Footnotes

More about me and my books

"The history books you read sanitized slavery, disregarded indigenous stories, minimized wars, 

and dismissed the narratives of immigrants, poor, and working people."

-- Humanity Archive

I have a profound appreciation of those who have come before, who have made my life possible.  Some of our ancestors have been left out…people of color, immigrants, women.  I cherish their lives. I want to find their stories, even if it means combing through the footnotes, finding obscure archives for articles, paintings, drawings, photographs.  Here's one I came across recently... Who would not want to tell this woman's story?

O-o-dee of the Kiowa, 1896

Sometimes I am lucky enough to find some scholarship just when I need it, like Charles Swain's book, helping me discover how brave African American families survived and thrived in the north of a country divided. This informed my knowledge of life in New York, often called City of Sedition because of its economic ties to the South, and the horrible carnage of the Draft riots there in 1863, featured in Mercies of the Fallen, the second of my American Civil War Brides series:

The culture of the Diné (Navajo) is seen through the eyes of a woman in:

You can be sure this informed my Code Talker Chronicles series.  I loved the thought of Luke Kayenta being raised by women like this one!

I hope you enjoy my novels and see history from a different perspective though them!