In the midst of all my happy research, I had a heart attack.
The resulting ban on stimulants put me into a rather befuddled state and, since my life is both enlivened and complicated by "Hunter" mindset (ADD to those who think it a disorder), I had to give up my chemical productivity aids. During this chaos both the book and the blog slipped entirely from my mind.
Now I am back at work and faced with a number of problems.
The first is to try to figure out how deep I want to go in my research and explanations. For example, the back story for Molly Ockett and her tribe/neighbors could probably occupy me for months. There are so many intersections and ambiguities. My research on another Tufts family member has led me to a possible link between Molly and a native American in Farmington, ME. It might be an interesting one.
But do I pursue it now ... or save it for a later time, or another book.
The second is how much money to invest in the project. Much of the material is available on microfilm or in digitized books, but one interesting source book is unavailable and the last copy sold auctioned for $12K+ (well out of MY price range).
An interesting side note. In the process of working on this book, I had assumed that Molly Ockett was an older woman, but now I realize that she was only eight years older than Henry. Since he was 25 when they met, she would have been 33.
Another interesting side note is that Henry seduces King Tumkin Hagen's (Tumhegan's) daughter. This Indian king later becomes a fierce enemy of the colonists. Is this a coincidence? Am I extrapolating too far?
Yeesh!
