See Below:
"A Bit of History"
"Information & Publications"
Writers Block Interview:
Prologue from Moss on Stone
The inspiration for the novella, Moss on Stone came gradually, triggered by a small sign. While my husband and I were taking a walk in the lovely town of Rockport, Massachusetts on a warm day in May, we passed the Inn on Cove Hill. On the gate was the sign: "Built in 1771 by Caleb Norwood with pirate gold found at Gully Point. Hmm...interesting, but was it true? I wondered.
A few weeks later, I went to the the Sandy Bay Historical Society (SBHS) in Rockport and to the Rockport and Gloucester libraries to do a little research. I found the Ebenezer Pool papers, a chronicle written by hand (1822-1870). In them he wrote of a discovery of gold by Caleb Norwood and that, "the money find was not made public, but was of many thousands value. Even more interesting! Gwen Stephenson, kind and patient curator at SBHS, directed me to Fish, Timber Granite & Gold by Eleanor Parsons/Peter Berkholtz, wherein there is reference to later research which found documents to support a discovery of gold by Caleb Norwood. Also, mentioned was Caleb's great granddaughter, Susannah, who kept a diary (March 1849 - August 1849) when she lived in that very house we had passed on that spring morning!
Sandy Bay Historical Society also had a copy of Susannah's diary (not the original) but a typewritten one and also a published book by Lucy B. Painter, a Norwood family descendant. When I read Susannah's entries, I became enthralled by the thoughtful and eloquent expressions of her experience. The diary revealed a young woman with fine sensibilities, a reflective mind, a sense of humor and many interests. Most notably, she was a keen observer of nature who seemed to live for solitude--in her "garret," or at the seaside, meadows and woods of Cape Ann where she gathered sea moss to arrange into beautiful designs on paper. She also collected moss on stone and grasses to weave into baskets and mats.
I wanted to (had to) bring Susannah to life again through her diary entries, a springboard to expand into a "story" consistent with the recorded thoughts, feelings, and events she describes. Ironically, the novella's perspective is from Susannah's afterlife, as she reviews her life in mid-nineteenth century Rockport, MA, "waiting to return to life anew." It is my fervent hope that she is rescued from oblivion, to once again "live" and be heard in her beloved native home - Rockport, Cape Ann.
Sandy Bay Historical Society also had a copy of Susannah's diary (not the original) but a typewritten one and also a published book by Lucy B. Painter, a Norwood family descendant. When I read Susannah's entries, I became enthralled by the thoughtful and eloquent expressions of her experience. The diary revealed a young woman with fine sensibilities, a reflective mind, a sense of humor and many interests. Most notably, she was a keen observer of nature who seemed to live for solitude--in her "garret," or at the seaside, meadows and woods of Cape Ann where she gathered sea moss to arrange into beautiful designs on paper. She also collected moss on stone and grasses to weave into baskets and mats.
I wanted to (had to) bring Susannah to life again through her diary entries, a springboard to expand into a "story" consistent with the recorded thoughts, feelings, and events she describes. Ironically, the novella's perspective is from Susannah's afterlife, as she reviews her life in mid-nineteenth century Rockport, MA, "waiting to return to life anew." It is my fervent hope that she is rescued from oblivion, to once again "live" and be heard in her beloved native home - Rockport, Cape Ann.
Let us go forth, the tellers of tales, and seize whatever prey the heart longs for, and have no fear. Everything exists, everything is true, and the earth is only a little dust under our feet. (W.B. Yeats, The Celtic Twilight)
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