Lest you think complex infographics are a modern invention, numerous websites have resurrected a century-old chart with a mind-boggling amount of information on the Civil War. Click on the image for a closer look. The Comparative Synoptical Chart Company submitted its creation to the Library of Congress back in 1897. You can still see the… Continue reading The Civil War in one spectacular chart
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Tracy Chevalier and ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring’
Tracy Chevalier, author of multiple historical novels, was part of the TED Radio Hour on NPR last weekend. In a sound bite from her TED Talk back in June, she explained how she came up with the story for her book “Girl With a Pearl Earring,” based on the painting by Vermeer. It is a… Continue reading Tracy Chevalier and ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring’
Writing inspiration from Don Cheadle
When I was driving the other day, I caught an interview with actor Don Cheadle ("Hotel Rwanda," "Traitor," "House of Lies") on NPR. He struck me as a thoughtful, open, honest man. He was asked what advice he would give to actors trying to break into the business. He said it’s more difficult now than… Continue reading Writing inspiration from Don Cheadle
When you want things to go bump in the night…
... they rarely do. I found that out on my first ghost hunt last night (Friday the 13th) at historic Paxton Manor in Leesburg, Va. The 32-room house, built for Rachel and Charles Paxton in 1872, featured many decorative interior details such as silver hardware and elaborate plasterwork. The exterior reflects the influence of Second… Continue reading When you want things to go bump in the night…
Mattie Blaylock Earp: Hidden from history
The recent Wild West auction in Harrisburg, Pa., included a trunk owned by Celia Ann "Mattie" Blaylock, Wyatt Earp’s second wife. I couldn’t verify its origins, but I wonder if it was the one that surfaced in the 1950s when her nephew read an article about the opening of a new museum in Dodge City,… Continue reading Mattie Blaylock Earp: Hidden from history
Unearthing Wyatt Earp’s revolver
A gun that once belonged to Wyatt Earp sold for $35,000 at an auction held by the city of Harrisburg, Pa., in July. The label on the gun’s grip reads: "To Wyatt Earp, Welcome From the Citizens Committee of Nome." Wyatt moved to Nome, Alaska, in 1897 at the height of a gold rush. While… Continue reading Unearthing Wyatt Earp’s revolver
The original Las Vegas
When I was researching the Doc Holliday artifacts auctioned off in Harrisburg, Pa., I was dismayed that the auction house’s website erroneously refers to Las Vegas, Nevada, as the last place Doc Holliday practiced dentistry. It was Las Vegas, New Mexico, as any student of Western history would know and as the letter accompanying his… Continue reading The original Las Vegas
Of dental chairs, frock coats and the hearts of women
Harrisburg, Pa., recently auctioned off about 8,000 historical artifacts that former Mayor Stephen Reed had collected for a Wild West museum that never happened. The auction netted the city $2.7 million, which sounds good except that Reed reportedly spent $8.3 million buying the stuff. Allen Barra, writing in the October issue of True West magazine,… Continue reading Of dental chairs, frock coats and the hearts of women
The value of play
I’ve been trying another technique Roseanne Bane recommends in "Around the Writer’s Block" — something she calls Process and I call playtime. It’s about doing something fun that puts you in the creative flow. Her argument is that by engaging in creative play for play’s sake, you increase your ability to draw on your creative… Continue reading The value of play
Using a timer to break down resistance
Among the tricks in Roseanne Bane’s "Around the Writer’s Block" is one I’ve heard elsewhere: using a timer to get yourself to sit still long enough to focus. I recently gave it a try and now I’m hooked. I often spin my wheels and take a long time to settle down during a writing session,… Continue reading Using a timer to break down resistance
The science behind writer’s block
We’ve all experienced it, that feeling of dread in the pit of your stomach when you sit down to write. When all the negative feedback you’ve ever gotten and the prospect of the hard work ahead of you is overwhelming to the point that you’d rather do anything — vacuum, alphabetize your book collection, clean… Continue reading The science behind writer’s block
Going west for a cure
More from Sheila M. Rothman’s “Living in the Shadow of Death”: In the early 1800s, tuberculosis was often romanticized as spiritually uplifting, ennobling even. Therefore, men with TB often went on strenuous journeys to the West Indies or the American South as part of a religious quest; they used their suffering to get closer to… Continue reading Going west for a cure
Terri J. Huck 