Persevere

Be Your True Self

Why does an author write the stories they do? Why do I write characters who persevere through difficulty and crisis in order to become stronger and accept themselves for who they truly are.

When I was growing up in the suburbs of Akron, Ohio in the 50’s, a young neighbor boy wobble up and down Pillar Avenue in his mother’s clothes and heels. Despite constant teasing from other neighborhood boys, he persisted.

My sister and I were friends with Billy, who was one of the kindest boys we knew. Diann and I didn’t care much for the other neighborhood boys who were generally crude and nasty. When we were all eight to ten years old, they made bad sexual jokes. Billy never did.

Considering my abusive and often-angry dad, I feared most boys until high school. Our home lives were full of anxiety and fear. Overcoming our fears was a life-long challenge for me and Diann.

I wanted to be a boy.

Why? In the 50’s all the stories I read were about boys and their adventures—doing things girls could not. I wanted adventure, too, and spent most of my adult life on adventures.

I often write from the point of view of a male character who must grow through similar challenges as those I faced. I love writing about other times and places different from my own, and I spend a good deal of time researching. A good historical novel should put the reader firmly in the time period and place in order to help my reader connect to the character, and connection is what I strive for.

Storytelling allowed me to regain a sense of control over my own narrative, something that was brutally stripped away from me during abuse.

Loss of control experienced by child abuse survivors is profound.

If affects not only bodies and minds, but souls. This loss lingers into adulthood, casting a shadow over lives. By crafting and reading stories, we can explore emotions, experiences, and desires in a safe and empowering way.

Book News

The first book of The Texian Trilogy series, At What Cost, Silence? won the First Place CIBA Award for Americana Historical Fiction.

The second book of the series, War and Preservation, won Readers’ Favorite Five Stars for receiving five stars from reviewers.

Need I say I’m happy, over-the-moon, whatever!

Along with other authors, I will be reading from The Texian Trilogy and selling and signing copies of At What Cost, Silence? and War and Preservation at Bookman’s on Speedway in Tucson on August 2. I would love to see you there.

Research for the third book in The Texian Trilogy series is going well and keeping me busy.

Do you have a favorite book you would recommend?
I would love to add it to the next blog, and it doesn’t have to be historical fiction.

Until next time . . .