Cover Reveal & a Trailer for John Crew & Sarah Gatley

I've been so busy the past week, I find myself realizing I didn't do things at the oddest times.

Oh well, it gives me something to write about on my blog.

I am winding down the final editing changes for Metes & Bounds II: David Crews, Ancestors & Descendants. I decided this week to take the beginning chapters on John Crew & Sarah Gatley, the Stanleys, and David Crew and wives Mary Stanley and Mary Ladd-Magee (all of which are greatly expanded from the 1st edition published in the early 90s) and publish those in a smaller work which will be useful to descendants of John & Sarah, but who have no or only minimal interest in David Milton Crews.

For individuals descending from David Milton Crews, these chapters are included in the larger volume. It is not necessary to publish both books.

I also made the decision to published both volumes in a color version, and a black and white version.The black and white is so much cheaper, but the color version is a beautiful book.

I am still on target for a Thanksgiving 2014 release date, if not before. Below is the trailer for The Place of Our Abode: John Crew & Sarah Gatley. My trailers are also on my website, and ordering information is coming soon!

Changes to Metes & Bounds II

In my last post I said I would detail some of the changes to the 2nd edition of Metes & Bounds II: David Crews, Ancestors & Descendants.

One of the major differences will be the listing of descendants. I will only detail five generations past David. First, I am concerned about the amount of information available and the risk of identity theft. This cutoff effectively eliminates anyone still alive. I also don't want to have to find everyone and get them to sign a disclaimer stating they are alright with having their information in the book. Twenty years ago those things weren't necessary. Today, unfortunately, they are.

Also, twenty more years is a lot to add to a book that is already almost 300 pages long. I am adding more information on the Stanleys (they now have their own chapter), rounding out David Crew's chapter (the father of David Milton), and adding quite a bit more on David Milton himself, including some more information on his Bedford County years, his Washington County years, his early years in Boonesborough, and his service in Forbes Expedition in 1758. That takes up space as well.

The information on the early Quaker families has been expanded, too. When I wrote the first book, I threw this stuff in at the last minute because I had just found it. I want to include it in a broader more readable context.

I will have more maps (Bedford County, Forbes Expedition movements, etc.), more pictures (which as of now are in color), a new numbering system (Microsoft Word makes it impossible to do an outline system like I did before), a new cover (see my previous post), and I will be producing a trailer which should be available in the next month for viewing.

In addition to all that, I am updating as much misinformation or adding to missing information as possible. I appreciate any and all help in that regard, and as always I will credit information to individuals even if it is in a footnote at the bottom of the page. I still believe in sourcing this information. (It's one reason I'm so frustrated with the Stanleys and early Crews families at the moment.)

More to come real soon! Keep checking back, or better yet, sign up to follow my page through email and you'll be notified of updates as they occur.

Negligent Nelly or Project Polly

Oh my! I could be a Negligent Nelly. After all, I haven't posted on here since June.

On the other hand, I could argue I've been a Project Polly. I have been busy retyping the manuscript on David Crews as well as working on my second novel, Breaking Promises. In the meanwhile I've worked my part-time job at Leapforce and held the fort down. Well, not the fort, but the house. But down is about all I can say. Something has to give when a person is this busy. I've cooked meals, washed laundry, and chauffeured children around town and beyond. What have I not done? Housework. Oh well, it will keep. (See the picture on the right. Even the supplies are keeping.) 

Oh, and I haven't posted on here. I knew there was something else. 

Another reason for my negligence is the fact that all my smaller files, none of which are large enough to be put into books, are on my zip discs and I am still in need of a zip drive to access those files since my other broke. (Actually, it burned up. But I caught it before it burned the fort, er, the house down. Or, at least in this instance, the kitchen table.) I am hoping to purchase one soon, but I have had other things at the moment more pressing financially. As soon as I get one I can pull together much of what I have on various families and begin posting small snippets. I can also get back to working on my third Metes & Bounds book about John McQueen and Nancy Crews. It is finished except for the chapters on the Civil War which I need the files to access.

In the meantime, I have been not only working on my second novel, Breaking Promises, but have also been heavily into retyping my second Metes & Bounds book on David Crews. After much debate with myself, thinking of various alternatives, and changing my mind a thousand times, I have decided to rework a great deal of the manuscript. I was originally going to print it as is and then do an additional addendum, but I couldn't stomach publishing the original with mistakes. I'm sorry. I tried, but I couldn't do it. Nor could I see any sense, with the amount of new information to include on both David Crews (son of John) and David Crews (son of David), in publishing an addendum which would be choppy and not cohesive, and which would require future buyers to purchase two books. For all those individuals who purchased the first book, if you choose to purchase this one as well you won't be disappointed. 

I won't address or change much in the early families - Leads, Crews, Stanleys, or Magees. Honestly, working with the early John Crewses gives me a headache. All I want to do is reach for a bottle of aspirin (which I can't have because of my prior history with ulcers) and lay down for a nap. Trying to make sense of the others isn't much better. I have read a lot on the internet, some of which contradicts what I wrote, but no one lists their sources. Without sources, I won't change what I have. I will add footnotes when I can, but I can't spend a lot of time on these families right now. In order to do those people and families justice I would have to dig in their and really work the lines. Add that to my list of things to do.

The most changes will occur with David Crew Sr., father of David Crews, born 1742. I have found out quite a bit more on both men, as well as some original records, and I have fleshed out the history around them. David Crews was in Forbes Expedition, and it appears he was also at the Siege of Fort Boonesborough. I was not aware of the expedition when I wrote the first book, and I wasn't sure he was at the siege either so I did not include history pertinent to those events. I will include that in this edition, as well as some other related information I have uncovered in my research. 

The pictures in the second edition will be in color, and I have included a few more that I did not put in the first edition due to cost. It will also have a new cover, some additional maps, and a new and easier to read typeset. (I was surprised how difficult the first edition is to read. The print quality is so much better now than it was twenty years ago.) 

I hope to have the book ready on Amazon for an October availability. 

Look for a cover reveal in the next few weeks, followed by a trailer reveal before the book is available. 

Now, forgive Writing Wanda, for she has to get back to work.