The Berlin airlift, a Japanese naval officer, Sir Francis Drake, rutabagas, a baseball player-turned-spy–just some of the fascinating details and characters that came up in my discussion of the writing of historical fiction and popular history in Manzanita, Oregon, last weekend. This completely adorable coastal town seems to attract intellectual people who’ve had one career and are operating full blast in another. And a big group of folks turned out for the evening reading, though they could have been spending the first Saturday of spring break walking on the beach under clear skies and a gleaming sunset, and they were such a smart, attentive audience. Sometimes I think, as my mother would say, “How did a little girl from the country get so lucky?” My thanks to Kathie Hightower and her comrades for inviting me.

I love the dynamic, romantic, trickster attitude of the title of this festival It’s held annually at Chadron State College in Chadron, Nebraska: not that southern-Willa Cather-Nebraska that’s practically Kansas but the Dawes County sand-hills-and-badlands Nebraska that’s practically Wyoming. As the 2015 Writer-in-Residence, I’ll give the keynote talk and work with writers in a workshop setting, June 12-14. Here’s a link to more information. Reminders to follow as June approaches!

I’ll be teaching a writing workshop on creating lively historical fiction, and giving a public reading in Mazanita, Oregon on March 21, 2015, as part of the lovely Manzanita Writers Series. The workshop time is not yet set, but will be a couple of hours long in the middle of the day. The reading is at 7 pm. Here’s a link to information on how to register for the workshop or attend the reading. Take a Saturday on the Oregon Coast and drop in!

In which I leave the valley of clay and vineyards and scale the hill to the Manor House on the Lewis and Clark College campus: 5:30 pm on Wednesday, March 4. Click here for a campus map. and information about parking and transportation.