Category: About Reading & Writing

part three in a series about writing family stories Part 1: Turning Family Stories Into Novels Part 2: Uncovering the Aloha Spirit For my third historical novel, I turned, as usual, to the story of an ancestor. This one was born in 1836 at Fort Snelling in Minnesota. At the time, it was Michigan Territory.… Continue reading Down the Research Rabbit Hole

Part two in a series about writing family stories. Part one is Turning Family Stories Into Novels. Grandma in Hawaii My husband’s grandmother was an amazing woman. I can still hear her laugh. She loved her three daughters, seven grandchildren, and multitude of great-grandchildren, and I’m pleased that my own sons both have good memories… Continue reading Uncovering the Aloha Spirit

This is the first in a series. In 2014, I published Under the Almond Trees, a novel featuring three of my female ancestors making their mark in pioneer California. Released in 2020, my novel The Aloha Spirit was inspired by my husband’s grandmother. My work in progress follows a female ancestor born at Fort Snelling… Continue reading Turning Family Stories into Novels

July is National Independent Retailer Month, so of course I want to celebrate indie bookstores. My hometown of San Jose, California, however, doesn't have a lot of any kind of bookstores. San Jose is a city of over a million people, the third largest city in California. It bills itself as the cultural, financial, and… Continue reading Indie Bookstores in San Jose