Plus ça change – April 4, 2026 I have fun with this blog, toward two ends. I love to share what I discover from history. I also like to write about the process of writing, and that’s what this one is. I’m working on Chapter 10 (for now) in Laveaux:… Continue reading
Plus ça change – April 2, 2026 Real life is not neat with solid lines, clear boundaries, and binary conditions. Marie Laveaux owned slaves. That’s a fact. Many free people of color owned slaves. It was common. As horrific as this is to our sensibilities, this was the air within which… Continue reading
Plus ça change – March 30, 2026 On Dec 27, 1827, Père Antoine dedicated a chapel in New Orleans, to Saint Anthony of Padua. It looks a bit different today than in 1827, but it is still standing, at the corner of Rampart and Conti. This was the second Catholic… Continue reading
Plus ça change – March 28, 2026 I got to a point where I have a couple of chapters downstream I can work on, but one of those changes drastically. After those two, I was pretty much clueless. I have the history, but I don’t have the fiction. I’m sufficiently… Continue reading
Plus ça change – March 16, 2026 A funny thing happened on the way to the keyboard this morning. We’ll see how it turns out. Writer boy wasn’t feeling particularly motivated. There are, of course, ups and downs. I’m reminded of an earlier career writing deeply technical training materials for software… Continue reading
Plus ça change – March 13, 2026 This is why I like research so much, it takes me down such interesting paths. Next up in my thinking will be the dedication of the yellow fever mortuary chapel, Dec 27, 1827. Père Antoine presided (he’s quite old). Marie was a major… Continue reading
Plus ça change – March 11, 2026 This is an inside joke from my critique group, a wonderful bunch of people. Every author dreams of thousands of readers of published novels. But we all start small. No draft survives the light of day. Polished words are not automatic. The author… Continue reading
Plus ça change – March 8, 2026 It’s a lovely day where we live, so I’ll be off on errands and walkabouts. Instead of writing, a quick little bit on the writing process. For Laveaux: Mother I have my half-baked plot, but I’m pantsing more. See A Holiday I know… Continue reading
Plus ça change – March 3, 2026 A novel has a protagonist, and a voice. This voice is the message, the tone, the point of view that characterizes and fills the novel, typically from the protagonist. Marie certainly has that voice, that of a powerful woman subject to oppression, and her… Continue reading
Plus ça change – February 19, 2026 I’ve mentioned these in passing before, I thought it would be good to call them out for the credit they deserve. I have characters who are going to walk down Rue d’Orleans to Père Antoine’s garden. I have a pretty good map of… Continue reading
