Ellen B. Alden

Author of Yours Faithfully, Florence Burke

 Twitter Facebook
  • Home
  • Book
  • About
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Media Room
  • Contact

Subscribe to RSS feed

  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments

Recent Posts

  • It Takes Two! The art of collaboration
  • Jumping into a children’s picture book…
  • Leaving a piece of my heart in Ireland
  • Florence Burke is heading home (again!)
  • THE GREAT FAMINE ROADSHOW

Archives

A window into the past reveals Irish love, bravery, and resilience…

June 13, 2016 by Ellen Alden Leave a Comment

box small.JPG

Now that my book is released and the book launch is just days away, I wanted to give a “sneak peak” into the letters that my Irish immigrant ancestor wrote to his wife and children…His words are heartfelt and genuine. His motivation for joining the war was not political nor for personal pride; it was to benefit his family. Florence Burke joined the Union Army as a “substitute.” In other words he took the draft of a wealthy man in exchange for cash and a plot of land. He made a desperate gamble because he knew that owning land would be a life-changer for his family. Did his gamble pay off? (You’ll have to read the book to find out!)

Continue Reading...

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: County Cork, family history, Great Potato Famine, Irish, Writing

That’s it! I’m self-publishing!

May 8, 2016 by Ellen Alden 14 Comments

Ellen w book small.jpg

I’ve never been good at waiting. After all, how do you move forward if you’re stuck in one place? My debut novel, a historical fiction entitled Yours Faithfully, Florence Burke, has been caught in “publishing purgatory” for seven months now, and I’m frustrated with the snail’s pace that Literary Agents and publisher’s move. 

There has been interest in my book; in fact it has been sitting on the desk (probably on the bottom of a huge stack of other manuscripts) at a literary agent in London and New York and at a small publisher in Boston. But I can’t get an answer from them! A simple “yes” or “no” is all I am asking for so I can plan my next move. I prefer straight up rejections (and I’ve gotten plenty of those).

Continue Reading...

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: County Cork, Florence Burke, Great Potato Famine, Irish

 Fact, Fiction, or Maybe a Little of Both?

June 21, 2015 by Ellen Alden 10 Comments

Historic letter, history How should I preserve the historic letters of my great-great grandfather and how can I best share them with others?

A Biography? Hmmmm.

Initially I thought about writing a non-fiction book, a biography on my ancestor’s life. I pictured myself gathering data, creating a time-line, a family tree, and highlighting the exciting events. I would include the letters in their entirety so that my family, especially my children, could read them and appreciate the struggles their Irish ancestors faced while Immigrating to America. However, as I collected information and researched my great-great grandfather’s past, I knew non-fiction would not be the appropriate genre for me to express his life story.

Continue Reading...

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Ellen Alden, Florence Burke, Great Potato Famine, Yours Faithfully

Copyright © 2023 Ellen Alden