A self-described Germanophile, J.T. Maicke writes historical novels that take place in Germany or among German-American communities in the Midwest. The study of German history, geography, language, culture, and cuisine has been one of his life-long passions. He has spent several years living and working in Central Europe and has explored many of the locations mentioned in his stories. Maicke is a great fan of historical fiction and his favorite authors include Ken Follett, Bernard Cornwell, George MacDonald Fraser, Umberto Eco, Robert Harris, and Morris West. He was educated by Benedictine monks and nuns in the Midwest and several of his stories have a Roman Catholic theme.
The Humble Courier is his latest book.
Visit J.T. Maicke’s website at www.jtmaicke.com or connect with him on Facebook.
10 Things You Might Not Know About The Humble Courier by J.T. Maicke
1. The
fictional hero of the story, Father Hartmann Bottger, was inspired by an
historical person.
Father Bernhard Lichtenberg, a German Catholic priest who opposed Nazi policies,
was the inspiration for the fictional Father Hartmann. Lichtenberg protested
against the treatment of inmates in German concentration camps, held daily
public prayer services in support of Germany’s persecuted Jews, and protested
against the Nazis’ extermination of the physically and mentally disabled.
Arrested by the Gestapo, Lichtenberg died in a railway cattle car while in
transit to Dachau concentration camp in 1943.
2. Halfway through writing The
Humble Courier, the author decided to totally overhaul the ending.
In the original plot for the story,
Father Hartmann was to peacefully oppose the Nazis and pay the ultimate price
by dying in a concentration camp, an ending the author subsequently considered
unoriginal and predictable. Instead, Maicke revised the ending and transformed
Father Hartmann from a victim into a resistance fighter.
3. The Humble Courier is the
first book of a proposed trilogy about the Bottger family.
The author currently is working on a sequel which will follow the American branch
of the Bottger family in the Midwest during the 1940s and 1950s. Maicke also
has plans for a prequel which takes place in Chicago in the late 1800s.
4. The hero of the story, Father Hartmann,
is not the author’s favorite character. Maicke’s
favorite character is Hartmann’s short, stout, irascible friend and fellow
monk, Brother Sebaldus. The author considers Sebaldus to be the kind of person
with whom anyone would love to sit down and enjoy dinner, a few steins of beer,
and some lively conversation.
5. Father Hartmann’s home village of Himmelsdorf
and the nearby village of Adlersheim are the only fictional locations in the
novel. All other towns, cities, abbeys, and
prisons mentioned in the story are or were actual places.
6. The author made a special trip to
Trier, Germany to investigate several locations important to the story line.
These included St. Matthias’ Abbey, the Elector’s Palace, the Kastilport, Trier
Cathedral, and the Episcopal Seminary.
7. It took the author thirteen months
to actually write the story while working a full-time day job.
However, Maicke had been researching and planning the book for several years
before finally typing out the novel during his free time.
8. A monk in the story was inspired in
part by one of the author’s former teachers. The
character Brother Giovanni, one of Father Hartmann’s friends and mentors in the
story, was inspired by a Benedictine monk who taught the author Religion and
English in high school.
9.
The stone church depicted on the book cover was inspired by a chapel in
the United States, not Germany. The cover
art was modeled after the St. Joan of Arc Chapel at Marquette University in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
10. The Humble Courier was
published by Dreaming Big Publications. Maicke
spent a year unsuccessfully trying to find an agent before finally reaching out
to Dreaming Big Publications, an independent publishing house which gave him
his big chance. Dreaming Big publishes a wide variety of genres and the owner
loves books that shine a light on the good, bad, and ugly of human nature. Dreaming
Big Publications was a perfect fit for the author and The Humble Courier.
Title: THE HUMBLE COURIER
Author: J.T. Maicke
Publisher: Dreaming Big Publications
Pages: 321
Genre: Historical Fiction
BOOK BLURB:
Father Hartmann Bottger, a Benedictine monk and priest, has confronted bullies his entire life, including pompous clerics, local thugs, and callous and corrupt French Army occupation authorities in the German Rhineland. But Father Hartmann faces his greatest challenges with the rise to power of the Nazi Party and the brutality of the dreaded Gestapo, which threaten the rights of the Church as well as the lives and spiritual beliefs of Father Harti and the members of his small village parish.
The Humble Courier takes place in Germany during the turbulent years from the end of the Great War to the beginning of World War II. It is the story of a German soldier who believes he has been called to the Roman Catholic priesthood and tasked with fighting evil and protecting the weak from the strong. Although Father Hartmann initially employs passive resistance to fulfill what he perceives to be his mission, he comes to the conclusion that more aggressive—even violent—means are necessary to confront the awesome power of the SS and the Gestapo. Employing unlikely allies and extraordinary methods, Father Hartmann sets out to take the fight to his enemies, justifying his actions with St. Augustine’s proverb “Punishment is justice for the unjust.”
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