Conversation with readers
Part of publishing a book is going out and talking about the book — having conversations with readers. That’s where I am in my “publishing journey” as I refer to it. I must confess that I prefer to write words on paper than speak words to groups of people. So, I ask the audience if we can […]
Obsessed with printing presses
The Printing Revolution started in Germany around 1440, when Johannes Gutenberg invented moveable-type printing presses. As a Journalism major, I spent hundreds of hours at the Printing and Journalism Building on the campus of South Dakota State University. Even the building name put “printing” before “journalism.” We toured the now-ancient press room, learned the basics of […]
The prairie was their medicine cabinet
When we look at a field of prairie flowers or walk through a shaded forest, we see the beauty of nature. But before the advent of the corner drug store, our ancestors saw medicinal plants and other homeopathic remedies as nature’s medicine cabinet. In Proving Her Claim, the heroine and her Lakota neighbors use medicinal plants to treat […]
Is reading fiction underrated?
If you read to understand another culture, to feel emotions or (yes, let’s say it) to time travel, then you’re reading fiction.
Metis children connected two worlds
In an earlier blog, I wrote about the fur trappers who explored of the lands west of the Mississippi River. The voyageurs (“travelers” in French) worked for the fur trade companies to transport trade goods throughout the territories to rendezvous posts, connecting two worlds: the Native Peoples and the Europeans. Oftentimes, Metis children — children of mixed […]
Here’s to the women who tamed the frontier
Traditions. This time of year is all about traditions. And who are the keepers of traditions? Women. It’s women who create and kindle the memories. It’s women who tamed the frontier. Historically, it was the women who tamed the frontier. They built the church congregations. They were the school teachers, the midwives and the mothers […]
Podcast questions: What’s your favorite book?
Answer to the podcast interviewer: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle 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?” […]
Fun on the frontier
Today people often think of homesteading as hard work mixed with some fear and boredom. Pioneer life was viewed as lonely and frightening. That’s not what I found when researching Proving Her Claim. Women homesteaders found fun and games on the frontier — and invented reasons to party. In the book Land in Her Own Name H. Elaine Lindgren […]
What is a ‘spinster’?
“Why are they called ‘spinsters’?” That was a question I heard at a recent book event. The press release for “Proving Her Claim” opens with this line: The Civil War created countless spinsters and widows. Anna Olson was one of them. Like many words in the English language, “spinster” historically refers to women who literally spun […]