Welcome to Linda's Literary Lair.

  Yesterday, I was meditating about my books - what I'm going to do this year, what my goals are, what I want for my writing.   I heard...

 In order to celebrate history recognizing the influence of Black Americans, I want to share this list of 150 Black-owned businesses in Nort...

  Many years ago, I had a nightmare about the Napoleonic Wars (if you have ever studied the Napoleonic Wars, you will understand. They were ...

This year marks the 8th anniversary of the first printing of my first book, Dracula's Secret! As a result, I'm revisiting some e...

Ali Misinformation about Islam, Islamic countries, and the history of the Middle East runs like a river of sewage through modern life. I...

Flowers on the mound.  I've been putting off my blogging. I was going to get "serious" and write about my writing process....

I love Nike of Samothrace. Even with no head and no arms, she is the very image of a powerful woman. In postcards and pictures on the Intern...

Every writer, pro or amateur, likes to play with ideas. Writing exercises such as writing to a timer, journaling, or engaging in microdescr...

There seems to be a stereotype that writers can only work in one genre for one audience, forever. We are amazed when a mystery writer attemp...

Over the holiday weekend (and I hoped yours rocked, too), I got sidetracked by some research. I was figuring out how modern Berlin differed ...

Amsterdam has some of the world's most intriguing architecture. Most of what we saw dated from the 17th Century, during the Netherland...

Remember how I said that the sources for Vlad Dracula really really suck? Other people think so, too. "Vlad Dracula was doubtle...

For those who aren't familiar with the romance genre, a little back story. Here's part of what Wikipedia says about Ms. Crusie: ...

Mostly, I'm posting my old poetry because I'm too busy revising Dracula's Secret to come up with anything new for this blog. Eme...

A new blog, Contestations: Dialogues on Women's Empowerment , has a fabulous first issue about feminism and Islam. Rock on!! Also dealin...

Even the most cursory look at the secondary and tertiary sources on Vlad Dracula shows a stunning (or tedious, depending on your personality...

Now you have your sources, primary and otherwise, all laid out. Now what? What criteria do you use to select which ones you wish to consult?...

Before I get on the promised topic of why I wanted to write about Dracula, I want to discuss how historical research gets done. Historical ...

History gives contexts for contemporary problems. How can we hope to overcome hatred and violence without knowing where that anger came from...