Painting with Needles; the art of Chinese embroidery

Did early Americans invent embroidery to make samplers and decorate hope-chest items for hopeful young ladies waiting to become wives and mothers? Hardly! The art of embroidery started in China thousands of years ago. China began to weave silk from silkworm cocoon...

Don’t Let the Stories Die

Unique Challenges Historic novel writing presents many unique challenges. Foremost, the writer didn’t personally live during that time era, or he/she lived in New York but loved writing about the Old West. Slick documentaries and photos often don’t go far enough...

Sassy Sassafras, the Root Beer Tree

My grandfather, Thomas Elmer Woods, learned a lot from the Five Civilized Tribes: medicine, ceremonial dancing, and how to survive. After his mother died soon after giving birth to him and his twin sister, his sister was sent to live with relatives in the Pacific...