Research

Sometimes the writing life can take you to some pretty cool places.

But before I get into that, do you know about the First Minnesota Volunteer Regiment and what they did during the Civil War? If not, watch this...

So, yeah, pretty cool. But here's where the story gets awesome.

For the last 100 years or so, the state of Virginia has been trying to get the flag back. And each time they've asked, Minnesota has refused. Multiple governors have denied the requests over the years, but I think Jesse Ventura summed it up best when Virginia legislators requested the flag in 2000.

“Why? We won. … We took it. That makes it our heritage.”

Minnesota nice, indeed.

I heard about this not that long ago, and immediately thought there was a cool story in there. I did some thinking. Then I realized I needed to do some research.

So I sent an email to the Minnesota Historical Society. Next thing I knew, I had an appointment with a curator. She was amazing, answering all kinds of questions, then asked, "Do you want to see it?".

She leads me down into this last scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark-style labyrinth below the museum and we find this...

So, now I'm working on a new book, wondering what it would be like if some militia-type boys from Virginia decided to take matters into their own hands.

And what we Minnesotans would do to protect our flag.