Why Write Fiction?

"Jon, why would you write fiction?  You have an established brand and platform for history, run with it!"  

Dark Places of the Earth was a successful book, and I enjoyed the attention it generated.  But, as happens with trade books, sales fell off quickly after a year.  The story of the Antelope and the people who were captive aboard it continued to haunt me.  How, I wondered, could I get the central themes of the book to a larger readership?  

In 2016, Tina Whittle (https://www.tinawhittle.com ) contacted me and asked if I wanted to participate in a collection of Novellas.  Crime mysteries set in the Southern Low Country that did not involve murder.  I’d been scribbling short stories and even a couple of (bad) novels since college, but never sought publication.  Here, publication landed in my lap.  So, I did it.  

The result was Lowcountry Crime: Four Novellas (Wolf’s Echo Press, 2017).  I enjoyed telling a twisty tale about a missing Picasso painting, and in the process slipping in information about the Lowcountry’s environment and history.  The result was Blue Nude: A Novella, which is available as a standalone on Amazon.  

Soon, I began writing a novel inspired by, but not about, the story of the slave ship Antelope.  I also began working on a new history of the Supreme Court case of Fletcher v. Peck.  In particular, Justice Johnson’s dissent fascinated me (perhaps the first true dissent), as did the impact of the case upon Native people’s land rights.  While the archival holdings in the Boston branch of the National Archives proved disappointing, I still had the stunning story of the Yazoo land fraud as the framework for the book.  

Then came the pandemic.  Archives closed, libraries closed, even the University closed.  We had to transition to teaching online.  Somehow, I was expected to teach a 200-student survey class, an upper-level Georgia History class, and a 12 student graduate student writing seminar, all online.  Full stop on the Fletcher v. Peck book, as I threw together materials for these classes.  

Finally, the semester ended.  Unable to continue the research for the history book, I began writing a story sitting in my easy chair.  Writing a novel soon had its claws in me.  As the story grew, I sought outside counsel from writers I knew.  I joined the Florida Writers Association.  I took part in a local work-in-progress book group.  I attended the Ossabaw Island Writers' Retreat.  In other words, I began an entirely new education and found many people generously willing to share their knowledge and experience.  

The result is The Slaver’s Apprentice.  

In the novel, fifteen-year-old Malachi MacKay is apprenticed against his will to a violent privateer engaged in the illegal slave trade.  Malachi must fight to survive not just shipboard abuse, but also charges of murder and piracy when captured by an American revenue cutter.  More about this in future posts, but Northampton House Press will publish the book in October 2026.  

The fiction writing continued.  Even as I revised The Slaver’s Apprentice, I began work on a series idea.  The Consulting Agent stories emerged, set in Atlanta from 1939 through 1941.  They blend accurate history, crime, financial fraud, a developing romance, and espionage.  The first book, Neutrality Act, can be purchased through most major book outlets.  A lead-in teaser short story, Merchandise No. 5, can be found as an eBook on Amazon.  

I’m currently writing the second volume, Cash and Carry, and have plotted the third, Lend Lease.  You will have tumbled to the larger concept; these are the stages of our National response to the War in Europe before Pearl Harbor, but seen through the eyes of a former Coca-Cola executive sucked into dangerous waters in Atlanta, Georgia, of all places.  

Both The Slaver’s Apprentice and Neutrality Act were finalists for the 2025 Royal Palm Literary Awards from the Florida Writers Association.  The Slaver's Apprentice won a Royal Palm Award.