The tenth story in my new book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories, is about a dog and the woman who befriends him. I have loved dogs all my life, so I wanted to include a dog in at least one of the stories in my book. I thought about the noble Plott Hound – the State Dog of North Carolina.

I see you’re scratching your head over the topic of my blog post today. I don’t blame you. Unless you are a graduate of Dartmouth, a resident of New Hampshire, or an expert on contract law, you’ve probably never heard of this U.S. Supreme Court case. I was tempted to just brush it off and blog about a story in my new book, …

With a possible major ice storm predicted here on January 24 and 25, and the accompanying possibility of power outages stretching into the week of January 26, I am scheduling this blog post on Thursday, January 22, to be published on January 27. Our power lines are not underground here, so ice storms wreak havoc with our electricity. This post is about the ninth story in my historical fiction book, …

I don’t know if the Pledge of Allegiance is still recited in public school classrooms like it was in the 1950s and 1960s. Photo by Cris Constantin on Unsplash I will be 73 years old this week, and I remember standing beside my desk in elementary school, facing the American flag that hung from a wooden dowel at an angle from the wall of the classroom, putting my right hand over my heart, and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

I write this on Sunday afternoon during an ice storm. The worst of the storm is predicting over the next hours, but I will try to get this blog post written and posted before the power goes off. The events of this weekend in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and my government's official response to it/explanation of it compel me to speak out.

As I write this on the night of January 20, 2026, Trump is on his way to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. (In fact, news came in as I wrote this that Air Force One had been turned around due to an electrical problem. Trump will be moved to a back-up plane.) This gathering includes many NATO countries – the very NATO countries he threatened with tariffs this week.

I haven’t blogged since last Monday because my computer monitor died on Tuesday. I couldn’t get a new one installed until over the weekend. As a blogger and writer, I was like a fish out of water while I didn’t have a computer. I’m “old school.” There’s only so much I can do on my cell phone and tablet. The up-side of that situation was that I used my newfound free time to do some decluttering.

Last week, four reporters from the New York Times interviewed Trump in the Oval Office. One question and Trump’s answer to it have overshadowed the rest of the interview. In fact, knowing his answer to this question means we don’t need to know his answers to any of the other questions. A reporter asked Trump, if there were any checks, any limits on his power on the world stage.

I was tempted to blog about this yesterday, but I thought it best not to have a knee jerk reaction. I thought I should wait twenty-four hours after the shooting in Minneapolis before I put my thoughts in writing. I hoped someone in the Trump Administration would step forth and speak with restraint and a modicum of wisdom. I did not expect it, so I was not surprised when Wednesday’s lies, accusations, and name calling continued for a second day.

Once-a-week since November 25, 2025, I have blogged about a different story in my new book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories. Today’s post is about the seventh story in the book in which my great-great-great-great-grandfather, John Calvin McElwee, tells his granddaughter (my great-great-grandmother) about his experience the day that the Revolutionary War came to his family’s doorstep.

Five years ago today, Trump and his MAGA followers attempted a coup in Washington, DC. To call it anything else would not serve the truth or history. The White House website tells a much different story of that day. It is a narrative that Trump and his minions have espoused since that day. No matter what you do, as long as Donald Trump is in the White House, do not believe one word that is on WhiteHouse.gov.

Last week I wrote a blog post for today. As a result of what Trump did on Saturday, though, it no longer seemed appropriate to use it. I’ll save it for another day, because it is about one of the stories in my new book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories. I have mentioned or alluded to Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro before.

When I think back over 2025, the Thomas Paine quote that immediately comes to mind is, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” It is said that every generation thinks they are living in the worst of times – the most challenging times – of any previous generation. If you’ve been reading my blog all year, you know I am not at all happy with the state of things in the United States.

Once-a-week, since November 25, I have blogged about a different story from my new book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories. The sixth story in the book is “Whom Can We Trust? A Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence Short Story.” Tradition tells us that Archibald and Maggie Sellers McCurdy built their log cabin in what is now Cabarrus County, North Carolina, in 1773.

Since November 25, I’ve blogged once-a-week about one of the stories in my new book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories. The fifth story in the book is “From Scotland to America: A 1762 Immigration Story.” Somewhere on the Kintyre Peninsula of Scotland. Photo by Andrew Hall on Unsplash. (Andrew, we might be cousins!) I know baptismal dates and marriage dates for my ancestors in Campbeltown and Southend, Scotland, but I don’t know when the three brothers set sail to America.

There was a tragedy in Los Angeles last weekend. It was followed hours later by a tragic expression of hate on Truth Social. I struggled over whether to blog about this. I concluded that if I remained silent, I was complicit. I concluded that if I did not speak out, I was giving the President of the United States permission to continue to demonstrate his lack of humanity.

The fourth story in my new book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories, is “Making the Best of a Tragedy: Elizabeth Steele’s Story.” I learned of Elizabeth Steele (sometimes spelled Steel) a few years ago while doing research for the writing of my historical novels. What a fascinating woman! I must choose my words carefully, because I don’t want to ruin the short story for you.

Today is Bill of Rights Day in the United States. The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights. Those amendments were ratified on December 15, 1791, when nine of the 13 states in the union at that time voted for their adoption. The U.S. Constitution is a living, breathing document. Even when it was written, many people knew it was inadequate for the new nation because it gave the national government too much power and gave individual citizens and states too little power.

Yesterday, I primarily blogged ( about the Western Hemisphere portion of the Trump Administration’s National Security Strategy which was released last Friday, although it bears a November 2025 date. It was quietly released and posted on the White House website: I encourage you to read the document and draw your own conclusions. Yours might not align with mine.

What we have here in the United States is obviously a Wizard of Oz situation. The White House quietly released the November 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS) and posted it on the White House website. Since it is the announcement of the official U.S. foreign policy, there is usually a bit of fanfare with its release, but not this year.

The advisory committee on vaccinations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were hand-picked by notorious vaccine-denier Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He just happens to be Trump’s pick for U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. He received the blessings of and confirmation by the U.S. Senate to serve in that capacity.

The fictional character I'm introducing to you today is George. He is a slave in South Carolina in the mid-1700s in the third story in Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories, "To Run of Not to Run." When you meet George, he is a young boy. He and his father, who was born in Senegal, have just been sold and are being taken from Camden to the Waxhaws.

The United States of America used to be a nation of laws, or am I naïve? I did not plan to blog today, but something came to my attention that I can’t let slide. Amnesty International has issued a 48-page report. I thought it was going to be a report on the organization’s findings throughout the world but, no, it is a report on detention facilities in the State of Florida.

Francisco Bravo Cabrera graciously featured me and my new book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories on his e-zine in Spain (LatinosUSA (English Edition/Masticadores) this morning at 8:00 a.m. Madrid Time! Francisco Bravo Cabrera is a bit of a Renaissance man. He is an artist, a poet, a writer, and a musician. He is based in Valencia, Spain, but has also lived in Miami, Florida.

Today I am introducing you to the main character in “You Couldn’t Help But Like Bob,” the second story in my new book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories. Genealogy has been a hobby of mine since I was a young adult. Robert Dooling is the most colorful of my ancestors that I have found so far.