Historical Novels by Bob O'Connor

About the Author, Bob O'Connor

Here’s a little background on me.

I live in Charles Town, West Virginia, close to most of the sites of these books. I write about the Civil War, so my area of influence is probably somewhere between Gettysburg, PA and Lexington, VA.

I have been involved in public speaking for years and years. Since 2006, my speaking engagements have spanned 11 states and the District of Columbia. I speak at libraries, schools, civic organizations, Civil War Round Tables, book clubs, and to most anyone who will listen. I speak for free but do require expenses when I have to travel far or stay overnight.

My interest in history goes back to a trip in 1958 to Galesburg, IL where I attended the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Carl Sandburg was the featured speaker.

I have worked full time and part time as a newspaper reporter, and at various jobs -- many that required writing press releases, news articles, or reports.

While director of Tourism in Washington County, Maryland, I became involved in touring local places like Antietam Battlefield and Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. I was hooked. My staff thought I was an expert, but really I knew just enough to get by. The more I learned, the more I wanted to learn.

Along the way I was privileged to work with Superintendent Rich Rambur, and he allowed me to start two marvelous events at the Antietam Battlefield that are still going strong. They are the Independence Concert at Antietam Battlefield in July and the Memorial Illumination at Antietam Battlefield in December. Fortunately for me and the community, Rich was an “out of the box thinker” and didn’t get the government manual out and just say “those things aren’t allowed in National Parks”.

I have always collected books on three historical characters — Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth and John Brown. Imagine my surprise when I ended up living in Charles Town, West Virginia — a place John Brown and John Wilkes Booth had both visited in late 1859. Thus, the inspiration for the first novel “The Perfect Steel Trap Harpers Ferry 1859”. The book has been named a Finalist in the 2006 Best Book Awards by USA Book News.

The inspiration for my second novel “The Virginian Who Might Have Saved Lincoln” was the intrigue of finding a local man, Ward Hill Lamon, who was a close friend of Abraham Lincoln. Most people I talked to had never heard about him. Even though he is mentioned in most non-fiction books about Lincoln (there are 44,781 listed on Amazon.com), no book has ever been written about him. I think it is my charge to bring his name to light. That book is also available as an unabridged audio book – with 5 CDs and a running time of 6:01. The audio book has been given two national awards – it was named runner-up in the National Indie Excellence Awards and was named a finalist in the 2008 Best Book Awards by USA Book News.

My third book, “Catesby: Eyewitness to the Civil War” is my best book. (I should be getting better, shouldn’t I?) Catesby has been called “the Forest Gump of the Civil War”. Catesby, a real blacksmith and slave to Lewis Washington, great grand nephew of George Washington, is a real man who I put in real situations so he can tell you what happened there. One of those places is on the wagons driving Alexander Gardner, photographer at Antietam battlefield. Another of those real places is Andersonville Prison.

I graduated from Dixon High School in Dixon, Illinois and have a Biology degree (go figure) from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois.

I live close to my son, Craig, and my daughter, Kelli, and my six grand children.

Besides writing, I work part time for both the Jefferson County CVB and for the City of Charles Town. I also do volunteer work for Harper s Ferry National Historical Park and write for several local and regional publications.

My next book is called "A House Divided Against Itself" and is about William and Wesley Culp. Both were from Gettysburg, PA. William joined the Union army, while his brother Wesley joined the Confederate Army. They encountered each other on the battlefield at Second Winchester. Look for the book to be published in 2010.