Illusions of Clarity

There are some parts of my life where moments of clarity are very fleeting. That is especially true of my nonfiction writing avocation - can't call it a career as it certainly isn't a money maker - more a question of limiting my cost. Part of my reason for retiring at 61 was to spend more time researching and writing.

The challenge is that I have far more ideas about books than I will ever have time to write. To take the The Major League Pennant Races of 1916 as an example, research on that book began in earnest in the summer of 2003. The manuscript was finally sent to the publisher in February of 2008 and it will probably be published sometime the first quarter of 2009. Of course almost all of my work on that was while I was still working full time, but still researching and writing a book takes time, a lot of time.

I have had a lot of ideas about what comes next, but little clarity. However the other day everything seemed to fall into place. This is probably an illusion so I thought I better write about it while the moment lasts. At present I am working on two things, the New Jersey section of the pioneer project, which I have written about before, and the Civil War letters of William Lloyd.

William Lloyd was a soldier in the 33rd New Jersey, the subject of my first book, "The Mutinous Regiment." One of the ironies of writing about the Civil War is that while Civil War soldiers wrote innumerable letters only a small percentage of them survive. By probably what is no more than chance, about 50 of Lloyd's letters survive and were a major source for my book.

Lloyd's letters are incredibly honest, he never hesitates to say what is on his mind. The best example is when his wife, Mary asks if she can go out with some men, Lloyd wrote back (this is almost a quote) "If you go out without anyone other than Briggs (brother-in-law) or Jeff (brother) I will disown you forever. I may as well as speak plain." Incredibly Lloyd then follows those harsh words with "Write again soon."

About two years ago a close friend introduced me to her God-son, who was then a junior in high school. I gave him some help on a Civil War research project and asked him if he would be interested in transcribing Lloyd's letters as part of editing them for publication. He was and did a great job before going off to college in September. So now I am at work on putting together a manuscript including writing background and introductory information on the letters as well as explanatory notes on the letters.

There is also more research to do on mysterious aspects of Lloyd's early life as well as his post war life. Lloyd lived until 1928 and his pension file is over 250 pages long! I hope to finish this sometime next year and then start looking for a publisher. I already have a title - I May as Well Speak Plain - The Civil War Letters of William Lloyd.

The pioneer project that I mentioned earlier has a deadline of April 1, 2009. This project is to consist of a compilations of histories of the most important teams in base ball's amateur era, roughly 1855 to 1870. I have already written first drafts for two Newark teams and one Paterson team and knew I had to do one about the Irvington Club. Looking at what else might be out there, I found the Champion Club of Jersey City plus the Resolutes of Elizabeth. Looking at all of this as well as some other clubs made me realize that there is enough material here to write a book. So after finishing the Lloyd letters and the pioneer project, I will work on expanding the pioneer project material into a book.

I had thought about such a book before, but it always seemed like it would become just a recitation of teams in different towns throughout New Jersey. As such it would be tedious to write and even more tedious to read. But now I think that there is enough in the way of themes there to write a book that will be interesting to read and will record the history of these long forgotten players and teams. As I say this may only be an illusion, no doubt in days or weeks I will have send thoughts, but for the moment I have clarity and it is a wonderful thing!