7 Questions With William Culyer Hall, Florida Author

 

William Culyer Hall, a native of Lakeland Florida, is a fifth generation Floridian. His novel The Trouble With Panthers earned the Florida Book Award for Best Popular Fiction. In addition to the Kissimmee Valley Trilogy, Hall is author of the novel September’s Fawn. The father of four sons, he and his wife Cheryl live in Rockledge, Florida.

1. How and when did you get  hooked on history?

Since my people settled here before statehood, I became interested in the history of Florida at an early age.

2. What role does history play or has it played in your personal life?

I'm an active member of the Florida Historical Society.

3. How does history play  a part of your professional life/career?

I've written four historical fiction novels based on Pioneer and indigenous Florida history.

4. Why is studying/knowing history important?

Knowledge of the events and people of the past, I feel, give one a foundation, a sense of belonging.

5. What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?

Every period, beginning to now.

6.        What attracts you to stories of pioneer Florida?

I grew up around such people, and I strive to preserve their memory.

7. Please tell us about your most recent book?

"I Mean You No Harm" is the story of a Miccosuki warrior's search for purpose in a world that no longer resembles the one in his mind.

I Mean You No Harm is the third book in the Kissimmee Valley Trilogy. Each book in the series is enjoyable by itself. Together, the connected stories follow some of the same characters through a century of Florida history.

In the first book of the series, The Trouble With Panthers, the Rawlerson family has been involved in Florida’s cattle industry for several generations. In 2004, family members are divided over how they should adapt from Florida’s past to an inevitable future.

The second book in the series, Florida Boy, takes us back to the beginning of the story when the Rawlerson family establishes their homestead in Florida. The family patriarch who dies in The Trouble With Panthers is born in Florida Boy.

In this conclusion to the Kissimmee Valley Trilogy, I Mean You No Harm, we learn more about the mysterious Native American mentor of young Rawlerson family men. We follow the Indian with no name on his journey of self-discovery as he walks throughout the state, witnessing dramatic changes.