Well, 2025 is now upon us. Like many folks, I have taken time over the past couple of days to establish some resolutions for the coming year. Most of my resolutions are of the standard variety. I’m going to try to exercise more, spend less money, and stop staying up so late. How successful I will be in these endeavors remains to be seen, as they are pretty similar to my resolutions from last year.
In addition to these common resolutions, I have also decided to make it my goal for 2025 to write a book. Over the years, many kind individuals have encouraged me to write my own book on the Lincoln assassination. Each time, however, I have demurred, noting that the most definitive book about the Lincoln assassination has already been written: American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael Kauffman. I still believe that Kauffman’s book is the most detailed account of the assassination, and I know that I could never come close to reaching his level of scholarship.
That said, there has been an idea that I have been mulling over for the past couple of years. It was a concept I explored a bit during my Master’s program, but I didn’t feel I had the time to explore it fully then. In time, other shiny new projects have popped up to distract me, such as my Lincoln Conspirators at Fort Jefferson video series (which I’m really very proud of and you should all watch) and my reviews of the Manhunt miniseries. After finishing both of these lengthy projects last month, I found myself asking, “What’s next?” and my mind returned to this latent book idea.
I’ve never attempted to write a book before. The sheer size of such an endeavor is intimidating, to say the least. I wasn’t sure if this was something I could ever reasonably accomplish. This is especially true since I’m one of those dreaded “hunt and peck” typers who only uses like two or three fingers to type, a particularly slow and error-inducing process. However, according to my blog statistics for 2024, I wrote a total of almost 91,000 words last year. That is right in the range of a full-length book of about 300 pages, showing me that a book is actually within my abilities.
So, today, I broke ground, as it were, on my book, and I’m committed to keep working on it over the course of 2025. Whether I can get it completed in a year, I don’t know, but my resolution is to work on it as much as I can and see where I am by the end of the year.
My reason for writing this post is to make you aware that this is likely to be a slow year on LincolnConspirators.com. My postings will be few and far between as I choose instead to work on my book rather than on new web content. I do know of a couple of colleagues of mine who will be publishing their own books in the next few months, which I am eager to highlight, and I also have a friend working on a guest blog post that I know you will all enjoy. So, some content will be posted occasionally, but don’t expect any deep dives on a subject, as my research time will be devoted to working on my book.
During the lean times, I hope you will reengage with some of the older content on this site. You may have noticed a new “pinned post” on the blog’s home page directing readers to some of my special projects. At the end of that projects page, I included a list of some of my favorite blog posts. I hope re-reading some of those gems will provide some interesting content during the interim.
For the time being, I am going to be a bit secretive regarding the topic of my book (Hint: it has something to do with Lincoln’s assassination). This may change as time goes on, but in these early days, I would prefer to keep my cards close. It will hopefully make for a better reveal down the road this way. To my colleagues who follow this blog, don’t be surprised if you get an email or phone call from me in the coming year with an appeal to pick your brain. I’ve always felt that history is a collaborative effort, which is why this blog exists for all to read and learn from.
I’m excited (and scared) about the coming year and my resolution to write a book. I appreciate your patience and support during this year as I attempt to make this resolution a reality. And, if any of you authors have some advice on how to write a book, I would very much appreciate your guidance in the comments.
~Dave
LincolnConspirators.com 
How intriguing! Very best of luck…following along!
Thanks for the luck, fellow Dave. I will need it.
Dave, since you are the ‘hunt and peck’ type, you might try dictating some of your material. I do that as part of m writing. There’s fancy dictation software but I find speaking into a gmail email and then sending to myself so I can cut and paste into a MS Word document works almost as well. Really speeds up the process if you are a slow typist. As good a speaker as you are, this may work well for you.
from Wes Harris. I didn’t see my name attach to the msg.
That’s some helpful advice, Wes. I have used a similar feature on Google docs to quickly read and transcribe articles and documents. Thanks!
Are you accepting pre-orders of your new book now, Dave? Ha.
I appreciate the faith, Paul. I’ll let you know when we get to that step.
Can’t wait to read the book. Congrats on the new endeavor and know your followers are 100% behind you.
Have a great 2025 and looking forward to your book. Love the idea of pre orders. I am in.
Thank you for the support! I’m going to do my best to take it one small step at a time.
Great good luck on the book project, Dave…you can do it!
William B. Canfield III
Thank you, William!
Dave, good luck with the book.They say write about what you know,so I’m sure your book will be successful.Looking forward to reading it,but please don’t take too long, I’m approaching my seventh decade.All the best,with your endeavor.
Leonard,
Thanks for the well wishes. My hope is to get the book written over the course of this year. Maybe I’ll have it done for your 70th.
Has a scholarly work solely focused on the conspirators? We seem to have limited information on them except for Mary Surratt, and only Atzerodt provided any real last words from the gallows.
Steve,
There are published biographies about Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, Dr. Mudd, and John Surratt. Aside from Samuel Arnold’s memoirs, there isn’t much out there regarding the rest of the conspirators. However, I do have a friend who is working on a book about one of the missing conspirators that I’m excited about.
Dave,
As Lincoln himself said:
“Writing, the art of communicating thoughts to the mind through the eye, is the great invention of the world…enabling us to converse with the dead, the absent, and the unborn, at all distances of time and space.”
― Abraham Lincoln, Speeches and Letters of Abraham Lincoln, 1832-1865
Hooray! As an avid writer myself (writing a novella on the Booth brothers now with the same resolution as you) I wish you really good luck and best wishes! I just can’t wait!!! Your blog is already so well written and well-constructed… excited to see what you can do in terms of book format. HAPPY WRITING!
Congrats, Dave. Wishing you well on your book!
Yay, Dave!! Good for you! I’m sure your book will be fabulous! I published my book in 2024 after 6 years of research. I’ll be first in line to purchase your book!!