My rebuttal on Amelia’s Story

**INSPIRED BY ACTUAL EVENTS**

I’ve read some of the reviews posted on Amelia’s Story and I just wanted to take a moment to point some things out to the readers and explain what’s going on in my head.

This story was published in 2013. I was too hasty and knew it, it had errors. But I was busy with life, took a little time away from writing, and never got around to fixing the things that got over looked. Then recently, I started planning a reboot on the book. Until recently, nobody even knew this book existed. I had made a couple of connections, put my head together with theirs and we had ideas for Amelia’s Story to come back to life.

I made the electronic version FREE because I wanted those people to download it and begin working on editing from different views. I honestly didn’t expect what was about to happen. What was free for a couple of people, turned out to a lot of downloads. As of the time that I’m writing this note, over 18,000 copies have been downloaded! Wow, who would have thought. (Yes, the people who I intended to receive it, did, plus some!) Amelia’s Story has since then peaked in the top 100 free Kindle books, and then lingered between 300-400.

Now of course with so many downloads, comes bad reviews. To those who reviewed badly for editing- if I ever thought so many people would have seen the book, I would have gone about it a different way. Yes, you were right. I knew this long before you did. You just happened to buy the free book before I could stop you. However, thank you. It didn’t matter how many bad reviews came in because the number of downloads everyday astonished me. Guess the good over ruled the bad. It was never intended to reach the public in such a way that it did, but I’m not complaining.

As for the people who gave the book bad reviews because they didn’t like the story. Well, there’s a whole other story that you need to know.

“Amelia’s Story” is fictional but inspired by a girl, much like Amelia, and her story is as real as it gets. Her name was Sally Hamilton. This is her story, in fiction to make it a little more interesting to readers. Sally lived in my hometown. When I was younger, my father spent many hours/many days taking care of an old grave. He’d pull weeds, cut grass around it, and bring flowers. One day I asked him why. He told me the story of Sally Hamilton, and I cried. I asked how he knew the story. He told me it has been said from generation to generation, and showed me a local history book that printed her story. Her case was cold. Over 200 years later and never solved. He said it was up to me to continue the story so that everyone in my hometown would know her, and know what happened.

Fast forward about 20 years later when the writing begun. I wanted to tell more than just the people of my hometown. I wanted to tell the world. But, there aren’t enough written details of Sally. I found a couple of reports, but definitely not enough to make a novel out of it. That’s where the fiction part comes in. I made up the town, envisioned my hometown. I made up the plot. But I didn’t make up the ending. I built the character around how generations described Sally. A kind person who would help anyone out. I had to change somethings to make this Amelia’s story and not just Sally’s. Sally was the daughter of a magistrate, Amelia the daughter of an apothecary.

I kept as many details as close to the real story as possible. Sally had a large family, so does Amelia. The evidence found at the crime scene, all found in the real crime scene. Even the old man neighbor who said the wind was howling, that happened in real life. There were 3 trials in the murder of Sally Hamilton- one for insanity, one from testimony told from one friend against the other, and one of perjury. Amelia’s Story has 2 trials; the perjury was just thrown in for a dramatic effect. The rumors of Army men in the area on the night of August 25, 1813 still buzz around my hometown to this day. When talking to the older generations, they believe my final outcome is what happened. Yes, maybe I have fictionalized the killer a bit. What is a good book if the villain isn’t larger than life?

I have read a few of the reviews that said they didn’t think it was believable. Why? Conspiracies have been around since the beginning of time. Why not in this book?

One review in particular said that I didn’t know what I was talking about. This review said that the War of 1812 did not have a “Major General.” Yes, it did. In fact, President Andrew Jackson was one. (No, the character in my book has nothing to do with him- I’m just stating that yes there were Major Generals.) There weren’t many officers of this position but there were some! Amelia’s Story is the fictional version of the true story, so anything is possible in fiction- even having a character be a major general. This reviewer also stated that the war ended in 1814, not 1815. That is arguable. The last battle might have been fought in 1814 but the official end of the war was February 18, 1815. However, it doesn’t matter. I didn’t state an exact date in this book. I started part 3 by saying the spring of 1815 brought an end to the war and Patrick Buchanan home. Yes, in those days it would take a foot soldier months to return home.

A lot have said they didn’t like the ending, wasn’t worth the time it took them to read it. Well I have to agree with them. I don’t like the way Sally Hamilton’s story ended either. Who would? She was an innocent girl taken too soon. There wasn’t a definite outcome, her case is cold. I for one would love to know the truth. Don’t like the ending of the book? I think you wouldn’t like the ending of the true story even more.

For those many people who already downloaded the book, I doubt you’ll be able to see this. If by chance you do, you’ll know why the story is the way it is. And, you’ll possibly forgive an author for having too many errors. I can’t express enough how I never imagined so many would download the book and read it before I had the chance to change it.

For those who haven’t read it and are thinking about downloading the e-book, or purchasing one of the other formats- I hope that my words help you to understand exactly what you’re about to get into. This is inspired by actual events. I hope you like it.

Amelia’s Story is still going strong. I never intended to make money off of it, even now that it has been edited (again) it’s still free for e-book readers. I wrote this book to tell Sally’s story, although in fiction to make it an interesting read. I never once said that this book was my finest work either. But it’s a story so close to my heart.

As for the editing that was done. Spelling, grammar, and writing style have been checked and cleaned up. There are some ‘wording’ that has not changed strictly because the audio version is already in its final stages and I didn’t want the book that much different from the audio.

Get Amelia’s Story FREE here!