Abigail is...
...incurably curious
A professor, trainer, consultant, editor and multi-award winning author published in both fiction and nonfiction,
Abigail's low boredom threshold explains her five university degrees and five professional careers.
Born in the beautiful Ozarks of Missouri, she now lives
in the beautiful Blue Ridge of Virginia, not far from the spot
where her intrepid Royalist ancestors first settled in the mid-1600s after fleeing Cornwall, England, upon the execution of King Charles I.
A long-standing habit of reading a book a day, 20 years of genealogy research and a lifelong fascination with history fueled her desire to write historical romance novels based on her own ancestors’ stories.
Books One-Four of the "Whitleigh" saga are now in print.
Coming soon: Book Five--The Lieutenant and the Spitfire
...creative
Creativity drives Abigail's love of writing, training, art
and many other hobbies and pursuits, including
paper-engineering and doll-making.
She has never known a creative person who wasn't creative in multiple ways. Actors paint portraits, poets design jewelry, writers draw caricatures, artists compose music, pianists invent gadgets...
and so on.
Creativity is not merely an impulse; it's a drive.
We can't NOT create. Just ask any creative person.
...easily amused
Sign: Slippery when wet.
Motto: If it ain’t broke, break it.
Philosophy: Fairy tales deserve sequels.
Belief: Happy endings are intentional.
Image caption:
Abigail demonstrates the proper use of an iron.
(Asheville, NC)
Did you know...
Abigail's PhD dissertation measured intuition.
She developed and validated an instrument to amswer the question: "How intuitive am I?"
Everyone told her it couldn't be done. (SPOILER ALERT: It could.)
In fact, she established a strong correlation
between intuition and creativity, along with 14 other factors.
UH-HUH...
Reader's Challenge...
Read only ONE of these books.
The story in each book is complete, though each connect with the others in the ongoing saga.
I have several male readers in their 80's. Last week, one of them read Book Four
and then ordered copies of the previous three books in the series!
Resist the impulse to read through the night.
A comment I hear quite often: "D--n you! You kept me up, reading all night!"
I write the stories I love to read, with hooks, quirks of phrase, plot twists and witty banter.
Good to hear others enjoy reading these books as much as I enjoy writing them.
Don't laugh, cry or fall in love with these characters.
Though my stories are set in the mid-1600s in England, the English Civil War era,
readers tell me that my characters and their dilemmas are very relatable.
"Yearning for what is fondly remembered but can never be again.
Hoping for what may yet be someday.
Need. Greed. Fear. Hope. Joy. Love, of course. And all the rest.
These are real and pervasive among humans across the centuries."
(Excerpt from "Acknowledgments" --The Earl and the Bandit)
Wait patiently for Book Five in the series.
The "Whitleigh" saga is a pentalogy and I'm hard at work on Book Five--
The Lieutenant and the Spitfire. It will feature two characters from Book One
who have now grown up and are facing challenges of their own.
Their story will reunite all the main characters, bringing them all back together
to wrap up the saga. (For now...)
Book Three won five writing awards and those who have read Book Four are saying:
"It's the best one yet." So now the pressure is ON to make Book Five even better!
Anticipated completion by 2026.