When my daughter first graduated high school, she continued her art studies with a private tutor who was a student at the University of Oregon. Instead of going home to New Hampshire at the end of each spring term, the tutor opted to stay because she said Oregon summers were delightful. I wonder what she’d […]
Historical
A Saturday Waffle Tale
This morning I made waffles for Saturday breakfast. I choose this day because I have a little more time to prepare and waffles tend to be more complicated than a bowl of cereal. I’ve done it so often my family expects their weekend waffle as if it were a long standing tradition. I like […]
Pushing On Through Trouble
The prairie my great-great-great grandfather crossed with his new bride and her entourage of immediate family most likely seemed an unending landscape of dust, dirt, and scorching sun. He had ridden across this unforgiving territory once on horseback. Now he led his unsuspecting in-laws. While the account of the Hills wagon train of 1851 is […]
Packing for the Journey
Deciding what to bring across the prairie often meant heart-wrenching sacrifices. All too often an item viewed as essential at the beginning of the journey in St. Joseph, Missouri became the first thing discarded when the oxen became too weary to go on, or the wagon carrying the cargo wore out. My great-great-grandmother had to […]
- General
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Today’s the Day!
Today’s the Day. Cover Reveal for The Sister’s Plight, book 2 in the Call of the Frontier series. Pre-order June 1-30 for only .99. Book Releases July 1, 2021
Follow the Westward Journey
The second book of the Call of the Frontier series will be available July 1, 2021. It follows the story of my great–great grandfather, Cornelius Joel Hills, as he captained the Hills wagon train of 1851. He had crossed the prairies once on horseback and traveled to the Willamette Valley in Oregon to lay claim […]
- Historical
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Living in a Lean-To
Outside my window rain is falling, a typical December day in Oregon. I think of the story in my newest release, The Descendant’s Daughter, in which I relate part of the tale of my great-great grandfather who settled here in 1847. The first winter he spent a miserable existence. Proving up a land claim to […]
The Book is Here!
My newest release, The Descendant’s Daughter, released this week. I’m excited to share the story. Halle Jayne Murphy, the main protagonist, is a newly-turned-thirty young woman who thinks her life is ideal and can’t imagine change. She loves her career. She shares an apartment with her best friend. She’s happy. She has lived an idyllic […]
A New Book with an Old Story
The release of my newest novel, The Descendant’s Daughter, is now waiting on the horizon. While a contemporary story line carries the book, I get excited thinking about the historical theme that originated from my own personal family history. I consider the opportunity to share a fictional re-creation of my great-great-grandfather’s tale a privilege. I […]