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Last Wednesday, February 27th, we held our History Day competition at Southeast Community College, Lincoln. We had a great time judging the history projects of some 100 middle and high school students, however preparing for History Day does also explain why I've been a bit negligent in attending to this website. So, with History Day in the books, I'm resuming my blog. Take a look.
CURRENT EVENTS
Currently, I'm doing the legwork for my next Nebraska Series novel. The plan is to spend a month or so on research into the year 1857, Nebraska Territory. I suspect Miss Adeline Furlough is going to visit Nebraska City this time around in an effort to solve a murder mystery. If you're not familiar with Adeline, or "Addy" as her friends call her, make sure to read through a copy of volume one, Life in a Casket. In the first novel, there is a mystery to be solved, but the story mainly introduces us to Addy, her friends, and the townspeople of Brownville, Nebraska Territory. One little problem I'm having in discovering what Addy's going to do in Nebraska City is that the town's newspaper editions for June and July have gone missing. So, I suspect I'll make a trip up to the the Morton-James Public Library in Nebraska City to consult with Donna Kruse to see what else might be available. |
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Welcome to my website and Cliophile Productions. I live in southeast Nebraska, somewhat between Peru State, Nebraska's oldest college, and Brownville, one of Nebraska's first settlements. Back in the 1850s, this portion of Nebraska was alive with activity, and it's not an exaggeration to say that Brownvillians expected their town to become a thriving city, if not metropolis. Now populated by less than 150 souls, it's hard to imagine the heady days of Nebraska Territory's frontier when hundreds of people a year were passing through Brownville or putting up homes there.
At that time Brownville had the most widely distributed newspaper in the territory and the pages of The Nebraska Advertiser can be consulted at chroniclingamerica.com. In its columns one discovers Nebraska's earliest pioneers and their stories. I've written Life in a Casket to celebrate this time period and the names of several of those early Nebraskans.
The novel, told through the eyes of Addy Furlough, a fictitious heroine with hopes of establishing her own newspaper, brings to life some of the Brownville happenings of 1857. Of course this is a work of historical fiction, a cozy mystery, so though the events and places and even people mentioned in the book often have a grounding in history, the narrative and dialogue is inspired by a different muse.
See Books of 2018.
At that time Brownville had the most widely distributed newspaper in the territory and the pages of The Nebraska Advertiser can be consulted at chroniclingamerica.com. In its columns one discovers Nebraska's earliest pioneers and their stories. I've written Life in a Casket to celebrate this time period and the names of several of those early Nebraskans.
The novel, told through the eyes of Addy Furlough, a fictitious heroine with hopes of establishing her own newspaper, brings to life some of the Brownville happenings of 1857. Of course this is a work of historical fiction, a cozy mystery, so though the events and places and even people mentioned in the book often have a grounding in history, the narrative and dialogue is inspired by a different muse.
See Books of 2018.
ABOUT
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I live on a farm with my wife Sylvie in southeast Nebraska, not far from the Missouri River village of Brownville. I teach history, write, travel, and farm, usually in that order.
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Sylvie at The Conan Doyle pub in Edinburgh. Legend has it the novelist wrote in this very pub.
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We farm about 450 acres of soybeans and corn and sustain a wildlife population that includes deer, turkey, coyotes, and the occasional bald eagle and bobcat. Our close friend and neighbor who has some 70 plus years of farming experiences is running the combine in this picture.