Hang In There

In our current crisis and living with its restrictions, people are struggling to shift focus and find new ways to distract themselves. I have decided to use an old way, one that has been around for centuries—a serial! A story told in installments.

A Serial Novel – Published to Your Device

Like my published books, Dear Departed is historical fiction, but it’s not available in book form. You can’t buy it. It’s a thank-you gift for my readers. Installments will be posted on my web site for the next 10 to 12 weeks or so. A new one will go up every Monday morning at 9AM, beginning March 30.

Set in 1913, Dear Departed is the story of 14-year-old Ginnie Lee Kent, who finally gets the opportunity to travel outside the only place she has ever known. You can go with her on that adventure—right here.

If you enjoyed my books, I hope you will also enjoy Dear Departed. It’s a story close to my heart. Tell your friends. Let students know. (The novel is for anyone over the age of 8). Help me spread the word.

So, let me tell you a story.

When I speak to writers, students, and other readers, I am often asked where I get ideas for my stories. At this point in my writing life, I get them from my idea file.

Yes, there is a physical file. I have been slipping ideas into it for decades. Those ideas came from a multitude of places: museums, historical sites, books, newspapers, family, friends. Ideas are everywhere! Usually, they find me.

Storytelling Begets Storytelling

When I hear an interesting story, I conclude it might also interest others. It goes into the file.

Sometimes, the idea goes into the file as an incident to research more at a later date. Other times, it thuds into my brain complete with possible characters.

When I visited Kings Mountain battlefield in North Carolina, I learned of a ragtag militia from western Virginia, who came down from the mountains to join with the patriots to battle the British. I immediately thought, “What if a motherless girl joined the group with her father?” I named her Polly, and put her into the idea file. Another story always took top spot in my mind, so Polly stayed filed.

Storytelling from Learning

My novel, Like a River, began when I visited a steamboat museum and learned about the Sultana, a steamboat that exploded on the Mississippi River in 1865 and killed more people than died on the Titanic. What? How could I have never heard of such a terrible tragedy? I had to learn more.

I talked to museum staff and found the best reading material on the subject. The Sultana disaster went into my idea file. I created a main character (Leander) and pondered how to tell his story.

The idea stayed in the file for many years while I worked on other projects, but the Sultana and Leander lived in the back of my brain. Other characters (Given McGlade and his sister Lila) joined the story, and I tucked them into the file.

Several times, I wrote a first chapter, but it didn’t quite work, so Leander stayed in the file—but also in my brain.

Storytelling from Collaboration

At a writers’ meeting, one of my fellow writers told me her partner’s great-great-grandfather had been aboard the Sultana. She offered to share his papers with me. I posted a photo of the ancestor (Jacob) on the bulletin board above my writing desk. With Jacob watching, I finally got the story to gel.

I wrote a synopsis and five chapters and took those to a workshop. Author Rich Wallace suggested that since Leander was going to (spoiler alert!) lose Lila McGlade to his brother, the poor guy needed a new love interest.

I already had the perfect candidate. I went to the idea file and took Polly away from Kings Mountain and moved her to the Civil War with Leander. I rethought the story, and Leander and Polly energized me to begin again. It was a long process, but well worth every step.

Ideas brew in my mind every day, and if one doesn’t work, I know where to find another. The idea file is crammed full. Yet, there’s always room for something new.

A decade ago, I didn’t have a blog or a website. Much has changed for me—and for the world—since 2010.

Building a Community

My first blog posts were written for a group blog I became part of in 2011. A group of writer friends, we called ourselves Swagger and took turns writing posts. I was unsure of participating in the endeavor, but that group of friends convinced me to give it a go.

Friends have always been a great support system for me, and the past decade was no exception.

Facing Life’s Curveballs

I began 2010 with new health issues. Having dealt with health issues since I was 16, I usually take them in stride, but this time was tougher. I had two heart procedures in 2010—and another in 2012. Those procedures and my friends helped me feel more like ME again.

“…but with the help of friends and family, I not only moved forward, but thrived.”

Early in 2011, my husband was the one who suffered a severe accident, which caused him months of immobility and pain. Those injuries brought on other difficulties that will afflict him for the rest of his life. It has been a tough road for both of us, but with the help of friends and family, I not only moved forward, but thrived.

Releasing My First Novel

In 2013, after writing for over 4 decades, I was finally offered a contract on my novel Like a River. It was the 11^th novel I’d written, and I had nearly given up on ever seeing one of them published.

Like a River launched in 2015 and was followed by Empty Places in 2016 and Not on Fifth Street in 2017. I was thrilled just to have my work published, but a greater excitement came when Like a River won the 2015 Grateful American Book Prize. An honor I never dreamed of!

What’s Next?

 I began a new novel in 2016, but only finished its latest revision in August, 2019. No word yet if it will be published. I learned a long time ago that decision is out of my hands.

However, I don’t let the long wait stop me. As soon as I sent that manuscript to my editor, I began a new novel. I am excited about it and working on it keeps me busy into the new decade.

A Decade of Growth

The past decade was much more than health issues and writing. I spent time with longtime friends and made new friends. I watched family grow and expand. Not only have my own grandchildren grown, but my nieces and nephews have added 15 more offspring to our family, with at least two more expected in the next year. And I have lost track of the new babies in my husband’s family.

All in all, it has been a remarkable decade in a very full life, and I sincerely hope that life has a lot more mileage left.

My large, extended family (cousins and their offspring) has also grown, and we have gotten together for three family reunions in the last decade. A family reunion for us draws more than 100 loved ones.

I have traveled with my husband often in the decade, taking road trips all the way to the West Coast more than once. We vacationed with our children and grandchildren as well.

I have eaten countless lunches with four of my siblings and some offspring. (It’s a weekly tradition.)

The last decade witnessed deaths as well as births. It is always hard for my heart to say Goodbye to loved ones. But their memories live on inside me. All in all, it has been a remarkable decade in a very full life, and I sincerely hope that life has a lot more mileage left. Happy 2020. And beyond!

Children’s books are, at last, showing more diversity in ethnicity. Kids can read about characters who look like them. It has been a long time coming. Publishers hope allkids will enjoy reading these books and learning about those whose lives are different from theirs. 

Familiarity is Important

Because I write about history, I feel it is also important for kids to read about historical events that took place in settings familiar to them. All my books take place (at least in part) in Ohio or Kentucky, places familiar to me. And it is my hope that students who don’t live in my area will find these stories interesting as well. 

I applaud my publisher, Calkins Creek, for publishing books some might consider “local news.” and have seen the excited reaction on readers’ faces when they find a mention of a place they’ve been.

In truth, the 1937 flood (recounted in Not on Fifth Street) affected thirteen states along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, from Pittsburgh to the Gulf of Mexico. It wasn’t merely local, even though it wasn’t a big deal in New York or California.

Local Stories to National Issues

In Like a River, I wrote about the Sultanadisaster. The Sultanaexploded in the early morning hours of April 27, 1865, on the Mississippi River near Memphis, killing nearly 1,800 people (more than would die on the Titanicin 1912). A huge news story, right? Not really.

April of 1865 was a month filled with important news. Our nation’s bloodiest war ended with Lee’s surrender to Grant. A week later, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

The front page of the Cincinnati Daily Timeson April 29, 1865 told about the Sultanadisaster in a small article. It also mentioned John Wilkes Booth’s death three days earlier and the arrival of Lincoln’s funeral train in Cleveland. Most East Coast newspapers didn’t mention the Sultanaat all.

Not only was the story crowded from the news by the host of other important stories, but the victims of the Sultana were not from the East Coast. They were almost entirely enlisted men from Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio. (Nearly 800 were from Ohio.) It was not considered a story of national interest and I find that sad.

I firmly believe that readers can be interested in a story that takes place in a place they’ve never been, and I knowthey love seeing a place they have.

I hope we will see more books that are diverse in location as well as ethnicity.

Several friends have become “snowbirds,” preferring to spend their winters in places that have no true winter weather. I am not averse to spending a couple January weeks in Florida or Hawaii, but I still like living in a place that experiences a change of seasons.

This year, summer overstayed, sending us 90-degree temps into October, but as I write this, autumn has finally made its appearance. I am glad to see those hot days in the rearview mirror. Crisp mornings with a hint of frost are more than welcome. Every season has its own pros and cons. While I love the yellows, oranges, red, and russets that color the trees, I am not fond of their dead remnants all over the ground. The sights of autumn might be pumpkins and ghosts on front porches, but the sound of autumn is leaf blowers. 

Time for Holidays

My birthday is in autumn, and I have a dear friend who gives me pumpkins for my birthday every year. She began this practice quite surreptitiously. I’d wake up one morning during the week of my birthday to find pumpkins in my yard! What a treat! The arrival of the pumpkins not only reminded me of my birthday, but they have been like a herald of autumn.

Halloween

Our street has seen a shortage of young children since mine grew up. The families in our cul-de-sac used to sit in their driveways, some with firepits ablaze, while our children traipsed the neighborhood with their sacks, calling “Trick or treat!” The costumes ranged from ghouls and goblins to princesses and super heroes. And there were always a few special costumes: little Emily dressed as a Hershey’s Kiss or the boy dressed as a bubble gum machine. We were always eager to see the most original ones. In the last couple years, several new families have moved in—and they have little kids! On Halloween, I will be in my camp chair at the end of the driveway with bowls full of candy, looking forward to their arrival.

When Halloween is behind us, many people are ready to jump into Christmas, but my mind saves that for after Thanksgiving. And Thanksgiving has to wait until after Veterans Day. The Halloween wreath on my door will be replaced with a patriotic wreath, and the Stars and Stripes will fly. My husband and sons are veterans, and I always take them out to dinner on that day to thank them for their service. I hope others will remember the “forgotten” November holiday. Our veterans deserve better.

Thanksgiving

Traditionally, Thanksgiving is a family day for us. We try to get as many of us together as can manage. The people who talk about families who don’t get along and can’t enjoy spending Thanksgiving together is a mystery to me. I love time with my family! It’s one of the things I am most thankful for.

Even though winter doesn’t begin officially until December 22, we tend to think of Thanksgiving as the end of autumn, so autumn will zip by in a hurry. I intend to get the most from its crisp weather, gorgeous foliage, and Halloween delights. I might even take my turn with the leaf blower.

Happy autumn!

I might as well have been born in school. My mother owned and operated a nursery school in our home before I was born, so I was “at school” on my first day home from the hospital.

Being one of “teacher’s kids” meant all the students knew me and were eager to have me, the teacher’s daughter, join in their activities. That made my early years fun.

Being the Teacher’s Kid Didn’t Follow Me into School

When I started kindergarten at age 4, I was lost. I’d never had to make friends before. They’d just been there every day.

The problem was, I was shy, and I spent much of my childhood waiting for people to be my friends. In all of those years, I hadn’t learned how to make the first move. I did have one good friend (the daughter of one of Mom’s employees), who often included me when she got together with her other friends, and I envied her all those friends.

Part of a large family, I had siblings to spend time with, but they all had other friends to be with too. Why was it so hard for me?

I Got to Know Characters

I was a nerd who liked books. My “friends” tended to be fictional characters. I liked to make up stories and play with words. Real, live people didn’t understand me.

Of course, I was a part of the school community, but I was always on the outskirts. I tried other communities. I joined Girl Scouts and sports teams. I was never very good at sports, but I was tall and had potential. At least, I had people to spend time with (when I wasn’t reading or writing poems).

Adulthood Isn’t Easier

In my adult years, I joined PTO—and became president. It helped me to be more comfortable talking with other people.

The good friend I mentioned above invited me to join her card club. I was still shy, but I liked being with the group, and I liked playing cards. A common interest brought us together, but we became true friends. We did things together besides playing cards, and we still get together after more than 40 years, even though many of today’s members are not the same ones who started it all those years ago. Sadly, the friend who first invited me passed away 40 years ago.

A New Community

I finally found the writing community. Such welcoming people! I met writers at critique groups, workshops, and conferences. We share a passion for Words and Story. And that helps me to step out of my shyness. Some of my best friends are writers.

This summer, I was welcomed into a new community: a group of ladies about my age who play water volleyball once a week. I’m still not good at sports, but I’m tall and have potential. Their games are more about having fun than winning. We laugh and have a great time!

If you’re shy and have a hard time making friends, find a group—a community—you share an interest with. And join. You might be surprised at the friendships you make. And the fun you have!