Murders in Oregon Territory: History Is Stranger Than Fiction
I’ve written before that my ancestor, Cyrenus Hooker, was the first person murdered in Polk County, Oregon. His murder took place in February 1852. I recently came across an article about another killing that took place in May 1852, when Nimrod O’Kelly fatally shot Jeremiah Mahoney in Benton County, Oregon, as a result of a […]
LEAD 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, a site sponsored by Library […]
Podcasts and Exercise
I do not like to exercise. I recognize the necessity, but I just don’t enjoy it. Several of my family members are work-out fanatics, including my husband and daughter. But they have not convinced me sweating is fun. I used to force myself to exercise by participating in a class. If I was with other […]
Learning to Dictate, Then and Now
I have a love-hate relationship with dictating. I think best with a pen in my hand, and second-best with my fingers on a keyboard. Far behind comes turning my thoughts into spoken words. As a law student and young attorney, I had to write many memos and legal briefs. Most of these documents included a […]
On Angst and Sit-Coms
My youngest brother is eleven and one-half years younger than I am. Given where our birthdays fell, he started kindergarten the same month I started college. I’ve written before how he took me for show and tell over my Christmas break when he was in kindergarten, and I got upstaged by his classmate’s golden retriever. […]
Back to Beginnings: My Next Writing Project
Perhaps it seems odd that I just announced the publication of my last novel, My Hope Secured, a week ago, and now I’m writing about beginning another novel. But the only way I know to improve as a writer is to keep writing. It’s a very different feeling facing a blank screen than the final […]
Things I Like About Our New House
It’s hard to believe my husband and I have been in our new home over three months now. Some days it feels like we’ve been here forever. Some days it feels like we’ll never get settled. It felt like home when I walked into the house after we traveled out of town for a week […]
MY HOPE SECURED Is Published!
I am so pleased to announce that my latest historical novel, My Hope Secured: Love and Loss on the Oregon Frontier, is now available. My goal this year was to have this book published before Thanksgiving, and I’ve done it. If you have friends and family members who like Western fiction or family sagas, please […]
Hallowed Ground: Visiting the 9-11 Museum
This isn’t a typical Halloween post, but it is about hallowed ground. The original meaning of Halloween is All Hallows Eve, the holy evening before All Saint’s Day on November 1. The fun side of the holiday came from pagan autumn rituals. In this post, I return to the hallowed side of the holiday. On […]
Uber Convert
Kansas City is a driving town. Except for a few corridors, it is difficult to use public transportation to navigate our metropolitan area. When my husband and I first moved here, we lived in an apartment just a few short blocks from one of the main north-south routes, and we usually took the bus to […]