Today I am delighted to announce that I am participating in a holiday giveaway with other historical fiction writers. Some lucky winner will receive a free copy of Lead Me Home as part of this giveaway, along with a dozen other books. All of the authors participating in this event […]
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Evolution of the American Flag
The United States just celebrated its 245th birthday on Sunday, July 4, 2021. In recognition of this event, last week I created a graphic to use in promoting my novel, Lead Me Home. I used an image of the current U.S. flag in the graphic, but that got me thinking […]
Continue readingBragging: Recent Reviews and Recognition for My Novels
One of the joys of writing is getting feedback from readers. Of course, the feedback isn’t always positive, but reader reviews are generally a reward for the long slog of writing and editing. Here are some of the reviews readers have posted recently about my novels on Amazon. Each of […]
Continue readingLEAD ME HOME: Missouri Author Project 2019 Adult Fiction Winner
I received an early holiday present this year. In mid-November, I learned that my novel Lead Me Home was selected as the 2019 winner in the Missouri Author Project adult fiction contest. Earlier this year, I came across Jane Friedman’s suggestion that indie authors consider listing their books in SELF-e, […]
Continue readingUpdates to LEAD ME HOME: The Fremont Expeditions and Pheasants
In addition to putting the finishing touches on Forever Mine this month, I have also made a few updates in Lead Me Home, the first novel I wrote about travel along the Oregon Trail. These two novels both involve characters traveling in the same wagon company in 1847, so part […]
Continue readingHouses in Oregon in the 1840s and 1850s
I keep finding new topics that I need to research as I write my historical novels. While I am finishing my current work-in-progress, I am also starting to think about my next book. That next book will begin in 1850, but I don’t yet know how long its timeline will […]
Continue readingPostage Costs in the 1840s
I wrote a post last year about the difficulties of mail service during the California Gold Rush years. I was thinking about this issue again recently when I bought first-class stamps at our local Post Office. I typically wait until I’m almost out of stamps (which I was last week), […]
Continue readingRelocation of Fort Kearny
In a post several years ago, I mentioned that Fort Kearny was relocated from near what is now Nebraska City, Nebraska, to a location further west along the Platte River. I described the surveying of the new fort site in Lead Me Home, and I’ve been revisiting that scene in […]
Continue readingMid-Continent Public Library ReadLOCAL Initiative
I wrote last week about National Library Week, and I announced that the Mid-Continent Public Library was now offering my books, Lead Me Home, and Now I’m Found. This week I want to tell you about the library’s new ReadLOCAL initiative, which MCPL announced last week. As I’ve written before, […]
Continue readingWhy Did the Emigrants Head West? For Prosperity, Health, or “Manifest Destiny”?
I decided to write about the Oregon Trail in part because the concept of leaving home for an unknown wilderness so far away is such an alien concept to me. I’ve moved across the country on a few occasions, but I don’t like spending time in the wilderness. Why did the […]
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