Abediah Thornton

Authors Note

Hi! I hope you're enjoying reading about Abediah. 

I wanted to just take a moment to let you know how this book works. Basically, when I started writing it the format just sort of happened. There weren't chapters, just days when things happened, and days when nothing happened. Since I'm now releasing this on an App, I decided to release it as it happens.

Basically, some weeks there is one chapter, other's there's four! I know, unpredictable, but so is life! (Sorry, that was a little much😏)

I'll try and remember to let you know at the end of the page if it'll be a while until the next chapter drop. 

Also, heads up: this story is in 3 parts. I have completed part one and am almost finished part two but part three is barely begun. I have written the last chapter though - I know where I'm going I'm just having trouble motivating myself enough to get there, I'm hoping you're going to help me build the motivation to keep going.

Abediah came to me in a dream. I know, it sounds cringey, but she really did! I woke up one morning and there she was: her wild hair, her stringy, strong body, her confidence and her horse. I knew her name, I knew her husband had died and I knew the circumstances of their marriage. I lay in bed for hours that morning going over the story again and again with my eyes tightly closed, desperate to commit as much of it to memory as possible, terrified I might lose it when I opened my eyes. I stayed in the dark and scribbled away, making notes of everything I could remember. And then I got up and started writing.    

That first third of the story came so easily. I wrote daily for months, the story was all I thought about. I loved every minute of it. I had never experienced anything like it before. I've always wanted to write novels, but I'd given up, I'd decided maybe I was just supposed to write non-fiction. And then Abediah appeared, and I couldn't help it, I had to tell her story. I love this woman! She holds parts of some of the most wonderful, courageous and kind-hearted women I have known, but she is also, simply, Abediah.

A note on the name, if you're interested. I knew Abediah's full name when I woke up. I had never heard the name before and I wasn't sure it really existed. After a quick Google I found that there had been some Abediah's in the world, but a long time ago, and mostly in Virginia in America. I knew Abediah's story (at least the first two thirds...😉) was based in America - a country I love and have spent a lot of time in, but a country that is not my own - but I wasn't sure where. Virginia fits with the small town, rural feel, the Blue Ridge Mountains are what she sees in the distance from her house. Virginia did have gold mines back in the day, along with slavery and lynching and it was home (as all America was) to native peoples before the white folks got there. I have tried to base as much of the story as possible in reality, I hope that comes across, but, disclaimer, this is not based on any person, or persons from real life (although I did draft in one or two friends and references from books that some of you may catch, to keep me company).

I hope you love Abediah as much as I do.  

Next Chapter will be out on Saturday...be ready, it's twisty!