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THE ROAR HEARD ‘ROUND THE WORLD -“And then the most astonishing thing happened: The crowd began to roar. The roaring came in a rolling wave, gathering at the far edges of the crowd and then sweeping to the front. It was a tsunami gathering force deep in the ocean of history and then plunging across the world, its beaches, its cities, its farmlands, its mountains, sweeping the entire globe. It...

Thank you, Ben Sheperd, for including me on your list of BEST BOOKS About Growing Up in the Jim Crow South. I remember the separate drinking fountains, the separate restrooms, the separate theatre seats, even the separate cemeteries. So, too, do the authors of the books that accompany Ben’s feature of my book, SPITE FENCES. I’m blessed to be in the company of Colson Whithead, Toni...

At book signings, festivals, and – yes, even the grocery store – readers always ask an author “Where Do You Get Your Ideas?” The question always puzzles me because ideas are everywhere! They can come from memories, fleeting observations, even dreams. Remember when Proust sampled that madelaine? It triggered one memory and launched an entire literary style! My own writing...

We writers sit behind desks a lot. Not in front of cameras. So it was with some hesitation that I agreed to have Ruth Anne Peck interview me for her Book-TV show, The Writer’s Nook. The occasion was the publication of two new books: A scholarly biography (FANNY SEWARD: A LIFE) and a children’s picture book (‘AN AFFECTIONATE FAREWELL’: THE STORY OF OLD ABE AND OLD BOB)...

I was recently asked to submit an article to a children’s book forum. The forum was featuring beginning readers for children. Why me? I had only written one early reader – BARK PARK! – so I wondered why I’d been asked. After all, I usually write novels (SPITE FENCES; KINSHIP; UNCOMMON FAITH; FALLOUT) and I’d written a scholarly biography with scads of footnotes...

The main character of one of my novels is nicknamed “Birdie.” Short for “Alberta.” Birdie has been named after her father. Like many Ericas, Claudias, and Robertas, sons had been expected for Eric, Claudia, and Robert. As well as Albert. Creating Birdie got me thinking about how many writers make use of birds in their work. Birds inhabit book titles as mockingbirds and goldfinches. They nest...

BLACK LIVES MATTER is a significant slogan for me. It reminds me that I have much to learn. As a white person, I have been struggling to walk in the shoes of black-and-brown people to learn about the many ways in which daily life reminds them that they don’t matter.  I have noticed these things through what are called micro-aggressions.                I don’t know what a dictionary calls them...

Police brutality is in the news now, and rightly so. But I’m old enough to remember Jim Crow. Separate restrooms, water fountains, bus seats, even cemeteries. It’s why I wrote my novel SPITE FENCES. I constantly remind myself of the painful nature of those indignities, the routine dailiness of them. When white folks say there’s no racism, I think they suffer from a lack of...

2019 is 1919 All Over again: Why I Wrote UNCOMMON FAITH Perhaps it’s significant that UNCOMMON FAITH is being reissued in 2019. After all, one hundred years ago – after decades of struggle – women finally achieved the right to vote. And I wish my characters like Faith Common and Amanda Putnam and Celia Tanner had been around to see it. Unfortunately, they were living in 1837. Despite the...

TAKING THE MYSTERY OUT OF WRITING HISTORY Step 2 Revisited Welcome back, historical fiction fans and writers! We stressed in Step 1 to think of your history first as a story. Hi-STORY, remember? In Step 2, we focused on the literary techniques that make every piece of fiction – historical or otherwise – memorable. These techniques are : heroes and villains, plot twists, surprise...