Interview with author Lars Hedbor

 

Welcome Readersto another installment of our author interview series. Today we have thepleasure of chatting with Lars, author of multiple historical fiction books.

JMR-Welcometo the Books Delight, Lars. Tell our readers where you live, what you do forfun and what does the perfect day look like?

LH- I’m aresident of the Pacific Northwest, which can be an awkward locale for anovelist of the American Revolution, but there is so much to do here that Idon’t ever see myself returning to New England. 

I have entirelytoo many interests, spanning the gamut from astronomy to linguistics to gourmetcooking, but at the moment, I’m taking a great deal of pleasure in restoringantique clocks. 

A perfect day forme is one spent with my exceptionally patient wife, perhaps on the Oregon coastfor some time on the beach and capped off with a decadent meal.

JMR-What’syour favorite historical time period? Why?

LH- As I’ve nowwritten seventeen novels set during the era of the American Revolution, it’sdifficult for me to claim a different historical time period, but the era ofthe early space race, culminating in Armstrong’s first step onto the Moon wouldhave to be a close second.

JMR-Whois your favorite historical figure? Why? If you could ask them one question,what would it be?

LH- I find thetragic early death of Joseph Warren at Bunker Hill both heartbreaking andincredibly compelling.  He was both anearly ideological leader of the independence movement and a fearless militaryman.  I am convinced that had he lived,we would refer to him in the same breath as figures such as Washington andJefferson, and would marvel at the very thought of the Revolution succeedingwithout him.

As for whatquestion I’d want to ask him, I think that the key one is why he was soreckless with his life in the Battle of Bunker Hill.  He was far more valuable to the cause of theRevolution as a living participant than he is as a nearly-forgotten martyr.

JMR-How did you come to be a writer of historical fiction?

LH- I’ve alwayslearned best from historical fiction, and when a friend kept telling me abouthow important the Carolinas were in the Revolution, I asked him to recommendsome good historical fiction of the Revolution set there.

The only book hewas able to find was, frankly, not particularly readable, and when I finallyput it aside, I uttered those famous last words – “I think I can do bettermyself.”  I sat down and wrote The Declaration, which has beenwell-received by readers ever since.

Over 3,500 pagesand seventeen novels later, I’m pretty sure that I have achieved the goal ofimproving upon what I had read at my friend’s recommendation.

JMR-We are all affected by the highs and lows in our lives. How has your lived lifeinformed your writing?

LH- What a great,challenging question!  My early booksvery often featured characters who were struggling with an absent parent –whether away at war or dead – and I realized a few years ago that this waslikely not just due to the sad frequency with which such things happened in theRevolutionary era, but also because I was writing them in the wake of my ownfather’s passing. 

Anotherconsistent theme in my books is that I write women who are spirited, andperhaps a tiny bit anachronistically independent-minded.  It is no coincidence that I grew up in ahousehold with three strong-willed sisters, my grandmother, aunt, andexceptionally independent-minded mother. I can only write what I know when it comes to the characters ofwomen.  I think that my favorite of thesecharacters is probably Louise from TheDarkness, whom we meet as she is breaking the jaw of a handsy British soldier.

JMR-Did you visit anyone of the places in your book? Where did you feel closest toyour characters?

LH- I grew up inthe setting of my novel The Prize,which is set on the shores of Vermont’s Lake Champlain.  Hearing the legends of that conflict’s reachinto that remote corner of the American Colonies deeply informed that book.

However, a laternovel, The Convention, coincidentallyhas a scene that takes place on the opposite shore of Lake Champlain, at FortTiconderoga, as the British (through a superhuman effort) managed to placecannon on a hill overlooking that then-American stronghold.  Standing on the site where that cannonemplacement was located, looking down past the stout walls of thatfortification, I could vividly picture the exultation of the British troops asthey watched the Americans hastily abandon that outpost.

JMR-Lars, tell us about your series, TalesFrom a Revolution.

JG- As Imentioned, I got started by wanting to explore the Revolution as it unfolded inthe South, and from the very beginning, I had a vision of writing a differentnovel for each of the colonies, as well as some of the future states. 

I have just oneof the original thirteen colonies that declared independence left to write –Delaware – and I’ve been able to bring fresh attention to the contributions ofthe Spanish, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), Haitians, French, and even British andLoyalists to the overall story of our national origins. 

My books havebeen lauded both for careful attention to historical accuracy and for theircompelling storytelling, and I’m very grateful to the many readers who’vereached out to tell me what one or another of the volumes in the series havemeant to them.

With the 250thanniversary of the Declaration of Independence swiftly approaching in 2026, Iam very excited to be ready with a whole shelf of books for readers to diveinto as their interest in the Revolutionary era is piqued by the associatedcelebrations.

JMR-Whatprojects do you have in the pipeline?

LH- After I getmy Maryland book (The Word, focusingon the role of evangelical Methodism in the early abolitionist movement) outlater this year, I’ll be turning to Delaware, which will round out the originalthirteen colonies in my collection. 

With that done, Ianticipate casting a somewhat wider web to continue the series, continuingfurther down the path of writing about places with unexpected connections tothe Revolution.  My most recent release, The Powder, was a great example of thissort of title in my series, set in Bermuda and focused on the 1775 BermudaPowder Raid.

However, at somepoint, I will run out of locales that demand to have stories of theRevolutionary era written, and when I get there, I plan to turn to a new seriesexploring the early Republic era of American history, from about 1815 to 1850.  It was a time when our nation was busilyinventing itself at every turn, and it’s one that has gotten woefully littleattention in historical fiction.

JMR-Tell our readers how to find you on social media and the web.

LH- I am mostactive on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Lars.D.H.Hedbor), with dailypostings of events in the Revolution of the date, as well as announcements,interesting articles, and the like.  Youcan find my own Web site at https://larsdhhedbor.com, where you can sign up fora free e-book to try out the series, as well as find book club and educatorresources, buy signed copies, and see how the whole series relates, both ingeography and time.

JMR-What question were you hoping I’d ask but didn’t?

LH- I lovesharing the most rewarding moments so far of my career as a novelist of theRevolution.  At the top of the list isseeing my book The Siege adapted as astage play, and then further adapted for a virtual performance during thepandemic. 

Watching skilledactors breathe life into characters that had originated in my imagination wasboth awe-inspiring and humbling.  Theyfound so much more in my characters than I had put on the page, and it’s amemory that I’ll treasure all my life.

Close behindthat, though, was the experience of speaking via a Zoom call with a gymnasiumfull of several hundred schoolchildren. They asked the best questionsof me, and seemed to really enjoy learning a little bit more about theRevolution than what they might have heard in their classes.

JMR- Thank you,Lars, for stopping by. Your books look really great! Readers, I’ve included alink to Lars’s book below. Please be sure to check it out.