I’ve lived a lot of places in these United States. From Upstate New York to the Pacific Northwest, and each of those locations has left its mark on me… and ultimately on my writing. One place in particular seems to have made an impression on both my writing personas: Montana.
We lived in Bozeman, Montana for over a decade as our kids were growing. During that time our family enjoyed many trips to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, explored the scenic wonders of the Beartooth Highway, and learned about dinosaurs at the Museum of the Rockies. But Bozeman also held treasures for me personally. It was while we lived there that I learned to quilt.
Now, I’d been exposed to quilting all of my life– my mother quilted as did her mother before her– but they did things the old-fashioned way: by hand. I wasn’t interested in the fine needlework of expert piecing and quilting. I didn’t have time for such things. Not with growing twins and an infant daughter. I needed creative outlets that could be done quickly or could be put away easily in a small, secure space. Quilting fit neither of those criteria. Until I wandered into a quilt shop in Bozeman, Montana and saw a little wall quilt that I wanted to buy.
Surprise, surprise! That little quilt wasn’t for sale! It was the example for an upcoming class on machine piecing and quilting. Wait! Quilts didn’t have to be made by hand? I could use a rotary cutter and a sewing machine to make my own version of that little wall quilt? In fabrics of my own choosing? Sign me up!
(Here’s an example of the wall quilt that hooked me: Trip Around the World. You can see a few more examples of my quilts on my Quilts ‘n Crafts page.)
So how does all this personal history tie into my writing? Well, for Deb Logan you can see pieces of my Bozeman years in the Prentiss Twins novels, while quilting and Montana take center stage for Debbie Mumford in my Kristi Lundrigan cozy mystery series! Both of these series are still active. I’m currently writing the 3rd Prentiss Twins novel and publishing each chapter as I go on the new Kindle Vella site (you can find it here) and Kristi’s second mystery, In a Pickle, is well underway. I know who the victim is and how he met his end, but I wonder who the murderer is? Since I write into the dark, I’ll have to wait ’til I get to that part to find out, just like my readers will!
So now you know a little bit more about how my years in Bozeman continue to inform my writing. Who knew?