Pencil To Paper: Write Your Way Through Winter Workshop Series
Registration Now OPEN! Pencil to Paper 2024: Write Your Way Through Winter Just as musicians practice scales to improve their overall performance, so writers study the components of writing craft to create dynamic prose. Join this year’s Pencil to Paper zoom classes to study the writing craft and take your writing to the next level. […]
Sister Lumberjack, Finally!
Sister Lumberjack, finally! Sister Lumberjack, my soon-to-be-released historical novel, is set in a Minnesota Logging Camp in 1893 at the height of the white pine harvest. The book began as a fleeting thought while writing Abercrombie Trail (North Star Press 2009). Solveig, the indentured servant, became my favorite minor character. In fact, she tried to […]
The Glory of Ordinary Times (Book Cover)
#Wolfpack Publishing #Frontier Fiction #Minnesota history #Blue Cottage Agency This note from a Minneapolis reader made my day: “I just finished your book of short stories, The Glory of Ordinary Time. Well done! Beautifully crafted. I was very impressed with your research—hard times and hard lives. I wanted to know what happened with every character. […]
Frontier Logging Comes to Life at the Pine River 150th Anniversary Celebration
Photos by Sherrie Lillich #Frontier Logging #Pine River Historical Society #Pine River Camber of Commerce #Blue Cottage Agency It was great fun to venture into the world of skit writing for the Pine River Variety Show on July 7th and 8th. Tamarack Down, Boys takes place in a bunkhouse at a frontier logging camp along […]
Hackensack Arts and Book Festival August 12, 2023
#Northwoods Arts and Book Festival #Hackensack #Hackensack Chambers of Commerce #Minnesota #Art #Books #Festival #Blue Cottage Agency I’ve attended the Hackensack Festival since its beginnings. There’s something for everyone. I enjoy the artwork and pottery. The Lions sell food. Local vendors sell honey, greeting cards, jewelry, and much more. I hope you can make it. […]
Hardtack and Salt pork, the Mainstay of Civil War Soldiering
I grew up on dried beef, and knew very well how it was made and how it tasted. In spite of this, until recently, I thought all salt pork was in a liquid brine. The re-enactors at Fort Abercrombie set me straight. One of the soldier’s wives brought samples of hardtack and salted pork. To […]
Kimball Historical Society Tuesday July 25th Rocky Mountain Locust Plagues of the 1870s
#Rockymountainlocusts #Kimballhistoricalsociety #Stearns County #Grasshopper Chapel I’m speaking at Kimball, Minnesota, on Tuesday, July 25th at 7pm. The topic? The Rocky Mountain Locusts and Frontier Life in Stearns County. The Rocky Mountain Locusts swarmed into Central North America in the 1870s devastating the crops for five years in […]
Favorite Historical Novels–Lately
People often ask what my favorite book is. Just one? Are they kidding? I’ve read LOTS of books in my lifetime and loved most of them. It’s hard to choose one, or even a single genre. Historical novels have been my mainstay throughout my adult life, but I like mysteries and nonfiction, too. Recently I […]
Pine River’s 150th Celebration
I’ve been doing a lot of research on frontier logging for SISTER LUMBERJACK, coming out in January of 2024. When Colleen Moser asked me to write a skit for the Variety Show, she allowed me to choose an historical topic pertinent to Pine River’s early days. Of course, I used my logging research to write […]
Fan Letter and Photos
Thank you, Dale, for taking the time to both read and comment on Abercrombie Trail. #Fort Abercrombie #Grankokken Savannah Waterfowl Area #Minnesota history #Civil War “Candace, I just wanted to reach out and say how great your books are. I’ve read two so far, Abercrombie Trail and Blooming Prairie. I just started Pomme De […]