Coal Dust Rivers

Floods and grit.

Floods and grit. That’s what we have so far in looking over These Restless Hills. But what of it? What is the story? Beyond a catastrophically damaged lead character, what do we know of the…

On Grit

So the first thing one encounters, truly, when you enter the story of These Restless Hills is, at the beginning, middle, and end.  I wanted the reader to smell the coal, taste the coal dust and the…

Your Mileage May Vary

So over the past few entries, we explored the intertwinement of theme and setting, using the writing of an essay as a nuts-and-bolts exercise to see how those explorations might occur. It is not to…

The Language of Ghosts

The sign here at Wehrum reads: Notice of Wehrum’s closing was posted unexpectedly in May, 1929. The houses were sold for lumber and the mine buildings were sold for scrap. Mining supported many families, and…

What, then, can the ghosts tell us? Just a bit.

So with that last entry, we had a look at number of things. The primary aspect I attempted to imbue was the setting’s intertwinement with history itself. Of course, it would have been a far…

A Brief Digression to a Town Called Wehrum

Let’s continue just briefly with the ideas of the renaming of the blog, as it might be illustrative of the type of scene and context that creates the creative impulse. It imbues with imagery, empowers…

Coal Dust Rivers

Taking a break from the historiography of my own writing with this blog entry, to note my more formal titling of it from “blog” to Coal Dust Rivers. I may use that title elsewhere too,…

Change is continuity

In Johnstown Waters, I came to learn about the many other ways in which water shaped Johnstown. The most prominent and popular example of that shaping is that which everyone already knows: the 1889 flood.…

Where did you get the idea to do this?

This is a good moment to consider the transition from Johnstown Industry to Johnstown Waters. Which is another way of asking a question I frequently encounter: “where did you get the idea to do this?”…

Focus on Theme: What is it about my hometown?

I would suggest — what is it about your hometown?  I’ve three books published involving Johnstown.  A few years back, I thought it was just going to be one, the Johnstown Industry work.  That was what I…

Inspiration and Execution

So we last spoke about photographs, and my relish of the amateur experience.  You can draw your own conclusions about that; read my books! 🙂 And if you want advice about setting up the best…

How to Take Pictures

And it’s not what you think. Both of the history works to date have had a significant number of pictures in them.  Some of these have been archival from numerous public sources and some have been…