[This book is not yet available for sale while I am endeavoring to find a publisher or paperback on Amazon or Create Space.]
Authors get their ideas for books in a variety of ways. How Ralph came up with the story for this book began when he and his wife spent a weekend with friends near St. Louis. On a St. Louis television news report was a story about a group that wanted to bring to the forefront the part that St. Louis played during the Civil War and mention was made of the four military prisons that were located in St. Louis. When Ralph got back home he did a little research and found out about those four prisons.
A storyline that Ralph had came up with, but never used for his "Johnny Ringo - Bounty Hunter" series was about a man who committed a robbery and some others planned to break him out if he agreed to split the gold with those men who got him out of prison.
Since Ralph had a Master's Degree in American History he knew that the Confederacy had problems buying munitions.
He then decided to combine those ideas to provide the basis for this book.
To come up with the dates to be used Ralph found a calendar of 1862 online and saw that it was the same as the 1969 calendar; therefore, he decided to start the story on the same day as his wedding day, Friday, May 9.
A former student, Zachary Miller, designed the cover background.
Ralph was having a tough time deciding which of two ways to end this book. He had a detailed discussion with his wife about this book and she came up with a third ending and that was the one used. Because of his theatrical background, all of Ralph's previous books have ended with complete resolution of the story, just like a play. This was the first time Ralph had a surprise ending. What he liked best about this ending is that it is open for a follow-up book, "The Missouri Gold Raid II", which contains both a prequel and sequel to his book.
Storylines/Subplots
Total Words = 55,887
To purchase this book, go to: Amazon.com