Nancy Shattuck

Words from the Author

Revisado: 04-24-21

I am the author of this second book from The Watertown Chronicles and am happy to write about this first audible production in the series, "Mary, The Clairvoyant." This series comprises a set of historical novels that are character-bound renditions of a colonial past in America, King Philip's war of 1675. Experimentally, I tell the story of each family member in a seperate novel as they negotiate the war-time period in 17th century Massachusetts. Since these novels are character-driven, I weave each life into those elements of the history that surround him or her. Working in this way, across points of view, each novel presents an incomplete view of the war while the series, at the same time, adds a cumulative telling of the events. Another difference this style of narration creates is the development of characters across novels. It allows me to build characters through their relationships with one another at the same time I focus on the challenges and personality of one family member. I confess that my method of narration is experimental; it doesn't follow the norms of historical fiction. I do hope that even though it is a "novel" way to tell the full story, it's also an entertaining way.

In book two of the series, the protagonist, Mary, is a shy and introverted woman who has a paranormal gift that threatens her well being in the Puritan colony. Nineteen women have been accused of witchcraft and hanged by the time she is born, and the Watertown Puritan minister has worked to help her overcome her paranormal gift. When I searched for a voice to narrate the book, I naturally looked for a woman, but tried to find an actress with a voice that would project Mary's character. Conni St. Pierre's voice has a wonderful throaty timbre that projects an air of intimacy I thought was perfect for Mary. This character lives inside her head to a large degree, rarely speaking her most intimate thoughts to others (except to the readers, of course). Her only attempts at getting attention are to display her wealth, as she feels a high social position will protect her. To that end, St. Pierre's voice is perfect; it has strength as well as the intimacy. Last, it is just coincidental that Connie St. Pierre also resides in the same area about which I write. I should add that this is Conni St. Pierre's first production for ACX..

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Authors Words

Revisado: 04-24-21

I love that Audible books allows the author to review their own productions. As author, I hope to bring a new perspective to this endeavor. It's always thrilling to view one's own work in print or to hear it read aloud by a narrator who gets it. In that, I've been fortunate. Everyone that I've worked with on this project, the publishers of the print edition, the Ardent Writer Press, the illustrator for the cover, Philip Shaddock, and the narrator, Jack Wynter, have been in tune from beginning to end. So, forgive me for my open bias on the overall production, story, and performance.

When I began the audiobook process, I initially looked for a British narrator because the protagonist in this novel immigrated from Somerset. It was important to depict this early American as an immigrant. However, I was delighted at Jack Wynter's audition when he made it clear he could master many of the regional accents, including that distinctive Somerset one. What's more, I threw him the most difficult scene in this book for the audition, the donnybrook in chapter five when the Watertown councilmen argue about guns and taxes, and he added several more regional accents as well. The icing on the cake? He explained that he had narrated a historical novel on the same period, King Philip's war. He knew how to pronounce all of the Indian names. The result of these happy coincidences are, I think, a wonderful performance.

The Watertown Chronicles are my experiment with a new narrative technique. Most historal novel series are chronicles that stretch across time, even centuries. However, I wanted to illuminate the minutiae of a historical period by concentrating on a short slice from history that would allow a before, during and after view of one critical event without telling the story from an omnipotent narrator's point of view. So, I chose to tell the larger story from many viewpoints. This narrative exposes history from the point of view of those who live through it, in this case one family.

I liken this style of storytelling to one memorable scene in the novel The Magus, where the protagonist opens a door to find all the different aspects of his own being, from childhood to adulthood, simultaneously circulating before him. The family--father, mother, and ten children--allow me to view history in a like manner. Each book in the series is one member telling a different story of the same twenty-five years. I am hoping to give more depth to history than a singly threaded narrative can give. Last, I am using my own ancestors as models for this fictional family not to raise their importance in history but to illuminate the common man's struggles in the New World.

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