One thing that surprises me as I research the settlement of the American West is how much some pioneers moved around in the new territory. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised because many of these people—particularly the men—were intrepid explorers or filled with wanderlust. Daniel Boone is one famous example. […]
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Marketing Tools I Should Use More Often
It is a truth universally acknowledged that writers cannot spend all their time writing. Sometimes, they must market the writing they produce. For many writers, this is an uncomfortable task. They prefer writing to marketing. And there are many people who tell them that their most important task is to […]
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The Northern Pacific Railroad
The importance of rail development in the West is one of the plot lines in my current work-in-progress. Recently, I’ve been researching the Northern Pacific Railroad, which was the third transcontinental railroad completed in the U.S.. The Northern Pacific line wasn’t finished until 1883—almost a generation after 1860, when the […]
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Seven Years Later: What I Know About Websites
I recently received a notification from somewhere in my social media memories that I launched this website, TheresaHuppAuthor.com, just over seven years ago, in February 2017. I posted in mid-March of that year about what I’d learned as I developed this site. Seven years feels like a generation in the […]
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Finding Renewed Energy (and Time) for Writing
I’ve had a really hard time making progress on the first draft of my current work-in-progress, which will likely be the last book in my Oregon historical fiction series. I started it in late May 2023, and I’m not done with the first draft yet, though I’m beginning to see […]
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Letters to My Grandchild: A Writing Exercise in Intimidation
Every once in a while I come across a book that intimidates me. Sometimes, it’s too long. Sometimes, it’s too literary or slow for my tastes, and I don’t want to commit. Sometimes, it’s just not appealing. I don’t like to stop books in the middle, but sometimes I do, […]
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New Year, New Goals—Will I Do Any Better in 2024?
In 2023, I had two primary writing goals—to publish When Heart Shall Fail (preferably in the first quarter of the year) and to draft the next (and last) book in my series on the settlement of Oregon. I published When Heart Shall Fail, but not until around Memorial Day. I […]
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Getting Past Procrastination
It’s been several years since I posted about how I sometimes procrastinate when I should be working on my novel. But I’ve found myself in procrastination mode for the past couple of weeks. Some reasons are good reasons to procrastinate. A grandchild’s visit, for example. Other reasons are not good […]
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Sarah Winnemucca: 19th Century Advocate for Native Americans
Last month I wrote about Winema Riddle, a Native American woman who pursued justice for her people in 19th century Oregon. Sarah Winnemucca was another prominent Native American woman in Oregon at the time who also advocated for her people. Sarah Winnemucca was born into an influential Northern Paiute family […]
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Sitting in the Dentist’s Office
The theme of this blog is “One writer’s journey through life and time.” Well, then, this post is a peek into today’s journey—I’ll write about my life and time in real time, what is happening while I draft this post. I am sitting in the dentist’s office. My husband has […]
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