history – Northern Skies Publishing

Elizabeth Robins

Drawing and editing are fun, but I am excited to be researching again. In a run of luck, I found THREE first hand accounts of the Alaskan Frontier. I randomly chose one to start reading. Allow me to introduce to you Elizabeth Robins (1862-1952): actress, playwright, and author. She booked passaged to Nome, Alaska inContinue reading “Elizabeth Robins”

Mother, Mommy, Mom: mini linguistic peek

From the day I first started writing my Alaskan novel, I knew I wanted to make it historically accurate. It’s about a historic flight, set in 1920, so I needed to capture the period as best I could. You’ve heard a lot about that with posts on wood stoves, racism in Alaska, clothing, schools, andContinue reading “Mother, Mommy, Mom: mini linguistic peek”

Words that Echo

At the beginning of today’s writing session I was continuing to read “Blond Indian” by Ernestine Hayes. It’s not very helpful for my 1920s setting, but it’s giving me much better insight to the living conditions of Native Alaskans. “Blond Indian” is literature with a capital L. It’s too heavy and abstract to be leisureContinue reading “Words that Echo”

Wrestling with History

I’ve had an on-going internal dialog on how to portray the women in my book, so I started writing it out. It’s a technique I tried to get my 1st and 2nd year students to use a few times because it’s a great way to figure out the problem. I encouraged them to write itContinue reading “Wrestling with History”

No luck…

I was looking for information on a man named RWJ Reed of Nome when I found this article. RWJ Reed is mentioned briefly in it, but I didn’t learn much about him. However, the article’s story… my first thought afterward was, “You’ve no manner of luck, my friend,” from Pirates of the Caribbean. Don’t wantContinue reading “No luck…”

Water water everywhere…

I know I just posted a few hours ago, but… I was just writing a bit of the novel when something came up. Margaret was going to replenish the resivoir along side the stove when I realized I’m missing something. Something big. WHERE IS THE WATER COMING FROM?! So I turned to Google, and itContinue reading “Water water everywhere…”

Caribou Fences

My OhioLink books arrived this past week! Now in addition to my writing I have some serious reading to get done. The first book I read was The Alaska Flying Expedition by Stan Cohen. It provided me with a time-line for my story since it begins with the announcement of the expedition and ends whenContinue reading “Caribou Fences”

Character Ideas: Mary Wilson

In my previous post, “Be the Other,” I wrote about my dedication to getting the voice and actions of my half Inupiaq character, Mary, as real as possible. I should note that I have never taken a creative writing course that taught me about voice, so I’m learning as I go. So far I’ve foundContinue reading “Character Ideas: Mary Wilson”