Interview With Author William Brothers
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am William H. Brothers, author of historical fiction rooted in more than a decade of family-genealogy research. I have published two novels—*The Night the Bells Burned* and *Empire’s Cost: Forged in Paper*—the opening books of *The 500-Year Journey*, an eight-book family saga following generations of one family from sixteenth-century Europe to America. My third novel, *The River Carves the Stone*, is nearing publication, and I am now writing the fourth, *The Blue Line in the Snow*, set in Revolutionary War New York. I write because history becomes most meaningful when we experience it through the choices, losses, courage, and love of ordinary families.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is *Empire’s Cost: Forged in Paper*, the second novel in *The 500-Year Journey*. It was inspired by my own family research, which led me through Dutch records, early merchant networks, and the dangerous Atlantic world of the seventeenth century. I was especially drawn to the question at its heart: what does a family sacrifice when opportunity, ambition, and survival demand a choice? The novel follows the Schutt family from Amsterdam’s growing commercial world toward New Amsterdam, where a new life promises freedom but carries its own cost.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My most unusual writing habit is the hour: I am often at my desk by 4:00 a.m., while the house is completely quiet. I also write from about 7:00 until 11:00 at night, after my wife and children are asleep. In a busy household, I have learned that almost any quiet moment can become a writing session.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Historical fiction is what I have loved first and longest. I am drawn to writers who make history feel immediate, personal, and consequential: Ken Follett for sweeping lives set against great events; Bernard Cornwell for the urgency and physical reality of war; and James Michener and Edward Rutherfurd for following families across generations. I admire Kristin Hannah’s emotional honesty and the way she places women and family at the center of history.
Jeff Shaara and Michael Shaara have been especially important influences, particularly Michael Shaara’s *The Killer Angels* and Jeff Shaara’s Civil War novels. They showed me how a great battle becomes most powerful through the fears, loyalties, and sacrifices of the people who endure it. All of these writers remind me that research matters most when it serves character, choice, and the human cost of an era.
What are you working on now?
I had the best time this summer in the archives of the New York State Library in Albany and Kingston—although my children billed it as the worst summer vacation ever. For me, every story begins with research. History is the backbone: it must be accurate, specific, and thoroughly researched. The characters are the flesh on the bone—the people who make those events matter.
Today I am working on *The Blue Line in the Snow*, the fourth novel in my eight-book historical family saga, *The 500-Year Journey*. Set in Revolutionary War New York, it follows a divided family as the struggle for control of the Hudson River Valley threatens to tear kin from kin. It is a story of loyalty, sacrifice, military action, and the difficult choices civilians—especially women and families—must make when war comes to their own doorsteps.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am still learning the promotion side of publishing, but I have found that the most effective method is personal connection—readers recommending a book to another reader, conversations with book clubs, and meeting people who genuinely love history. My website, WilliamHBrothers.com, is my home base, where readers can learn about the series, the research behind it, and upcoming releases. Amazon helps readers discover the books, but the strongest promotion is still a reader who finishes a story and wants to talk about it.
Talking with someone who has just finished one of my books is a blast. I love hearing how they connected with the characters and which moments stayed with them most. Writing may begin as a solitary act, but once a reader opens the book, it becomes a journey we take together.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write the story that has taken hold of you, and do not wait for the perfect time, perfect outline, or perfect first sentence. Make time for it—however small—and keep moving forward.
Do the research. Listen to readers. Welcome good editing, because it makes the book stronger. Most of all, remember that the work is a long journey, not a quick race. Finish the manuscript, learn from it, and then begin the next one. Every page written teaches you something the blank page never can.
For me, outlining is essential. The book must be grounded in history; the story grows from that truth.
Just keep writing. After all, isn’t that what you love?
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best leader is the best servant. Real leadership is not about position or recognition; it is about listening, doing the work, and helping other people succeed. That principle has guided me in business, family, and writing.
Also: buy Google, Apple, and Netflix in 2005—and hold them. I wish I had listened to that advice.
What are you reading now?
I am reading Jeff Shaara’s *A Chain of Thunder*. I met Jeff this summer while researching my fifth book in Gettysburg, and it was incredible to meet one of my personal heroes. His prose and descriptions are so visual that I can see the scenes unfolding as I read. I cannot wait for my next flight, when I can settle in and dive deep into it.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Since I am almost halfway through an eight-book series, my immediate next step is to finish the fourth novel, *The Blue Line in the Snow*. Then I will dive into a story I have been waiting to write: *Watchfires on the Hill*.
The fifth novel follows one New York family through the Civil War—from Gettysburg and Vicksburg to prisoners of war and the creation of new lives for formerly enslaved people in liberated New Orleans. It will be an epic historical novel told through the eyes of one family, with the war’s great events measured by the people who lived through them.
On a personal note, I will bury my brother near our father and mother at Arlington National Cemetery this year. He was a true American hero, flying more than 570 missions over Vietnam in an F-4E Phantom Fighter Bomber. That honor—and the sacrifice it represents—will make this next chapter of my work especially meaningful.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
First, the King James Bible. Then I would bring Michael Shaara’s *The Killer Angels*, Bernard Cornwell’s *Sharpe* series, and James Michener’s *Centennial*.
But I would also try to bend the rules and take a large, empty ledger and a pen. On a desert island, I suspect I would eventually need to write my own story.
Author Websites and Profiles
William Brothers Amazon Profile
William Brothers’s Social Media Links
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