Western Heritage Award

I am so excited! I Just found out I won a Wrangler in the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum Western Heritage Awards to honor and encourage the legacy of those whose works in literature, music, film, and television reflect the significant stories of the American West. I won for my on camera performance in Cowboys and Outlaws: The Real Wyatt Earp that aired on the History Channel. Funny I won for "acting" and not writing...My friends Bob Boze Bell and Paul Hutton also won.

Apex book charts town’s history

I've been writing a lot of the Secret Lives of Evelyn and still looking for the elusive data...

My new book, Apex, will be out next week and there is a good deal of promotion going on. The local paper, the Apex Herald ran a full front-page ad with photos!

Today I appeared on the local CBS affiliate, WRAL, to talk about the book.

November 4, 2009

I have been diligently working on The Secret Lives of Evelyn for the last few days. I have hit some road blocks, especially for the last two pieces of this crazy puzzle!

I had the pleasure of speaking with one of Evelyn's great granddaughters in London. She is just as sweet and funny as can be. It was such a neat feeling being able to talk with someone who actually knew Evelyn's first child! It was almost as if I was talking to Evelyn.

Elizabeth shared some very personal and interesting stories with me. There is no way to confirm them, but they have been passed down from family members. I still intend to share them because they are so crazy!

Today I am focusing on the writing part--it's very easy for me to get sucked into the research part.

The new Apex book is making a splash! A story in the local paper, Apex Herald featured it yesterday and I will be on the local CBS affiliate on Monday afternoon. I will post a link here after it airs. Here is the one for the Apex book http://www.theapexherald.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Local+author+writes+about+town-s+history%20&id=4278387-Local+author+writes+about+town-s+history&instance=home_news_lead

Working with Family

The Secret Lives of Evelyn continues to fill my days.

However, today I was in contact with a coroner in England to see if I can get the details of E's death. Since I am not family, they will not release it to me. On the bright side, E's GG granddaughter in England has agreed to email the coroner to see what she can find. I think she is equally curious to know more about her fascinating relative.

I now have an "accomplice" in my quest for the truth!

I forgot to mention that I found some other interesting details around E's husband the other day. Very exciting...

Not Very Often...

I got to do something yesterday that not many people can say they have done.

During my research for The Secret Lives of Evelyn, I have hit road blocks, discovered scandal, uncovered shocking details, and much more. I have also gotten in contact with E's direct descendants.

However, yesterday, I had the pleasure of introducing two of E's relatives to each other.

One is her GG granddaughter, who lives in England, and the other is her great granddaughter who lives in Montana. Neither new the other existed, so their reunion should be quite enlightening. It's so cool to think that E's relatives on two different continents are now connected!

It was one of those feel good days, and hey, today is still the same!!!

Well, I am just about done with most of my research, although I still have many unanswered questions. However, at some point, I have to start writing.

Today is that day...