy. Clockwise from upper left: Book signing, the Inn, view of the Millcreek falls, Sarah Coleman’s shoe, plaque for Sgt Plympton.

If you have read and enjoyed my novel, please post a rating/review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Here are the links:

AMAZON https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review/?ie=UTF8&channel=glance-detail&asin=B0CWY6Q29S

GOODREADS

https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit/202774714

Ratings can be anonymous, and don’t have to be 5 stars:) 

Hatfield 1677 Updates

HATFIELD 1677 published May 2024

Rankings and Reviews

Amazon Sales in Category of Historical Biographical Fiction

            Top 25 Hot New Release for first 30 days

            Continues to rank in the top 250 in sales

            4.6 Overall Customer Rating

            30 Ratings and 23 Reviews

Goodreads

            4.53 Overall Customer Rating

            32 Ratings and 17 Reviews

Barnes & Noble

            5.0 Overall based on 4 Reviews

Kirkus Reviews excerpts: “Rader paints a stirring picture with the subtlest of brush strokes—this is no simplistic struggle between good and evil…Martha, in particular, is an impressively drawn character, deep and complex…overall, this is a moving work, dramatically compelling and historically searching. An engrossing novel that challenges stale narratives of colonial America.”—Kirkus Reviews

American Writing Awards Review excerpts:

“At its core, Hatfield 1677 showcases Rader’s ability to breathe life into the past. The love and loyalty demonstrated by the characters are rendered with authenticity and depth. From the courageous acts of Benjamin Waite, torn between duty and conscience, to the steadfast determination of Martha as she fights to protect her family in the face of captivity, each character is imbued with a sense of humanity that resonates long after the story ends.

“This story stands out from others in the genre due to its nuanced exploration of heroism and villainy amid conflict. As tensions escalate between the colonists and Algonquian Natives, the lines between right and wrong blur, highlighting the complexities of history. Through the interwoven journeys of Benjamin, Martha, and Ashpelon, readers encounter the stark realities of survival and sacrifice… For anyone seeking an authentic and immersive journey into the past, this book is a must-read.”

4-Star Review Historical Fiction Company Review Excerpts:

“Readers can truly feel the perspectives of both sides. The pain of the Indians as well as suffering of the English captives is palpable…Readers can feel Ben’s impatience and desperation as he perseveres in his battle to rescue his family…the imagery the author employs is evocative and powerful…it is one of the author’s strengths to truly draw readers into the thoughts, feelings and inner landscapes of all characters…Hatfield 1677 was gripping, heartwarming, and at times heartbreaking…”

All Author July Fiction Cover Contest #20 of 194 entries

Podcasts upcoming:

August 3 on Instagram with Annie Jensen, American History Teacher and APUSH leader, @theahtbc

September 14 on YouTube with Colin Mustful, Historian and Author https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHJKB4AoAhu-oRPjDfR8Akw

Book Talks, Book Clubs and Signings (Author available on request)

Page 158 Books Author Event May 16, 2024Page 158 Books Historical Fiction Book Club July 17, 2024Barnes and Noble Huntington Beach Talk, Sales and Signing July 20, 2024Book Club, American History Teachers Pick, August 2024Book Club, Falls Creek HOA, Youngsville, NC August 17, 2024Book Club, General James Moore Chapter DAR, August 21, 2024Book Club, Escondido, CA  with Author Q&A Zoom August 22, 2024Hatfield, MA,  Historical Museum Book Talk and Signing September 19, 2024

Placements in Bookstores and Libraries (ongoing)

Page 158 Books, Wake Forest, NCQuail Ridge Books, Raleigh, NCBarnes and Noble Triangle Town Center, Raleigh, NCBarnes and Noble Huntington Beach, CAComing Soon to Barnes and Noble stores in Escondido and EncinitasWake County, NC LibrariesLittle Free Libraries in Cary and Youngsville, NC, and more to come

BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS

HATFIELD 1677 BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS

What was the most surprising thing you learned from reading Hatfield 1677?Did Hatfield 1677 change your opinion about anything? If so, what? Did Hatfield 1677 evoke any memories or create any connections for you?Did you have a favorite quote or quotes? If so, share which and why.What was one of your favorite scenes from Hatfield 1677?What did you think about the author’s writing style?How long did it take you to “get into” Hatfield 1677? Discuss the author’s use of symbols, metaphors, or imagery.What were the main themes or messages of Hatfield 1677?Who was your favorite character and why?How did Ben, Martha, and/or Ashpelon change or grow throughout the story?In what ways did Stephen, Hannah, or another character impact or influence Ben or Martha?Which character did you relate to or empathize with the most and why?Which character did you dislike or disagree with the most and why?How did the author blend historical facts and fiction in this book? Did  Hatfield 1677 seem accurate and authentic?Choose two characters. Was their relationship believable to you?What questions do you have for the author? You can ask her by emailing her at lcrwriter@gmail.com In your Subject Line, write Question for the Author Hatfield 1677