The Concord, New Hampshire skyline.
Surprised by Joy:
My life as a nonfiction writer
My life as a nonfiction writer
I really didn't see this one coming.
I knew I was going to be a writer from the time I was six years old. But I always thought my focus and success would be fiction. It took a while, but we made it, with two novellas and three full novels published by Pelican/White Rose Publishing (see "Western Dreams") and a promising new contemporary series with Elk Lake (see "Hilltop Christmas").
I wanted to work with my daughter, a photographer, and I began investigating nonfiction books. Arcadia Publishing mentioned that they had had requests for a new book on Exeter, New Hampshire, and that was all the impetus we needed. It was a fun project, matching historic photos with modern images, and we published the book in September 2020.
"New Hampshire War Monuments: The Stories Behind the Stones," our second project with Arcadia, was different. For me, nonfiction had always been a way to pay the bills. With "War Monuments," I researched the stories behind these tributes and the heroes behind them, and I fell in love with nonfiction writing. Above, the "Buddy Monument" in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. The Buddy Monument tells three love stories: the love of a doughboy for his wounded comrade, the love of young men for their country and democracy, and the love between a man and woman
that crossed an ocean and a continent, coming to rest in a small New Hampshire town.
Photo by Sheila R. Bailey
I knew I was going to be a writer from the time I was six years old. But I always thought my focus and success would be fiction. It took a while, but we made it, with two novellas and three full novels published by Pelican/White Rose Publishing (see "Western Dreams") and a promising new contemporary series with Elk Lake (see "Hilltop Christmas").
I wanted to work with my daughter, a photographer, and I began investigating nonfiction books. Arcadia Publishing mentioned that they had had requests for a new book on Exeter, New Hampshire, and that was all the impetus we needed. It was a fun project, matching historic photos with modern images, and we published the book in September 2020.
"New Hampshire War Monuments: The Stories Behind the Stones," our second project with Arcadia, was different. For me, nonfiction had always been a way to pay the bills. With "War Monuments," I researched the stories behind these tributes and the heroes behind them, and I fell in love with nonfiction writing. Above, the "Buddy Monument" in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. The Buddy Monument tells three love stories: the love of a doughboy for his wounded comrade, the love of young men for their country and democracy, and the love between a man and woman
that crossed an ocean and a continent, coming to rest in a small New Hampshire town.
Photo by Sheila R. Bailey
Past and Present Exeter, New Hampshire
This was a fun project. We contrasted old and vintage photos of Exeter, New Hampshire with what's there now. The hardest part was making the modern images match the vintage ones, and we have tales of hanging out third-story windows and tromping through a foot of snow. Exeter is a unique town, and I think we did her justice.
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New Hampshire War Monuments: The Stories Behind the StonesThis one was an odyssey for me. I didn't expect to be so deeply moved by some of these stories, and I didn't expect to fall in love with nonfiction writing. We learned about everyone from Derrick Oxford, an enslaved person who fought in the Revolution and had to wait 200 years to get a decent headstone, to the Five Manchester Guardsmen, whose deaths brought the state's largest city to her knees one hot August afternoon in 1969.
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Growing Up in Concord, New Hampshire in the 50s and 60sEach book I write becomes a little more personal. "Exeter" was like a paint-by number project. "War Monuments" moved me a little more. These stories became part of my being. And "Concord" may cut closest to the bone. As Frankie Valli used to sing, "Girl, you can't leave the places where you were born." https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/products/9781467154819/
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