I’ve been stuck a few times while writing my historical novels. My characters got into situations and I didn’t know how to get them out. When that happened, I brought in Mrs. Tuller. Mrs. Tuller is one of the main characters in my Oregon Trail books. She is the wife […]
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Writer’s Block, Mrs. Tuller, and Real Life
I’ve been stuck a few times while writing my historical novels. My characters got into situations and I didn’t know how to get them out. When that happened, I brought in Mrs. Tuller. Mrs. Tuller is one of the main characters in my Oregon Trail books. She is the wife […]
Continue readingIndependence Day at Independence Rock
Emigrants to Oregon in the 1840s knew that if they reached Independence Rock (located in what is now central Wyoming) by Independence Day, they had a good chance of beating the snows in the Western mountains. Independence Rock, 800 miles from the Missouri River, was a huge landmark along the […]
Continue readingI have another post up on Write Brain Trust, listing all the books that this wonderful writing group has published in the past year, including my own Family Recipe. Check out these books by Kansas City area writers.
Continue readingFred Geary Woodcuts: A Window Into History Feeds Today’s Imagination
I happened upon an exhibit of Fred Geary’s woodcuts at the Kansas City Public Library’s Central Branch earlier this week. It was another example of how writing historical fiction has changed my perspective on the world. (See my earlier post on reading a newspaper article about modern gold panning.) Geary’s woodcuts […]
Continue readingWriting Memoir: Family Myth Defines Us, Unless We Define Ourselves
Earlier this month I attended the Kansas Authors Club, District 2, retreat at Lake Doniphan Conference & Retreat Center in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. (Yes, the Kansas authors were brave enough to cross the state line. The Border Wars have been over for a long, long time.) My favorite part of the […]
Continue readingMy Son Made Me Tweet
It’s my son’s fault I’m on Twitter. Or rather, you can blame it on @jamestweeting – his Twitter handle. He doesn’t call. He doesn’t write, not even emails. He’s rarely on Facebook. But he does tweet. A couple of years ago, James told me how to follow him on Twitter without […]
Continue readingStory is Everywhere; You Control It
If you want to have an impact on people, you need to tell them a story. For years, I read articles in the American Bar Association publication ABA Journal on trial practice and the importance of advocates telling their client’s story to the jury. But recently, the importance of telling […]
Continue readingOrder on the Trail: The Governance of Wagon Trains
By mid-May, the emigrants to Oregon in the 1840s had settled into a routine. They were past the frontier towns and out on the open prairie. Greenhorns without experience driving oxen and mules had learned to manage their teams. Wives who had never cooked on an open fire had figured […]
Continue readingHow To Write Three-Dimensional Characters — Advice from Steven James
I was fortunate to attend the Oklahoma Writers Federation Inc. conference this past weekend. The keynote speaker was Steven James, author of more than thirty books. He was a funny and engaging keynote speaker, who talked about rejection letters writers receive and the need to write and re-write until your […]
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