Books published by Silverstowe Book

There is a true story of maritime audacity that has never before received proper treatment. Toward the end of the Civil War, the Confederate Navy deployed the fast cruiser Tallahassee to threaten the Northeast Coast of the United States. H.V. Rhodes bases this thrilling novel on the story of her voyage, the men who served aboard the Tallahassee, and some of the northern sailors who hunted her down. Many of those U.S. Navy sailors were African-American and were waging their own struggle for their right to be full citizens. In Washington, a beleaguered Lincoln administration faces the possibility of a failed war effort and a probable defeat in the coming national election. At the same time, the leaders of the Confederate government desperately seek victory in their struggle for their nation's survival. Thus, while directing events at sea and on the battlefield, political leaders are driven by events beyond their control and while confronting a restive public. The success or failure of the raid would have an impact on the public perception-both North and South-regarding the overall progress of the war. "August 1864" captures the all the excitement and drama of the hunt and places it in the historical context of those times.

In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the American Merchant Marine went into a terrible and tragic decline, and sailors were forced to serve under conditions that were little better than serfdom. Seamen were exploited in wholesale fashion, disfranchised of almost all their civil and human rights, and brutally punished for even minor offenses. Successful skippers had turned into slave drivers, cracking down on the sailors, sometimes even murdering their "hands." Though captains were legally prohibited from flogging their crews, they did not hesitate to wield belaying pins, marlin spikes, or their bare fists. The seamen's lot became so horrible in this period that entire crews frequently jumped ship when a vessel came into port. One result of this was that new crews had to be kidnaped, crimped, or shanghaied from the unsuspecting populace of the ports. These "impressed" or "hobo" crews were still further conspired against. They often had their wages stolen from them; they were poorly fed and clothed. Their lives became "hell afloat and purgatory ashore." In this way what had been our "first and finest employ" in colonial days was turned into a disreputable profession-one that was classed with criminals and prostitutes. Richard H. Dillon, author of Embarcadero, gives us a frightful picture of the seamen's lot in this tragic era. He describes in detail daily life aboard those hell-ships which set records in the passage from Frisco to China, but on whose decks fresh blood of the crew was found every day of the voyage. One of the most infamous of all these vessels was the Challenge whose skipper, Captain Robert H. ("Murderin' Bob" or "Bully") Waterman, was eventually put on trial in San Francisco for murder, theft, unjust assault, brutality, and thirteen other crimes against his crew. Dillon offers a complete picture of Waterman and reveals all the details of his famous trial and punishment. He also provides a series of portraits of other captains who rivaled "Bully" in their brutality and sadism, and describes how they in their turn were brought to justice. Dillon writes of those who attempted to defend seamen when they were most forgotten by the public conscience. Such men as the Reverend Lyman Beecher of Boston; Samuel C. Damon, the seamen's beloved chaplain at Honolulu; the Frisco street preacher, "Father" William Taylor, and-most outstanding of them all- Andrew Furuseth, the seamen's "Emancipator." In this book Richard Dillon brilliantly recreates the action-packed drama of the American seaman's escape from serfdom. Readers who enjoyed the author's earlier chronicle of true seafaring adventures, Embarcadero, will like Dillon's second book even more.

Sutter, the father of California, is one of the most enigmatic figures in the history of the West. With Fool's Gold, famed California historian Richard Dillon (Wells, Fargo Detective, Embarcadero) brings to life the story of Swiss immigrant John A. Sutter.Via a circuitous route, John Sutter arrived in Yerba Buena-today's San Francisco- on July 1, 1839. At the time, the territory had a population of only 1,000 Europeans, in contrast with 30,000 Native Americans. It was at that point a part of Mexico and the governor, Juan Bautista Alvarado, granted him permission to settle; in order to qualify for a land grant, Sutter became a Mexican citizen on August 29, 1840 after a year in the provincial settlement. He identified himself as "Captain Sutter of the Swiss Guard." The following year, on 18 June, he received title to 48,827 acres. Sutter named his settlement New Helvetia, or "New Switzerland," after his homeland, "Helvetia" being the Latin name for Switzerland.Sutter employed Native Americans of the Miwok and Maidu tribes, Kanakas, and Europeans at his compound, which he called Sutter's Fort; he envisioned creating an agricultural utopia, and for a time the settlement was in fact quite large and prosperous. It was for a period the destination for most California-bound immigrants, including the ill-fated Donner Party, for whose rescue Sutter contributed supplies.In 1848, gold was discovered when James W. Marshall and Sutter began the construction of Sutter's sawmill in Coloma, along the American River. Sutter's attempt at keeping this quiet failed when merchant and newspaper publisher Samuel Brannan returned from Sutter's Mill to San Francisco with gold he had acquired there and began publicizing the find. Masses of people overran the land and destroyed nearly everything Sutter had worked for. In order to keep from losing everything, however, Sutter deeded his remaining land to his son, John Augustus Sutter, Jr. The younger Sutter, who had come from Switzerland and joined his father in September 1848, saw the commercial possibilities of the land and promptly started plans for building a new town he named Sacramento, after the Sacramento River. The elder Sutter deeply resented this because he had wanted the location to be named Sutterville after them and be built near his New Helvetia domain. Eventually Sutter gave up New Helvetia to pay the last of his debts. He got a letter of introduction to the Congress of the United States from the governor of California. He moved to Washington D.C. at the end of 1865. Soon after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, John Sutter and his wife moved to Lititz, Pennsylvania (1871). But John made trips back to Washington every so often. John Sutter died in a Washington D.C. hotel room on June 18, 1880.

There are no tales like high-sea tales and here's a baker's dozen of true sea adventures-tales filled with salt spray, blood-and-thunder, and man-overboard action all guaranteed to satisfy the hardiest armchair adventurer. Researched from ships' logs, manuscripts, newspaper accounts and historical records and penned by Richard Dillon a gifted storyteller and one of California's finest historians. Here's a sampling:"San Francisco's Own Pirate"The story of Captain Bully Hayes, who had a habit of running off with other men's ships-and sometimes their women."The Odyssey of Bernard Gilboy."How a courageous, publicity dodging navigator, alone in an eighteen-foot open craft, sailed from San Francisco to Australia without touching land en route."Shanghai Days in Frisco"How crimps like Shanghai Kelly perfected the fine art of kidnaping sailors for the dreaded China run and made East Street (as San Francisco's Embarcadero was called for a time) a thoroughfare to be given a wide berth after dusk.

The Hudson's Bay Fur Company route to California was the fur trappers' and traders' road in the 1820s, 1830s, and 1840s from Fort Vancouver (now in Washington State) to San Francisco and beyond. Does "road" mean a six-lane paved freeway to you? Turn the calendar back and ponder a path that was rough, stony, precipitous, ill-marked, and full of perils at every turn: disease, famine, attacking Indians and worse. In quest chiefly of beaver and sea otters, men were lured from Quebec and Montreal, St. Louis and Lake Superior, Hudson Bay and Winnipeg, Taos and Santa Fe and Hawaii. Wherever they came from, they became the handful of wide-wandering mountain men who took part in California's first boom-the trade in furs. Until publication of this book, there had been little documentation of the trail. Such giants of the route as Jedediah Smith and Peter Skene Ogden have come down in history. But the leaders on the trail made indifferent reporters at best and their followers-an ethnic crazy quilt of Englishmen, Scots, Irish, French-Canadians, Mexicans, black Americans, Iroquois, Abenaki, half-breeds, and kanakas from Hawaii -were lucky if they could write their names. The explorations, the discoveries, the incredible hardships, the adventures, and the occasional humor-which lit up the treks like sunshine after a heavy rain-all interweave to make this towering tale. Unlike some of our nation's historic trails which have since been obliterated or are largely untraveled, the fur men's rugged route was only a beginning. A few short years later it was dotted with pack trains, then with wagons, and later with Concord stagecoaches. By 1887 it was the roadbed for the railway which still links Oregon and California. Today, closely paralleling the Southern Pacific right-of-way, Highway 5 carries trucks and trailers north and south with an ease the mountain men of 150 years ago would have envied.

In this one volume are personal selections by the author from his three classics, Steal this Plot!; Make That Scene; and "Shut up!" He Explained.Selecting parts of three of his previous books to guide you though the art of writing a novel, William Noble starts by asking three questions: ¿ What's happening? ¿ Who am I? ¿ Where am I?and then uses the answers to create a solid foundation for developing a story.With this structure in place, he demonstrates how to move on to motivating the story, establishing a sense of place, and creating tension. Noble has added new material on developing characters and using point of view to help you get your story across."The 'what' section, dealing with plot motivators and 'story spicers' and comprising a third of the book, is worth the price alone." -From an Amazon.com review

Richard Dillon, one of California's premier historians, tells the compelling story of San Francisco's exotic pre-1906 Chinatown when vicious hoodlum gangs held sway. Chinatown, as demonstrated by Dillon's fast-paced narrative, became a cauldron of chaos teeming with thugs, prostitutes, gamblers, and warlords preying on scores of helpless victims.As the Tong Wars ripped through San Francisco's Chinatown, the Chinese inhabitants lived under a reign of terror. Opium was abundant as were "slave girls," women imported for the purpose of prostitution. Hatchet-wielding killers silenced any opposition. It was a lurid and violent chapter in American history-and, in an era when the customs of an Asian people were considered foreign and frightening to begin with, the very word "Chinatown" came to suggest the mysterious, the sinister. The truth that survived the earthquake of 1906 was both colorful and tragic. Richard Dillon exposes the plight of the Chinese "average man," trapped between the Tongs that terrorized and cast their shadow over him, and a government that disastrously misunderstood him. Richard H. Dillon has written more than 20 books about California and the West.

The Texas Argonauts were on the march west as early as January, 1849 -a remarkable circumstance when it is recalled that the famous tea caddy of gold dust which set off the gold fever in the "States" did not reach Washington, D. C, until December 7, 1848. From Brownsville, Corpus Christi, and San Antonio, the dusty trails of the gold seekers crisscrossed through West Texas and northern Mexico. Among the travelers was young attorney Benjamin Butler Harris, who joined the fifty-two man Duval party, one of the earliest emigrant parties to head for California from Texas. Traveling by saddle horse and pack mule, the Duval group was probably the first to operate a ferry on the Colorado River, although the boat was only a hastily caulked wagon bed. The overland journey was fraught with interest and peril-Apache alarms and skirmishes adding to the hazards of nature -but the party reached the mines on September 29, 1849. Here, published for the first time, are Harris's colorful reminiscences of his experiences on the Gila Trail and in the Mother Lode mining camps in 1849-50. Harris was intelligent, observant, and gifted with a sense of humor, and his account of the trail and the feverish activities of the early mining camps makes first-rate reading for all Western Americana enthusiasts. There is a bonus, too, in the new material presented on some of the most interesting and important men of California's early days, among them Major James D. Savage, Judge David S. Terry, and John Joel Glanton. About the author and editor: The sixth of twelve children in a prominent Virginia family, Benjamin Butler Harris graduated from Nashville University, Tennessee, read law and went to East Texas to seek his fortune. Soon convinced that the East Texas climate, with its "Brazos fever," would do him in if he remained, he decided to take his law practice and his bad liver farther west-hence this account. Richard H. Dillon who has provided the superb introduction and informative notes for Harris's account, is a historian of note and author of Embarcadero an excellent story of the port of pre-fire San Francisco.

Burnt-Out Fires deals with a very dark period of American history, a period that, until recently, had been purposefully forgotten ... a period that hopefully will cause a re-evaluation of the American ideals and dreams. Everyone pointed to the Modocs as "model Indians." Living on the Oregon-California border, they had assimilated the American culture more than any other Indian tribe. They had accepted the white man's way, dressing in cowboy clothes and working as farm hands. The frontier was quiet...until the white culture that the Modocs had adopted asked them to sign an unjust treaty taking away their tribal lands. Not wanting to fight, the Modocs were forced into a corner by trying, in vain, to work out a peaceful settlement. Out of desperation, they fought. Burnt-Out Fires, by Richard Dillon, chronicles the causes and the results of the Modoc War, one of the most tragic and unnecessary campaigns ever fought against American Indians. Dillon, through expert commentary and extensive research, brings to life the hopeless struggle of the Modoc chief, Captain Jack, to retain his high standing within the tribe while countering with peaceful means the force gradually mounting against him in the white world. The author, without moralizing, goes on to enumerate the bruising inefficiencies of the Indian Agencies and the classical unyielding stance adopted by the United States Army concerning Indian affairs. The result of these is understandings, spiced with ambition and the need to make this conflict an "example" to all Indians, led to the tragic Modoc War; the final act was genocide of the Modocs. After reading Burnt-Out Fires, one realizes that, viewing the forces at work at that time, the war was inevitable...anything different was an impossibility.

Dialogue must contribute to the telling of the story said Victorian-era novelist Anthony Trollope more than one hundred years ago and his words have been a yardstick for writers ever since. A more recent novelist, Stephen King, wrote, "When dialogue is right, we know. When it's wrong we also know-it jags on the ear like a badly tuned musical instrument."In "Shut Up!" He Explained (the title comes from a Ring Lardner poke at the way some people overwrite), William Noble shows you how to write dialogue that sounds right and contributes. Fiction or NonfictionWith liberal use of anecdotes and examples, Noble develops six "Master Keys to Dialogue," each of which is crucial for the fiction or nonfiction writer to understand and use. You'll learn how to use dialogue to: ¿ create tension¿ develop your characters ¿ establish setting ¿ move the plot¿ create flashbacks and transitionsYou'll also learn when to use narrative instead of dialogue; how to write in dialect; and how to deal with interior monologue (your character's thoughts). And more!An important section of "Shut Up!" He Explained covers the misuse of dialogue from the legal viewpoint, exploring libel and right-to-privacy. Get a copy of "Shut Up! He Explained" an make your writing scintillate with captivating dialogue."This is the best book that I could find on the use of dialog when writing fiction." -Amazon.com review

"The locale of your story is the picture frame within which you weave the action." -William Noble Ever read a novel and years later be able to recall the feeling of place you got as the words flowed into your head? That's what great writers, both fiction and nonfiction can do. That's what you can do.Make That Scene will show you how. Using scores of examples of great writing, longtime editor-author William Noble discusses the influence mood, setting, and atmosphere have on your characters; the mixing and matching of settings; setting as a plot limitation; and when the setting itself becomes a major character. Learn: ¿ the value of an imperfect memory¿ how much research to conduct¿ how to use sensory images¿ how many details to include¿ how to use time, dialogue, and point of view to establish your setting¿ oodles more.Make That Scene is an essential guide to enriching your writing.

"Why does nonfiction have to be boring," he sniveled. "It doesn't," she replied cheeringly. "Haven't you ever read anything by Gay Talese, Tom Wolfe, John McPhee, Joan Didion, Norman Mailer, Mark Bowden, Laura Hillenbrand, or Sebastian Junger-just to name a few?" "No," he said popping open another long-neck Bud. "That explains a lot," she said. Dramatic nonfiction-the relating of factual information in a manner that makes it as gripping as fiction-is the thrust of Writing Dramatic Nonfiction by longtime editor-author William Noble. Using the techniques and guidelines offered in this book, you will learn to create nonfiction works that rise to the level of great literature without sacrificing credibility. Dramatic techniques such as flashbacks, foreshadowing, building tension and suspense, character development, and scene intercuts are described in plain words along with instruction on how you can use such devices in your own writing. Dramatic or creative nonfiction, sometimes called narrative nonfiction, is now an important part of the literary landscape. In this useful, nay, essential guide, Noble teaches you how to craft riveting true accounts. ----- William Noble's books are a popular staple in the writer's personal library. I revisited his book "Writing Dramatic Nonfiction" to get some fresh ideas for adding dramatic techniques to a nonfiction project I am presently involved in. I found valuable pointers on basic development skills including: conflict and character development, anecdotes, using dialog, and point of view. His illustrations and examples are helpful. The book is filled with basic information for the beginning writer and a well organized reminder for those seasoned writers looking for motivation and inspiration. Although the book was first written in the year 2000 the principles are as applicable today as when they were first written. -Richard R. Blake, author and Co-Founder of Christian Education Resources

This book is not about cemeteries.Nor is it a mystery-suspense story.It is about writing-the craft of writing and telling a tale. It is about how to use other people's stories, and what we are allowed to do with them.The plot of any story is the key. The plot is the story within the story that propels the action and develops the tale. In Hamlet, for instance, the story deals with who will be the rightful king of Denmark, but the plot is concerned with revenge and ambition. The plot is the nucleus of the action, and it is here that the writer must look to form his efforts.In Part One, the authors deal in depth with the structuring and "spicing" of the story. In Part Two, using classic and modern examples they outline 13 common plot movers: Vengeance CatastropheLove and HateThe ChaseGrief and LossRebellionBetrayalPersecutionSelf-SacrificeSurvivalRivalryDiscovery (Quest)Ambition showing you how weave it all together in a tapestry of words rich and satisfying to the reader.Worried you'll go too far in your plot thievery? A thorough look at plagiarism and copyright is also included.