Lisa Rivero

Archives For historical fiction

News! Brand New Cover and Reading Guide Series for Oscar’s Gift

January 21, 2013 — Leave a comment

In preparation for an upcoming month-long daily series of posts that will serve as an online reading guide to my historical children’s novel, Oscar’s Gift: Planting Words with Oscar Micheaux, I am happy to reveal a brand new cover!

This new printing also includes some small changes and corrections to the text (not yet available in the “Look Inside” feature on Amazon), and for the next few months, the book will be available only as a paperback on Amazon and CreateSpace and as an ebook on Amazon.

Beginning on February 1 and for all of Black History Month I will post a daily reading guide series for the historical novel. You will learn why the Ford Model A cars that Tomas sees at the barn dance are red instead of black, how land lotteries worked, whether it was legal for Tomas’s mother and Joe Squirrel Coat to marry, and, of course, more about the real life of homesteader, author, and filmmaker Oscar Micheaux.

Please pass along the news, order your copies now so that you can follow along, and thank you all for your continued support of Tomas’s story.

In Oscar Micheaux Black History Month, book clubs, children's books, historical fiction, Oscar Micheaux

Who was Oscar Micheaux?

July 28, 2012 — Leave a comment

This video by Total Vision Media is an excellent introduction to the life and work of pioneer feature filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, the subject of my children’s historical novel, Oscar’s Gift: Planting Words with Oscar Micheaux:

Oscar Micheaux from Total Vision Media on Vimeo.

In children's fiction, historical fiction, Oscar Micheaux, video children's books, historical fiction, history for children, Oscar Micheaux

Flash Narrative Friday: Inventories and Measures

March 9, 2012 — 2 Comments

[For an introduction, please read The Hattie Project.]

In January of 1920, Harriet and Will Whitcher had been married just two years and, because of Will’s military service, had spent much of that time apart. The oldest of ten children and ten years older than her husband, at age thirty-eight Hattie had grown used to an independence of both movement and mind, but she also was very close to her family and social by nature. Their farm was one and one-half miles from the town of Spencer in Boyd County, Nebraska, close enough for Hattie often to walk or catch a ride in a wagon to visit her parents, Ed and Mary Whiting, who lived in town, visits of which Will did not always approve.

Like all married couples, Hattie and Will were getting used to each other. They had not yet finished breaking sod on their farm and were struggling to make a living at a time when several Boyd County families were selling their land. Hattie was also still getting used to being simultaneously a wife and daughter when, in the span of two months, both of Will’s parents died in Wichita, Kansas, the first telegram arriving on January 30, 1920.

The following inventories, measures, and diary excerpts tell the beginning of the story of Hattie’s married life.

Inventories and Measures:

January 1918, 1919, 1920

January 1, 1918: Inventory, W. J. Whitcher

80 acres land … $6000.00
Farm buildings … $1000.00
3 horses, 3 colts … $525.00
1 cow from Floyd Wood … $75.00
9 hogs … $180.00
12 hens, 1 rooster … $14.00
50 bushels oats & 200 bushels corn … $240.00
7 tons wild hay, 3 tons alfalfa … $150.00
Seeds, grain & vegetable … $35.00
Household Goods … $200.00
Farm Implements … $300.00
Cash in Bank … $545.00
Total … $9264.00

Outstanding Indebtedness … $1650.00
Net Worth … $7614.00

January 16, 1918: Marriage of Harriet Elizabeth Whiting and William J. Whitcher

January 1, 1919: Inventory, W. J. Whitcher

No inventory taken on account of W. J. Whitcher being in the army at Gilmerton, Virginia. Our cow died of Alfalfa poison. We sold nearly all hogs on account of no house for them. We got a $2000 loan on farm to pay for house and other implements. W. J. came home Feb. 27^th, 1919, discharged from Army.

January 1, 1920: Inventory, W. J. Whitcher

4 Horses, each $125 … $500.00
2 Horses, each $65 … $130.00
1 Horse … $50.00
1 Cow and Calf … $210.00
1 Boar … $30.00
1 Fat Hog … $35.00
23 Fall Pigs, each $10 … $230.00
8 doz. Light Brahma Chickens … $100.00
2 1/2 Sets Harness, Single Harness, 2 sets Fly Nets … $150.00
1 Heavy Stock Saddle … $50.00
Farm Machinery … $150.00
2 Wagons, $25 each … $50.00
200 bu. Oats … $150.00
300 bu. Corn … $390.00
12 bu. Rye … $15.00
25 Tons Hay … $375.00
2 Tons Alfalfa … $40.00
Corn Fodder … $40.00
Household Goods & Separator … $300.00
TOTAL … $3120.00 [See note 1, below]

January 1920: Groceries and Dry Goods Bought

Suspenders … $0.75
Syrup, 1 gal. … $1.10
Apples … $0.50
Jello … $0.45
Bananas … $0.25
Oranges … $0.35
Cheesecloth … $0.30
Coffee, Butternut … $0.50
Shoe Strings … $0.15
Onions … $0.25
Ivory Soap … $0.10
Sugar … $0.50
Tobacco … $0.15

January 1920: Paid Out for Sundries

Shoe Repair on Army Shoe … $0.10
Gasoline for Smoking Meat … $2.10
To Robert Jewelry Store for bridge for my glasses … $0.75

Diary Excerpts, January 1920

New Year’s Day, 1920: This was a fair day but cold. Will husked corn but wasn’t very well. We had a good supper consisting of fresh roast pork, gravy, potatoes, cranberry and apple sauce, fresh butter, bread, cream and coffee. I got 6 eggs.

January 11: Willie K. came about 4 p.m. and Will went with him to crossing under Railroad bridge where they tried to cut out ice. In the evening, 3 teachers and a little boy called for a drink while out for a walk. I helped Will with chores. We got 7 eggs and one double yolk egg. It was a nice warm day.

January 12: A letter from Rose and Mother is very sick.

January 13: I put seed-corn and pumpkins away and got 6 eggs, 1 double yolk.

January 15: A fair day. Will went to Carl Ferris sale south of Spencer on Sidell place. I made Harold William Whiting 2 small dresses from Will’s old shirts. Got 7 eggs. Gathered cobs.

January 19: Will got Eugene at Knolls in forenoon and went to Andrew Clausen’s sale in p.m. Was cold. Uncle Jim took me to Spencer. I measured Papa’s leg, the left one for a limb at A. Marks, New York City. [See note 2, below]

January 20: Will bought an eli at sale, paid $50. [See note 3, below]

January 24: We got 1,000 lbs. coal for $5.00 on track.

January 30: A cold and stormy day, mostly sleet. Got a telegram that Will’s mother at Wichita, Kans. was very sick. Left on 1 p.m. train for Wichita. Uncle Jim went to Uncle Chris’s when they took us to depot. H. Bradstreet was helping Will haul fodder when Telegram came. Got to Omaha Nebr. at 11 p.m., left for Kansas City, Kans. at once, traveled all night, had supper in Norfolk, Nebr.

January 31: Had Breakfast in Kansas City. Still cloudy and damp. Had dinner at Emporia, Kansas at $1.00 a plate. Arrived at Wichita, Kans. at 6 p.m., walked several blocks, took street-car, arrived at folks and found Mother very sick. The sun was shining this evening.

Notes

Actual total for 1920 inventory is $2995.
Read A. A. Marks’ Manual of artificial limbs copiously illustrated … an exhaustive exposition of prothesis, 1914 by A. A. Marks
“An Eli was a cultivator to use on corn. It had shovels and disks. People used listers to plant corn. The lister made a furrow and the corn was planted in it. This resulted in a ridge between the corn rows. The Eli could be set to take the weeds from the side of the ridge. Later the disks would be reversed and the ridge would be placed next to the rows, leveling the field. This was called ‘throwing the corn in’. Another name for the Eli was ‘go devil.’ Why, I do not know.” (Harley Furrey, Hattie’s nephew, email message to author, Feb. 10, 2008). One version of a “go devil” was patented by Edwin F. Cheney of Ainsworth, Nebraska, who sold it to John Deere in 1906.

In Aunt Hattie, flash narrative, historical fiction Emporia Kansas, family diaries, flash narratives, Great Plains, historical fiction, history, January 1920, Nebraska, writing

On Historical Fiction: Why the “w” Word Matters

March 4, 2012 — 4 Comments

The most informative session I attended at the AWP Conference last week was “Putting the Story in History II,” presented by these authors:

Ron Hansen (read his essay “The Ethics of Fiction Writing“)
Speer Morgan (watch him discuss “Why We Publish the Missouri Review“)
Philip Gerard (read his article “The Fact Behind the Facts“)
Debra Brenegan (listen to her on BlogTalkRadio)

Ron Hansen began the panel with several tips for writers of historical fiction. These are some paraphrased highlights:

Make a basic outline of the plot before you begin writing. While plot outlining may not always be necessary for other kinds of fiction, the rigor of staying close to historical events and lives requires more conscious planning. Even if you don’t know the exact beginning and ending of your story, be sure to know the major and turning plot points along the way, and stay as close as possible to the actual lives of any historical characters.

Avoid overwriting historical details. While it can be tempting to throw in every single fascinating detail we have learned through our research, be careful not to overwhelm the reader with trivia. Choose facts and background information judiciously, so as best to support the story.

Focus less on dialect and more on the vocabulary of the region or time period. Useful resources include The Dictionary of American Slang and the Online Etymology Dictionary)

Think of yourself in the role of movie producer and cast your characters before you begin. You can do this with actors and actresses or historical photographs. I used this technique as a way to imagine the younger of Tomas’s two Lakota step-sisters in Oscar’s Gift: Planting Words with Oscar Micheaux. This young girl from a contemporary historical photograph was, for me, Chumani:

Her Know (Dakota Sioux Girl), 1899

One of the most refreshing aspects of this particular panel was the focus on the thrill and accuracy of researching and writing historical fiction. Nothing about platforms or social media or even getting published. As important as those other topics are for authors, without a solid writing habit and what Margaret Atwood referred to in her keynote talk as the four-letter “w” word, none of it matters much. And let’s face it—the joy is in the work of writing, not in platform building

I left the room with a bit more of my bounce in my step, eager to plunge into the next in the series of Fiction for Young Historians.

In historical fiction, writing AWP 2012, Debra Brenegan, historical fiction, Philip Gerard, research for writers, Ron Hansen, Speer Morgan, the joy of writing, writing

On School Author Visits and Porta Potties

February 28, 2012 — 2 Comments

I am very grateful to the welcoming and enthusiastic students, teachers, staff, and parents at Swallow School in Hartland, Wisconsin, for inviting me to be their guest author today. What fun the morning was! To help them to kick off a school-wide writing contest, I spoke to three different groups of students, ranging from kindergarten through eighth grade, about writing and being a writer.

They made this beautiful poster for the event:

One of my favorite moments came from the K-2 group of students. I was preparing them for a reading of an excerpt from the book (included below), and wanted to make sure they knew what an outhouse was. We talked about how things were different one hundred years ago, including the fact that most people did not have indoor bathrooms.

“Does anyone know what outdoor bathrooms were called?” I asked.

Several young heads nodded and many hands went up.

“Portable potties!” a girl said with confidence.

There is still one day left to put your name in the hat for one of five free copies of Oscar’s Gift to be given away at Goodreads.

* * * * * * *

Excerpt from Oscar’s Gift, Chapter 9: “Barn Dance”

Late in the summer, the wind began to blow on a Sunday afternoon. It blew all day Monday and all day Tuesday. By Wednesday morning, I couldn’t remember what it was like not to hear the wind. By Wednesday night, Mama could no longer keep up with sweeping out the dust that blew under our door and through the holes in our soddy. By Thursday, the wind had blown down our outhouse.

When I woke up on Friday morning, I thought someone had put cotton in my ears. Then I realized the wind had stopped. Everything sounded muffled without the roar of the wind.

I thought I would never again feel clean. My ears and nose were filled with dirt. Dust coated my hair and my clothes. Our beds were coated with dust. Our food tasted like the prairie sod.

Mama said I could go down to the creek to take a bath, even though tomorrow was Saturday. We usually took our baths on Saturday in a tub of heated water, so as to be clean for Sunday.

When I got to the creek, I stripped off my clothes and walked into the water. At first the water was so cold that I walked back out. But I knew that I would soon get used to the cold, so I went back in and walked to the deepest part, which only came up to my ribs. Soon the water felt warmer. I splashed and rubbed myself clean, swishing my hair in the water and wiggling my toes.

When I stepped out, the air made me shiver. I let the breeze dry me as I flapped my clothes in the air to shake out as much dirt as I could. Clean and dry and dressed, I felt like a new person. I walked back to the soddy with a spring in my step…

In writing children's book authors, historical fiction, school author visits, writing

Oscar Micheaux: Indie Author (and a Goodreads giveaway!)

February 22, 2012 — 1 Comment

Oscar Micheaux, the focus of my children’s historical novel, Oscar’s Gift: Planting Words with Oscar Micheaux, not only broke ground as a homesteader and filmmaker, he also was an indie author.

Patrick McGilligan writes in his biography of Micheaux that after receiving only “bulky rejections,” Oscar eventually self-published his first novel, The Conquest: The Story of a Negro Pioneer, in the process “forging a new destiny” as an author: “As often happened in his career, touching bottom only spurred him to greater effort and higher ambition.”

At first Micheaux tried to use traveling salesmen to get his book in the hands of readers, but the salesmen’s high commissions led him to “set up his own sales network, hiring agents in different cities—though most of the business would be done by mail order, or door-to-door—making arrangements wherever possible for individual shops, bookstores, and libraries to carry his book.”

Read more in “The Self-Education of Oscar Micheaux,” a Psychology Today Editors’ Pick Creativity Essential Read:

“As with so many successful artists and entrepreneurs, one trait that set Micheaux apart was his response to failure, his ability to adapt and to reframe rather than limit his opportunities…” Read More

Also, through the end of Black History Month, you can enter to receive one of five free copies of Oscar’s Gift on Goodreads (and be sure to read Jane Friedman’s recent blog post on “2 Ways to Make the Most of Goodreads“).

How are you forging your destiny as an author?

In Oscar Micheaux, writing Black History Month, book giveaway, creativity, Goodreads, historical fiction, Oscar Micheaux, Patrick McGilligan, Psychology Today Posts, writing

“Micheaux’s Gift,” from South Dakota Magazine

February 4, 2012 — 5 Comments

As I get ready for a series of posts this month about Oscar Micheaux, I was very happy to see this notice from the latest issue of South Dakota Magazine:

In writing Black History Month, historical fiction, Oscar Micheaux, Oscar's Gift, South Dakota, writing

The 99 Cent Thank You

November 19, 2011 — 2 Comments

A quick post today to thank everyone who has been such a big supporter of Oscar’s Gift: Planting Words with Oscar Micheaux, a work of historical fiction for ages 8 and up. Your emails and generosity have made the e-publishing experience both joyful and informative. My father and step-mother, in particular, have been busy spreading the word about the book in South Dakota, drumming up interest and sales in both libraries and schools.

Over the coming Thanksgiving week, I will be putting the final touches on teachers’ and readers’ guides for the novel. Meanwhile, to express my gratitude, I am pricing the ebook at 99 cents through the rest of this year.

Please share the sale so that more young (and not so young) readers can be introduced to the homesteading years of filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, a character as big as the Great Plains he farmed.

(iPadWriMo Day 11!)

In children's fiction, indie publishing, Oscar Micheaux 99 cent ebook, children's ebooks, epublishing, historical fiction, indie publishing, Oscar Micheaux, Oscar's Gift, pricing ebooks

Jerry Wilske, Director of the Oscar Micheaux Center, reviews Oscar’s Gift

September 29, 2011 — 2 Comments

by Jerry Wilske, Director of the Oscar Micheaux Center

Lisa Rivero’s historical fictional account of the life of Oscar Micheaux told through the words of the young main character, Tomas, is captivating and imaginative from beginning to end. This is the first novel ever written about Micheaux for the young person. I am particularly grateful to Ms. Rivero for her book, which I will promote in my presentations on Oscar Micheaux.

Micheaux is a historic figure in the early filmmaking world as well as an early settler in south central South Dakota, 1905-1913, a successful farmer and a novelist. He along with Laura Ingalls Wilder have written accurate accounts of homesteading experiences in South Dakota.

This book will interest the young reader to further explore the life and achievements of a determined race educator whose goal was to portray through his books and films the equality, talent and intelligence of fellow African Americans to themselves and to the White populations in the U.S., South America and Europe where his films were seen.

Lisa Rivero’s book is a definite must-read and a great introduction to Oscar Micheaux.

~ Jerry Wilske, Director of the Oscar Micheaux Film and Book Festival and The Oscar Micheaux Center and Star Walk of Fame Park

In Paperback from Amazon and for Kindle

Go to Historical Photos to Accompany the Book

Description: The year is 1904 on the Rosebud Lakota Reservation, and eleven-year-old Tomas, the son of Swedish immigrants, thinks that life is a game of chance. Now you see it. Now you don’t. His father. School. Dreams for the future. It doesn’t matter how hard he tries or how much he hopes. In the end, everything he loves can disappear with the delivery of a telegram.

Then one hot day, on a dusty street in Bonesteel, South Dakota, he sees a tall, dark, city-slicker of a man as they both are trying their luck in a land lottery. Tomas does not know that he has just met the man who will one day write novels about his homesteading life on the Great Plains and be known as America’s first African-American feature film maker. Oscar will also become his friend and mentor.

Could it be that Tomas’s luck is changing?

Oscar’s Gift brings the rich diversity of history to modern young readers with a classic style and illustrative historical photographs (digital version only). The author’s young adult book Smart Teens’ Guide to Living with Intensity was a 2010 National Indie Excellence Award finalist and named by the Arizona Book Publishing Association as a 2011 Glyph Award Winner for both Best Juvenile/Young Adult—Nonfiction Book and Best Psychology/Self-Help Book. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators.

In Oscar Micheaux, writing Great Plains, historical fiction, indie publishing, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Oscar Micheaux, South Dakota, Young-adult fiction

Historical Photographs in Oscar’s Gift

August 28, 2011 — Leave a comment

The following public domain historical photographs are in the ebook edition of Oscar’s Gift: Planting Words with Oscar Micheaux. Click on the photos to learn more.