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Scotland Adventure - The Elen Chronicles --Of Love and Blood

Sharon Brubaker Start Date: Oct 13, 2024 - End Date: Sep 11, 2025
  • Scotland, United Kingdom

My Travel Story

by: Sharon Brubaker Start Date: Oct 13, 2024 - End Date: Sep 11, 2025
Help nationally award-winning author Sharon Brubaker and her son and co-author James travel to Scotland to complete their research for their upcoming book The Elen Chronicles – Of Love and Blood. Healer Elen, shocked at the travesty of loss of life at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, returns home to find her young daughter, Helen, and her friend, Flora, have been taken prisoner by British soldiers. Elen seeks her daughter through war-torn Scotland, battling prejudice and whispers of witchcraft. After years of searching with few clues, she continues to hope, with an inner knowing Helen is alive somewhere. When America faces war with Britain in the fight for Independence, Elen must decide whether to use her healing gift for good or revenge. Thrust back into the horrors of war, will she finally find her daughter?

Sharon and James plan to travel to Scotland in September 2025 for hands-on research at Culloden Battlefield, various libraries, and museums. They also plan to follow Elen’s path through Scotland to 18th-century Liverpool, where Elen leaves for America.

Sharon and James are researching and writing the 18th-century American portion of the novel, which is slated for publication in 2026. Donors can follow along on social media and via the blog at www.sharon-brubaker.com.
  • Scotland, United Kingdom

Updates

15

  • More Questions Than Answers Going Down The Rabbit Hole

    More Questions than Answers Going Down the Rabbit Hole
    Many of us talk about ‘going down the rabbit hole’ or ‘doom-scrolling’ when on social media. There’s a similar effect when one is researching topics. Each bit of information leads to another bit, until you are spinning away in different directions, researching different threads, each one making your research richer.
    This has happened with The Elen Chronicles, of Love and Blood. I had always read and been told that after the Revolutionary War battle— the Battle of Brandywine —that wounded from both sides were taken to Ephrata Cloister to a Revolutionary War hospital. It was in my plot that Elen would follow these soldiers to Ephrata. We learned in our recent visit to Ephrata that, according to recently discovered primary source documents, soldiers did not arrive at Ephrata until mid-December 1777.
    This has blown a hole in my plot, but not necessarily a bad one. I do want Elen to end up in Ephrata, but there is a four-month gap from what I had originally planned.
    Elen is a healer. It’s no surprise she has followed the soldiers to assist in their healing. So, Elen’s path has changed. She currently resides (in my head) in 1777 near Charlestown, Maryland. Charlestown was a bustling port at that time, and near Principio Forge, where George Washington had munitions made. America and Britain had technically been at war since April 19, 1775. It was now nearby.
    When she learns of the nearby battles of Cooch’s Bridge (Delaware) and Brandywine (Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania), she feels led to assist with the wounded. But now what? She doesn’t want to run into any Redcoats as she still despises the British for taking her daughter and best friend, Flora. Her challenge is to circumvent the British troops and get to the places where she can be of assistance to the sick and wounded soldiers.
    George Washington retreated from the Battle of Brandywine, moving East to Chester County, PA. He fought the British, including General Howe, during the British takeover of Philadelphia. He began to set up a hospital in Historic Yellow Springs at Chester Springs, Pennsylvania. He began building the first military hospital, but also established other venues to care for the wounded in Bethlehem and Allentown. More hospitals were required after the loss at the Battle of Germantown on October 4, 1777. Additional hospitals were required and established in Evansburg, Trappe, Falkner Swamp, and Skippack. There were also hospitals in Reading and Lititz. Ephrata, Pennsylvania, too.
    An interesting article can be found at: http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/served/surgeons.html?srsltid=AfmBOorFcZB_Bjvm1kzdIC2YdrcWaqCmyRtgRIqTk8AjTcy92cBDjSZY
    Another at: https://hsp.org/history-affiliates/affiliates-membership/historic-yellow-springs
    So, the question lies in where Elen goes to assist in healing the wounded? I’ll be following those rabbits down the rabbit hole…
    Photo by Michaela Murphy on Unsplash

  • Rally The Troops!

    Rally the Troops!

    Kudos to Brandywine Battlefield for their outstanding reenactment event on August 2, 2025! Rob and I traveled to the battlefield for research for the forthcoming Elen Chronicles, of Love and Blood. See the Pinterest link: https://pin.it/5HsUMIheC
    The research for this book has me head over heels entrenched in 18th-century history, medicine, domestic life, and politics in 18th-century Scotland and America. The more I research, the more I realize (as is often the case with research), the less I know. I could certainly devote a lifetime to learning about the 18th century. Each bit of knowledge adds to the richness of the book.
    Reenactment events are excellent resources as the living history volunteers are well-read and willing to share information. It’s wonderful to see artifacts – real and newly minted to hear the tales of the time. The events at Brandywine for the Rally the Troops event give me a different perspective on the events of the battle.
    My timeline in The Elen Chronicles has changed drastically for the American portion of the book. It’s a very good thing and adds to the plot, but also creates a few other wrinkles. I know the beginning of the book. I know the end of the book. The changes will add to the middle to end timeline.
    I picked up an excellent book – Revolutionary Medicine, 1700-1800 by C. Keith Wilbur, M.D.
    Future road trips:
     Ridley Creek State Park and its working colonial plantation,
     The American Revolution Institute, Washington D.C.
     The Museum of the American Revolution, Philadelphia, PA
     And locating the thesis: “Women that Meddle in Physick and Surgery:” Female Medical Practitioners in Early Modern Scotland, 1560-1700.

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