A: Each book I’ve done takes a total of about two years to complete. Probably 2/3 of that time is research, and the rest is writing the manuscript. I never use an outline. Often the story will take a turn I didn’t expect, or a character will rise up with a voice that I hadn’t planned on using. Sometimes I have a character in mind as a primary point of view, and for some reason, I don’t connect with the character well enough to get into his or her head. The story is always changing as I write it, no matter what direction my research may have led me.

Q: As you look at the world today, what do you foresee will be in the history books about our time, and if you could write it, what would you say?

A: No one can predict what history will say about our time. There are events happening now that no one is even aware of, that will come to light in the future, such as discoveries in the fields of medicine or biology that will likely affect us in ways no one can imagine. We tend to give importance to those things we see on the news, and assume that those events are the most monumental things going on right now. I’m quite certain that in the past, there were similar issues on the forefront of peoples’ thought, while at the same time a cure was being found for tuberculosis or polio. No matter how much they’d like to believe it, CNN is not writing our history.

Q: With your usual attention to historical detail, when writing your novels, do you place yourself in that time period to offer the reader a more believable experience?

A: It is essential that I take myself out of “today” and put myself in the shoes of the characters I’m writing about. My primary goal is to take you with me. The only way I know how to tell any of these stories is to see the events through the eyes of the participants. That’s the focus of my research – not modern biography or modern history books. I rely whenever possible on first-hand sources: diaries, collections of letters, memoirs, and the accounts written by the people, who were THERE, who heard the words. It’s a very risky thing to put words in the mouths of iconic historical figures. If I don’t believe that those words or those conversations or thoughts are authentic, that the conversations I’m writing COULD have happened the way I portray them, then you won’t believe it either. I’m very careful never to put words in the mouths of historical figures that they never would have said: anachronisms. I do make mistakes occasionally, and we correct those every time.

Q: Next to historical research and authorship, what is your next greatest passion?

A: I love New York. I love all the experiences you get from a big city. But then, I also love Montana. I have a home in both places. I’m a fan of the outdoors, whether it’s rural or urban.

Q: Have you ever had a ‘watershed moment’ in your life that made you change direction?

A: The death of my father in 1988 caused the most profound change of direction in my life. Previously, I had been a businessman for nearly all my life. After his death I began to manage the business side of his estate, and thus got to know the publishing people in New York. When the film, “Gettysburg” came out, based on my father’s classic novel “The Killer Angels,” I realized that there was an enormous audience for his work, something he had never known in his lifetime. The idea that I might try to complete the civil war trilogy came from the director of “Gettysburg” who had been a good friend of my father’s. All I ever intended to do was to help complete the story that by all rights should have been my father’s story to tell. I had no idea that choice would so profoundly affect my life.

Q: What do you think are the greatest similarities between people of contemporary time, as opposed to those who lived in the past? Conversely, what are the greatest differences?

A: I believe we still have the capability to ‘rise to the occasion,’ to unite in the face of crisis. Just look at what happened in this country on 9/11. We still have heroes. The greatest difference is that now we have so many opportunities for people to manufacture their own fame. We are obsessed with celebrity, with people who believe that having their face on television is the same thing as an ‘accomplishment.’ Also, for reasons I can’t explain, it seems that the “American Dream” has been altered. It used to be that everyone aspired to reach a level of success, and that if they did so, they were admired for it. Now, successful people are seen as evil. Bill Gates changed the history of the world, and he’s ridiculed on late-night TV. Ted Turner changed the entire entertainment business in this country, and the media makes him out to be a buffoon.

Q: If you could have lunch with anyone, past or present, who would it be and why?

A: Benjamin Franklin. No one else comes close. I believe Franklin is the quintessential American, and the man who in his own time did as much or more to bring this nation into existence than even George Washington. He’s my favorite character in all my books.

Q: If you were going to write non-fiction, what topic would you enjoy writing about other than history?

A: I’m not sure “enjoy” is the right word. One day I’d like to do a story about my father and me and what that relationship was like. It’s not a happy story, and I don’t believe I could write it while my mother can read it. Ultimately, though, I’m a storyteller. This has actually led me to do a non-fiction book focusing on the most poignant civil war battlefields that we can still visit. The book is tentatively titled, “Jeff Shaara’s Battlefields: The Ten Civil War Sites Every American Should Visit.” (It will be out in June 2006) The idea is not to put out just another battlefield tour book, but to tell the story of the ground in a way that will encourage non-civil war buffs to go there. The only reason I considered doing that kind of project was that I knew I could not do what so many historians have already done (nor did I want to). But what I CAN do is explain those special places, those important pieces of ground in a more interesting way than the typical history book.

Interview Date: June 2005
Profile and questions compiled by Rosanne L., Matthews Branch Library