A Revolution for the Rest of Us: 15 Books about the American Revolution with a Quaker, Black, LGBTQIA+ or Kid-focus you may not have read (but I’ve read them for you!)

Dear Friends, When I was growing up, books about the American Revolution were mostly like this: I am sorry if this one was your favorite! Apart from the occasional (and excellent) My Brother Sam is Dead, I didn’t read many books where I saw myself as a person affected, disaffected, participating, or even by-standing duringContinue reading “A Revolution for the Rest of Us: 15 Books about the American Revolution with a Quaker, Black, LGBTQIA+ or Kid-focus you may not have read (but I’ve read them for you!)”

Off to Historical Novel Society North America with a sample book cover!

Dear Friends, I’m excited to be planning my trip to Historical Novel Society North America’s (HNSNA) 2023 Conference in San Antonio next month! I’m planning to pitch my finished novel to a couple of smaller publishers while I’m at the conference and learned I need something called a “pitch sheet.” This sheet will have aContinue reading “Off to Historical Novel Society North America with a sample book cover!”

Who Wore it Best? 8 “Girls” who dressed as Boys in the American Revolution

Dear Friends, Happy March! What happened to January? And February? It seems like just yesterday, I was celebrating New Year’s Eve, and now March and Women’s History Month is upon us. The publicity surrounding the revival of the musical 1776 this past year made me think about women wearing men’s clothes in the American Revolution.Continue reading “Who Wore it Best? 8 “Girls” who dressed as Boys in the American Revolution”

Anthony Benezet’s Revolutionary Academy for Children

Dear Friends, Happy August! Are you already thinking about back-to-school? I am––when I walk through a pile of dried brown leaves, and their smell brings me back to college orientation (when it was still summer, the leaves just beginning to fall). Or it feels like I’m walking home from second grade, or my kids’ “CurriculumContinue reading “Anthony Benezet’s Revolutionary Academy for Children”

10 popular novels that taught me how to write about Quakers

Hi all and Happy November! When I started writing my first Quaker novel three years ago, I decided to take a look at other fiction featuring Friends. I didn’t want to look at the classics (nope, Moby Dick, don’t think I can write that!), but at popular books. I started by working through the “FictionContinue reading “10 popular novels that taught me how to write about Quakers”