Today in 2014, not many of us are aware that the Emancipation Proclamation, issued on January 1, l863, was a touch-and-go executive order that President Lincoln agonized over. Not that he questioned the content or the moral issue, for he knew that erasing the stain of slavery was essential for the wellbeing of the young nation--but WHEN to release the order was the question. Lincoln wrote it, wanted to release it early in the war, but his cabinet convinced him that he needed to release the proclamation after a military victory so that the fact that the country would survive as one nation would be made clear--especially to Britain and France, who were both considering recognizing the Confederacy as a separate nation. Lincoln locked the Emancipation Proclamation away, then brought it out when he could "claim" a victory at Antietam. The fact of the order's existence, and that Lincoln would eventually release it, was announced in the newspapers. However, it wasn't until January 1, l863 after the battle of Stones River-- a vicious bloody Union victory that made it completely clear that the Union was not faltering--that President Lincoln released his executive order freeing all slaves in the territory under rebellion. These are some of the facts that I came to understand in greater depth in writing THE OCCUPATION OF ELIZA GOODE. I wanted to pass on what I was learning to my readers--hence the seven years of research and writing to finish the novel. In this new year, 150 years after the Civil War, I think it is important to appreciate that we were saved as a nation by a brutal war and the vision of President Lincoln. He knew that If we survived as one nation, our young country would become a world power. In 2014, unity is still the source of our greatest strength. Happy New Year!