Marilyn's Musings

Newly resurrected, Trail to Glory , is based on the maternal side of my family's genealogy. When my sister did our family genealogy many questions came to mind. Though we'd heard plenty of  family legends, some of them seemed a bit improbable or didn't fit with the history of the place during the particular time period. What was particularly amazing to me was the strength these women had during great adversity, and often having to support themselves and their family at a time when not many jobs were available to women. To write this family saga, I had to do plenty of research, but the research gave me some great ideas to add to the plot.   This is the first book I ever had published--and it happened in 1982. The acceptance letter came after nearly thirty rejections and many rewrites. If you like historical family sagas I hope you'll try this one. It's available for Kindle and trade paperback--and the print is large and easy to read. ht...

    Indian Paintbrush once had a different title. This is the first book of mine ever published way back in 1982. At that time it was called Trail to Glory--a name the publisher chose. Indian Paintbrush is a more fitting title as there are references to the flower all through the book. An historical family saga , Indian Paintbrush, is based on family genealogy, my mother's side of the family. When my sister did the genealogy, I was amazed by how brave the women all were and able to support themselves when necessary in a time when women relied on men. To write the story I had to do a lot of research about places and people I knew nothing about. I learned about early Wisconsin and the Menomenee Indians and made up a whole story about a young girl who disappeared. (The family legends about this were so far-fetched, I thought my version sounded far more realistic.) I learned a lot about relatives I actually knew, like my great-aunt and my grandparents, even a big se...