Watch Virtual Book Signing Dec. 5: The Maps of Chickamauga

One of the best things about the world of Lincoln enthusiasts is the neat people you meet. Among those I count as my friends is Daniel Weinberg of the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop in Chicago. Dan and his staff host Virtual Book Signing, a wonderful online program where they interview authors about their latest books.

If you've got time at noon Central Time today, Saturday, Dec. 5, log on to watch the interview with Dave Powell, author of The Maps of Chickamauga: An Atlas of the Chickamauga Campaign, Including the Tullahoma Operations, June 22 - September 23, 1863. Now that's a title!

Information on the Virtual Book Signing Web site says The Maps of Chickamauga is the third in a new series of campaign studies that take a different approach toward military history. The book explores this largely misunderstood battle through the use of 126 full-color maps, graphically illustrating the complex tangle of combat's ebb and flow that makes the titanic bloodshed of Chickamauga one of the most confusing actions of the American Civil War.

One of the really cool things about watching the book signing live is that you can submit questions for the author. I've done it before, and, when time allows, they really do answer them - right while you're watching. It's pretty neat. But, if you are just too busy holiday shopping or decorating to watch the book signing live today, don't despair. After a few days, the signings are archived. You can watch many past book signings with numerous Lincoln, presidential and Civil War authors.

Are you reading Lincoln?

Those of you who visit Lincoln Buff 2 regularly have noticed my recent absence from the blogosphere. I hope you all enjoyed my blog posts and tweets from Washington, D. C. and Gettysburg in November. I promised you more in depth accounts of the places I saw and the people I met. They're coming ... really.

Right now, I'm catching up on things I missed during my two-week Amazing Abe Adventure - things like raking leaves, going grocery shopping, paying bills and reading a book for which I've promised a book review. The leaves are raked, the pantry is stocked, this month's financial obligations are met. Just one major obligation remains to be fulfilled, and I'm about 50 pages from the end of the book. So, it won't be long and I'll be back.

In the meantime, are you reading Lincoln? In the sidebars to my blog, you'll find lots of suggestions of books by my favorite Lincoln authors and of blogs and research sites where you can read more about Lincoln or, in some cases, read his own words. So, don't set Lincoln aside in my absence. Keep on keepin' on with your own Amazing Abe Adventure in this bicentennial year. Remember, books are adventures, too.

Till next time....

On to the next Abe adventure

The Amazing Abe Adventure 2009 has drawn to a close. In its place, I face the reality of laundry to be folded, bills to be paid, a return to work. My two-week Lincoln adventure in Washington, D.C. and Gettysburg will be replaced with real life, with Lincoln squeezed in between the must-dos.

What will my next Amazing Abe Adventures be? Trips, books, speeches? Yes, I want to. Yes, I plan to. Yes, I'm hoping.

During the Washington, D.C. stint of our trip, I realized there is much more there I need to see and do, including using my new Library of Congress reader card. Having one and "getting the taste a bit" convinces me I've not seen the last of the manuscript room.

The Lincoln Forum Symposium was all I'd hoped it would be and more. It won't be my last. And, now that I know of the other interesting commemorative activities Gettysburg hosts each year, I am convinced I'll want to return there as well.

I'm also looking forward to visiting Lincoln's haunts in Kentucky and Indiana, including making time to see the Library of Congress Lincoln exhibit when Indiana hosts it.

And then there's the blog, Twitter, book reviews, scholarly papers, my planned Lincoln books - three or four, at least - and giving speeches about Lincoln again.

Yep, my next Abe adventures have just begun. Sometimes, as on my recent trip, I'll meet myself coming and going. If, however, I can continue to live my mission of spreading enthusiasm about the life and legacy of Lincoln, it will all be worth it.

Gettysburg commemorates with class

It's our last full day in Gettysburg and leaving is hard. In just a few short days, I've grown quite fond of this town where Lincoln's 10 sentences still resonate and the spirits of those who fought and died still radiate.

Why is it, do you suppose, that on the days we turn out to commemorate our veterans or war dead, the sun seems to shut its eyelids and release its tears? It happened last Wednesday at Arlington and again today at Gettysburg. The drizzle didn't stop the ceremony, though, and Gettysburg did it up right. I tweeted during the event, so you can get a flavor of it there. I'll write more in a future blog post.

Thanks to the rain, I had to do a little "hair repair" before going to my next event - the Lincoln Fellowship of Pennsylvania's luncheon at Gettysburg College. Talk about doing something right - this event was so jam-packed and enjoyable that I was nearly an hour late meeting my hubby and didn't even realize how much time had passed. Met some very interesting, very talented, very promising and very well-loved folks. Can't wait to tell you about them, but I'll have to save these stories, too, for another day.

I spent my afternoon in downtown Gettysburg, visiting the newly restored Wills House, the train station and a yummy restaurant the townies choose. We closed our day at the historic Majestic Theatre, where we heard a world-class world premiere of a musical production, a very inspirational talk by author Jeff Shaara, a very, very funny acceptance speech by young author Nick Taylor, recipient of the Michael Shaara award for Civil War Fiction, and a speech by Michael Burlingame that entertains no matter now many times I've heard parts of it. And, Michael, you've got another feather in your hat. You just may have hooked my hubby on Lincoln!

The Amazing Abe Adventure is winding down and I'm starting to feel like an unwound wind-up toy. It's been a long couple weeks, but a time I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. Hope you felt a little of my excitement along the way and share even more of my enthusiasm for Lincoln. If so, the late nights and early mornings were worth it. Come back to visit the blog again. I'll try to tell you more about many of the people I met, talks I heard, things I experienced.

I'll be leaving Gettysburg, but I don't think it will ever leave me. I won't even try to put into words the power of this place. I just don't think it can be done.