Day Two, Interview with Michael Aubrecht

Michael Aubrecht is a Christian Civil War historian and author from Fredericksburg, Virginia. His non-fiction book titles include: Onward Christian Soldier: The Spiritual Journey of Stonewall, Christian Cavalier: The Spiritual Legacy of JEB Stuart, The Southern Cross: a Civil War Devotional, and Houses of the Holy: Historic Churches of Fredericksburg. Michael is also a contributing writer for Baseball-Almanac.com, as well as various newspapers and magazines including the Free Lance-Star and Civil War Historian.

Do you have a favorite historical novel?

I am so glad that you kept that question. I know as a non-fiction author, my interview here may differ slightly from others, but when you study and write non-fiction all the time for work, the LAST thing you want to do is read it for fun. When I want to escape into a book (with 4 kids I need to), fiction is my prescription.

Richard Croker is an author who I have had the pleasure of reviewing in the paper on a few occasions. He writes excellent Civil War fiction. His two books To Make Men Free (about the Battle of Antietam) and No Greater Courage (about the Battle of Fredericksburg) are among my favorites. This year, I discovered a female writer who writes Civil War history in a classic narrative style that I can only describe as captivating. Her name is Jessica James and she somehow wrote a romantic novel that a guy can get into. The book is Shades of Gray which takes the reader on a whirlwind journey across the Old Dominion with a highly original and historically accurate plotline and it is through the author’s meticulous attention to detail that the book’s characters come alive. We share publishers (Patriot Press) and I cannot wait to do a combined book signing with her so we can finally meet face to face.

Is there anything or anyone that inspires your writing?

It’s the men, women, boys, and girls that have been woven into the fabric of our American culture. I don’t care if I’m writing about Babe Ruth and the 1927 Yankees, or the “Stonewall Brigade’s” ferocity at the Battle of Chancellorsville, these people’s stories deserve to be preserved and presented for future generations. Kids today don’t play army outside, or enjoy visiting museums and battlefields like we did. Unless we can find a way to connect with them through the use of technology, our history will dry up and blow away. I have good friends at the National Park Service who are working on programs designed to get kids interested again. I pray they work.

And of course the Lord has a lot to do with it. He gave me the gift of a wordsmith and has called me to use it. (If I didn’t I’d be in BIG trouble!) Being a Christian historian I am very fortunate as I can leave my house here in Fredericksburg and be standing on any one of the four local battlefields in 15 minutes. As I stand on a bluff overlooking a field, the sun is setting in the background and a gentle breeze is tickling the trees, I have all of the inspiration I would ever need. At that exact moment I am surrounded by the beauty of God’s creation, and I am standing on the Hallowed Ground of man.

What do you enjoy most about reading historical non-fiction?

The ‘enjoyment’ at this stage in my career is more in the discovery than in the reading. While researching material for Houses of the Holy I spent days at the NPS archives. I ended up leaving with twice as much material as I needed and now I have enough sources for another book and several magazine features. I found slave narratives that painted Fredericksburg in a light I have never thought of. I found all of the insurance claims against the U.S. Government for damages to the town as well as the subsequent congressional investigations and interviews. That to me was the fun of it.

I have quite a collection of both autographed and regular baseball cards that I have collected since I was a kid. I don’t buy any today. I used to go to card shows and spend hours digging through these dusty bins looking for that one gem. It was taxing and at times boring, but every time I found something special. That is how I view non-fiction, in my genre at least. I love finding something new, something that in all my years I was unaware of. After writing Houses of the Holy, I have a completely different view of where I live. I would never have known that if not for my love of reading non-fiction. Hopefully I’ll pass that same revelation on to my readers.

Once we become writers, we read with a critical eye. For some grammatical errors in a book are like fingernails on a chalkboard. For others weak plots cause them to lay a book aside without finishing it. What, if anything, annoys you about some historical non-fiction? (Without naming names!)

My father is a great writer and he ‘proofs’ a lot of my work before it ever hits one of my editor’s desks. He also accompanies me on many of my road trips. Grammatically, he has an eagle-eye, although I’m pretty good at that. I work hard on my craft. Content-wise though, he is a priceless asset as I have a tendency to forget that the reader doesn’t know as much about a topic as I do.


So to answer your question (and I will name names as it’s ME), the occasional loss of focus that doesn’t keep the end reader’s perception in mind annoys me. I am working hard on that and thankfully I have the ‘old man’ around to keep me on target. Another pet-peeve is poor research. I read the first 10 pages of a Civil War book the other day that had incorrect dates all over the place. I had to put it down. Once the author destroyed his own credibility as a historian, the rest of the piece was useless to me. ‘Historical’ means exactly that, and it must be accurate.

Historical non-fiction requires a lot of research. How did you go about researching your work?

I use a wide-variety of materials. I study our local National Park’s archives, historical society records, old newspapers and magazines. I have a large reference library in my house and I also use the Internet (cautiously). Over the years, I have developed a wide network of sources and friends who are usually gracious in sharing their contacts and information.

My background as a baseball historian also helps me, as the research that I did for Baseball-Almanac was extensive. I learned very early on to use many different sources and to verify accuracy. If 5 out of 7 sources said “X=Y,” then I’d use it. If not, I’d either dig deeper, or go another way. In the historical genre, bad research and writing becomes sources for future pieces of bad research and writing. I made mistakes from time to time and readers let us know and we corrected them. Nobody is perfect, so strive for perfection, and be willing to admit your mistakes. Readers can be some of the best editors, especially baseball fanatics and Civil War buffs.

Another technique that I use is outlining. It helps me to see the overall structure of a project. It also helps me determine what sources are required, what visuals can accompany the piece, and what I need to do to accomplish my goal.

Organization is also a top-priority. For HOH, each church had its own folder with a contents and index. As I gathered sources, clippings, photos, contacts, and archived materials, they all went into the folders. This kept everything neat for me as I wrote each church’s section separately. It also helped when it came time to credit people and I referred to these sources for the bibliography.

What would you like readers to gain from reading your book(s)?

First and foremost, I want people to come to know the joy of having a relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Second, I want them to learn something about themselves through reading about other people in our country’s history.

Third, I want them to learn something they never knew about our country’s historical events and figures. It’s the story of us.

Fourth, I want them to enjoy my work enough to buy my other books. (After all, I have four kids to put through college!)

Any advice for aspiring writers?

Determine what your strengths and weaknesses are as a writer. Play to your strengths, but never stop working on your weaknesses.

An editor once told me, that to be a truly good writer, you have to be able to write about the things you don't care about with the same passion and enthusiasm as the things you do. I took that advice to heart and decided to test myself. I wrote 1000 words on a topic that I really enjoyed and then another 1000 words on something in which I had no interest. I put them side-by-side and the difference in the quality of the pieces was startling. Clearly, I needed to work on looking at each and every piece individually and commit myself to giving it my best effort. Try it yourself.

Another piece of advice is to check, double-check and then re-check your sources again.

Finally, remember to enjoy the process. If you feel called to write, then you already know that the Lord has a plan in mind for you. Pursue it passionately, but also remember that someday it will become work. That is if your goal is to do this professionally. If so, then approach it like any other craft. Practice your skills. Educate yourself. Stay abreast of the industry. Make contacts and build a network. And once it becomes a job, it is no longer a hobby. Your feelings about it will change. Not necessarily in a bad way, but it will be looked at differently. It will be serious, and you will have to be serious about doing it.

Your reputation is your greatest asset, but it can also be your downfall. Miss a few deadlines, or turn in something less-than-par and you can blemish your rep. Always do your best work and protect it.

Any final words?

I always like to refer to a scripture verse that has re-defined my entire life both privately and professionally. I’d like to share it with your readers here: (Romans 8:28) And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Thank you very much for the interview. I enjoyed it immensely.

Remember to leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of his Christian Cavalier: The Spiritual Legacy of JEB Stuart.