The Oldest Formula 409 Bottle in America
I’m not sure this is something to be proud of, but I believe our family owns the oldest bottle of Formula 409 cleaner in America. (If anyone can prove me wrong, please feel free to do so.) The Internet tells me 409 has been around since 1957, which means it is certainly possible that someone […]
My Lucky Four-Leaf Clover
St. Patrick’s Day is coming up this weekend. I’ve written before about the importance of St. Patrick’s Day in my family, because of my mother’s Irish heritage. This post isn’t specifically about St. Patrick’s Day, but it is about one Irish emblem—the shamrock (“shamrock” means “little clover”). Most people know that Ireland is called the […]
Memories of Girl Scouts on National Girl Scout Day
I don’t typically write back-to-back posts about “national days” and similar occasions, although it is interesting to note that International Women’s Day (March 8) and National Girl Scout Day (March 12) are in close proximity. The purpose of the Girl Scouting is to help build girls’ courage, confidence, and character, to make them into people […]
International Women’s Day: Strong Women in Fiction
Tomorrow, March 8, is International Women’s Day. I was with a group of women fiction writers last week, and someone mentioned the occasion. The authors at this meeting realized we all write about strong women. To celebrate International Women’s Day this year, each of us agreed to post an excerpt from our writing featuring one […]
Treasures in My Mother’s Bible
When I was cleaning out my parents’ house after my father’s death in January 2015, one of the things I sent to my home was my mother’s Bible. Her mother gave it to her for Christmas 1951, during my future mother’s senior year of high school. It is the Bible in which Mother recorded her […]
What Happened in Oregon City in 1850-52? Researching My Work-in-Progress
My current work-in-progress takes place mostly in the Oregon City area, beginning in October 1850. I think the novel’s timeline will take me into 1852, but I don’t know for sure yet. When I did the research for Now I’m Found, which was set in Oregon and California between 1848 and 1850, I was careful […]
Random Photos: Unaccompanied Minors and a Love of the West
As I look back on my childrearing years, one of the things I’m glad I did was to send my kids away from home. It gave my kids more independence and adventures than my husband and I could give them while we were busy with our jobs. Other than a few camp experiences, I mostly […]
My First Broken Bone
As I wrote last week, my husband and I are dealing with his broken kneecap. He had surgery, which successfully wired the bone pieces back together, and he is moving pretty well a week later, but he will be in the knee immobilizer for several weeks longer. His broken patella brings to mind my first […]
A Chat About Frontier Travel With Gar LaSalle, Author of the WIDOW WALK Saga
Last summer I had the opportunity to chat with Gar LaSalle, who, like me, writes historical fiction about the West. Scott James of Solipsis Publishing moderated our conversation, and the audio and transcript are now available on Gar’s blog. The audio will give you the flavor of our conversation more accurately, but if you’d prefer […]
In an Instant, My Valentine’s Life Changed . . . and So Did Mine
We have all had times when life changed in an instant—an accident, illness, natural disaster, or other event strikes, and there is “before” and “after.” My husband and I had one of those times last week. On February 5, I got a surprise call from my husband in the middle of the day. “Can you […]