Reading books as a child started me on a lifetime love affair with stories. My father and I would go to estate sales and look for books. We crawled under tables and pulled books out of drawers to put in a carton sold to us for a dollar or five at the most. My father was interested in history. I read anything I could hold in my hands. I had not yet decided what I liked to read. As I began choosing books and authors, I found I was branching way out of my rural Southern roots to learn from my reading. I realized I was looking for stories that could leave me thinking about the characters long after I finished the book. I wanted to know who they were and why they did what they did. Now that I am writing historical novels, my goal is to create my characters the way I like to read.
Author Archives: leararhodes
Leara’s Lore #18: Where Do Writers Write?
To have a place to write is part of the writing process and takes consideration. My
writing place was not chosen haphazardly. I thought long and hard when I was
beginning to write as to where I could write. I tried many different scenarios. Ultimately, I
discovered that I could write just about anywhere I have a surface, a window, and time.
Leara’s Lore #17: Why There Are Book Clubs
The December meeting of the book club I attend is the one meeting when the women really dress up. There is the Christmas sweater bought in travels to Germany, a swanky scarf gotten at a local fair, a dress held for special occasions, and a red jacket with a Christmas wreath pen attached to the lapel. The hostess decorates every corner of the house with wreaths, angels, and even Christmas plates in the dining room breakfront. A collection of nutcrackers guards the stairs leading up to the bedrooms from the front door.
Leara’s Lore #16: Storytelling
Storytelling is central to why I write. My father told me stories as a child. He would ask for me to choose something in the room and then he would make up a story about that object. To test his abilities, I once chose a speck on the tile floor. I heard a story about how the mark got there and why it was important for the mark to stay as a way of remembering what happened on that day. Though I can’t remember the details of the story, I remember the message and the enjoyment of hearing my father share his creativity. He was my first storyteller.
Leara’s Lore #15: I’m Learning to Fly
As a girl of eight, I studied a flying squirrel. In my back yard I attempted to leap from a wooden table and try my wings. I wanted to fly, to soar through the sky and over the trees. I wanted Tinkerbell to sprinkle fairy dust and include me in the nightly flights to Neverland. In my dreams I flew. I glided. I soared.
But, in the light of day, I realized that I cannot fly..
Leara’s Lore #14: Conyers Book Festival
Book festivals have been around since 1485 when Frankfurt, Germany held its first trade fair. The printing press was active, and European booksellers began to come to Frankfurt to promote their books. Now, 540 years later, the Frankfurter Buchmesse welcomed 115,000 visitors from 153 countries, 4,300 exhibitors, with 7,500 media representatives covering 3,300 events during the five-day fair.
I haven’t attended the Frankfurt Fair, but I did participate in the Conyers Book Festival April 19. Some 54 authors brought their books and set up canopies with banners..
Launch of “The Darkest Midnight in December”
December 7, 2024, at 2:00 pm The place. One hour before the book launch no chairs were set up in the event space. No tables for the books or for the Irish tea refreshments had been cleared. My publisher had teased me about having a book launch in a plant store. I write historical fictionContinue reading “Launch of “The Darkest Midnight in December””
Spancil Hill Book Launch Playlist
Artists: Téada, referred to as a “traditional band with a worldwide reach,” has been one of Ireland’s leading traditional bands for more than two decades. They have appeared at major music festivals internationally including Rainforest World Music Festival, Penang World Music Festival, Edmonton Folk Festival, Harare International Festival of the Arts and World Music FestivalContinue reading “Spancil Hill Book Launch Playlist”
Pronunciation Guide for Spancil Hill
Pronunciation Guide for Spancil Hill The story of Cahey in Spancil Hill begins in Ireland in 1885 when he was only seventeen. As I researched the book, I wanted to be able to keep the dual languages he had learned at great risk to him at the time. I researched the pronunciations but I amContinue reading “Pronunciation Guide for Spancil Hill”
Leara’s Lore #13: Review of Spancil Hill by former student
As I’m typing this I just finished the last page of your book, and was overwhelmed.
Cahey’s story moved so fluidly and with so much detail that the years melted by as I read. I found myself looking around the city with a fresher lens, trying to imagine horses running through Times Square, mud kicking up on the streets. Your writing is so grounding. It has the density of research and reporting but is tempered by contemplative, questioning moments. It’s lyrical, like a steady breath…
Leara Rhodes 