I’m researching San Francisco in 1919 and came across this great art! The hats! The hair! The skirts! The tails! Makes me want to cut a rug. How about you? Source: San Francisco Chronicle, 23 November 1919.  

My June newsletter is coming out next Tuesday. If you would like to receive it in your very own email box, just sign up on my website. My newsletter contains info about what I’ve written & what I’m writing and where I’m going to be & what I’m doing as Ana Brazil Author. AND it… Read More

I downloaded IN FARLEIGH FIELD to my Kindle a while back and just started reading it today. I know, I know, it’s an award winner, it’s highly recommended, but still, there are so many great historical novels out there to read. And I must admit that I try to read historicals “in my era”, that… Read More

You can read Kate Chopin’s 1899 novel THE AWAKENING for free. At many places. Including your public library, of course. Just to make it easy for you, here’s where you can find THE AWAKENING on Project Gutenberg. ENJOY!  

I’m very pleased to announce that my historic short story “Kate Chopin Tussles with a Novel Ending” has been published in Fault Lines: Stories by Northern California Crime Writers. This stunning anthology includes “19 short stories that explore crime, guilt, and justice in our earthquake-prone region and beyond.” My “Kate Chopin Tussles with a Novel… Read More

Ever wanted to write a short story about New Orleans mischief and mayhem circa 1889 Christmas? Here are a few killer ideas to get your story started! HINT…these ideas might be used for any locale in any era.

A working writer of any kind (technical, marketing, short story, historian, etc.) can’t “wait for inspiration to strike”. Nope, if you’re a working writer, you’ve got to choose your story, sit your butt down in a chair, open up the computer, and get to work. For all of that hard work, your first draft will… Read More

I’m a guest blogger on Suzanne Adair’s Relevant History blog this week. Enjoy my Sanborn Fire Insurance Map post and enter my contest to win a 13 oz. can of New Orleans’ Cafe du Monde’s French Roast Coffee and a Kindle ebook copy of Fanny Newcomb and the Irish Channel Ripper. To enter, just comment… Read More

Since Fanny Newcomb is set in Gilded Age New Orleans, I want to start with a short word association game. When I say “New Orleans”, I’m guessing that you’ll say “Mardi Gras parades! Streetcars! Beignets! Hurricanes! The French Quarter! Jazz!” And when I say “Gilded Age New Orleans”, I’m guessing that you’ll ask “What’s the… Read More

Although late 19th century New Orleans was renowned for the hookers of Storyville, the devastating hurricanes of the 1880s, and the elevation of Mardi Gras to a state holiday, there’s so much more to know about the Crescent City during this time! For starters, there was an assassination that was followed by lynchings (1890), an… Read More