At last, the promised book giveaway.
I pre-ordered Out of Time by Samatha Graves, then bought a copy off the shelf literally two days before Amazon.com finally sent my copy.
I gobbled it up in under 24 hours. Had the children not required feeding, transportation to school, and other such care, I’d have finished it in one […]

I’ve been reading a lot of non-fiction in preparation for writing the next book this fall. The title of this post is one of these books (by Mary Roth Walsh - 1977).  Yes, its an old book, but I was after the historical stuff… She chronicles and examines the history of women becoming physicians from […]

I’m still here. But my writing, including this blog, has slowed WAY down.

I was in the middle of moving.
But now the boxes are unpacked, curtains are up, and most of the pictures are hung (don’t ask about the cellar, we’re pretending its not there). Its time to start writing again.
I bravely sent out […]

What did a nineteenth century family do when they needed more space? Wanted to attach the house to the barn? Or wanted to keep the kitchen separate from the more formal dining room and parlor?
They built an ell. It means exactly what it sounds like – the addition was built at a right angle […]

Can you remember that first book that turned you on to reading? The one that made you defy your parent’s call “lights out” with a flashlight under the covers?
For me, it was a box set of six mystery books by Wylly Folk St. John including The Secrets of Hidden Creek. I can still […]

In Wait for Their Return, my historical character needs appropriate dishes. Some of these dishes are made from redware, a kind of pottery that went into production in America in 1625. Redware was given its name because that was the color the clay turned after firing. The production of redware continued at high levels […]

I thought I was interviewing another writing, blogging Wiffer, but it turns out Robin is not yet an active member on the boards. How’d we ‘meet’? We’re not exactly sure, but it was either through Pam or Caryn. Come on over to the Will Write for Wine boards, Robin.
1) Where were […]

I ‘met’ Pam (aka Pimp My Mixer Pam) on the Will Write for Wine forums. Its a fun community of writers and readers led by Samantha Graves and Lani Diane Rich. While many of the writers there are (as yet) unpublished (myself included), we’re working hard on changing that. With a […]

I was at Sturbridge Village last weekend (detecting a theme?) and there happened to be two costumed interpreters making soap, the old way. In an earlier post, I mentioned that the ashes from all those wood fires were saved for making soap. I had a vague idea of the process, but took the […]

Wait for Their Return incorporates a lot of historical facts from the 1830s. To get the details as accurate as possible, I spent a huge amount of time reading and researching. The library has seen a lot of me this past year.
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I also made several trips to Sturbridge Village in order to […]