I have researched how and where the emigrants traveled along the Oregon Trail for ten years, and I’m still learning. Recently, I learned from an article in The Wall Street Journal about why the wheel is round. The article contained the sentence: “The difficulty of moving a wheeled object increases […]
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Now I’m Found—Cover Reveal!
A year ago, I showed readers the cover of Lead Me Home, the first book in my Oregon Chronicles series. Today I am ready to reveal the cover of the sequel—Now I’m Found. (I might revise the cover slightly, but this is close to final.) I’m working on final edits […]
Continue readingDepicting History in Images and Words (Thomas Hart Benton, Hollywood, and me)
Over the Christmas break, I went to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City to see a special exhibit called American Epics: Thomas Hart Benton and Hollywood. I’ve always liked Benton’s artwork. Each piece tells its own story, and his murals show aspects of an era or of our […]
Continue readingGoogle Alert on the Oregon Trail: The Small Pleasures of Being a Writer
I have set up a Google Alert for references to “Oregon Trail.” Every week in my email inbox, I get a list of internet articles referencing the Oregon Trail. My purpose in setting up the alert was to keep up on what is happening along the trail. Most of what […]
Continue readingWeddings in the 1840s
My wedding anniversary is tomorrow, November 26, so for this month’s post on life during the 1840s, my topic is weddings of the times. In the early years of our nation, weddings were low-key affairs, typically held in the bride’s home and attended only by family and close friends. Weddings […]
Continue readingMy Novel, Lead Me Home, Is Now Published!
Ever since this blog’s inception, I have posted that I was writing a historical novel about travel along the Oregon Trail. My novel is finally published! Lead Me Home: Hardship and hope on the Oregon Trail is now available on Amazon in either paperback or Kindle formats and on Barnes & Noble […]
Continue readingThe Oregon Trail: A New American Journey, by Rinker Buck
I have immersed myself in the nineteenth century over the last few weeks, editing my Oregon Trail novel for what I hope has been the final big push. It still needs some tweaking, but the book is essentially done. While I was spending hours each day deep in my novel, […]
Continue readingWriting Historical Fiction: The Research Is Never Done
A month or two ago I was working on the cover for my novel about the Oregon Trail. I found a wonderful painting by Albert Bierstadt, called “The Oregon Trail.” It is in the public domain and the beautiful image evokes the era of my novel. It works well cropped […]
Continue readingKLWN Radio Interview and Cooking on the Oregon Trail
Those of you who follow me on Facebook might know that on June 20 I was interviewed by Jeremy Taylor on his program “About The House” on KLWN AM-1320 in Lawrence, Kansas. It was great fun! Jeremy had prepared well for our discussion of the Oregon Trail and my forthcoming […]
Continue readingWhat’s in a Book Cover?
As I’ve written, I am hard at work this year editing my historical novel about travel along the Oregon Trail. I’m far enough along that I can envision its potential publication. So recently I started thinking about what I’d like the book cover to look like. I have some experience […]
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