Lynda Pflueger has written nine biographies for children.  Her books have been favorably reviewed by Kirkus, School and Library Journal, and Booklist. Thomas Nast: Political Cartoonist is the fourth book in the Spotlight Biography Series.

One day, while researching an article on collecting, a book fell from the shelf above me and hit me on the head. I rubbed my head for a few seconds and then reached down and picked up the book.  It was about a man who collected political cartoons. His favorite cartoonist was Thomas Nast.

I’m a history buff, particular US history. I love visiting museums and libraries. Nothing pleases me more than to roam around dusty old archives and find newspaper articles or photographs I can use in my books. Sometimes my discoveries come from unusual places and surprise me.

I was intrigued by Nast’s story. After the Civil War, with only his pen as a weapon, he helped bring down a notoriously corrupt group of politicians called the Tweed Ring in New York City. Nast continually harassed the ring with his drawings and often focused his attention on William M. Tweed, the leader of the ring. In one drawing entitled “Brains” Nast drew Tweed dressed in a three-piece business suit and replaced his head with a money bag to signify the money he had stolen from the city.

I also fell in love with Nast’s drawings of Santa Claus inspired by Clement Moore’s poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” Nast portrayed Santa Claus as a jolly old fellow with a white beard and round belly.

Then I came across one of Nast’s drawings entitled Uncle Sam’s Thanksgiving Dinner and I knew I had to write about him. In the drawing Uncle Sam is carving a turkey, next to him is Columbia, and sitting around the table are Americans from around the world:  Germany, France, Britain, Africa, China, Italy, Spain, and Ireland. At the bottom of the drawing on the left side Nast wrote, “Come One Come All,” and on the right side, “Free and Equal.”

I started collecting all the books and magazine articles I could find about Thomas Nast. I traveled to Morristown, New Jersey, where he lived with his family. I spent days at the Morristown and Morris Township Library going through Nast’s scrapbooks, drawings, and other memorabilia. Afterward, I walked across the street to the Macculloch Hall Historical Museum and saw several of Nast’s paintings. I also discovered the Thomas Nast Society and purchased several copies of their journal. Finally, I was ready to sit down and write.

Queried Publishers

I completed my first draft and then sent out query letters to six educational publishers. Five months later an editor called. She was impressed with my query letter. Her publishing house was starting a new Historical American Biography Series. She wasn’t interested in a book about Nast at the time; but wondered if I would like to submit a proposal for a biography of someone on their list. She gave me a choice of five people. I chose Stonewall Jackson and within a week I submitted a proposal. Timing was important because they wanted the complete book in four months.

I met my deadline and a year later the first book in the Historical American Biography series, Stonewall Jackson:  Confederate General was published. A few weeks later my editor called with the news that Kirkus had favorably reviewed my book and commented it would find fans with Civil War enthusiasts.

Over the next few years, I wrote several other books for the series. Then one day my editor called and asked if I still wanted to write about Thomas Nast. I enthusiastically responded, “Yes!”

Thomas Nast: Political Cartoonist Published

The first edition of Thomas Nast: Political Cartoonist was published in 2000. This year, I updated the text, added hyperlinks, more photos and a new cover for an ebook version. For more information about Thomas Nast and upcoming writing projects visit my website at LyndaPflueger.com. The ebook is now available online.

Note:  The images used in this blog are from the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, reproduction numbers: LC-USZ62-787, LC-USZ62-42027, and LC-USZ62-85882.

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Tell me about your publishing journey. I doubt it started with a book falling on your head, but would love to hear the details.

Richard Fitchen, BA MA MLIS PhD, was a firefighter and National Guardsman before teaching at the University of Washington and the University of California (Berkeley and Santa Barbara). He served as the social sciences bibliographer in Yale University’s Libraries and retired as bibliographer and reference department head at the Stanford University Libraries. He now writes full time and enjoys traveling with family.

Publishing electronically rather than in traditional print seemed a smart choice to me, like online retail versus newspaper ads.  Then Linda at eFrog Press explained the print-on-demand option.  Voilà, the best of both worlds!  When I met Linda, I mentioned projects in which I had participated to convert paper bound information to electronic files ranging from cutting-edge scientific journals to archives of the World Trade Organization.  She made the connection:  give readers of my fiction the same advantages!   I had tried putting up an electronic file but with no more success than I found earlier sending material to print publishers.  Now with editorial and technical guidance by Linda and her expert staff, my new book is properly launched.

United by Covenant, Ben’s America is the first of five books to be published in a series called An American Saga.  Three of the remaining four volumes are already in draft form, and we anticipate publishing at least two in 2014.  It helps to have design and layout decisions already set for the series by volume one!

I began writing United by Covenant because I could not bear to change a very long but personally cherished prequel.  The prequel rivals books like Hawaii and Shogun in length and complexity, and many letters to editors/agents plus meetings at a writers’ conference convinced me no publisher would undertake such a leviathan tome from an unknown author.  No doubt, I’m not the first to be consumed by unsalable abundance of creativity!  The prequel was polished occasionally and given ever better titles, but in the end a fresh start was needed.

Fortunately, the prequel experience helped enormously in writing United by Covenant, in many ways allowing me to learn from experience.  Writing it was very satisfying (ditto its sequel), perhaps partly because the project was planned from the very outset to comprise five volumes.

My previous career in American universities required highly developed research skills and a depth of subject knowledge, and I’ve drawn deeply on both to produce this title.  Its central character rises above the story’s dramatic fray to articulate the political faith that unifies partisan and cultural antagonists in America.  The covenant of American life reaches a peak of success in preserving the union through civil war, massive immigration, and sweeping industrial transformation.

United by Covenant is FREE today and tomorrow

After years of researching and writing, it is exciting to see my book come to life both as a print and ebook version. In my first attempt to connect with readers of historical, especially American, fiction, I am making my book free today and tomorrow, January 29 and 30. Please spread the word, download the Kindle ebook, and post a review. I wrote the book to make U.S. history as interesting to readers as I have always found it, and the best way I know is through story. So if you enjoy United by Covenant, standby as more volumes are coming soon in this American Saga.