Podcast questions: What’s your favorite book?

Part of marketing a book includes being a guest on podcasts. I must admit that it’s kinda fun. The podcast questions have also given me a new insight into myself. One of the questions that podcasters like to ask authors is “What’s your favorite book?” The answer is easy: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle While […]
Historical Novel Society reviews Lone Tree Claim

Book reviews, both reader reviews and professional reviews, are the lifeblood of authors. Reader reviews on sites like Amazon Books and GoodReads provide other readers with impressions about the book: Did the reviewer like the book or not? These reviews are vitally important – especially on Amazon, where my books average 4.4 stars out of […]
Medicine Creek Claim Christmas on the prairie

In some ways, Christmas on the frontier looked very different from today’s holiday. It was less commercial, but some traditions have endured.
Art has value

There is something magical about original art that AI can’t replicate. It’s the human touch that sparks emotions.
Research for When the Chokecherries Bloom

I felt that my newest book, When the Chokecherries Bloom, required special attention to detail – after all, I’m shaping young minds (Ok – a bit of an exaggeration)
What are you reading during Banned Books Week?

At a time when more and more books are being challenged or outright banned, the American Library Association writes: The theme for Banned Books Week 2024 is “Freed Between the Lines.”
Women Doctors in Dakota Territory

Medicine was an unconventional career path for women. In 1871, American Medical Association President Alfred Stille stated that women were “morally unfit” to be physicians.
Introducing When the Chokecherries Bloom

An idea or a concept inspired each of my books — except my newest novel, When the Chokecherries Bloom. Proving Her Claim began with a statistic. While 42% of women (unmarried or widowed) homesteaders proved their claims, only 37% of men (single or married) proved their claims. Lone Tree Claim was inspired by a museum […]
Civil War Reenactment Brings the Era to Life

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The Civil War came to South Dakota when nearly 150 reenactors spent two days in August on a field near Canton, SD.