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Sally M. Chetwynd

Goodreads Author

Website

https://www.brasscastlearts.com

Genre

Fiction, Historical Fiction, Nonfiction

Influences

Ruth Moore (1903–1989)
Kenneth Roberts (1885-1957)
Nevil Shute (1899-196 ...more

Member Since

August 2014

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/brasscastle

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Sally Chetwynd has been writing since she could hold a pencil. As an ambitious eight-year-old, she ruthlessly plagiarized her favorite horse stories. Since then, her writing has improved in quality and originality (!).

During the Bicentennial of the American Revolution, she discovered living history. Wow! History didn’t have to be dusty and dry? Who knew? She got to play dress-up, camp out in exotic locations, and wear out reproduction shoes and her lungs playing the fife in every parade on the East Coast. She met her husband on the battlefield. Talk about a way to find someone who shares a common interest...

After dubbing around with a novel about the relationship between a Civil War reenactor and a museum employee, Sally finally published " Sally Chetwynd has been writing since she could hold a pencil. As an ambitious eight-year-old, she ruthlessly plagiarized her favorite horse stories. Since then, her writing has improved in quality and originality (!).

During the Bicentennial of the American Revolution, she discovered living history. Wow! History didn’t have to be dusty and dry? Who knew? She got to play dress-up, camp out in exotic locations, and wear out reproduction shoes and her lungs playing the fife in every parade on the East Coast. She met her husband on the battlefield. Talk about a way to find someone who shares a common interest...

After dubbing around with a novel about the relationship between a Civil War reenactor and a museum employee, Sally finally published "Bead of Sand" in 2013, thanks to the prodding and generosity of fellow author Paul Wankowicz, a WWII veteran who has published two WWII aviation adventures – “The Ulysses Flight” and “Dakota Flight.”

In September 2018, Sally released "The Sturgeon's Dance," set in rural Maine in the 1980s. An ethereal entity links the two main characters, who struggle to discover this entity and the meaning of its influence on them as they each sort their emotional baggage.

During work on "The Sturgeon's Dance," Sally began research for an historical novel about cadet life in the US Naval Academy during the Civil War. Fate, however, had other plans. Two months before "The Sturgeon's Dance" went to print, elements of that story took charge and dictated Sally's next endeavor - a non-fiction work exploring the murder of a police officer and the immediate aftermath and long-term effects on his family and community. Working title: "Beyond End of Watch."

Also in the works is a novel about Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish council who put Jesus on trial. Sally has been curious for decades: What was Nicodemus's "take" on the whole Jesus phenomenon? Unlike his fellow councilors, he didn't dismiss Jesus as just another crackpot. (Having a blast researching all aspects of ancient Jewish life!)

Other writing (some of it published) includes poems, ballads, professional reports, essays, articles, blogs, and the occasional short story. In 2008, one such short story demanded (yes: demanded - it wasn’t in the least bit polite) to be written down - “The Flag on the Great Man’s Breast” - in which a ghost flag that lives at Lincoln’s Tomb gives a brief biography of Lincoln.

Aside writing (from which she has not become either rich or famous - yet!), Sally works at whatever comes to hand through Brass Castle Arts (her business name), which includes editing, computer drafting, graphics, marketing content, musical performances, and living history programs. Check out the blog on her website at https://www.brasscastlearts.com. She also issues a monthly newsletter called "Natterings & Noodlings," a politics-free stroll through topics that pique her interest.

She and husband Phillip live in Wakefield, MA, USA.
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Popular Answered Questions

When you began drafting, did you use a crowquill and India ink on starched linen?

Sally M. Chetwynd When I began professionally, no to the quill or India ink. If I remember correctly from a book on the history of drafting instruments, the pen and nib…moreWhen I began professionally, no to the quill or India ink. If I remember correctly from a book on the history of drafting instruments, the pen and nib was replaced with technical drafting pens in the 1940s or so. We were using Leroy and Koh-i-noor technical drafting pens, and ink that would not clog the finer tips was available as well. But with my Civil War reenacting interests, I have gone backward, and I now make reproduction maps of the period using pens with replaceable nibs and India ink.

As far as drafting on linen, yes, I have done that professionally. It used to be, and maybe still is, required that plans to be registered at the Massachusetts Land Court had to be drawn on linen. It is an exercise in careful drafting, because once the ink is applied, it seeps into the fibers of the linen fabric and cannot be erased. This is an advantage, because - short of burning - the image on a linen map can't be destroyed. Drop it in the mud, and you can wash it and dry it, and the image remains. During the Civil War, maps were sometimes photographed and then printed onto linen or muslin. This allowed multiple copies of the same map to be distributed to officers engaging in the same campaign, saving the time it took to (otherwise) hand-draw many copies, and the maps were far more durable and could be stuffed into a pocket.

Today's linen is not treated with starch, but with a kind of gelatin, which is dry to the touch. (I don't know if the fabric used for maps during the Civil War was treated with anything - maybe a kind of starch was applied, as you suggest - to keep ink linework from blurring upon reaching the fibers, which is the purpose of the gelatin treatment. The gelatin can be washed out, although it is not necessary. My mother (age 92) told me that when she was a girl, growing up during the Depression, one of her uncles worked with engineers (he may have been one) and he would bring home pieces of drafting linen that were too small for the standard size drawings the company used. My mother and her sisters would wash the gelatin from the linen, then trim the fabric to size and hem it to make very fine handkerchiefs, for plain use or for delicate embroidery.(less)

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I know this is a reply to an old post, but where do you source your prepared linen or do you prepare it yourself? If you do it yourself, how do you prepare it? Thank you!

Sally M. Chetwynd I've been out of the civil engineering industry for over ten years, so have not worked with treated drafting linen in that time. The stuff was getting…moreI've been out of the civil engineering industry for over ten years, so have not worked with treated drafting linen in that time. The stuff was getting hard to find then; we had been importing it from England - quite pricey.(less)

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Sally M. Chetwynd’s books

Average rating: 4.5 · 2 ratings · 3 reviews · 3 distinct works

	The Sturgeon’s Dance 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bead of Sand 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2013	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Sturgeon’s Dance 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Sally M. Chetwynd's Blog

"The Sturgeon's Dance" is live!

At long last, my second novel "The Sturgeon's Dance" is in print! It's exciting, of course, but it has engaged me in a most curious series of events that has launched me in a whole 'nother direction.

I had intended to write an historical novel next, set during the American Civil War at the US Naval Academy, but "The Sturgeon's Dance" has shoved me most unceremoniously in the direction of non-fictio Read more of this blog post »

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Published on October 01, 2018 09:28

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Sally’s Recent Updates

Sally is now following Diana Gabaldon Author of Outlander (Outlander, #1)
Oct 28, 2021 10:19AM · like
Sally commented on Diana’s update " I think the scene that has most stayed green in my mind is not in the first book, but in a later one. Jamie and Claire are at the Fraser homestead, an ...more " Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars Diana Gabaldon shared a note and highlight from Outlander (Outlander, #1) by Diana Gabaldon (Goodreads Author) See all Diana’s notes and highlights for this book ACKNOWLEDGMENTS If you’ve enjoyed Outlander—and, perhaps, the seven books (and assorted novella) that follow it—you might want to explore the new ground of the ninth book in the series, GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE, which will be released (the printing gods willing…) on November 23rd. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57700492-go-tell-the-bees-that-i-am-gone Thank you for reading my books!
Oct 28, 2021 10:18AM