Five years ago, my life changed when I discovered 19 American Civil War letters written from my Irish immigrant great, great grandfather Florence Burke to his wife and children back home in West Springfield, MA. I dropped everything to research, write and publish (June, 2016) my first historical fiction novel based on the letters. Last week my husband and daughter accompanied me as I returned to Ireland to promote my book and to thank the Ballinhassig historian who helped me with historical accuracy and knowledge of the Great Potato Famine. It was a trip I’d been dreaming about for years. And it turned better than I’d anticipated. That doesn’t happen very often.

The publication and promotion of my first novel, Yours Faithfully, Florence Burke, has taken me to unexpected places and has created opportunities that are entirely new and out of my comfort zone. I’ve been thrown into a world filled with public speaking engagements. I thought I was becoming more comfortable with presenting, promoting and interviewing. But then the NPR radio interview happened…
Let me explain the background for this interview. I was invited to Milwaukee to the largest Irish Festival in the Nation, and their local public radio station, Lake Effect, offered to interview me about my Irish-based novel. I knew I would be in Toronto with my family that week, but the producers assured me it wasn’t a problem because they said I could speak to the interviewer using Skype. Cool… or so I thought.
Fast forward to the day of the interview. I am sitting in our Airbnb looking out at the skyline of Toronto trying to imagine the types of questions the NPR interviewer may ask me. With my interview less than an hour away, my husband checked the Wi-Fi signal and noticed that it is was not very strong. He suggested we go to a quiet café instead. Hurriedly we pack our things and head to a crepe café—my three children along with us, eager for breakfast. The August day was bright and warm, and the outside patio was filling with patrons. I went inside and found a quiet spot in the corner. My husband readied my phone and checked the Wi-Fi signal and headphones, and announced that I was good to go. He then left to join my children on the sunny deck. I suddenly became anxious with anticipation. With one minute to go, I heard a loud crash from outside and to my horror I saw dozens of people clamoring through the door. They were escaping a sudden downpour and subsequent thunderstorm that had come out of nowhere! Oh, Gosh. I looked up to see my family heading toward me with glistening hair and plates of soggy crepes in their hands. They want to sit with me? No, I can’t do this! I rise from my chair just as I hear my phone ring and I run to the women’s bathroom at the back of the restaurant. Did I mention the bathroom is located right next to a huge TV screen that has been turned on to entertain the large crowd now gathered in the restaurant? Oh, and the summer Olympics are in full swing, and they are broadcasting a soccer match.
I reach the “washroom” and to my relief it’s vacant. Just then a smooth talking woman is speaking to me through my headphones… “Are you ready to begin?” Before I can answer there is a loud knock on the bathroom door, but I ignore it and commence my interview. I am sweating profusely as I listen to her questions and struggle to form coherent responses. Now someone is actually pounding on the door. I can’t ignore it anymore especially when I hear a young woman’s voice calling through the door that she is going to be sick. I take a deep breath and continue responding to an easy question, hoping to drown out the sounds of the blaring cheers that have just occurred as I step out into the main dining room. A scored goal—hurray. I spot my family still seated at my corner table and instinctively head there with my phone and headphones on trying to catch the next question. My husband assumes my interview is over so he bellows, “Can I get you a mimosa?” I shake my head “no” and rush toward the door just as the room is filled with sounds of loud Olympic elation. I conduct the last of the interview in the rain. Phew, all’s well. I had done it. I could not recall one question I was asked and I couldn’t remember anything I had said, but it was over. I thought to myself, how badly could it have gone anyway?
Well, it turns out it was a mess. I sounded like a Munchkin from “The Wizard of Oz”, I was clearly a nervous wreck, and worse yet, I had answered some questions completely wrong. I will admit that sometimes I confuse fact and fiction, but this was ridiculous. I stated that I found the exact town where my great grandfather was from, but in fact, Ballinhassig was the perfect “fictional” town, for I later discovered that he actually lived 80 Kilometers west of that village. The most important question I had been asked is whether I’d altered my great, great grandfather’s Civil War letters or if I’d used them verbatim in the book. Well, I couldn’t believe I was listening to myself saying that I used the letters word for word and that I had fought with the editor about this but I finally won out. Who was this crazy person? I DID modify the letters after a long battle with my editor, even though the initial drafts used a photo copy of the letters and a literal transcription. But, in the end I agreed with her that the changes were in the best interest of my fictional book (and the fact that several of the letters were unreadable or torn). Why didn’t I just say I took a creative license to fill in my great, great grandfather’s words where there were gaps? They are still 85-90 percent his own words!! I swore to myself then and there that I will never let this interview out (after the initial releases in Milwaukee) because I would never want to mislead my readers.
Well, several months have passed since the interview fiasco, and I’ve developed a new perspective. Instead of being ashamed and anxious about my disastrous interview, I am trying to see the humor in it and just post the story of what happened. What a learning experience this was for me! I will NEVER allow myself to be so unorganized and distracted before an interview—and I will always think about the REAL facts before answering (so as not to confuse fact and fiction like I did in Milwaukee).
I have attached the article and interview in its entirely (16 minutes) for your listening pleasure. I don’t recommend listening to the whole interview; there are much better things to do with 16 minutes of your life. But I think you will get the point in the first few minutes– I was talking away with utter abandon to fact or true history. It’s amazing how the mind works in situations of stress and adversity. I will do better next time! I hope to have a second chance at an NPR radio interview.
Ellen B. Alden

This June will be the first-year anniversary of the publication of my novel, Yours Faithfully, Florence Burke. When I reflect over this past year I realize I’ve been incredibly fortunate to meet people who’ve offered their guidance and support to help promote my book. But how did this happen? The word that best describes my experience is serendipitous.

Bob had to work two other jobs in order to keep his bookstore open. But his love for books and community made him persevere and eventually he moved the Spirit of ’76 to a better location in Marblehead. With this success he bought a second store in 1988—The Book Rack in Newburyport, and then he purchased Andover Bookstore in 1992. The Andover Bookstore is the second oldest bookstore in the country, founded in 1809. The Hugo bookstores celebrated 50 years of selling books on Feb. 15, 2015.

Here are my writing/promoting objectives for 2017:

*Get 100 reviews on Amazon this year- this may be challenging to attain, but if people who have read and liked my book are willing to take the time to do it; I will attain this goal! Here is the link to Amazon-> http://amzn.to/1OkbJAl   I appreciate every single review!! Thank you.

Since this is my first book endeavor, I have no idea how to measure its success. I had big dreams of instant fame; rising to the NY Times Best Seller list, finding my book among Oprah’s favorite Things, receiving calls from screenwriters, directors and producers begging to turn Yours Faithfully, Florence Burke into a major motion picture, and the granddaddy of them all, being notified that my historical fiction novel has been nominated and chosen as a Pulitzer Prize winner! A girl can dream, right?  



I am heading to West Springfield, MA next week to present my historical fiction Yours Faithfully, Florence Burke. However, this is no ordinary “author talk.” I am returning to the very place where my first generation Irish great, great grandparents settled. It is very special to share my interpretation of the events, the people, and history that took place in this small town.  Many people living in West Springfield at this time contributed to my great, great grandparent’s history, and now I am excited to meet some of the descendants.

As readers of my blog know, these letters are the basis of my novel. I decided on historical FICTION so I could make the story come to life in a way that was not inhibited by pure fact. When I began writing, I used the letters in their original form. I even included photos of each letter next to the transcription in each chapter. I was determined to keep them verbatim. But some letters are very dark, or ripped or even illegible—so difficult to decipher and carry the attention of the reader.