Historical Writing

From the time I was in the third grade, I knew I loved history. The town I grew up in was full of history. It is the second oldest town in the state of Tennessee and has the oldest courthouse in the state still being used as a courthouse. The name of the town is Rogersville. It's nestled in the hills and mountains of eastern Tennessee.Aside from being the second oldest town, it also had another famous event. Davy Crockett's grandparents were massacred and buried there. I grew up with a lot of history around me.

Also, my father and grandmother were storytellers. My grandmother was raised in the coal mining towns in Southwest Virginia and Southeast Kentucky. Her father was a sheriff and had many interesting stories to hand down. Before I was in high school, I knew about the people from different countries and their customs. I had a fascinating childhood.

Do you have stories from your family that you put in your writing? I found a picture of my grandparents and one of their children. In the picture was a bunch of turkeys. I asked my aunt about it before she died. She said they raised turkeys to buy their shoes for the winter. With six children, that was a lot of shoes.

Things like this is what makes stories interesting. The little tidbits can change a story and make it more interesting. Since I am writing historical books, I look for these things. There is a turn of the century museum close to us. So far I have not been in it, but I'm dying to go. Mostly because I'm writing a book set in the early 1900's. The house is decorated for Christmas now. I would love to see it. I need to pry my husband away and go before the end of the year. It is famous because a president visited it. I want to see the furnishings and the decorations. Maybe I can go one day next week. I'll let you know if I do.