SHORTS, NOVELS, AND OTHER THINGS
I’ve published this off and on over the years – a hopefully accurate historical description of the first Thanksgiving. For those of you who haven’t read it, I hope you enjoy it. Much has been written about the first Thanksgiving which took place at Plimoth Colony. Here is some information that is probably closer to …
The Real First Thanksgiving Read More »
Pilgrims Going to Church, oil on canvas, 1867, by George Henry Boughton This is a common misconception, mixing the two quite different approaches to the Protestant religion. The Pilgrims were actually called Separatists. Separatists believed that the only way to live according to Biblical precepts was to leave the Church of England to worship in …
The Pilgrims Were Not the Same as Puritans Read More »
The building of the first homes proceeded at a glacial pace – a pun because of the frequent storms with sleet, rain, or snow. Early on, a map was made of where each house would be built. Each ‘family’ was responsible for the construction of their home. Think of the women, trapped below decks on …
A Brutal First Winter and Spring, but the Plimoth Colonists Persevere, with Help Read More »
What was it like to sail on the Mayflower in 1620? No picnic. The Mayflower actually sailed three times, the first two times with a smaller sister ship called the Speedwell. Each time the Speedwell began to take on water, the second time 300 miles from England. So the Mayflower returned to port with the …
Come Take The Voyage On the Mayflower with the Pilgrims Read More »
I am often asked how long it took me to write The Last Pilgrim. Counting the abortive attempts with first-person and third-person voice, then trying to figure out how to get a four-year-old’s voice (I didn’t – I used her father’s voice for the first part of the book), it took about seven years. Off …
What Research? Years for The Last Pilgrim Read More »
I promised I would reveal all about how I chose Mary Allerton Cushman as the subject for my novel The Last Pilgrim. Actually, the decision was not terribly difficult. I happened to read that Mary Allerton Cushman was the oldest survivor of the First Comers, as those who had arrived on the Mayflower were called. …
How I Chose Mary Allerton Cushman as The Last Pilgrim Read More »
