Shannon McNear, Author

So, I pulled the draft of this post from its original place on September 2006, thinking I'd just re-run it for some current content ... but of course, reading over it, I'm a little concerned that with our country's current political and social climate, my readers might see this as an attempt to spin history in a direction it was never meant to go. But even so, many of my original observations as I plunged into serious study of the American Revolution (aka American War for Independence) still stand. I normally try to stay away from issue-driven posts. But some recurring themes—political, moral, spiritual—kept surfacing in my research, and I had so many thoughts swirling in my head, it was hard to separate them into coherent threads. Warning, then—the posts in this series might be long and rambly as I tried to sort things out ... and they aren't always a good representation of my political or doctrinal beliefs, so nobody jump to any conclusions. :-) (It's ba

A summer sabbatical to care for my medically fragile mother ended with her being in the hospital for most of a month before transferring to rehab care closer to my stepdad. Now, I'm left with the task of reestablishing a routine ... writing, homeschooling, doctor's and dentist's appointments ... putting up the last of the produce from the garden ... Between other things, though, I've managed to find time for reading. I was excited to serve as an influencer for fellow author--and fellow RITA finalist!--Elizabeth Byler Younts, with the third and final installment of her Promise of Sunrise series. These are probably best described as Amish historical fiction, a win-win on many points for me! Yes, I actually enjoy Amish fiction when well written ... I grew up near an Amish community in central Illinois and have a particularly fond memory of riding ponies with a pair of Amish children on a trip to have horses shod by their blacksmith father. :-) But I digress. On to my re