He had heard vague mentions of riots in Louisville back in 1855, and of the prejudicial treatment of people that were Irish and German immigrants and of Black Americans.  Fascinated by that period of history, his research routed out details that shocked him with their savagery and he felt compelled to tell the story of the social and political events that led up to the riots of Bloody Monday.  McDaniel didn't get started with serious writing until later in life.  He says that at a subconscious level, he was waiting for permission to attempt a novel, and that his late wife, Sue, gave him that permission.  His first book is dedicated to her.

His portrayal of Aindreas Rivers, a thirteen year old epileptic boy, as the protagonist in AINDREAS THE MESSENGER and as a young adult newspaper reporter in AINDREAS THE SCRIBE make these adult books that will also be exciting reading for teens.

I had a chance to ask Mr. McDaniel about his writing....

You had to know Louisville as your own neighborhood to write about that city so well.  Did you grow up in Louisville?  What were your growing up years like?

Gerald:   My parents, along with my two brothers and sister, came to Louisville when I was about three months old. Other than a couple of years in the army, stationed in peacetime Korea, my life has been in this city.  In the modern jargon of  the newspaper or the social worker, my family would have been described as  “disadvantaged”  which was a real advantage to the extent that I got to see and feel first hand the true and significant difference between this society’s claims and its deeds. Growing up in the core of a city, all one has to do is watch, listen, think and read. The codes and images of suburbia have no effect on such a kid. Not all the lessons were appreciated at the time, but I am grateful now.

Bev:  Why did you decide to put Aindreas in that particular time period just before the Civil War?

Gerald: In the case of Aindreas: The Messenger, the choice was irresistible. The nation born with such great hope near the close of the 18th century faced utter failure, and the first industrial war in history lay only six years away. The Bloody Monday riot of 1855 both represented and predicted the savage cruelty that usually follows unresolved ethnic and class hatreds.

Victims in this case were immigrant Irish and German. Being of Irish decent, I became morbidly fascinated with this event that the Louisville establishment doesn’t care to talk about a great deal...an event where the victims were blamed, and polite society tried to act as if the whole thing didn’t amount to much. Should this skinny little book inspire consideration and discussion of  the misdeeds committed by the smug “right kind of people” and by “100 % Americans,” I would be gratified.

Bev: I was really intrigued by your portrayal of Sue Mundy.  It sent me searching for more information on that rogue...but it's in short supply. You have a degree in history from the University of Louisville, but still, I'm sure that your story required massive research to portray the historical events and people of Aindreas' times.  Tell me about your research...is it done the old fashioned way or by Internet?

Gerald:    It’s embarrassing to admit my past ineptitude with the Internet, but I hope it will be a source of considerably more help in the future. The research on 1855 Louisville was done entirely the old fashioned way, a note at a time, and took a number of months. A good deal of useful detail on the riot was originally written in German, which I do not read. Thanks to Heaven, some of those archive pieces had been translated.  After the research was finished, including shoe-leather visits to actual locations, and the writing was done, I have never since been able to travel about the city and look at it the same way I did before young Aindreas Rivers became my tour guide.

Bev: You added a bit of the supernatural with the mysterious Mr. Knight and the huge dog Konig, who seemed to always be there when Aindreas was in need. But the other characters saw them too...so were they supernatural?

Gerald:   Whether or not any character was other than real is up to the reader. Actually, if anyone else besides Aindreas saw Mr. Knight, it wasn’t my intention.  I happen to believe that the human psyche is enormously powerful, and that creation is one of its products. Aindreas was the little guy who saw the need and imagined the solution. In so doing, he was involved in that search that all young men must undergo.

Bev: I loved the illustrations in both books.  They really added to my overall enjoyment. Where did these illustrations come from; did you choose them from other sources, or were they done specifically for your Aindreas Rivers Saga?

Gerald:  The illustrations were of the period in both books. Some of the photographs representing fictional characters in The Scribe upset a few readers of the galleys, in that they felt their own mentally formed notions of the characters had been taken away from them. I loved those illustrations as much as you did but we may, reluctantly, remove photographs representing fictional characters.

Bev:  According to the Press Release by VanMeter Publishing, there are two more upcoming books in the Aindreas Rivers Saga;  "The Odyssey" and "The Dissenter," and then a hard edged psychological thriller called "The Whipping Boy," coming out next year.  Tell us about the switch from historical fiction to a totally different kind of book.

Gerald:  We have been dismayed, at times, at the reluctance of some readers to undertake reading a book of “historical fiction.” Accordingly, the work in progress, tentatively now called "Night Sweats and Graffiti"  represents a break, a demonstration, and the opportunity to tell a contemporary post 9-11 story in a different way. An aging lawyer (the courthouse kind, the bread and butter type)  finds himself in the middle of a grisly series of deaths and in great personal danger. The manner in which he responds is important, and again the individual is left to combat power much beyond his own. The protagonist, Sam Saule, is as different from Aindreas as he could be, yet he is faced with dilemma and peril just as surely as was young Aindreas so many years before. Historical fiction will return.

Bev: When did you realize that you had stories to tell the world?  Have you done other writing?

Gerald:  I’m glad you think I do. The only other writing I have done is the legal type, which is a “fiction” of its own.

Bev: What is your typical day like?  Do you have a set time for writing?

Gerald:  I work from eight til five for the Jefferson County Attorney. This work involves a number of court appearances, as well as work back at the office. Sometimes, at the end of the day, I find myself all pumped up to write and other times I am exhausted. It would be so nice to boast to you that I have developed some highly disciplined routine, but I write as I can. Far better writers than me did it with less time.

Bev:What are your future writing plans?

Gerald: To write until my fingers won’t work anymore. I feel that imaginings have power that rivals magic. If they are made coherent, if they touch others, such imaginings become magic. I have more stories to tell than time left to tell them.

Bev:  Do you have any other thoughts that you would like to share with us?

Gerald:  I wish this could be said face to face, but thank you from my heart for your openness to Aindreas and his continuing story and other stories to come.

Bev: Gerald, thank you for visiting with us.   I have really enjoyed reading the first two books of the Aindreas Rivers Saga...now I'll just have to try to be patient until the next one is published.   We wish you the best of luck on
your future writing.

Twenty-three year old Aindreas Rivers arrives in Louisville just in time to rescue the Reverend Sharpe, along with his wife and beautiful daughters, Lorelei, and Faith, from a huge fire at the Galt House Hotel. Lorelei is flawed and dangerous but there is considerable competition for her affections as she pits one suitor against another. Aindreas, who now works at newspaper writing about social events, is carrying personal psychological demons from the Battle of Perryville where he served in the early years of the Civil War. Sarah White, the daughter of Isaac and Tempie White, the slaves that Aindreas helped to free from slavery, returns to Louisville. Aindreas and Sarah fall in love but she is forbidden fruit to Aindreas.  The prejudicial treatment of Blacks in 1865 Louisville was harsh, and interracial marriages could not even be considered.

There are a number of military officers and other real historical people that you will recognize.  There is Major General Don Carlos Buell, William Quantrill, Major General William "Bull" Nelson, and my favorite..."Sue Mundy" Marcus Jerome Clark, a strange, savage rogue.  After Sue Mundy's execution, Aindreas seems to lose his focus...those he loves are unattainable, he and his brother have a violent encounter, he loses his job, and is in danger of being arrested.  His personal defeats and losses serve to strengthen his determination.

Reading about history has never been more enjoyable...this may be one of the best historical novels of the year.  McDaniel is articulate and witty; his characters are fully realized and likable.  The plot has twists and turns aplenty and nonstop action...things are not always quite what they seem. Prepare to laugh and cry with Aindreas. I'm going to be very impatient for the next installment in this series.  "Aindreas: The Odyssey 1876-1892" is scheduled to be published by 2004, and "Aindreas: The Dissenter 1918" by 2006.