Parallel Lives Index Completed!

This is a message for all Hatchet subscribers and to any others who want to purchase a copy of the forthcoming Parallel LIves: A Social History of Lizzie A. Borden and Her Fall River by the Fall River Historical Society.

I have been working diligently on the index for the book for months and I had planned to produce magazine issues concurrent to the indexing. However, that was not how it played out as I discovered that the concentration required to do an index for a book the size of this one, almost 1000 pages of text, was demanding and intense.

The best way I can describe it is to say that designing and writing The Hatchet uses one part of the brain, but indexing uses the exact opposite side! It is focused detail work, and quite sloooooow-going. Ordinary books have between 3 and 4 indexible items per page. Parallel Lives averaged well over 9. There are nearly 9,000 entries in this index.

And it is done. So now I turn to The Hatchet. Rest assured that I will be publishing the promised 4 issues this year. There is plenty of Lizzie, Fall RIver, and Victorian research to reveal, and I guarantee some amazing surprises and brand new discoveries in the months ahead.

Thank you for all your notes and well wishes. It is truly heartening to know you care so much.