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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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….
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,…
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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