Pioneers Writing Class and Using Genealogy in Writing

FROM THE INKWELL:
I'm behind on my weekly posting; had to take my desktop computer to the computer hospital. It had slowed down and I knew it needed cleaned. Just got it back.

The Pioneering Women of the West online course is going great. Lots of information and lots of websites to get lots of information. In the weeks to come we will learn about the mail-order brides, teachers, doctors, and women with unusual occupations. Right now we are learning about the pioneering women who travelled from their Eastern homes along the trails west.

Through working on my family history genealogy, I found accounts "Left By the Indians" by Emeline L. Fuller and "Massacre On the Oregon Trail" by Carl Schlicke. They tell about the Elijah Palmer Utter family and members of a wagon train journeying west who were attacked by Indians on September 9 and 10, 1860 near Castle Butte, Idaho, on the Snake River. Not all of the wagon train members were killed, but the massacre was a bloody and brutal one. (I would think all massacres would be horrific.)

As time goes by, an author will mention that she is using her ancestor's real-life stories as a basis for a particular book they wrote. I've decided to use genealogy in just about everything I write. I have so much history on our ancestors that I will be able to write lots of stories; some short stories and some full length books. My signature line is: "Ozarks Stories with a Tough of Genealogy." I love the Ozarks and our little corner of the Missouri.

In the Joplin Globe the other day a writer talked about the old Southtown Sporting Goods Store in Joplin being blown away by the tornado in May. The store had a hanging bass fish outside near the sidewalk that had hung there almost 50 years. That story spurred me to write my own romantic contemporary short story using the bass loosely in my story the very next day!  And, of course, it has genealogy in it. The heroine is a genealogist and the hero has his mother's research along with old letters and diaries. Now, what to do with it? There's not a lot of short-story markets for writers. Woman's World magazine is not accepting any new authors at this time. I may post my story next week on my blog.

FROM THE EATING WELL:
My tomatoes burned up. The rain came way too late. I did buy a couple the other day that were very good homegrown ones. We had bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches that night. They were excellent. My husband ate 4 of them.

FROM THE LIVING WELL:
Schools are starting all over our area next Wednesday, August 17. I pray the children have a wonderful learning year and they are all safe and sound. Jesus was a teacher and children gathered round Him wherever He went.

Hope you have a great week!
Karen Utter Jennings

Writing in the Ozarks

Let's pray for our United States government. They need to set their sites on God. That's how our country was founded, the men had their eyes on the Lord and it was a much simpler time back then. Today money rules!  What about us little guys who are working every day to make ends meet? Why focus the budget cuts on our Military, our Social Security system, Medicare, and the little guys? Look to those programs that can be cut and that will make headway to a better country. Quit blaming the Republicans and the Democrats ~ they are all involved in this. They need to set their eyes on God.


I'm taking an online writing course, "Pioneering Women of the West" from the Hearts Through History RWA chapter. It started Monday. Oh my, it's gonna be a good one and I'm gonna learn a lot about those women who made the West what it is. They were strong. They were pioneers. They were our ancestors! My great, great-grandparents came by covered wagon in 1880 from Indiana to SW Missouri. Grt, grt-grandma Christina was pregnant with her 11th child. Can you imagine that ride all those miles that took 34 days? She had to be tough to endure those hardships.


I saw a quote the other day that made me giggle. "Well-behaved women rarely make history" ~ Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. My great-grandmother's story is coming along. I just started chapter 10 and this chapter will be where she gets married at age 14 in 1909. I can't believe that, either. Marriage at age 14?


My latest read is "The Girl In the Gatehouse" by Julie Klassen. It's a great story set in Regency England. The heroine writes novels for a living, but has to hide that fact, as it was not accepted in those days for women to have careers. I'm about half-way finished.


Happiness & Blessings ~
Karen Utter Jennings