A bit more background about a recent article I published on a civil rights action—in 1864 Alexandria, Virginia.

For someone who loves reading old letters in archives, getting back letters that I wrote from 1974 to 1996 was….weird.

When I moderated a History Author talk on Zoom, I spoke with two authors with very different ways to approach the topic of women in the Civil War.

Author (and diary-keeper) Jane Perry shares views on diaries: from “ internal wrestling, or attempting to figure out something, to connecting with people.”

Pamela Toler, author of Women Warriors, explains how she organized research that spanned epochs, continents, and personalities.

What do Langston Hughes, Myrna Loy, and Blanca Verala have in common? They all lived in D.C., as did hundreds more writers you do and do not already know.

One great benefit in writing about Julia Wilbur has been talking with other authors about their biographies. Such as—Candice Shy Hooper, author of Lincoln’s Generals’ Wives.

Here’s a short hand-out that I used at a writing-for-publication workshop last week.

In which I learn more from the author about the life of female government employees (including Julia Wilbur) in the 1860s.

My own panel, and lots more learned (and a shot in the arm) from colleagues.

This could be you. At a little, round table with an agent to make an in-person pitch. Washington Writers Conference, May 4-5.

Hot Christmas gift in 1853-1854: Autographs for Freedom, compiled by the Rochester Ladies Anti-Slavery Society.

Want to give someone a signed copy of A Civil Life in an Uncivil Time from afar? Here's the solution

I hope my guest blog for the University of Nebraska Press gives you some useful tips to go from diary pages to a narrative.

i got to volunteer at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities' booth at the National Book Festival.

Historian and author Pamela Toler posed some questions to me about Julia Wilbur and Civil War Alexandria.

in which I meet my book, bound, for the first time!

A pearl of wisdom here, a comment there, by authors at the Gaithersburg Book Festival.

So many boxes, so little time! How to make the best use of a trip to an archives.

What will a trip to the Kiplinger Library at the DC Historical Society (future home of an Apple Store) reveal?