Panning for gold, 1850. I love history (obviously), and most of my work stems from a specific tidbit I’ve found in my regular reading. While...
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Q&A: Childhood Hiding Spots to Read
As we approach summer, it’s fun to remember the places we once stole away to in order to immerse ourselves in a good book. For this month’s Q&A,...
The inspiration for Harry
My great-great uncle, (Percy to friends and family, P.H. to readers) was rather a giant of a man in the world of letters, and was the inspiration...
Happiness is… Sometimes Hard to Find
As a person who suffers from clinical depression and a host of complex trauma, and whose family life is severely limited by choice and necessity,...
Finding Happiness
If you asked me today if I was happy, I’d say yes without hesitating. If you asked me why, however, I couldn’t answer right away. Many things are...
Q & A – Christmas Memories
With the winter season fast approaching, the dark nights lengthen and many days are marked by a gray overcast, rain, or fog. But together we’ve...
Family Memory Collages – Fact or Fiction?
On this Fifth Tuesday of the Month, PLW welcomes historical fiction author Trisha Faye as our guest blogger. ~ A collage of memories pasted in my...
Family Gathering for a Holiday
Thinking about family in November inevitably centers around gathering for Thanksgiving and Christmas, especially this year since we are returning to...
Found Family
Family is a hard word, wrapped in a soft idea. The word itself sounds cozy, with...
The Surprising Stages of Family Life
“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Anna Karenina Apologies to Tolstoy and his famous first line, but...
Talking Turkey About Family Stories
Happy November! Time to talk turkey* with and about your family. At least here in America where we’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving soon. For many...
Unmasking a Man from my Distant Past
When I started writing Blind Tribute, the only piece of the manuscript I had was a mental picture of my great-great uncle, Percy Huntington (P.H.)...
Reading and Writing My Way Around Covid
On this Fifth Tuesday of the Month, guest blogger Michal Strutin shares her upcoming reading with us. I’m plotting the second book in my historical...
A Summer of Romance
Summer is a special time of the year, with lovely sunshine, and we make lots of plans to get away from our everyday life. These are days when we...
Best Money Spent as an Author
Photo by John Jennings on Unsplash I’ve spent 20 years working as a loan officer. Since technically I am self-employed, every year I’m bombarded by...
Final Thoughts on the HNS Conference
The Historical Novel Society Conference was a busy, thrilling week. The Paper Lantern Writers would like to share with you a few of the sessions we...
Judging a Book by its Cover
The English idiom "don't judge a book by its cover" is a metaphor. It means one should not judge the worth or value of something by its...
Author Stuff in the Shutdown
When I thought about the topic of “a year of writing in place,” I realized that a lot of my author work over the last year was getting everything...
All Journey, No Destination
Ever heard the saying "the journey is the destination"?* I've always interpreted it as "the process of getting there is more important than the...
Conquering Writer’s Block
Photo by Ryan Snaadt on Unsplash Everyone has or will experience that moment when they sit down to write and the mind draws a blank, like every...
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