Another Little Literary Child

11:47 PM

*the phone gives an annoying ring*

*Catherine steps over the scattered notes on the cave floor and answers*

Hello? Oh hi Reader! Yes, it has been quite a spell. I am sorry, I....yes, I have been kept quite busy. Rose has been recovering from her Plot Surgery a lot slower than we hoped. Hold on, let me put you on speaker, I can barely hear you.

*Catherine hits a button*

Now, what was it you were asking?

Reader: I heard that you're expecting another literary child. Is that so?

*Catherine smiles*: That's right. Kinda a surprise actually...

Diva: Ugh, another one?!

Reader: Really, Diva? Couldn't you have used your cell phone?

Diva: No! Mom took it again. And really Catherine, don't you already have too many children already? Can't you control that muse of yours?

*Catherine turns towards the audience as she disgustingly hangs up the phone*

Really, this motherhood metaphor is going a little far.

But it is true, I do have another story idea that I've been playing around with. It's a little baby one, even small than Ancora Spei.

This WIP is a historical fiction, and one that is heavily based on a true story. Time-wise, it is based in the American Civil War, most of it being in 1863.

The location? Gettysburg, PA. And yes, a lot of it takes place during the Battle.

The subject? A young woman named Mary Virginia Wade...more commonly known as Jennie Wade.

Why her exactly?

Well, it all started one day when a random YouTube video popped up in my feed one morning.

This one to be exact:

Now, I had already known a little about Jenny Wade. You don't go to Gettysburg for several years running without learning about many of the local legends. Even then, however, Jenny was a footnote of sorts, a mention here and there. I had never been to the Jenny Wade house, though I've seen it several times going through town.

However, watching that video really sparked my imagination. A young woman with a checkered family history, tragically killed. Her older sister, with a newborn baby, nearly getting shot herself. A dramatic escape from the bullet-ridden house, carrying Jenny's body and smashing through a brick wall. A soldier lover, who also died tragically with a mysterious message to his now-dead lover lost to oblivion.

Literally, all the elements of a good plot.

I must admit, I went on a small Jenny Wade rabbit hole in the couple of days that followed. And I discovered, like many minor characters in history, that there was not that much written about her.

But what has been written and researched about her is fascinating. For example, the relationship between Jenny Wade and Jack Skelly. Many claimed that they were engaged, and there are a few extant letters exchanged between the two that suggest a strong romantic attachment. But there were no official records confirming it...but there is just enough for creative license.

And then there is the character of Wesley Culp, the Confederate friend of Jack and Jenny, who was supposed to be the courier for the mysterious message from the wounded Jack. Oh, what creative license potential we have here?! Romantic tension, plot tensions...

Seriously, why has no created a movie about this?! I thought to myself as I started saving videos.

Then that nasty little voice came up...

Why don't you write it, Catherine?

I know, I know. I shouldn't have listened to it. I have way too much already. And I have no idea how to write a screenplay.

BUT THE POTENTIAL MY DEARS....

I mean, I've already scribbled a couple of ideas down. I created a Spotify playlist for it a couple of weeks ago and I...just made the Pinterest board for it. And I even have a working title: The Wade Girl.

So yes, I can say officially that I now have another literary child. Number 9, if I'm not mistaken.

Except this should be easy. I mean, the plot is pretty much set. Research shouldn't be that hard. The characterization may give me hang-up or two, but nothing major.

Do I sense a NaNo project in the works?

Oh yeah.

Scribbingly yours,

Catherine

4 comments

SamanthaAugust 12, 2021 at 10:59 AM
Oh man, this sounds SO COOL! I've never heard of Jenny Wade, but from the tidbits you've put in this post, it sounds like it will make a phenomenal story!
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Éibhlín KilbaneAugust 13, 2021 at 2:53 AM
Wowzee! That sounds like a great story altogether!!
Don't you just love when history gives you a plot and characters more or less on a plate? XD
Will it be a novel or a play??
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Megan the NutmegAugust 13, 2021 at 1:51 PM
AGGGGH CATHERINE I CAN'T WAIT TO READ THIS. In the coloring book of Civil War Heroines my family had when I was little, Jennie Wade was always my FAVORITE...but I really don't know anything about her, and the plot possibilities sound positively scrumptious. *dances around and is happy*

(Although, dang, it's gonna be so sad...) (I LOVE SAD STORIES.)
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Skye HoffertAugust 15, 2021 at 9:12 PM
This sounds so cool! We need more historical fiction.
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