Writer and artist in the Tidewater region of Virginia
Today is Veteran’s Day, 2021. It’s the first Veteran’s Day that William Boyd of the town of Jim Thorpe, PA finally has a military marker. William Boyd was a Private in the 4th Pennsylvania Cavalry in the Union Army during the Civil War, and for a time he was a prisoner of war in Richmond. … More A Civil War veteran was finally honored for his service on Veteran’s Day
I’m writing a book. My second one, actually (the first one This, Their Friendship’s Monument can be found on Amazon). Writing my first book taught me how hard writing a first book can be. And because I self-published using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), I know how complicated that is too. In some of my previous … More From Procrastination Station to Conjunction Junction: writing is hard
Life can be really unfair. I’ve been doing research for a book that I’m writing based on the letters of the first husband of my great x4 Aunt Hester. John Williamson wrote these letters home to Hester while he was serving in the Union Army during the Civil War. He didn’t make it home. John … More Beyond the battlefield: how one little girl lost not only her father, but her entire family during the Civil War
A few years ago, I started learning about the part of my family history that is rooted in the anthracite coal fields of northeastern Pennsylvania. I discovered an old coal town, Eckley, that was preserved because it was used as the location of a historical movie (“The Molly Maguires”) in the late 1960s. It’s a … More Broken breaker, broken heart
Somehow, with no idea of what I was doing, I was able to get a military marker for a Civil War veteran who had none. A cousin of mine (four times removed) was in the 4th Pennsylvania Cavalry during the Civil War and became a prisoner of war at Libby Prison in Richmond, from which … More How I was able to honor a hero with the help of a few good people
A bloody Civil War battle engaging 40,000 soldiers and resulting in 1,500 casualties. A field hospital full of wounded men, 2,500 of whom would be left behind to the enemy as night fell, thunderstorms rolled in, and the battle front shifted. Two historic locomotives—one that would come slowly down the track pushing an armored big … More “Remember me is all I ask…”
I never thought I’d write about history. I’ve always liked to write, sure, and I tried my hand at writing novels years ago. But when my grandmother died a few years ago and we found a little autograph album in her records, I unexpectedly found my reason to write. The autograph/friendship album was filled with … More When the present blocks you from the past: one of the challenges of writing about the past
When I published “This, Their Friendship’s Monument” in September 2020 on Amazon, I didn’t think an index for it was necessary. Probably because I’d spent literally years writing it and could locate anything in it in a matter of seconds. It’s been a few months since the writing dust settled, and I recently went back … More “This, Their Friendship’s Monument” now has an index
A few years ago, I began writing a book. It’s about the lives of the people who signed my great-times-three Aunt Mary’s autograph/friendship album. Aunt Mary was the daughter of Scots-Irish immigrants and lived in a coal town in northeastern Pennsylvania. The Civil War, massive coal mine strikes and disasters, and the 1918 flu pandemic … More If You Self-Publish on Amazon, Are you Considered a “real” Author?
I wrote a book and recently published it on Amazon. And trust me, if I can do it, you can too. Seriously. See my previous posts about formatting my manuscript for the Kindle version and the paperback (print-on-demand). Here are some things I’ve figured out since I hit “publish”. First of all, it’s exhilarating to … More Self Publication Anxieties…Who Knew?
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