Now...to finally answer you...LOL
Yep, I'm a reenactor. I've been dressing in funny clothes and playing with various black powder weapons since about 1992 (so ok, it's been more than 14 years...). I have varying personae, but my main "impression" is Mariah Todd, who is actually an ancestor of mine. Her family moved to this area shortly after the war (but I fudge that for the sake of continuity) from West Virginia, where things were getting ugly. They had originally been from Weston, (West) Virginia. A lot went on for the family during the war, so she provides a lot of grist for first person presentations.
Beyond that, I also do first and third person presentations in tandem with my husband. Once upon a time we did an undertaker "schitck", which started off as a running joke and turned into a really popular subject for living history weekends and school demos. LOL
That's actually how I started my jewelry business...through reenacting. I started making jewelry for the women in my unit once I did some research and it snowballed.
I'm director of the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Company I. We're really small anymore, and most of the events have turned to school demos and teaching events, but we're still here. We also have a sister group, the 1st West Virginia Light Artillery, Battery B. So yes, I play with artillery for fun and profit too. Got my certifications and everything. I'm also kicking around joining the Blue and Gray Brigade, but that's subject to me having time. Which I don't have. LOL
I also teach in and around Gettysburg from time to time, subjects ranging from basic show and tells, womens' issues during the period, local (Western Pennsylvania) units who were present and active during the battle, to ghosthunting. Just depends.
My research partner and I are in the process of writing a book about the 11th. He wants to broaden the scope to include their entire history, I want to do a separate one on their action at Gettysburg since it's not a unit that has seen a lot of attention (we ain't the 20th Maine). In either case it's been percolating, mostly at this point we're looking for more "flavor" information in the form of letters and diaries so that people don't die of boredom from the onslaught of dry information. *That*...has been a challenge.
I also write on my own, and I've done historical fiction off and on. I have a manuscript that's been sitting at about 330 pages for a few years now, dealing with the story (melodrama) of Ginny Wade, Wesley Culp and Jack Skelley. I've put it on hold for the time being, mainly because I need a few months of research under my belt before I can pick it back up again. Every time I think I have the story straight, I get a new source that changes the picture. LOL It's not quite the story they tell the tourists, I'll say that much.
There's a good bit of historical fiction about the period, it's just a matter of finding it. Many deal with just the battles and have little to do with the "back home" life. Though I must say Michael and Jeff Shaara's books (Killer Angels, Gone for Soldiers, Gods and Generals) are good ones. I look at the ones Newt Gingrich wrote and just twitch...I confess I've never cracked their covers yet.
Yes, I know all about the movie Gettysburg. LOL And I know quite a lot of people who were in it too. But that's another post.