tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55437657268299004062011-09-14T09:39:07.600-04:00A little fun with history!Karen Miller McConnellnoreply@blogger.comBlogger121100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543765726829900406.post-42922216582646093932011-09-14T09:37:00.003-04:002011-09-14T09:39:07.625-04:00

My bout with fall fever took me to the mountains of SC in search of some fall color. We visited Table Rock, Pickens and surrounding areas. The Sumac and Sweet Gum were beginning to turn. I don't think it cured me, in fact it may have advanced my illness.

Karen Miller McConnellnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543765726829900406.post-88921638206515040982011-08-25T17:11:00.001-04:002011-08-25T17:14:36.057-04:00

Photos from NC mountains 2010.

Karen Miller McConnellnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543765726829900406.post-79709079758383146992011-03-24T14:54:00.000-04:002011-03-24T14:54:48.422-04:00

I have just returned from a trip to central Virginia to visit battlegrounds where my characters fought. These sites where so many were wounded and died; and where history was made are just places. I'm not sure what I expected, but normal places was not it! Spotsylvania is just a valley where it would be easy to move a lot of men and equipment through; Bennet's Place at Appomatox was just a house

Karen Miller McConnellnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543765726829900406.post-88155635174880817152011-02-23T12:38:00.000-05:002011-02-23T12:38:49.223-05:00

It is amazing to me how dependant I have become on my computer. When it crashed last week, I was completely lost! Of course, I had no recent backups of my research, writing or photography. Without those a part of my life was missing. I felt unstable, paniced and ungrounded until I knew my data was safe. Just to think I grew up without computers, everything was written or typed by hand. File

Karen Miller McConnellnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543765726829900406.post-47609902756347398232010-12-01T15:48:00.000-05:002010-12-01T15:48:45.455-05:00

I'm reading journals about life in the south during the Civil War. Did you know that more soldiers died of disease than battle wounds?  One of the men I researched died of measles before ever seeing the battlefield; one was taken prisoner after the end of the war, marched to Ohio and died in a prison camp of diarreah. The final soldier saw action in many of the major battles of the war only to

Karen Miller McConnellnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543765726829900406.post-21061755035289647502010-11-03T14:30:00.000-04:002010-11-03T14:30:43.518-04:00

Since the story I'm telling is based on fact I must do research to develop the personalities of my characters. Their lives will affect how they react and what they do. So I'm doing research into life in Salisbury during the Civil War, consumption, measles, battles, the bread riot, New York in the 1770's, the gangs of NY and many other consuming topics. I'm getting to know my characters more and

Karen Miller McConnellnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543765726829900406.post-44845888230594872882010-11-03T14:26:00.000-04:002010-11-03T14:26:03.325-04:00

I've been searching for clues as to how the scenes for the story had looked back in 1875. I've visited as many of the sites as possible and taken pictures. Here are a few of my background shots. They are the China Grove Train Depot, house where William Meismer and Sarah may have lived, St. Paul's Lutheran Church, the site of the dam and mill creek owned by the Heilig's, and Sarah Heilig's

Karen Miller McConnellnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543765726829900406.post-90033402261119857942010-06-30T10:47:00.000-04:002010-06-30T10:47:03.798-04:00

It's so hard to stop doing research and start writing. That is a major problem for me; so I have begun writting and am still researching as well. Which has really paid off since I've unearthed some major new information which will certainly find its way into the story. My husband and I are heading off to the mountains for a few days. He will be attending a Fiat event and I plan to spend the

Karen Miller McConnellnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543765726829900406.post-7009713132811743702010-01-29T10:35:00.000-05:002010-01-29T10:35:14.236-05:00

"When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it." -- A.A. Milne, from The House at Pooh Corner.  And so it is with writing, quite often I am a Bear of Very Little Brain.

Karen Miller McConnellnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543765726829900406.post-4359866327608207682010-01-20T15:05:00.000-05:002010-01-20T15:05:52.629-05:00

I have begun to record the search for the story of the woman in the well. I am surprised at the amount of primary source material I was able to find. So I am writing about my search, my interpretation of the facts, and what may have really happened. One thing that makes this endeavor so much fun is that I'm living right where the events took place. So I don't have to imagine what Sarah saw or

Karen Miller McConnellnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543765726829900406.post-45096289193562975932009-08-08T10:18:00.002-04:002009-08-08T10:25:36.013-04:00

The latest project I am working on is the murder of Sarah Heilig that took place on our property. She was bludgeoned to death in 1875 by her son-in-law and her body was thrown down the well. I grew up knowing a murder had taken place on my grandfather's farm but didn't know any facts. Since moving into the house on the farm 10 years ago I have been searching for more information on the murder.

Karen Miller McConnellnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5543765726829900406.post-33346394315311556752007-01-16T13:30:00.000-05:002007-01-18T15:24:28.135-05:00

The Bernhardt/Miller house was built circa 1845 by Michael George Heilig. JC Bernhardt purchased the house in 1886. Karen is the great granddaughter of JC Bernhardt. Karen's grandfather and mother were raised in the home. The home was restored to its present condition in 1998.

Karen Miller McConnellnoreply@blogger.com0