Howdy folks. Have not been on here in a long time, but I wanted to update you on my book project.
I'm turning my masters' thesis on the Gutierrez-Magee Expedition of 1812-13 into a book. It's looking good right now. I'm 120 pages through, probably 1/3 of the way. Goal is 300 pages, and I think the second draft will involve some tightening up. As you may or may not know, I'm currently in Afghanistan, deployed. Working on the book in my off hours. All my research is on my computer and backed up on an external hard drive. I have the entire Bexar Archives digitized, along with various other collections of letters, papers, etc. that I've built up over the past 3 years.
I think this book will shake up a lot of stuff. I'm basically re-writing the origins of the expedition. Most historians and even the Handbook of Texas have said that the Madison Administration was behind the expedition, although a key historian who disagrees is the editor of the James Madison papers. Anyway, I've put ever letter ever written about the expedition into a spreadsheet and can show based on timing of the letters that it's nonsense. Furthermore, I found that the expedition was being organized long before Gutirrez, Magee, or the American special agent even showed up on the frontier. I've found some interesting stuff on who was really behind it. It includes elements within Texas and also former Aaron Burr conspirators, who are basically doing in 1812 what they failed to do in 1806.
The thing that will really shake up Texas history as taught is all the connections I'm finding between the 1812 revolution and the 1836 one. Like people who were among Austin's "Old 300" who were in fact Texas settlers going back to BEFORE AUSTIN WAS BORN.
Anyway, I'm hoping to get draft 1 done while here, then take a month or so off and finish up draft 2 when I get back and get it to a friend who's a literary agent who can pitch to publishers. I've already turned one publisher down. Their time schedule was not feasible and the focus of the book was pre-determined, whereas I'm going where the facts lead me.
I'm turning my masters' thesis on the Gutierrez-Magee Expedition of 1812-13 into a book. It's looking good right now. I'm 120 pages through, probably 1/3 of the way. Goal is 300 pages, and I think the second draft will involve some tightening up. As you may or may not know, I'm currently in Afghanistan, deployed. Working on the book in my off hours. All my research is on my computer and backed up on an external hard drive. I have the entire Bexar Archives digitized, along with various other collections of letters, papers, etc. that I've built up over the past 3 years.
I think this book will shake up a lot of stuff. I'm basically re-writing the origins of the expedition. Most historians and even the Handbook of Texas have said that the Madison Administration was behind the expedition, although a key historian who disagrees is the editor of the James Madison papers. Anyway, I've put ever letter ever written about the expedition into a spreadsheet and can show based on timing of the letters that it's nonsense. Furthermore, I found that the expedition was being organized long before Gutirrez, Magee, or the American special agent even showed up on the frontier. I've found some interesting stuff on who was really behind it. It includes elements within Texas and also former Aaron Burr conspirators, who are basically doing in 1812 what they failed to do in 1806.
The thing that will really shake up Texas history as taught is all the connections I'm finding between the 1812 revolution and the 1836 one. Like people who were among Austin's "Old 300" who were in fact Texas settlers going back to BEFORE AUSTIN WAS BORN.
Anyway, I'm hoping to get draft 1 done while here, then take a month or so off and finish up draft 2 when I get back and get it to a friend who's a literary agent who can pitch to publishers. I've already turned one publisher down. Their time schedule was not feasible and the focus of the book was pre-determined, whereas I'm going where the facts lead me.