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Research is one of my favorite tasks. Visiting the places that inspire my stories reinvigorates me when I am feeling stumped. It also enhances my visions of the stories I want to tell. I strive to be as historically accurate and culturally respectful as possible in all of my writing endeavors. I am grateful to all the librarians, museum curators, authors, and National Park Service Park Rangers I meet along the way. Their wealth of knowledge about Alabama's diverse history is irreplaceable.
Research for "Tracing the Spirit"
Research for "Tracing the Spirit"
The Natchez Trace
The Natchez Trace
My research for my short story for Feisty Deeds: Historical Fictions of Daring Women took me back to a place of beloved memories. My mother and I first visited the Natchez Trace Parkway almost ten years ago. We split our travels into two journeys - the Northern Terminus and the Southern Terminus. Each time, we got on the trace at U.S. 72 in Cherokee, Alabama. The first trip took us all the way down to the visitor's center in Tupelo, Mississippi. Shortly thereafter, we went up from Cherokee to Nashville, Tennessee. This past summer, I revisited the trace for a whole new reason - research for my first short story!
Books
The Chickasaws by Arrell M. Gibson, University of Oklahoma Press, 1972
Mississippi Women: Their Histories, Their Lives - Volume 2 Edited by Elizabeth Anne Payne, Martha H. Swain, and Marjorie Julian Spruill, The University of Georgia Press, 2010
Websites
"Chickasaws in Alabama" by Greg O'Brien, Encyclopedia of Alabama, 2008
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