I'd like to thank Grandpa Albert Liddle, a Literature Professor at Antioch College who made Shakespeare and Chaucer live for me. He had issues of The New Yorker back to that magazine's inception and he encouraged me to read the great writing inside and to never be afraid to ask questions of my teachers.
My Mom who read constantly and haunted the local library, and who wrote for the local newspaper and for letting me read whatever I wanted.
My Dad who read his childhood books aloud to me, gritty true stories like Tales of an Indian Boyhood, and realistic historical adventures like Claws of the Thunderbird.
4th Grade teacher, Mrs. Keyho, who put on a play that I'd written in the school auditorium where it was viewed by the other 4th grade classes--even if it was a shameless piece of Bambi fanfic.
Childhood friends from school, Elsa and Gay, and from summer camp, Christine and Liz, who got excited about the historical characters over whom I so endlessly obsessed and who shared my love for history, theater and costumes.
Historical novelists like Margaret Irwin and Margaret Campbell Barnes who shaped my initial ideas about what kind of stories I wanted to tell. And Jane Austen for being the perfect fore-mother for authors who desperately want to reproduce period voice.
Nolan Miller, Creative Writing Professor at Antioch, who, unimpressed with my freshman efforts, told me to "go out and get some life experience."
Chris, my husband, who thought we could get by even if I gave up office 9-5 and became a full time writer.
RWA Critique star, Kay Cochran, a brilliant writer and English teacher who used her red pencil and sharp eye on my very earliest stuff.
Kathy Fisher-Brown, fellow BWL author and fellow Revolutionary War buff, for her editing skills, as well as her all-around writer-to-writer companionship. May we tour many, many more battlefields and historic houses together!
I'm thankful for Libraries, both public and university--in every place I've lived--and now for being able to conduct research on the Internet. You can find out almost anything these days, if you'll just keep your critical facilities engaged and go on indefatigably drilling down.
Jude Pittman, for her initiative, energy, and integrity, and for Books We Love's continuing faith in my work. She and her husband, my writing partner, John Wisdomkeeper, have made our joint work on Fly Away Snow Goose, a valued experience which has grown me in many many ways.
And last but not least, I'd like to thank the voices in my head, those imaginary friends who've been my companions through good times and bad--some of them for more than sixty years. Thanks for sharing your stories!
http://amzn.to/1YQziX0 A Master Passion ISBN: 1771456744
~~Juliet Waldron
View all my historical novels and all available booksellers at:
Well said, Juliet. What a great post.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, thank you, my dear friend for the gratitude. I definitely missed our yearly jaunt into the past this year. Hopefully we'll ride the magic carpet again, body willing.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I feel such a close connection to Grandpa Liddle and can imagine him, tweed and all, introducing you to great writing and thinking.