Pageonelit.com:Where did
you grow up and was reading and writing a part of your life?
Who were your earliest influences and why?
Joe L. Blevins: I grew up
in north Texas in a town called Grapevine. (Sam Houston gathered
the Red River tribes together there in 1843.) This was a story
that I head much about from my grandparents when I was growing
up. My aunts, uncles, and other family members enjoyed talking
about our family history. My grandfather's family has a tradition
that the youngest of the family kept the family history. I am
the youngest in my generation. It was my grandfather that told
me the most about the Sam Houston stories, and about the Indians.
His mother was from the east Texas Cherokee. Her name was Kituwha,
(or Kit. Green, "Green Valley.") This influenced me
to write down the stories and keep the information for safekeeping.
Over time it became many folders and boxes of information. I
have always enjoyed reading, and writing.
Pageonelit.com: Why do you
write?
Joe L. Blevins: I like to
write because I enjoy a good story. It is fun and exciting to
relate the events in such a way that lets the reader see it first
hand, just like they were there also. It is for me a real joy
when you can make the characters from history live again to honor
then well. It is important to learn from their successes and
failures. There is a moral to the story.
Pageonelit.com: THE TEXAS
REPUBLIC is a wonderful book that Texans should be proud
of and non-Texans should enjoy reading and learning about Texas
-- How did this book come about? What motivated you to write
it? Where did the story come from?
Joe L. Blevins: I mowed
lawns for my family, and close neighbors when I was in school.
Most of them were elderly and could not work in the yard for
themselves. I would work for them weekly. While I helped them
they would have great stories to tell when I stopped to rest.
I heard about the Peters' Colonists from families that share
a similar story as my family's. I saw a common thread between
them as I heard them told from people that were very familiar
with their history for many generations. I kept these things
in my memory and I thought about them for many years.
I could get a clear picture of what happened in
early Texas. The diary is fictional, but the characters were
actual people, and the events really happened. There was much
research done in local libraries to look at historical archives,
which gave events such as storms and record wheat crops, and
such. Also the main character Andrew was a freeman that lived
in early Texas. A Black woman that I knew named Belle Bathsheba
Smith, (or Miss Belle) told me 
about
her mother, (Phoebe) that was the daughter of a Cherokee woman
named Morning Star. (Say-te-Qua.) I learned much to write about.
Miss Belle was a darling person that I knew from working in her
yard. Getting to know her history was the catalyst that put all
the stories in motion. I always respected my elders and I learned
much from them. This book was a way to honor them by telling
an accurate and true story.
Pageonelit.com: What is
it like being a Texan? Is growing up in Texas that much different
from growing up in the rest of the United States? Why or why
not?
Joe L. Blevins: The author
has lived in Texas all his life. He does not know of any other
place that shares such a unique history as Texas. All states
have a great history of their own, but none is so colorful, and
rich with so many different characters that influenced the history
of the United States. Texas has turned the balance of events
as a republic. As the 28th state it had much effect during Secession
and the Civil War. (The second and third books of this series
relate to those events.) I wanted to "set the stage"
to tell the story from the point of view of a settler coming
here to get a land grant when his own land was taken from him.
Pageonelit.com: It seems
that the center/theme of THE TEXAS REPUBLIC is "Home"
-- Is this the case or is it something else or a combination
of things? Please explain.
Joe L. Blevins: Since Andrew
lost his land in Louisiana, he came to Texas to get a land grant
by serving two years in the Texas army. "Home" is a
place that is your own that none can take from you, or have claim
against you. It is a place that you make safe for your family's
sake. The early settlers were often plagued in the Federal States
by debt that their families owed from their passage to America.
Several generations worked farmland that belonged other people.
That is why people from Germany, France, England, and the Federal
States came here was to have their own land that was theirs to
do as they please. It is hard to raise your family when half
of your crops and stock went to the landowner and the taxman.
Most families were large, so there were a good many helpers to
lend a hand. Feeding and clothing them was another issue. The
open area of Texas was inviting considering the conditions from
where they came from. It was a place to be free of former restraints
of generations. Northern Indian tribes came here as a last refuge.
This made a very interesting mix of cultures and situations.
This was their home also.
The story of the East Texas Cherokee was important
for it was their home that was lost . They fought the Caddo,
for the land before the settlers came. Their story needs to be
told and understood. This book does that and it settles some
questions relating to the early events.
So much fiction has been written about Texas that
some of the history has been clouded and misunderstood. I feel
it is my duty to retell the story in a proper perspective from
a uniquely Texan point of view.
Pageonelit.com: How much
reserch did you do for THE TEXAS REPUBLIC? How long did
this book take to write? Also please tell us about the illustrations
in the book - Are you the artist as well as the writer?
Joe L. Blevins: My research
takes me over a period of thirty years. I wrote, and illustrated
the books during the past fifteen years. I worked on it secretly
and kept it close to me. I knew these people well enough to see
their faces, and to remember them well. My nighttime dreams were
even filled with them. I saw them as real people with hopes and
dreams. It seems that my whole life has circled around these
events. My twin brother came over one day and I showed him the
book that I was working on. He was very happy
about what he saw, so I felt sure enough to complete the work
that needed to be done. A month later he died in a car accident,
so that made me more determined not to lose the important legacy
that was left to us. I drew the faces from history to help the
reader relate to them as real people, not just a date and event
from history that you had to memorize.
Pageonelit.com: Now that
you are an experienced published author - What advice can you
offer for those writers who are working on their first book?
Joe L. Blevins: As an author
I see that there is much to writing a book besides research,
and writing. Promotions are the fun part. I went through at least
fourteen publishers, and five years, before I found Trafford.
Writers should not chop up their "artistic vision"
to suit a publisher. Most publishers did not like the fact that
there were so many illustrations, or they wanted to change something
that it should not be changed. Know your subject well, and defend
it with all your heart! Don't be faint when you get rejected.
It takes the right publisher to recognize the merits of your
hard work. Be flexible and learn from other writing publications.
Pageonelit.com: What has
been your feedback from readers? What do they say to you about
their interpretations of your books?
Joe L. Blevins: Many people
that have read the book enjoy it very much. Several organizations
has backed it from the president of the Boy Scouts of America,
Mr. Milton H. Ward, the historic Lonesome Dove church, pastor
Dr. Coy Quesenbury. The Heard Museum, and Wildlife Sanctuary's
curator Dr. Ken Steigman, and the University of Oklahoma's Dr.
Donald Dewitt, curator of historical archives, each supports
the book. The Sam Houston Museum of Huntsville is enjoying the
book as part of their history outreach. The Collin County Museum's,
Dr. Donald Hoke supports this work. It is being enjoyed in a
number of schools and libraries also. The word is getting out
to people that enjoy works such as this. You will enjoy it too,
even if you are a native Texan, or for non- Texans.
Pageonelit.com: Who are
your favorite writers and why?
Joe L. Blevins: My favorite
writers are Michael Crichton, William Shakespeare, Mark Twain,
James Clavel, Anne Rice, and there are others I respect very
much.
Pageonelit.com: What's next?
Joe L. Blevins: The next
books are the other two books of the trilogy: After the Republic,
and The end of Life. The next book takes Texas from
statehood to the Succession of Texas. The last book tells of
the Civil War and its aftermath telling the story to the end
of the storyteller's life.
Pageonelit.com: What was
the last book you read?
Joe L. Blevins: The last
books that I read was The Chicago Manual of Style, and the Bible
, which I have read for the third time. There has been so much
writing to do, so reading time has been limited to these two
books.
Pageonelit.com: Do you have
any hobbies? What are they? How do they enhance your writing.
Joe L. Blevins: My hobbies
are restoring antique things that need attention. I have made
many of the American Indian weapons and items
that are part of the illustrations, and research for the book.
I love to draw and paint. I like to work with wood, and make
things. Promotions at the different museums and historical places
dear to the book are a great deal of fun to explore. Most of
all sharing a love and respect of history is wonderful.
to Texas. He says, "It
was a wild place here in Texas. It was most of all a great adventure.
The family would always meet on my grandfather's birthday on
June 22 at lake Grapevine. We would have a picnic. We would have
a feast, and tell stories of the family coming to Texas. I would
remember the stories and write them down in a tablet. In time
it became many tablets of notes and folders of newspaper clippings
telling of historical finds, and information that added to the
book." For over twenty-five years The Texas Republic
was put away while Joe worked in electronics in Richardson.
"I volunteered at the Heard Museum for several years.
We had Scout Days and Y-Indian Guides. The kids would ask such
wonderful questions. It reminded me of my days with my family
when we would meet and talk of history, and look for fossils.
I continued working on the book while I was at the Heard Museum."
The Texas Republic became complete in concept in1989. Joe
says, " Since I am the youngest of my family I am the
person responsible to pass down my family history. As I talked
with my close neighbors, and other people that I knew, I saw
the story from many perspectives. I saw that all the stories
were intertwined with each other. They have a common focus to
tell the great history of Texas." The Texas
Republic tells of the hope of a man to have a place
called "home." It tells of 
the
struggles of the Texas' frontier days. It tells the joys of success,
and the battles to be free of tyranny. It tells how Andrew used
his great faith in God to get him through his battles when he
was afraid, and hurt. It tells of other great people who had
faith and vision to do what was impossible without faith. It
tells of the Red River tribes who were determined to protect
their lands when the influx of settlers came to farm and settle
north, and east Texas.