It’s a cold morning here in South Dakota. We’re expecting snow this afternoon, just enough to cover the ground in white-Christmas fashion. Here in our living room, the Christmas tree is lit. The hearth has…
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The Center for Western Studies at Augustana University (Sioux Falls, SD) has presented Phyllis with the Richard Cropp Amateur Award for a research paper she delivered at the 51st Annual Dakota Conference. Her subject was…
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I spent much of my time in Rhode Island researching 19th-century textile mills. Though Sarah Brown Wakefield (the subject of my fictional biography) grew up in a farming family, the North Kingstown area of her…
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A couple of weeks ago I traveled to Rhode Island to do further research into the early life and times of Sarah F. Brown Wakefield, whose fictional biography I'm now writing. Though the evidence is…
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Henry Sibley oversaw the military commission.On this date, November 5, in 1862, a military commission concluded the trials of more than 300 Dakota men and condemned them to death for participating in the US-Dakota War…
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Note: This is a continuation of a post of last week titled, "Introducing Sarah Wakefield, My Friend and Hopefully Yours (Someday)." Sarah Wakefield Early on August 18, 1862, when war broke out in and…
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Finally: I’m ready to cross the line between researching my historical novel and writing it. I’m not completely done with my research, but I know enough now to put pen to paper. Getting to this…
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A couple of weeks ago, I shared some reflections on my recent research swing through Minnesota, a trip in support of a historical novel I'm working on that is related to the U.S.-Dakota War of…
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Caption: While walking the trails around the Lower Agency, the site of the first planned attack by the Dakota in the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, I found my way blocked by a massive fallen tree.…
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The Arvada United Methodist Church in Arvada, CO, is putting The Book of the World to good use during the Lenten season. This “contemporary scripture,” which I prepared for publication a couple of years ago,…
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This week is covered in construction dust. We're into a remodeling project, which includes turning a closet under the stairs in our century-old house into a half-bath. To prepare, my husband Jihong and I dig…
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