Thoughts on Story and History and an Update on My Work-in-Progress
Longtime readers of this blog know that it started as a WordPress.com blog called “Story and History: One Writer’s Journey Through Life and Time.” I’ve kept the title “Story and History” even after I integrated the blog into my author website in 2017. And I also use the full title for my monthly newsletter. My […]
Random Photos: An October Trip Back in Time
My husband and I have taken many nice autumn vacations in September and October. Some of these autumn trips have been to Colorado, the Grand Canyon, Glacier National Park, San Francisco, and a Rhine River cruise. And, of course, we’ve also made trips to see family in Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. It’s a nice […]
Recipe — Cooking with Farro
A few months ago I read that eating farro was healthy. I’d never heard of farro, so the first thing I did was to research it. Farro is a whole grain dating back to the times of the Egyptians and Romans. Today, it is a staple in Mediterranean cooking. I guess I should have expanded […]
HISTORY OF OREGON: Hubert Howe Bancroft and Frances Fuller Victor
As I research my historical novels, I often refer to Hubert Howe Bancroft’s History of Oregon and History of California. They are not the most readable of reference books, but they are encyclopedic on their coverage of issues related to 19th-century settlement of these Western states. A couple of months ago as I researched, I […]
Fifth Grade: A Blur With One Specific Memory
I’ve written about my early school years. See here and here and here. By the time I reached fifth grade, I’d been there since the start of second grade, and I was likely to remain there through eighth grade. I knew where I stood. I’d survived the double names of fourth grade, and I spent […]
My Brother’s Sixteenth Birthday
September 7, 1973, was my brother’s sixteenth birthday, so yesterday he turned sixty-four. I left for my freshman year of college, three thousand miles away from home, about two weeks before my brother turned sixteen. But I bought him a birthday present before I departed—a key case, into which I attached my keys to the […]
More Battles with Newspapers and Post Office
When we moved into our new home in July 2019, I waged a campaign to get our newspapers and mail delivered accurately. All I wanted was for the newspapers and Post Office to provide the services my husband and I paid for—either directly in the case of the newspapers, or with our taxes and postage […]
Summer of 1864 and the Overland Campaign
In 1864, after three bloody years of frequent battles and stalemates, the Civil War slowly turned in favor of the North. President Lincoln gave General Grant command of all the Union armies, and Grant assumed the role of general in chief in Washington, D.C., in March 1864. Only after Grant’s appointment did the Union armies […]
Random Photos: When the Cares of the World Hit Hard
As I scrolled through old photographs recently, I came across pictures of my father taken on the beach at Port Townsend, Washington, in August 2006. This was my first visit to my parents’ new home—what would be their last home—in Port Ludlow, Washington. What strikes me about these pictures is that my father looks like […]
A Curmudgeonly Author’s Take on Social Media
It’s been awhile since I wrote about my likes and dislikes on social media. (But see here and here and here.) During the pandemic, social media has been the only way for an indie author to market books, so I have been forced to use it and to explore some new channels. But I’m finding […]