Finding something new
I love it when I stumble on something that shows an old story in a new light, and I actually have two I’m working on right now. I’m going to be a bit vague about what they about since things may change. Plus, I’d like for them to be a surprise when they come out. Both are Cumberland, Maryland, stories. One is about an incident that took place in 1918. It wasn’t a big story, but it is an interesting one. As I researched it, I found the source that all the contemporary versions of the story used. However, I also found a newspaper report of the incident that shed a lot more details about what happened. The biggest surprise is that it didn’t even happen on the date reported in modern stories. I also found the cause of the Read more…
"Looking Back" column appearing in a new newspaper
Another newspaper – The Oakland Republican in Oakland, Maryland – picked up my “Looking Back” column on a monthly basis last week. I’m pretty happy about that because I love researching the stories and writing about them. For example, I found a story about a man who was called the “Champion Miner of the World” in the 1920’s because of how fast he was at mining coal. I wrote about his story for The Republican, but in researching it, I found out that this man’s son, was a frontline reporter in WWII who won a Pulitzer Prize. He also got his reporting start at another newspaper that carries my column so I had two columns from one idea. Right now, four newspapers – The Catoctin Banner, The Gettysburg Times, The Cumberland Times-News, and The Oakland Republican – carry my column, Read more…
Stepping outside my comfort zone
I am still trying to get my head around an interview I conducted this afternoon. It was the first of what will probably be many as I start working on a biography of a WWII veteran. There’s so much information to take in and digest that it’s overwhelming me at the moment. I need to digest what he told me and start to shape how I want to present his story. I’m looking at a few different directions that don’t seem like they would connect—World War II, Civil War, Art. Yet, they all do connect with this man. I want to do this man’s story justice. I think it is pretty interesting. This is the first time that I’ve worked on a true biography. Saving Shallmar was sort of a biography about a coal town. This book will be a Read more…
First draft of "Lock Ready!" complete
I finished the first draft of my latest historical novel and sent it off to my beta readers. It was a relief to have the project finished, at least this first step. I’m surprised it has taken me so long to finish it. “Lock Ready!” is the third book in the Canawlers series. The second book came out in 2003 so it has been 10 years. Wow! Typing that made me realize just how long it has been. It’s not that I’ve haven’t written other things in the interim, but I’ve known the title of the third book in the series since probably 2004. I’ve even had bits and pieces of the story written. Pulling it all together had escaped me, though. Now, I think I’ve finally got it. “Lock Ready!” continues to follow the Fitzgerald family as they boat Read more…
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