Happily Ever After: Defending Truth

Happily Ever After:  Defending Truth

In A Pioneer Christmas Collection, Shannon McNear portrays a surprising romance between a militiaman loyal to the Crown hiding after a battle in which his side lost, and a young woman patriot in charge of her siblings when her father goes to fight in Defending Truth. “People were all just struggling to live their lives, and the politics were as upsetting and confusing as today.”

Celebrating Christmas in the cave where her hero was hiding, seemed a terrific idea, and certainly a unique one.

The rest of the story:

Micah and Truth were married, with more haste than was probably seemly, and by the next Christmas their first baby had arrived, much to the delight of her younger siblings. Several more came in due time, and while many in the Bledsoe family followed the westward migration, Micah and Truth were content to raise their family at the edge of the Watauga Valley. Micah became a respected member of the community and remained involved in home defense and negotiations with the Cherokee. Did he ever see his own siblings again? Well, that remains to be seen …

It would be a misnomer to say “they lived happily ever after,” because life is, well, life, and the frontier held very real peril even as the land became more settled. Yet Truth found more joy than she thought possible being Micah’s wife—though she always gave him more sass than proper, she was sure. Their faith was tested again as they relinquished their fourth baby back into the arms of God, but the four that came after—for a total of seven who lived to adulthood—reminded her that hope will live on as long as the sun continues to rise and set.

The real-life Anthony Bledsoe and his brothers moved west and built a fort at Bledsoe’s Lick in what would become central Tennessee. Anthony died here in 1788 as a result of Indian attack. Loving Bledsoe (“Lovin” by some accounts and thus my spelling of Loven) took his family further west, across the Mississippi, and is buried in St. Charles County, Missouri. Many of Micah and Truth’s children followed as the years went on and added their strength to what became the famous pioneer spirit of the American West.

If you would like to view photos and drawings about Defending Truth, see Shannon’s Pinterest board here.

What’s happened to Shannon?

Defending Truth was Shannon McNear‘s first published story, and it was nominated for a RITA award.

The military wife and homeschooling mother of eight has been busy since publication, caring for family and moving. Her novella The Highwayman was published in May 2015, as part of The Most Eligible Bachelor Romance Collection.

About A Pioneer Christmas Collection, Shannon wrote:

“I think the strength of Pioneer Christmas is that all of us seemed to be able to focus on a time when the celebration was simpler—no commercialism, not so much focus on the gifts.”

She had no trouble envisioning her characters moving on in life:

” I’m one of those crazy writers whose characters very much take on a life of their own … often I wish I could have written a longer story, or sequels.”

Merry Christmas!

Tweetables

What happens to a rebel and loyalist after the wedding? Click to Tweet

A patriot and a Tory living happily ever after? Click to Tweet

After Defending Truth; life in the Watauga Valley Click to Tweet

It’s the Advent season and Michelle has written an ebook called Reflections on Advent, available to subscribers to her newsletter. If you’re interested in obtaining this free Advent gift, click on the link here.