Why do you read what you read, and write what you write? I’ve been thinking about this question a lot in 2016. Remember back in January, when I posted about trying to choose between Mr. Fiction and Mr. Nonfiction? And how it took me over eight months of working on a nonfiction project before I […]
historical fiction
The Big Deadline
Our second child’s due date is October 17, 2016. It’s a big deadline. There are many baby-related things we need to do before that date: pick a name; find and clean all of the baby toys in the attic; convert my office to the baby’s room (which is the only part I’m feeling sad about). But those aren’t […]
February Book Review: Tom Sawyer, College Reunion, Polygamy
Welcome to the monthly book review! At the end of each month, I review the books I’ve read. Enjoy! The Book: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain The Category: Classic children’s fiction In Three Words: Old South Adventure Biggest Takeaway: I read this long ago, and decided to re-read because Mark Twain is going to make a […]
December Book Review
Welcome to the December book review! At the end of each month, I review the books I’ve read. Enjoy! New feature (as of November 2015): At the end of the post, I’ll list the books that I started with high hopes, but did not manage to finish. They weren’t for me, but one reader’s trash is another’s treasure, […]
How I Research A Historical Novel
When I first decided to write a historical novel, the research was the part I most dreaded. I had written too many research papers in high school and college to look forward to the experience of doing it again, even voluntarily. Especially voluntarily: I thought that the research stage would suck the life out of my desire […]
October Book Review: Life, Death, Royalty and Persistence
Welcome to the October book review! At the end of each month, I review the books I’ve read. Enjoy! (Disclaimer: I actually finished so many books in October that I’m going to shift some of them into next month’s review. Thank you to library and bookstore binges for supplying great reading material, and my new habit of going […]