Years ago, I was driving during the rush of the Christmas season listening to “Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus.” A spiritual feeling of truth moved within me, telling me God inspired the work. Tears came to my eyes, and I was…..
Background I write what I call Heritage Fiction—novels about my ancestors. My interests lie in history, genealogy, and finding the truth. Although I write fiction, I use as many facts as I can to formulate my stories. The first novel…..
When the English first established Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, their relationships with the Indigenous Peoples (sometimes called ‘the Powhatans’ after Chief Powhatan, Pocahontas’s father) was precarious. Powhatan and the English settlers regarded each other with suspicion. Eventually, the two groups…..
Don’t be like me and regret not having interviewed some of my elderly family members before they passed. The elderly can be a wealth of information about not only themselves, but those who have gone before them. Most love to…..
Have you ever had a coincidence happen where you wondered if it were more than mere chance? Was the event a happy accident or did God have a hand in it? I’ve decided to write about a recent “coincidence” even…..
In the 1930s, Marcus Lee Hansen conducted research on the history of immigration to the United States. He was posthumously awarded the 1941 Pulitzer Prize for History for The Atlantic Migration, 1607–1860: A History of the Continuing Settlement of the…..
Silly question. Of course, you do. The question reminds me of a book I had as a child called Are You My Mother by P.D. Eastman. A bird hatches from his egg without Mama Bird in the nest, so he…..
I’ve been to 48 states and always find that North Carolina has the friendliest people. A recent visit was no exception when I met many members of who I think are my African-American side of the family. White Oak River…..
The science of epigenetics fascinates me. I studied and wrote on the subject in my book Unacknowledged. Epigenetics is the idea that the trauma your ancestor(s) experienced could have changed their genes, and those genes were passed down to you……
If when you have your DNA tested for ethnicity and you find where your ancestors were from (or if you already know), does this make you want to travel there? It does me. There’s an intriguing phenomenon of feeling at…..
The podcast A Reel Page Turner is a show that compares the movie to the book. On A Reel Page Turner I was a guest speaker for the comparison of the movie The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, and Kate…..
Nancy E. Turner wrote about her ancestors in these four books based on the Prine family of the Southern Arizona Territory 1880s-early1900s. The full title of her first novel (a Willa Cather Literary Award finalist) is These is My Words:…..
I didn’t expect to consider that possibility when I set out to write Unacknowledged: The Possible Biological Mother of Howard Hughes. But as I researched, I had to wonder. Hughes was a household name for decades, but was his oddball…..
The Historical Novel Society (HNS) is well known amongst historical fiction writers, but perhaps you’ve never heard of them. They are a great resource if you love historical fiction and want to read reviews for what’s out there before buying……
My grandmother, Marie Hardison Whitehurst, was not a typical grandma who baked cookies and pattered about. She didn’t even want to be called grandma. To us, she was Mimi. She kept a slim figure, wore fashionable clothes, and was a…..
After traveling on the Mayflower for 66 days, the Pilgrims arrived at Cape Cod on November 11, 1620—400 years ago today. A replica of the Mayflower (Mayflower II, a “living history” museum) was gifted to America by England in 1957,…..
In the New England Memorial by Nathaniel Morton (1669), John Lothropp was considered to be one of the five most important ministers to arrive in New England during the Great Migration. Five United States presidents, as well as Princess Diana,…..
Today, September 6th, is the anniversary of the Pilgrims leaving England in the Mayflower. Since July 1620 they had been trying to sail to America, but their second ship, the Speedwell, kept taking on water, sending them back to shore……
Using the medium of a novel, I’ve written stories of my ancestors based on true events, hoping to share their interesting lives with others. I’m calling my stories Heritage Fiction. In my blog and newsletter, I’ll share published books in…..
Years ago, I was driving during the rush of the Christmas season listening to “Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus.” A spiritual feeling of truth moved within me, telling me God inspired the work. Tears came to my eyes, and I was…..
Background I write what I call Heritage Fiction—novels about my ancestors. My interests lie in history, genealogy, and finding the truth. Although I write fiction, I use as many facts as I can to formulate my stories. The first novel…..
When the English first established Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, their relationships with the Indigenous Peoples (sometimes called ‘the Powhatans’ after Chief Powhatan, Pocahontas’s father) was precarious. Powhatan and the English settlers regarded each other with suspicion. Eventually, the two groups…..
Don’t be like me and regret not having interviewed some of my elderly family members before they passed. The elderly can be a wealth of information about not only themselves, but those who have gone before them. Most love to…..
Have you ever had a coincidence happen where you wondered if it were more than mere chance? Was the event a happy accident or did God have a hand in it? I’ve decided to write about a recent “coincidence” even…..
In the 1930s, Marcus Lee Hansen conducted research on the history of immigration to the United States. He was posthumously awarded the 1941 Pulitzer Prize for History for The Atlantic Migration, 1607–1860: A History of the Continuing Settlement of the…..
Silly question. Of course, you do. The question reminds me of a book I had as a child called Are You My Mother by P.D. Eastman. A bird hatches from his egg without Mama Bird in the nest, so he…..