Welcome to My Blog
My approach to Anthony history is unique because my main focus is on their family background, not their public personas. Unlike museums and historic homes devoted to them (which I deeply appreciate), I’m not promoting buildings here.
To me, a historic home is important because of the way the individual interacted with it. How did the home (and its location) shape the individual, and vice versa? What did the home reflect of the individual’s personality? What did we learn about their preferences, needs, and private pastimes amid a life of service?
I’ve spent quite a bit of time in all the major locations I’m writing about. As you read further, I’ll share many historic sites with you. Much of my research is based on historic photographs and newspaper articles from that period.
The same goes for their public activities. As I’ve read about this mix of fascinating activists and homebodies that made up the Anthony family, I’m looking at what motivated them, how they reacted to internal and external events, what their family meant to them, and what they did when it all got to be too much.
Articles
What Makes Marriages Last?
After three novels and five decades of marriage, I have a few things to say about long love. Not the falling into kind, but the staying in kind. I've been following Daniel and Annie Anthony [...]
The Printer’s Devil and Other Rabbit Holes
One of the hazards of writing historical fiction is the research rabbit hole. These detours can last minutes or entire days, and they pull you away from the story you are supposed to be writing. [...]
Writing a Last Chapter—His and Mine
Last month I had major surgery on my shoulder. Unfortunately, it wasn't just a frozen shoulder, as I previously thought. Shortly before my operation, I finished revising the final chapter of Songs in the Night— [...]
A Dauntless Milestone: New Covers, Award Wins, and What’s Next for Annie and Daniel Anthony
As an author, it seems there is always so much work to be done that it can be easy to forget to stop and celebrate the wins and milestones along the way. I'm not alone [...]
How Not to Write a Historical Novel
Here's something no one tells you about writing a historical novel series: the research never really ends. Neither, apparently, does the writing. This fall will mark the publication of Songs in the Night, the third [...]
Looking Back, Looking Forward: The Nineteenth Century and Us
Recently I found a journal I had written thirty years ago. There's something grounding about reading your own past struggles and the insights you gathered along the way, whether from meditation or from the counsel [...]
Book Review: The Women’s March
Jennifer Chiaverini has written a historical novel on the Women's March of 1913. Ordinarily, this would be an ideal combination of my favorite author and a favorite topic. But this time the magic didn't happen [...]
Mother’s Day in Song
Last week I used my regular newsletter slot (first Friday of the month) to share my thoughts about how motherly love is often refined by suffering. You'll find that post below, in case you missed [...]