Sometimes You Have to Stumble
On New Year’s Eve, My Own True Love and I stood in the main square in Salzburg and waited for the countdown to midnight to begin. It was raining, an icy drizzle that occasionally opened up into something more. The square was crowded with happy drunks. Not my favorite combination. But dancing in the square […]
Why I Write History
Like many history buffs, history first caught my imagination through stories. One of my favorite things to do when I was small was curl up next to my grandmother and ask her, “What did you do when you were a little girl?” From there it was a short step to reading biographies about […]
The Challenges of Writing Women’s History
When I began work on Heroines of Mercy Street I assumed that there were already lots of books on the subject and I feared that there wouldn’t be anything new for me to say. After all, everyone knew what Civil War nurses looked like, right? In fact, I was wrong on both counts. Nurses on […]
Writing The Book That Accompanies a Television Show, or What It’s Like to Be the Toy in the Happy Meal
There are two questions I can count on being asked after someone sees my writing resume: “Did you get to interview Matt Damon?” and “What’s it like to write a book that’s tied to a television show?” The answer to the first question is simple–no. (Though if you catch me on a good day, I […]
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