With the National Day of the Cowboy happening last Saturday, I got to thinking about my favorite cowgirl. Annie Oakley (born Phoebe Ann Mosey on August 13, 1860) became a sharpshooter to feed herself and earn a living. When Annie was 15 years old, she won a shooting match against traveling-show marksman Frank E. Butler, … Continue reading My Favorite Cowgirl
My Love for History
Canada Memories: The Log Driver’s Waltz #CanadaDay
The Power of Music & Memory Last Friday while working at my parttime job at the bookstore (hey, an author needs other jobs if she wants to eat regularly), the usual question came up: what music should we play today? Since Canada Day/July 1st was only a few days away, I thought of these two … Continue reading Canada Memories: The Log Driver’s Waltz #CanadaDay
South Dakota Memories: Tatanka, Story of the Bison
What does Tatanka mean? Tatanka is the Lakota word for “Big Beast.” For the Northern Plains People, the big beast (or bison) meant life in the form of food, clothing, housing, tools, and much more. What is Tatanka, the Story of the Bison? Tatanka is an educational center that I had the privilege of visiting … Continue reading South Dakota Memories: Tatanka, Story of the Bison
The Good, the Bad and the Villainous in Deadwood #WildDeadwoodTales #Inspiration
For my newest release, RESCUING RAVEN (part of the WILD DEADWOOD TALES anthology), I had great fun including real-life villain Al Swearengen in my story. For me, Swearengen is the ultimate bad guy. He's smart and determined. He hasn't had an easy life. He's keen to make a better life - for himself. He'll go … Continue reading The Good, the Bad and the Villainous in Deadwood #WildDeadwoodTales #Inspiration
How Doctors from Canada, USA, and Australia Inspired my New Heroine #History #Inspiration #Deadwood
Who were Jennie Trout, Susan La Flesche, and Constance Stone? They were three women born in different countries who all struggled to achieve careers in medicine in the 19th century. Lucky for their patients (and for future generations) they found the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP) where they studied to be doctors and leaders achieving historic … Continue reading How Doctors from Canada, USA, and Australia Inspired my New Heroine #History #Inspiration #Deadwood
A Frontier Doctor’s Early Education #History #Medicine #WildDeadwoodTales
New story. New heroine. New character backstory or...history! Yes, for me, history shapes everything. Today I'm sharing the historical inspiration for Doctor Henrietta Hope, the heroine of my story-in-progress, Healing Hope. First the backstory/history of why I decided to write this particular story... While writing Rescuing Raven (my short story that released May 1, 2018, … Continue reading A Frontier Doctor’s Early Education #History #Medicine #WildDeadwoodTales
Thieves in the Black Hills #History #Deadwood #WildDeadwoodTales
The HISTORY of THEFT is NEVER-ENDING. In the Old West, they hanged you for horse theft. In Merry Olde England, they transported you to a colony for any kind of theft (over a certain monetary value). But in the Black Hills, the thieves who stole the Lakota's sacred land went unpunished. At the end of my last … Continue reading Thieves in the Black Hills #History #Deadwood #WildDeadwoodTales
Summer in Deadwood = Time for Research #History #Travel #WildDeadwoodTales
It’s still spring but my thoughts keep racing ahead to the summer. This June I’ll be attending the 2018 Wild Deadwood Reads author-reader event. I’ve never been to Deadwood or even South Dakota, so I plan to spend several days being a tourist. What to see? I'm not sure yet. Research will be required. And there … Continue reading Summer in Deadwood = Time for Research #History #Travel #WildDeadwoodTales
Questioning History is Never Simple
The heroine in my story-in-progress has lived most of her life on the run, but in 1862 her home was a mining camp in… Here’s where it gets complicated. What do I call British Columbia in 1876 (my heroine’s present day) when she’s thinking about an event from 1862? It’s complicated because of a name … Continue reading Questioning History is Never Simple
The Quest for the Perfect Word #WritingLife
What happens when one perfectionist tries to describe another? I wanted to use the word perfectionist to describe a new story character who is very meticulous. Sadly, I had the feeling that perfectionist wouldn't be a word used in 1876 (when my story-in-progress is set). Sure enough, when I went to one of my favorite … Continue reading The Quest for the Perfect Word #WritingLife