Empowering Unsung Women in History
First published on PaperLanternWriters.com in March 2020 Everyone knows that the written word is powerful. A wide variety of examples exist that prove it. As an author of historical fiction, I have found primary sources to be the most powerful written word in research. One of my most precious possessions is a journal begun by… Continue reading The Power of the Written Word
I love to cook. When I wrote Under the Almond Trees, it was important to me that the family had a special almond recipe. I used almond cake throughout the novel even though I had never even tasted it! This summer I vowed to remedy this lack and bake an almond cake. I found several… Continue reading Almond Cake
This week in a writing class, we have a fun assignment. Try it yourself! *It needs to be one paragraph, exactly seven sentences. No dialogue. *It should be the first paragraph or the last paragraph of a Young Adult novel, meaning the main character should be a teenager. *It can be in first person, but… Continue reading Writing Exercise
Welcome to the third week of AUTHOR-GO-ROUND! This week it's my turn. My grandmother’s grandmother, Ellen VanValkenburgh, fascinated me from a young age. She left a tremendous legacy of strength for the women of my family, and she inspired my novel, Under the Almond Trees. On the left is a photograph taken sometime around the… Continue reading Author-go-Round: Me!
I have long been a fan of authors such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Laura Esquivel, and Jorge Luis Borges. The way they thread supernatural and even magical elements into normal daily life, and treat them as expected events, speaks to me in a special way. In addition, readers have suggested that my flying horse books… Continue reading Magical Realism
