I’m turning now from haunting books that deal with violence and man’s inhumanity to man on a global level (The Hunger Games trilogy, The Sandcastle Girls, and Unbroken) to a novel that haunts because of the violence and inhumanity within a family. Gone Girl, a bestselling novel by Gillian Flynn, […]
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Haunting Books: The Hunger Games Trilogy
In the past few months I’ve read several books that have continued to haunt me weeks after I turned the last page. So on Wednesdays in October (the traditional month for haunting), I’ll be posting about some of these books. None of the books I’ll write about is a horror […]
Continue readingPlotting a Novel – Try this for NaNoWriMo
I wish I knew more about plotting a novel. It’s one of the reasons I kick myself for not beginning my writing career earlier in life. If I’d spent my twenties starving in a garret as a writer, I’d be through the worst of the learning curve now. I’d have […]
Continue readingWhitman Mission
I mentioned in an earlier post that I wrestled with whether to set my Oregon Trail novel in 1847 or 1848. I decided on 1847, because I wanted my characters to stop at the Whitman Mission. Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, early pioneers to the Oregon Territory, were killed by Cayuse […]
Continue readingSally of Monticello: Founding Mother, by N.M. Ledgin
A new novel raising Thomas Jefferson’s slave mistress to “Founding Mother” is now a Kindle e-book on Amazon, soon to be available in paperback. I have had the pleasure of reading drafts of this book, and it is an engaging novel based on detailed historical research. Author N.M. Ledgin said […]
Continue readingFamily Pictures: Capturing History As the Mind Cannot
Both my dad and my mother’s father took lots of pictures over the years. As kids, my siblings and I were always smiling at the camera for my father or grandfather, and often both of them at the same time until my grandfather died. There were four standard poses for […]
Continue readingClio Is My Muse, by Pamela Boles Eglinski
Here is a guest post from Pamela Boles Eglinski, author of the new novel Return of the French Blue. If you like this post, look for her book on Amazon. Clio is the Greek muse of history. She is often seen with a scroll or a set of tablets. Clio is […]
Continue readingThat Vision Thing
In addition to our 35th wedding anniversary, I have another 35th this year – thirty-five years of wearing contacts. I began wearing glasses as a child, and switched to contacts in the summer of 1977. My opthamologist that summer first tried me in soft lenses. They were easy to wear, […]
Continue readingThe Dailiness of Writing
When I first decided to spend my time writing, I read everything I could on writing. Five years later, I still try every few months to read a book on some writing technique or on what other writers say about life as a writer. Most recently, I read Making a […]
Continue readingWriter’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 […]
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