by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Mar 28, 2022 | Appalachian, Hiking, Nature, Writing
My favorite way to brainstorm a new story is wearing a pair of hiking shoes on a mountain trail with my dog snuffling through the leaves. I get the BEST ideas! Since our move a little north and east in our section of the Appalachian Mountains, we’ve been getting...
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 | Jan 31, 2022 | books, Research, Writing
So many readers loved little Emmaline in When Silence Sings. She’s the child Serepta McLean unexpectedly takes in after her family is killed in a crash. I introduced Emmaline in part because Serepta needed some hint of softness–something that would help...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Nov 16, 2021 | books, Friends, Reading, Writing
My husband loves my new book. He might have even cried a little at the end. Which is pretty much all the praise I need for this story! And yet . . . I’m deeply grateful to everyone who’s taken the time to read early copies. And more than a little proud of...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Sep 16, 2021 | Family, Memories, Writing
Does anyone write actual letters anymore? I mean the newsy, chatty, keeping-up-with-people-we-love kinds of letters. One of my greatest treasures is a collection of letters from my grandmother. She was from a generation that hadn’t given up paper and pen for the...
