I've written about one half of my verse novella (first draft, of course!). I've obtained the image of this beautiful 18th century coverlet from the Smithsonian Institution to use (hopefully) on either the front or back cover of my book. A woven coverlet appears in all three parts of the book and acts as a metaphor for events in the story itself.
See you later!
Dear Friends,
First entry since June! I've been continuing my research related to the historical verse novella I'm writing. This research began in the summer of 2018 and is ongoing, although to a much lesser degree, mostly tiny details. But those tiny details are needed as fact-checks for a line, or even a word, in the poems. I'm keeping an old-school handwritten journal (actually I'm on the 4th one!) about some of the tangents I've gone off on over the past year and a half, such as:
- ancient Native American trails from the Delaware Water Gap to NE PA
- Lenape pronunciation of various Indigenous words
- early coal deposits from outcroppings in PA
- birds, beasts, wildflowers, trees of PA mountains in all seasons
- phases of the moon in various months of the 1770s
- basic tools used by frontier colonists for building a log cabin
- different styles of log cabins in Colonial America
- minutes of meetings of the Susquehanna Company (1750s)
- lots of history lessons on the Yankee-Pennamite Wars, and the Revolutionary War
- the role of Puritan women and Congregationalists in 1700s New England
- walking distances between a multitude of places between New Haven CT and Wilkes-Barre, PA
- Typical food and drink in the frontier settlements
- shad fishing on the Susquehanna
- mail delivery in the settlements
- bundling (this one was a hoot!)
- the first physicians and ministers in the Wyoming Valley
- countless discoveries on WikiTree, and many I was able to correct
- blacksmithing in colonial times
- grist mills
- the different roles of various Native American tribes
- the weight a pack horse can carry and how much each item would weigh
- Census data from 1790 to mid-19th century
- Nursing and childbirth and the role of midwives
- epidemics and infectious diseases in adults and children in 1770s settlements, their symptoms, incubation period, course of the disease and mortality rates
and those are just from one of the journals! You should see my downloads and bookmarks!!!
Online sources in the thousands, dozens of hard copy books (some, thankfully, available second-hand)
To date, I've finished the Introduction, Prologue, Part 1, and several chapters in Part 2-A.
I've made many new colleagues online who have helped with some of the historical and geographical details I was totally unable to find anywhere.
So, that's where I've been for the last little while.
Also, I've attended and participated in Zoom poetry readings, e.g. Light Verse in Dark Times (available at the 1:22 mark on YouTube HERE) and will be a featured reader at the January launch of the Powow River Poets Anthology II (for which I wrote a blurb), and will be a featured reader at Carmine Street Metrics on February 7.
New for me: My historical verse novella is totally written in blank verse!
In 2020 I've also written some clerihews, tailgaters, one free-verse poem, two light villanelles, a heterometric, two sonnets, and two flash fiction stories. I also wrote the music for a friend's poem.
AND I HAVE A FIFTH GRANDCHILD (FIRST GRANDSON!!!!)
I hope everyone is staying safe and vigilant against COVID-19.
Love & Peace,
Cathy
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