Writing a Historical Memoir: Prairie Journey by Frances Bonney Jenner

Frances Bonney Jenner

Prairie Journey by Frances Bonney Jenner

Memoir can take on many different forms.  If you have ever been curious about what life was like at a given time in history, how an individual might have reacted to trying circumstances, historical memoir may be for you. It is a challenging form, as it requires the author to research the historical period and events thoroughly and at the same time to creatively see the world from their characters’ eyes.

Fran Jenner has done both in her engaging story of Samantha and her trek from Missouri to California. Fran, a librarian, is a dedicated writer and researcher. During the five years that she worked on Prairie Journey she traveled the route that Samantha and her family would have traveled to get a sense for what life was like camping on the Great Plains. Fran also attended Green River Writers Workshop every summer in Las Vegas, New Mexico, reading her work and receiving feedback. She worked closely with her editors, Gerry and Lorry Hausman to bring just the right tone to the book. A writer needs to read. If you are interested in writing historical memoir, read Prairie Journey. It will teach you lessons of writing and of life.

Here's what Fran has to say about Prairie Journey

12-year-old Savannah Clarke lives with her sister Faye and parents on a farm in Missouri. But their land’s worn out and her father insists they find new land in California, 2000 miles away. It’s 1850 and the journey will take months in a covered wagon pulled by oxen. Savannah knows her heart and it says “stay.” Stay with her best friend Mark living just a hair’s breadth away, with newborn pigs suckling in the barnyard, and peach trees bursting into bloom come spring. Still, she has no choice; she must go. Even though there’s trouble ahead and tragedy and there’s nothing she can do to stop it.

                                                 Irie Books, 2012

Available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble on-line

 

 

 

Wendy the Wonder Horse

This is my horse Wendy in the summer of 2007, a few months after we had brought her to the mountains in New Mexico. Wendy was part Appaloosa, seventeen hands high. She had a sweet temperament. She had spent several years in a large corral in desert country, kept from her food by other, more aggressive horses. When she came to us, she was thin, covered with scars from bites from the other horses. She stood in the middle of our field and did not seem to know how to eat fresh grass. She was shy with us. But all that changed quickly. She thrived on the fresh green grass in our valley. She was a great horse to ride ,with a smooth trot, sure footed on mountain trails and beautiful to watch when she ran around the field. We have learned that grey horses are susceptible to skin and eye problems from the sun. Last year Wendy developed "Moon Blindness". She lost the sight in her right eye and soon after, in her left eye. This winter we learned that she had cancer in her left eye.

On February 2, on the advice of our veterinarian who had been treating her, we had her put down. She was 15 years old, a beautiful, otherwise healthy horse and that was a difficult decision.

We have decorated the place where she is buried with turkey feathers, rocks, and flowers.

We miss Wendy and we still call her Wendy the Wonder Horse.

 

Gerald Hausman publishes "Rastafarian Children of Solomon"

Watch for another new book by Gerald Hausman, coming out in early March,
"Rastafarian Children of Solomon." Gerry brings to this book his gifts of clear writing, extensive research, and years of deep friendships and personal experience from spending time in Jamaica.
Here is the review from Publishers Weekly:
Hausman first went to the north coast of Jamaica in 1985, and for 10 years he led an outdoor-experience summer school there. He came to know Jamaica from the “inside out,” developing deep friendships with an intriguing cast of Rastas, who trace their lineage to King Solomon, “the wisest man on earth.” Hausman skillfully connects the lives and beliefs of these peaceful and resourceful people—fishermen, wicker weavers, Rasta preachers, respected elders, and wise men and women—through heartfelt conversations that arise spontaneously while sitting under the shade of a pimento tree, in a dusty yard, or by firelight in the cool evening ocean breeze. Rastafarian spiritual wisdom, recounted here in authentic Jamaican patois, emphasizes equality: an unwavering faith and hope in the holy spirit that lives in each human being. As followers of the Kebra Nagast—the African gospel excised from the King James version of the Bible—these Rasta “old ways” are epitomized by a statement from Jesus: “According to your faith, be it unto you.” (Mar.)
Reviewed in Publlishers Weekly on: 02/11/2013  http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-59143-154-1