Member-only story
“Strong Beginnings” by William Spivey
Turning From Historical Fact to Fiction
For those of you familiar with my writing, you know I focus on history, politics, education, and race. I often include opinions, which I hope are supported by facts. I hope I have earned the trust of my readers, though others are welcome to disagree and draw different conclusions.
“Strong Beginnings” is my first published foray into fiction. I have found that writing fiction requires just as much research and attention to detail as writing a factual story. When writing historical fiction like this novel, I have to be even more aware of what was going on at the time in the world and how people living in those times would be affected by world events. One such event was the Pulse Nightclub Massacre of 2016, then and now one of the worst mass shootings in American history. It affected people around the world, and my characters happened to live through it.
Strong Beginnings was inspired by two events, both of which are covered in the prologue. One was the 1946 Moore’s Ford Bridge lynching. Although I changed the date and place to accommodate the characters' timeline, the event actually happened.
