Billy Buckland is a ghost. The 14-year-old militiaman who fought with the Continental Army was killed in a grotesque fashion during the Siege of Savannah in October, 1779. The young soldier's body remained buried for over 200 years until a portion of it was uncovered and used as a decoration by an art student in Savannah, Georgia. Billy's spirit comes back to find his bones and return them to a place where he could rest in peace. Befriended by a maintenance worker he meets in a dormitory at the Savannah College of Art and Design, Billy learns about life in the 21st Century in one of America's most intriguing cities. The unlikely team of 18th Century ghost and 21st Century plumber learn from each other and form a close friendship as they seek a way to allow Billy to find peace befitting one who fought to earn America's freedom. Ghosts of the Siege is a historical novel, a ghost story woven around the fabric of one of the most tragic battles fought in the American Revolution. The Siege of Savannah occurred during September and October of 1779, culminating in one of the bloodiest battles of the war, with over 800 killed or wounded. Troop movements and battle descriptions are included as accurately as possible, having been taken from eyewitness accounts and military reports. Many of the major characters...Generals Pulaski, Lincoln, D'Estaing and others... are presented as described by biographers or their own reports of the battle. The flow of the 1779 battle is also presented as an "overlay" of the modern city of Savannah, so the reader can stand on current street corners or parks and say, "This is where_______really happened." If you love a good ghost story; if you love American history; if you love a tightly woven historical novel, you will love Ghosts of the Siege. For readers who have never travelled to Savannah, Georgia, America's most haunted city, Billy Buckland and the other Ghosts of the Siege will definitely move the city to the top of your vacation destination list.
About the Author: Steven Abernathy is not afraid...of anything! He doesn't own the recipe for bravery and isn't superhuman or supercalifragilisticexpialidocious; it is simply that his life experience has conditioned him to deal with 'stuff' as it comes his way. He quips, "I've survived an airplane crash, a heart attack, a run for U.S. Congress and over 40 years of marriage to a lady who loves cats. What else could possibly be out there to frighten me?" First published in 1975, Steven has written five novels, educational booklets, and columns for several small newspapers and blogs. "People ask me what are my qualifications as a writer or columnist. My answer is simply life experience. If I have a single qualification that sets me apart from other writers, it is that I have a wide range of experience and a pretty sound understanding of Americans from just about every walk of life. You hear people say, 'I knew from the time I was a child that I wanted to be a ______ (fill in the blank).' Not me. I've tried just about everything out there, sometimes by choice, often from necessity. Among other things, I have worked as a farm laborer, carpenter, assembly line worker, apprentice electrician, truck driver, hospital orderly, teacher, military officer, dentist, and author. Friends say I don't know what I want to be when I grow up. I have run for Congress, crashed an airplane, survived a heart attack, written five books, and been married to the same wonderful lady for more than 40 years. I have shared a bologna sandwich with fellow cotton-pickers while taking a brief break from our $5 per day job, and I have schmoozed with Bill Clinton during more formal meals. I even had lunch one time with Connie Kresky (Playboy Playmate of the Year in 1969). She was infinitely more interesting than Bill Clinton. That's all I'm saying." Steven and wife Michele split their time between homes in Destin, FL and Jonesboro, AR. When not writing or traveling the author prefers to spend quiet time with family or sail the calm waters of Choctawhatchee Bay. All of his stories are fiction, but they are also a reflection of real people, experiences, and events to which he has been exposed during his life. One of Steven's great interests is history, and each of his books includes events that are historically factual, but at some point are 'embellished' to fit the framework of the story. "If I did my job well, the reader will never know exactly when real history becomes fiction. That is what I like the best!"