by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Sep 19, 2022 | Family, History, Memories
I remember Great Grandma Jane–my dad’s grandmother. She scared me stiff! She always seemed so serious–perhaps a little grim even. I suppose if you live into your 90s after losing all seven of your siblings, two husbands, and four children (with just...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | May 2, 2022 | Family, History, Memories, Research, Writing
I get so much of my inspiration from family history. I’m currently brainstorming a story set in the early 1900s–a little further back in time than I usually write. Arthur is one of eight children who’s essentially given away because his family is...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Mar 14, 2022 | Appalachian, History, West Virginia, Writing
How do you write a satisfying story about a real event that simply does NOT have a happy ending? That’s what I tackled when I decided to write The Finder of Forgotten Things around the Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster. I’ve long been haunted by tunnel...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Oct 14, 2021 | Appalachian, History
Appalachia has a unique and, I think, incredibly special way of speaking. It hearkens back to Elizabethan England with a solid Scottish underpinning and even a dash of Chaucer now and again. I don’t use TOO much dialect in my stories since it can bog readers...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Aug 5, 2021 | Family, History, West Virginia
One of the fun bonuses of writing Appalachian fiction set in my home state and inspired by my own family (seven generations worth of Mountaineers!) is connecting with a world of cousins who have discovered me through my stories. Lately, I’ve been hanging out on...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Jul 8, 2021 | History, West Virginia
I’ll confess that the first time I discovered Chimney Corner, it was because I wanted to avoid driving over the New River Gorge Bridge. I tell ya, I was fine with that bridge until I went to the overlook and stood BELOW the bridge and yet ABOVE the river far,...
