Billy the Kid

 

I work in real estate, but it is the Victorian era that diverts my attention.  I'm an avid collector of all types of Victorian antiques including shoes, hats, jewelry, and clothing. 

 

 

I  enjoy decorating with antiques and I am awed by Victorian architecture. I adore old houses as much as I love 19th-century literature. Austen and Dickens are two of my favorites.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My other interests are quite diverse, but history and mysteries are at the top of my list, particularly Masterpiece Mystery.  I love partaking in historical research and I am fascinated by mysteries of any kind.  I am liberal, enjoy politics, and I'm a Trekkie (Live Long and Prosper). I enjoy creating things, particularly out of wood or fabric.  I enjoy hunting for bargains in antique shops or at flea markets to add to my décor or my already bulging clothes closet.  

 

 

I am also always on the hunt for a new pair of cowboy boots or antique jewelry.  I miss Irish dancing, but still take the time to enjoy Irish music, and someday I WILL set foot on Irish soil.  I am a huge cat lover and I enjoy gardening, shooting pool, and "decorating" outdoor spaces.

 

My motto is to "live and let live" because "live long and prosper" is honored by my Trekkie side, but it just doesn't go quite far enough for me.  I like to affirm, when I get up on my (antique) soapbox, to: "love each other hard, accept each other, and geez, appreciate and embrace our differences!" How boring it would be if we were all the same!  Perish the thought. Be real by being your unique self. Because of my strong beliefs, diversity is one of my all-time favorite words.  

 

It was after I became involved with Community Theater several years ago that I started writing stage play scripts. Ideas kept erupting in my head as a result of being utterly fascinated by the human condition.  

 

It was then that I realized how therapeutic writing can be!  So I kept developing more and more scenarios and characters. The experience was so fulfilling that I felt the need to write more and more until writing became a huge part of my life.

 

Life's tribulations, and a keen interest in all things Victorian, inspired me to write The Whitmore House series of novels which are based on a haunted Victorian house (turned Bed & Breakfast) located in fictional Oakwood, Nebraska. My main character is a lovingly tenacious woman who falls in love with the home, its history, and its inhabitants (alive and dead).  I love my characters, and they are often in my thoughts. Many of my characters are based on people I once knew, and those that I wish I knew!  The Whitmore House series is available on this site or on Amazon.com.

 

I became involved with the Mayhew Cabin with John Brown's Cave Museum in Nebraska City in 2008 and have been a board member since 2009, currently serving as President. The museum interprets the history of the Underground Railroad in Nebraska.

 

The museum is one of my passions and is a perfect fit for me because I equally value freedom and equality, and both of those things are something the museum continually promotes. My involvement with the museum led to months of research and I wrote the History of the Mayhew and Kagi Families that we sell in the museum's gift shop. Years later, I did several more months of historical research. This effort resulted in not only uncovering names of the escaping slaves who took refuge at the Mayhew Cabin back in 1859, but I traced descendants forward in time until I located a living descendant.  

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            A link to that story is right over there: 

 

 

 

That discovery led to the writing of The Twelve.  It is now complete and available on this site or on Amazon.com.

 

I'm currently writing Book 7 in The Whitmore House romantic novel series and I'm even having cursory thoughts about #8.  And of course, there will be happy endings. . . . and more books.

 

I have thankfully found myself in the "happy ending" portion of my life. At long last. In your own way, I hope you are working on your own happy ending, too. Life is too short to settle for less than what you want! If you've found yourself struggling for your little piece of happiness, just remember that yesterday is over, it's history, it can't be changed or altered. Learn from your yesterdays without dwelling on missteps or on what could have been. Use what you've learned from your history as you journey into your future. Keep your thoughts positive, and if you should stumble or face adversity, turn it into a positive. Develop gratitude for what you already have. There is always something to be thankful for. You will see that one positive decision leads to another and then another. Believe in yourself, be true to yourself, and appreciate yourself. Forgive yourself for past mistakes because you've learned from them. Mistakes are a lesson, not a life sentence. Surround yourself with positive people who appreciate you for you. Each new day is a chance for a fresh start, a new beginning.  I found this to be apt:

 

"The past is the beginning of the beginning

and all that is and has been

is but the twilight of the dawn."

- H. G. Wells.

 

The future (each coming moment, in fact) may be filled with surprises, rewards, wonders to behold, opportunities, people to appreciate, chances to help someone, chances to encourage a young person, chances to make the world a better place, and chances for discovery! I'm excited by the fact that tomorrow shrouds a mystery because I'm just dying to uncover the vastness that I know my future holds.