THE WOMEN OF OAK RIDGE and A Guide to Oak Ridge, Tennessee

 

Have you ever wanted to visit the 

setting of a novel? 

If you're like me, when I read a book, more often than not, I come away with a strong desire to see the setting in person. It's so fun when readers let me know they've been inspired to visit the settings of my novels, which include Nashville, the Great Smoky Mountains, and Tullahoma, TN. 

My novel THE WOMEN OF OAK RIDGE is set in Oak Ridge, TN. Located 20 miles from Knoxville, Oak Ridge is a quaint town tucked in the beautiful hills of East Tennessee. I had a grand time researching the history of Oak Ridge for the novel, but I also thoroughly enjoyed spending time in what was once known as a "Secret City" during World War II. Why was it secret? Because Oak Ridge is where all the uranium for the Little Boy atomic bomb was enriched before being sent to Los Alamos, NM, where the bomb was assembled.

Many of the locations I used in the book are still there, although they look a bit different than they did in 1945 and 1979. I was also happy to indulge in some delicious food at a couple local restaurants, just like some of the characters do in the story!

Here's a guide to some of the must-see's I visited while writing THE WOMEN OF OAK RIDGE! 

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STOP #1: The American Museum of Science & Energy

The American Museum of Science and Energy is a science museum in Oak Ridge, TN, designed to teach visitors about energy, especially nuclear power, and to document the role Oak Ridge played in the Manhattan Project. LOTS of fascinating information and hands-on exhibits. The museum also offers Bus Tours. 

I was honored to be a guest speaker at the AMSE Nuclear Science week in October 2025.  

 

STOP #2: The Guest House

The Guest House provided a comfortable resting place for official visitors to Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project. Well known figures including General Leslie Groves, physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Secretary of War Henry Stimson spent many nights socializing and resting in the Guest House. After the war, it was used as a motor inn. Today the historic building is a Senior Living Community. 

Front porch of the Guest House

Chapel on the Hill

STOP #3: Chapel on the Hill

Completed in October 1943, this standard military chapel was one of three military chapels constructed at Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project. A Baptist minister named it “Chapel on a Hill” during a dedication prayer on September 30, 1943. In THE WOMEN OF OAK RIDGE, Mae attends church and a wedding at this chapel, located up the hill from the dormitories. 

STOP #4: The Tennis Courts

Tennis courts were used for more than just tennis during the war. Being one of the few places in town that was paved, tennis courts were ideal for dancing on warm summer nights when recreation halls were too hot. Mae and her friends from the dorm enjoy dancing at the tennis courts in the book. The National Park services hold dances at the tennis courts during the warmer months. The last two dances this year will be on September 18 and October 23, 2025. I'll be in Oak Ridge on October 23 and plan to dance the night away!

A view of the tennis courts from in front
of the Guest House

STOP #5: Jackson Square

Jackson Square lies at the center of the historic district, which once served as the city’s original town site. During World War II, this area was open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Today Jackson Square features a variety of eclectic shops, delicious restaurants, lush gardens, and historic displays.

 

STOP #6: The Swimming Pool

Prior to its construction in 1945, the site of the community swimming pool featured a small, spring-fed pond. In THE WOMEN OF OAK RIDGE, Mae and her roommate Sissy visit the pool and have their photograph taken by Ed Westcott, the only person allowed to take pictures of Oak Ridge during the war. The real photograph Mr. Westcott took of young women at the pool inspired my descriptions of Mae and Sissy. You can find it on the Pinterest Page I created for the book. 

STOP #6: K-25 Museum and Viewing Platform

Now we'll head out of town and go approx. 15 miles to the K-25 site. While the enormous building Mae worked in is no longer standing, visitors can see the giant "footprint" of it from the brand new viewing platform, right next to the K-25 History Center. It's astonishing to see just how big K-25 was! You don't want to miss this!

US Government photograph; public domain

A bike from K-25,
just like the one Mae rode!

Me and the K-25 "Footprint"

STOPS #7 & #8: It's Time to Eat!

While you're in Oak Ridge, you'll want to grab a slice of delicious pizza from Big Ed's. You'll also want to take a short drive to Clinton, TN, and treat yourself to something yummy from Hoskins Drugstore & Soda Fountain. Laurel and Jonas enjoyed dining at both of these restaurants in the book. 

At Hoskins Drugstore in Clinton, TN

For more information, stop by The Oak Ridge Convention & Visitor Bureau.  You can also take a Self-Guided Walking Tour. Maps are available.

I hope you've enjoyed this virtual trip to Oak Ridge. 

If you get a chance to go in person, have fun visiting the 

Secret City!

For more information on where to purchase your copy of 

THE WOMEN OF OAK RIDGE, a WWII - Manhattan Project story,

click HERE!!

Blessings,

Michelle

Frankie: The woman who inspired my all-time favorite character

When I began writing Under the Tulip Tree in the summer of 2018, I thought I knew where the story was headed. I'd discovered the slave narratives several years earlier while researching slavery in Texas for my plantation novels, so I was very familiar with the word-for-word first-person stories told to employees of the Federal Writers' Project by former slaves in 1936. My goal in writing Under the Tulip Tree was to capture the raw realness of the narratives by creating a character that would bring them to life for readers in the same way they'd come to life for me. The problem was, as I began writing Frankie's story, something was wrong. She was flat. A cardboard cutout of a woman who'd endured one of the most shameful practices known to man. I could have kept writing and hoped for the best, but ultimately I knew something major needed to change. I just didn't know what. 

Getting the character of Frankie right was vital. Not just for the sake of the story, but for the sake of the history behind the story. For the real people whom my characters would represent. The former slaves who shared their stories with strangers back in 1936 deserved my very best in 2018. To accomplish that, I needed to dig deeper. Deeper into Frankie, and deeper into myself.  

I returned to the narratives. While I prefer to read them in their unedited state, with the storytellers' own pronunciation and wording, the little research book I'd purchased about slavery in Tennessee is edited for clarity.  I picked it up, as I'd done dozens of times, and thumbed through the pages, wondering what I was missing in Frankie's story. Because it would be impossible for me to understand what life was like for a person kept in bondage, I relied heavily on the narratives themselves to guide me. 

After searching the pages without success,  I closed it, frustrated. I couldn't keep working on my book until I figured this out.

That's when my eyes fell on the woman gracing the cover of the research book. Of course I'd seen her picture many times before, but this was the first time I truly looked at it. What I saw was an elderly Black woman sitting on the porch of a simple dwelling, deep in thought. There are other details to notice--her braids, her ring, the hole in her blouse--but it was her hand in her lap that captured my attention. 

In the photo, it doesn't seem quite right. The knuckles look too big and there may be a finger or two missing.

"What happened to her hand?" I gasped.

That question---and the answer I eventually imagined---completely changed Under the Tulip Tree and Frankie's story. I won't give any spoilers, but for those of you who have read the book, you know what I mean. Frankie's story poured out from that picture. I did some investigating and discovered that the woman pictured was a sharecropper in Mississippi.  Her name, however, was unfortunately not recorded. 

(Note: I eventually found a second photograph taken from a different angle and it does appear that all her fingers are intact.) 

Cotton sharecropper. Library of Congress.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017770271/

For me, this precious woman has become Frankie. I hope one day I can hug her and tell her about Frankie and how her picture and her life changed me. 

I hope you'll choose to read Under the Tulip Tree and get to know Frankie and Rena. Click the link on the sidebar of the cover for purchase information or you can find the book wherever books are sold.

You can also read why I believe forgiveness is important, even in fiction, HERE.

Every blessing,

Michelle 

Why I Wrote UNDER THE TULIP TREE

Hello!

I continue to be immeasurably grateful so many new readers are discovering my historical novel

  UNDER THE TULIP TREE! 

Thank you! We're closing in on 20,000 ratings on Goodreads, and the book has been an Amazon #1 Bestseller in different categories off and on for several months now! 

Whoop!

While I fully understand there are readers who did not like the book--and that's okay!--many of you are curious as to why I chose to write about slavery. 

To answer that question, as well as many others, I made a video for a book club a few years ago that explains it all. I talk about discovering the Federal Writers Project Slave Narratives, the development of Frankie's character, and how my own background plays a role in my desire to celebrate diversity through my novels. 

Click the link and take a listen! 

WARNING: If you haven't read the novel yet, be aware that there are a few spoiler-ish comments, although I don't give away details of the story itself. 

If you haven't read the novel yet, here's some purchase information!

Blessings,

Michelle

Link to video: https://www.facebook.com/michelle.shocklee/videos/513184534313672

Publishers Weekly Review of THE WOMEN OF OAK RIDGE

 I'm always grateful when Publishers Weekly 

reviews one of my books! 

Not every secret needs to be told.

Some just need to be forgotten.

In the hills of Tennessee, two women work at a Manhattan Project site during World War II and uncover truths that irrevocably change their lives in this captivating new story from award-winning Southern fiction author Michelle Shocklee.

1944. Maebelle Willett arrives in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, eager to begin her new government job and send money home to her impoverished family. She knows little about the work she will be doing, but she’s told it will help America win the war. Not all is what it seems, however. Though Oak Ridge employees are forbidden from discussing their jobs, Mae’s roommate begins sharing disturbing information, then disappears without a trace. Mae desperately attempts to find her but instead comes face-to-face with a life-altering revelation—one that comes at significant cost.

1979. Laurel Willett is a graduate student in Boston when she learns about the history of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where thousands unknowingly worked on the atomic bomb. Intrigued because she knows her Aunt Mae was employed there, Laurel decides to spend the summer with her aunt, hoping to add a family connection to her thesis research. But Mae adamantly refuses to talk about her time in the Secret City. Mae’s friends, however, offer to share their experiences, propelling Laurel on her path to uncovering the truth about a missing woman. As Laurel works to put the pieces together, the hidden pain and guilt Mae has tried so hard to bury comes to light . . . with potentially disastrous consequences.

• Standalone Southern historical fiction great for fans of Lisa Wingate, Donna Everhart, and Lynn Austin
• A compelling dual-timeline novel set during WWII and the 1970s about the weight of secrets and the power of forgiveness
• Includes discussion questions for book groups
• RELEASES September 9, 2025

To PREORDER, click HERE!

To read the full PW review, click HERE!

COVER REVEAL & GIVEAWAY!

 Hello, all!

I'm thrilled to share the title and cover of my upcoming 2025 release with you! 

Here she is!

Isn't she gorgeous?! I'm positively in love with the details of this cover, because it gives readers a wonderful glimpse into the story. I wasn't sure how the designer would incorporate all the fascinating historical details that make up the setting of Oak Ridge in 1944, but she surpassed my expectations! The factory you see behind Mae, the main character in the World War II story, is taken from a photograph of one of the plants that enriched uranium for the atomic bomb! 

Here's a summary of the story:

“Not every secret needs to be told. Some just need to be forgotten.”


1944. Maebelle Willett arrives in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, eager to begin her new government job and send money home to her impoverished family. She knows little about the work she will be doing, but she’s told it will help America win the war. Not all is what it seems, however. Though Oak Ridge employees are forbidden from discussing their jobs, Mae’s roommate begins sharing disturbing information, then disappears without a trace. Mae desperately attempts to find her but instead comes face-to-face with a life-altering revelation—one that comes at significant cost.

1979. Laurel Willett is a graduate student in Boston when she learns about the history of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where thousands unknowingly worked on the atomic bomb. Intrigued because she knows her Aunt Mae was employed there, Laurel decides to spend the summer with her aunt, hoping to add a family connection to her thesis research. But Mae adamantly refuses to talk about her time in the secret city. Mae’s friends, however, offer to share their experiences, propelling Laurel on her path to uncovering the truth about a missing woman. As Laurel works to put the pieces together, the hidden pain and guilt Mae has tried so hard to bury comes to light . . . with potentially disastrous consequences.

I had a grand time researching the history of Oak Ridge, known as a "Secret City" during World War II.  I'll share more about the fascinating history that went into the book in the coming months. 

PREORDER is available now!

The book will release in September 2025! 

STAY TUNED to my social media pages and this BLOG for updates!

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IT'S A GIVEAWAY!!

UPDATE:

The giveaway has ended. I've notified the winner, Emily P., via Instagram message.

THANK YOU for helping me celebrate the cover reveal, everyone!

To celebrate the Cover & Title reveal of THE WOMEN OF OAK RIDGE, I'm giving away ONE copy of an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of the book as soon as they're available. To participate in the drawing, you'll need to do a few things: 

• TO RECEIVE TWO ENTRIES: I want to grow my Instagram account. To receive TWO entries for the giveaway, please:
• 1) "FOLLOW" my page 
• 2) "LIKE" the post with the cover of THE WOMEN OF OAK RIDGE 
• 3) TAG a friend in the comments

•  TO RECEIVE ONE ENTRY: go to my Author Michelle Shocklee Facebook page and please: 
• "FOLLOW" my page 
• TAG a friend in the comments on the post with the cover of THE WOMEN OF OAK RIDGE. 

• TO RECEIVE ONE ENTRY: Leave a comment on this BLOG POST and tell me the first thing that comes to your mind when I say "Oak Ridge, Tennessee." (If this is your only entry, please include a way for me to contact you.)

That's a total of up to FOUR entries available for each person!  

The GIVEAWAY ends Saturday, March 15, 2025 at 6:00 PM CST.

USA only. Winner will be notified through Instagram or Facebook. 

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THANK YOU 

for helping me celebrate a new book! 

I can hardly wait to share this story 

with you!

                       ~Michelle

Why Forgiveness is Important, Even in Fiction

 

Forgiveness is a major theme in my novel, Under the Tulip Tree. I appreciate the way Publishers Weekly put it in their review of the book: the grace of forgiveness. 

Forgiveness isn't an easy subject to write about, mainly because the act of forgiving isn't always easy. It's especially hard when the person who needs forgiveness extended to them has done the unspeakable to you or to someone you love. 

Such is the case with the character of Frankie in Under the Tulip Tree. In the book, she is a 101-year old woman who was enslaved before the Civil War. It's now 1936 and she's been asked to tell her story--the only story she has to tell-- to a young White woman who works for the Federal Writers' Project, a real government program that sent out-of-work writers across 17 states to collect first-hand stories from former slaves. Those stories--more than 2,300 of them plus over 500 photographs--are now archived in the Library of Congress in Washington DC. 

In my research for the book, I read well over one hundred narratives (and listened to a handful of unforgettable recordings), captured by the raw honesty of the stories these former slaves told. It was that kind of honesty I hoped to portray through the character of Frankie. One of the things that struck me as I read through the first-hand accounts of life in bondage was the lack of wallowing in the pain. They simply told their life's story, with poignant details that left me brokenhearted. 

So, as I set out to write the book, one question demanded an answer.

Was it possible for a former slave to truly forgive the people who'd abused them?

I point you to Frederick Douglass, a former slave who escaped slavery and became one of the most famous authors and voices in the anti-slavery movement. His writings are fascinating and eye-opening, and they make me wish I could have heard him give one of his many passion-filled speeches. 

Yet despite Frederick Douglass's vehement words against slavery, he did an astonishing thing.

He forgave. 

"How can I claim to love Jesus Christ and still reserve for myself the right to continue to hate?" he told a crowd at the Metropolitan AME Zion Church in Washington DC. At the time, he was speaking of his hatred for Thomas Jefferson, whose words about freedom in the Declaration of Independence rang false to him. But his forgiveness didn't end with Jefferson. In his later years, Douglass sought out Thomas Auld, his former owner, and forgave him for the mistreatment he'd endured during his time of bondage. "I entertain no malice toward you personally,” Douglass wrote in a letter to Auld some years before their meeting. “There is no roof under which you would be more safe than mine, and there is nothing in my house which you might need for your comfort, which I would not readily grant…I am your fellow-man, but not your slave.” 

As I studied Douglass's life and words, I wondered how many of the millions of slaves came to the same place of forgiveness as he did. The person who'd endured slavery until the very moment it was abolished. Who'd had unspeakable things done to them by another human being, simply because their skin color was different. Were they ever able to forgive their former masters and those who'd abused them?

There is no possible way for me to fully appreciate or understand what it meant to live in bondage. To grasp how utterly helpless enslaved people were against the legal ownership of a human being. To watch their children and loved ones brutally abused, sold away, and used in the most heinous ways. In writing Frankie's story, I in no way cast any judgment on an individual who might have taken their hatred to the grave with them. The truth is, I wouldn't blame them one bit.

Yet forgiveness must play a role in the story, because forgiveness is part of the human story. The story between God and man. Forgiveness isn't something any of us deserve, yet it was granted to us freely when Jesus went to the cross, carrying every sin known to man. All my sins were forgiven before I was ever born. Yours too. Forgiveness isn't something we can ever earn. It has to be freely given by the one who's been wronged, no matter if the person who wronged you ever admits it or seeks forgiveness.

Frankie's journey to forgiveness is inspired by Frederick Douglass and others who chose not to let hatred consume them, despite being completely justified in that hatred. Her journey isn't an easy one. It's filled with pain, anger, resentment, and struggle against what we know God is asking us to do. But it's a journey that must be taken by each and every one of us at some point in our lives. The circumstances that lead us on this journey will be different from one person to the next, but the peace and freedom our souls long for won't come until we set our minds on forgiveness.

If you'd like to read Frankie's story in Under the Tulip Tree, visit my website for purchase options or click the book's cover on the right of this page.

For further reading about people who forgave, visit:

• Forgiveness Forty-Eight Years After John Lewis Was Attacked (article)

• Cousins: Connected through slavery, a Black woman and a White woman discover their past—and each other (book)

• A father forgives his son's murderer (article)

A few years ago we were in Rochester, New York, and had the honor of visiting Frederick Douglass's grave. 

Every blessing,

~Michelle

COVER AND TITLE REVEAL!

Drumroll, please!

I'm thrilled to reveal the COVER and TITLE of my next historical split-time novel!

Isn't she gorgeous?!

Much thanks to the fabulous design team at Tyndale House Publishers for this absolutely stunning cover! I can't wait to share this book with readers later this year, but for now, here's a little sneak peek at the storyline.

                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TULLAHOMA, TENNESSEE

1942
Ava must put her life back together after her husband is killed at Pearl Harbor. A job at Camp Forrest provides income, but it also puts her in contact with Enemy Aliens interned on the military installation. Can she trust the German medical student whose friendship means more to her than it should?

1969
Mattie ran away from the pain when her brother was killed in Vietnam. Now she’s back in Tullahoma facing another devastating loss. Yet it is the bundle of WWII letters Mama insists she reads that makes her question everything she thought she knew about herself.

PREORDER COMING SOON! 

STAY TUNED!!

RELEASES OCTOBER 1, 2024

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YOUR TURN: What is your favorite thing about the cover of ALL WE THOUGHT WE KNEW? Leave a comment on this blog post and I'll put your name in a drawing for a $10 Amazon gift card. Drawing closes March 2. US residents only, please.

3/2/24 UPDATE: Chelsie is the winner! I've notified her via email. THANK YOU, everyone, for your wonderfully encouraging comments about the cover, the title, and the story! I hope you enjoy Ava and Mattie's story when it releases October 1!

Be sure to check out my other titles! You can find them on the sidebar of this page, on my website, or at your favorite online bookseller!

Blessings,

Michelle

Appalachian Song Releases TODAY!

 

HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY TO 

Appalachian Song!!

Readers,

I am thrilled to finally get to share this story with you! The characters, setting, and history have quickly become some of my favorites, and I hope they'll become yours too.

The Walker Sisters
Photo taken by Jim Shelton in 1909.

The first time I visited the Walker Sisters cabin, deep in the Great Smoky Mountains near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, I knew I would write a book about them someday. I'm excited to tell you Appalachian Song is that book! While it is inspired by the real Walker Sisters' fascinating lives in the Appalachian mountains of Tennessee, the story follows the fictional Jenkins Sisters and the young girl who captures their hearts. 

Here's the back-of-the-book blurb:

Bertie Jenkins has spent forty years serving as a midwife for her community in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. Out of all the mothers she’s tended, none affects her more than the young teenager who shows up on her doorstep, injured, afraid, and expecting, one warm June day in 1943. As Bertie and her four sisters tenderly nurture Songbird back to health, the bond between the childless midwife and the motherless teen grows strong. But soon Songbird is forced to make a heartbreaking decision that will tear this little family apart.

Thirty years later, the day after his father’s funeral, Walker Wylie is stunned to learn he was adopted as an infant. The famous country singer enlists the help of adoption advocate Reese Chandler in the hopes of learning why he was abandoned by his birth parents. With the only clue he has in hand, Walker and Reese head deep into the Appalachian Mountains to track down Bertie Jenkins, the midwife who holds the secrets to Walker’s past.

Appalachian Song is available in hard cover, soft cover, eBook, 

and Audiobook. To snag your copy, go HERE!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

              ENTER MY GIVEAWAY!

My little red VW Bug
on the Walker Sisters' cabin
porch. One of the characters 
in Appalachian Song drives
a car just like this!

I'm giving away a FREE signed copy of Appalachian Song (or choice of one of my other books) to subscribers of my newsletter. I'd love to include your name in the drawing! If you aren't already a subscriber, just go to the top right corner of this page and fill in your email address and WA-LA! You're entered in the contest. I'll draw a winner on October 31. 

PS. If you aren't sure if you're a subscriber or not, check your email inbox. I sent out a newsletter today! 

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JOIN ME ON FACEBOOK 

FOR THE LAUNCH PARTY! 

I will celebrate the release of Appalachian Song with a Facebook Launch Party on Saturday, October 14, 2023 from 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM CST! Lots of fun and prizes, including books, Amazon gift cards, and 

bookish goodies. 

Just go to my Facebook Author Michelle Shocklee page and click the "Like" button so you'll be sure to get my updates in your Facebook feed. I will post reminders, but mark your calendars! You don't want to miss the party!

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Me at the Walker Sisters cabin site.
This is the springhouse John Walker built
in the 1870s. Bertie and her sisters
have one just like it that their 
Papa built!

THANK YOU, everyone, for celebrating with me! If you enjoy reading Appalachian Song, I would love it if you'd leave a review on Goodreads, Amazon, Bookbub, or on social media.

Book club folks, I would love to join you via Zoom or in person if you're local! Shoot me an email for details. 

Many blessings to you all,

~Michelle

Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt STOP #20

UPDATE! 

THE HUNT IS OFFICIALLY CLOSED.  THE WINNER OF A SIGNED COPY OF UNDER THE TULIP TREE WILL BE NOTIFIED VIA EMAIL.  

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED!

Welcome to the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! If you’ve just discovered the hunt, be sure to start at Stop #1, and collect the clues through all the stops, in order, so you can enter to win one of our top 5 grand prizes!

• The hunt BEGINS on 10/15 at noon MST with Stop #1 at LisaTawnBergren's site. 

• Hunt through our loop using Chrome or Firefox as your browser (not Explorer). 

• There is NO RUSH to complete the hunt—you have all weekend (until Sunday, 10/18 at midnight MST)! So take your time, reading the unique posts along the way; our hope is that you discover new authors/new books and learn new things about them. 

• Submit your entry for the grand prizes by collecting the CLUE on each author’s scavenger hunt post and submitting your answer in the Rafflecopter form at the final stop, back on Lisa’s site. Many authors are offering additional prizes along the way!

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I'm so glad you're here! I'm Michelle Shocklee, a fellow reader, but also a writer of historical fiction. As an admitted history nerd, I dearly love digging into the past through research and by visiting musty old buildings, forts, and battlefields, always imagining what it would have been like to live in bygone days. You can find out more about me and my books here on my blog, on my website, Facebook page, Twitter, and Instagram. 

My newest release, UNDER THE TULIP TREE, is a time-slip novel based on the Federal Writers' Project Slave Narratives. It tells the story of two women, separated by age, race, and circumstance, who form an unlikely friendship in 1936. But will this bond of respect, admiration, and friendship be broken by a revelation neither woman sees coming?

"Shocklee elevates the redemptive power of remorse and 

the grace of forgiveness in this moving saga." 

~Publishers Weekly

"With its haunting message of forgiveness, this is a must-buy for 

any Christian or historical fiction collection."

~Library Journal

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you haven't had an opportunity to read the word-for-word narratives of 1936, I highly recommend searching them out online at the Library of Congress. Reading them was life-changing for me. In the meantime, let me introduce you to a few of the people whose stories inspired some of the most unforgettable characters I've ever written.

Anderson and Minerva Edwards, Ages 93 and 87, Marshall, Texas

Library of Congress, 1936-38

Anderson and Minerva Edwards, a Baptist preacher and his wife, were slaves on adjoining plantations in Texas. Anderson was born in 1844, and Minerva in 1850. They were married after emancipation and raised sixteen children. The first "church" Anderson attended was under a big mulberry tree on the plantation. His master told him that if he was good and obeyed his master, he'd go to heaven. But Anderson felt there was more to it than that, and kept praying until "I felt the change in my heart. I was by myself down by a spring when I found the Lord."

I find their love story and their faith in God incredibly inspiring. The relationship between Frankie and Sam in UNDER THE TULIP TREE is loosely based on them.

Sam Jones Washington, Age 88, Texas

Library of Congress, 1936-1938

His smile is infectious. I can almost hear him chuckling at something the photographer said before snapping his picture. A picture that would, 82 years later, inspire the character of Sam in my novel UNDER THE TULIP TREE.

Sam Jones Washington was born a slave in Wharton County, Texas. He was sixteen years old when the Civil War ended. Like many slaves in Texas, he wasn’t aware of the war or its end until his master told him he was free and would now earn a wage for his work. After the war, he farmed and worked in a factory before retiring. I hope he doesn't mind that I borrowed his name and his smile for my character, Sam.

                                                          Unnamed Mississippi cotton sharecropper

Library of Congress, 1937

I'll never know her name, but her photograph changed my novel.

Her right hand, resting in her lap, looks different. Large and possibly disfigured. As I studied it, I couldn't help but wonder, "What happened to her hand?" That question--and the answer I eventually imagined--changed Frankie's story in UNDER THE TULIP TREE. It changed me, too. 

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Here's the Stop #20 Basics: 

• If you're interested, you can order UNDER THE TULIP TREE on Amazon, B&N, ChristianBook, or at your local bookstore!

• Clue to Write Down: that

• Link to Stop #21, the Next Stop on the Loop: Kara Swanson's site!

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Before you go, be sure to become a Subscriber to this Blog for a chance to win a print copy of UNDER THE TULIP TREE (US only) or an eBook copy of one of my plantation novels! To become a Subscriber and be entered in this exclusive giveaway, just type your email address in the box on the top-right of this page! Easy and done! I'll notify the winner Monday, October 19.

Every blessing,

~Michelle