Haunting Books: World War I and Its Aftermath
Today’s “haunting book” post features two historical novels, Fall of Giants, by Ken Follett, and A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles. Follett’s book is a panorama of Europe and the U.S. from before World War I through that war’s conclusion. Towles’s book is an exquisite cameo of life in Russia after World War I […]
Impact of Shorter Attention Spans on Readers and Writers
Twice in one day last week, I encountered references to people’s reduced ability to focus these days. Our shorter attention spans are due largely to the ever-present distractions from technology—and I know this is true, based on my own behavior. The first time this issue surfaced was during the Association of Missouri Mediators conference I […]
Haunting Books: Three Historical Novels About the West
Each October I’ve devoted one or more posts to the “haunting books” I’ve read during the past year—books that stay with me long after I’ve read them. This year, I’ve been diligent about keeping a list, so I have more than enough books to discuss. In this post, I’ve decided to focus on three historical […]
On THE ARTIST’S WAY and the Truth in Fiction
I’ve mentioned before that I attended a diversity program called “Women Supporting Women” in late September 2005. When I declared to the other participants in that program, “I will write a book before I die,” one of the women in the group handed me a Post-It note. On that Post-It, she wrote a quote from […]
After Forty Years, I Wonder—Did He Ever Propose or Not?
There is one issue that I continue to debate with my husband of almost forty years—did he ever ask me to marry him or not? He swears he did, but I don’t remember it. You’d think a girl would remember something like that if it had happened, wouldn’t you? Even if it took place forty […]
Help Me With My Next Book Cover—Take the Poll
I’m hard at work editing my next historical novel, titled Forever Mine: Love Along the Oregon Trail. And I’m starting to think about the cover image for the book. Here are five possible covers. Which do you like best? Click on this link to vote for the cover you like best. I will be adjusting […]
The Luck of the Early California Gold Miners
Most of my historical posts this year have been about the Oregon Trail, because I’m working on another novel about an emigrant wagon train to Oregon. But this post is about the Gold Rush, the subject of my last novel, Now I’m Found. In April 2016, I wrote a post entitled “How Much Gold Was […]
Reflections on Mount Rushmore
My husband and I recently returned from a trip to South Dakota. I’d never been to the state before, and I wanted to see attractions such as Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, and the scenic roads and towns in the Black Hills. My daughter scoffed when I told her we were going to Mount Rushmore. “I […]
Jesse James—Robin Hood or Rogue Criminal?
The History Channel recently reported the anniversary of Jesse James’s birth in Clay County, Missouri, where I now live. Jesse was born on September 5, 1847. I’ve done a lot of research about 1847 for my novels, examining locations from Missouri to Oregon, but I hadn’t encountered any reference to Jesse’s birth before. Of course, […]
The Long-Term Effects of Birth Order
Today is my sister’s birthday. Regular readers of this blog can figure out which one, but this post isn’t really about age. It’s about birth order and growing up and distance and—well, maybe it’s a little bit about age. My sister is eight and a half years younger than I am. In some ways, we […]