Bruce Catton Papers

The Bruce Catton Papers are now online here.  I’ve updated the links.  Hat tip to Bob Huddleston.

Turnabout

Last night I completed my answers to questions that will appear in interview format in the upcoming issue of a quarterly Civil War magazine.  I’ve conducted seventeen of these things for Bull Runnings, but this is the first time I’ve been on the receiving end.  It’s tough work, writing about yourself.  Tough enough that I put it off as long as I could.  But I think it came out fairly well, though you can never tell with anything that appears in print media – every editor is different.  For a humorous account involving Mark Twain and an editor with a heavy hand, see volume one of his autobiography, pages 164-180.  (Editors work under strict time and space limitations, and so sometimes the submitted manuscript gets what authors typically refer to as “hacked up” or “butchered”.  But good editors make good writers.  I try not to get too upset with changes, and only protest when the changes result in factual errors.  I encourage anyone in this situation to firmly – but tactfully – express your feelings.  The editor or publisher doesn’t want egg on his/her face any more than do you.)

Thanks to the magazine in question for their interest in the blog and me.  2011 is shaping up to be a busy year for me as a result of the sesquicentennial and the role of First Bull Run in the first year of it.  I suppose in 2012 I’ll retreat to obscurity, but it’ll be fun while it lasts.