I love diaries, especially women’s diaries from the Civil War era, so when I saw a mention of the diary of Rachel Rosalie Phillips and found out where a transcript was held, I had to get a copy of it. It’s an account of a young woman’s stay in Washington, D.C., in 1864, when a […]
Rachel Goes to Washington: A Civil War Diary Read More »
Like most novels, The First Lady and the Rebel underwent revisions on its path to publication (look for it on October 1!). This is the epilogue in the first draft. It was replaced by one that I felt was more in keeping with the focus of the novel: the relationship between the two Todd sisters
The First Lady and the Rebel: An Outtake Read More »
Recently, I added this nifty carte-de-visite to my modest collection of Lincoln memorabilia–a memorial photograph that’s a composite of photos taken during his presidency. Aside from what’s new in my collection, what’s new in my writing? While awaiting publication of The First Lady and the Rebel (coming in October!) I’ve been busy working on another
During the editing of The First Lady and the Rebel, some sacrifices had to be made, and the following is one of them: a deleted scene where the Lincolns play host to Charles and Lavinia Stratton, better known as Mr. and Mrs. Tom Thumb. So here it is! “You should wear pink more often, Molly,”
An Outtake: The Lincolns Meet the Strattons Read More »
As promised last week, I intend to keep this blog more active. Lately, on Facebook, I’ve been posting Victorian and Edwardian photographs from my collection on Wednesdays, so I shall start doing the same here. Today, in honor of Mary Lincoln’s 200th birthday tomorrow, I am posting four images of her that I own. Although
My Small Mary Lincoln Gallery Read More »
In one of her letters written while she was living in Springfield, Illinois, Mary Lincoln refers to the practice of having “open houses” on New Year’s Day. Recalling the custom years later, Emily Huntington Stuart wrote, “When I was a child, and even long after my marriage, the custom of keeping open house on New
“[E]ach & every one has had, a little romance in their early days,” Mary Lincoln wrote to family friend David Davis on March 4, 1867, “but as my husband was truth itself, and as he always assured me, he had cared for no one but myself.” But Lincoln did have his own romances before his
The Almost-Brides of Abraham Read More »