<<< I’M RUNNING A GIVEAWAY! YOU COULD WIN ONE OF JANE’S BOOKS! SEE BELOW >>>

New York Times bestselling author Jane Kirkpatrick is known for taking true stories about real people and writing about their lives as historical fiction—but only after tons or research and getting all the facts straights. Her main area of concentration has been pioneer women of the Pacific Northwest. Her newest book, Across the Crying Sands, will be released next month, on May 20, 2025.

I’m particularly grateful to Jane for endorsing my novel, A Hundred Magical Reasons, published by Scrivenings Press in January. My story spotlights L. Frank Baum and embraces the magic of his stories, showing how he spurs the imagination of a young girl he befriends. 

Similarly, Jane’s biographical historical fiction The Memory Weaver brings to life Eliza Spalding Warren who, as a child, was captured by the Cayuse Indians during a 1847 massacre. Beneath the Bending Skies features Mollie Sheehan who aided the Nez Perce tribe during the mid-1800s. The Healing of Natalie Curtis relates how Natalie gathered and preserved the music and traditions of Native Americans during a time when the U.S. government was trying to snuff out their culture.

Teaser for A Hundred Magical Reasons . . .

Most fairy tales have happy endings, but is it too late for this one? After all, Mrs. Gordon is 88.

This split-time fiction set in 1980 and the early 1900s encompasses . . . 

• A child’s unlikely friendship with The Wizard of Oz author, L Frank Baum, & his influence across 4 generations
• A young woman following a risky dream
• An old woman haunted by regret as she reveals her past

Jane’s complete endorsement: 

“Theologian and writer Frederick Buchner wrote that a great story should do three things: Seek, treasure, and tell secrets. Laura DeNooyer has accomplished all three with singularity. Her characters are all seeking something that matters—a place of their own, belonging, family, love, and more. There are dozens of moments to treasure in this story that moves between eras, sprinkling literary references like confetti that will never need to be cleaned up later. As for secrets … Janie and Carrie each have their own. Even L. Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz, unveils a few. This mesmerizing saga is beautifully written, a treasure for all ages, an epic story you won’t want to ever leave. I didn’t.”  

~~ Award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick, author of Across the Crying Sands

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If you like historical fiction and character-driven stories—with a touch of romance—this novel fits the bill. If you like fairy tales, that’s another bonus.

If you’re a fan of Wicked, the musical or the movie, you’ll get a chance to see where all the Oz hoopla originated—with the inimitable L. Frank Baum.

If you’re a Baum fan, you’ll get the feel of what it was like to be with him.

If you’re unfamiliar with Baum, you’re in for a treat, for you’ll have the pleasure of getting to know him.

Read more and watch the book trailer on my website here.

You can purchase the book on Amazon.

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Now back to Jane. I’m sharing some of her books and running a GIVEAWAY!

Comment below on any of Jane’s books for a chance to win the paperback of your choice. 

Here’s a sampling of Jane’s most recent standalone historical fiction titles . . . 

• Beneath the Bending Skies (2022)
• The Healing of Natalie Curtis (2021)
• Something Worth Doing (2020)
• One More River to Cross (2019)
• Everything She Didn’t Say (2018)
• All She Left Behind (2017)
• This Road We Traveled (2016)
• The Memory Weaver (2015)

Blurb for Beneath the Bending Skies — Revell (September 6, 2022)

Mollie Sheehan has spent much of her life striving to be a dutiful daughter and honor her father’s wishes, even when doing so has led to one heartbreak after another. After all, what options does she truly have in 1860s Montana? But providing for her stepfamily during her father’s long absences doesn’t keep her from wishing for more.

When romance blooms between her and Peter Ronan, Mollie finally allows herself to hope for a brighter future–until her father voices his disapproval of the match and moves her to California to ensure the breakup. Still, time and providence are at work, even when circumstances are at their bleakest. Mollie may soon find that someone far greater than her father is in control of the course of her life–and that even the command to “honor thy father” has its limits.

Beneath the Bending Skies is a sweeping story of hospitality, destiny, and the bonds of family.

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My thoughts

The protagonist Mollie Sheehan Ronan was a real person, making this story all the more compelling. I was definitely caught up in the tension of Mollie’s ongoing dilemma: honoring her father’s demands or following her heart.

Check out the NovelPastimes interview for an introduction to Mollie.

Learn more about Mollie here.

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Blurb for the The Healing of Natalie Curtis

Classically trained pianist and singer Natalie Curtis isolated herself for five years after a breakdown just before she was to debut with the New York Philharmonic. Guilt-ridden and songless, Natalie can’t seem to recapture the joy music once brought her. In 1902, her brother invites her to join him in the West to search for healing. What she finds are songs she’d never before encountered–the haunting melodies, rhythms, and stories of Native Americans.

But their music is under attack. The US government’s Code of Offenses prohibits American’s indigenous people from singing, dancing, or speaking their own languages as the powers that be insist on assimilation. Natalie makes it her mission not only to document these songs before they disappear but to appeal to President Teddy Roosevelt himself, who is the only man with the power to repeal the unjust law. Will she succeed and step into a new song . . . and a new future?

Award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick weaves yet another lyrical tale based on a true story that will keep readers captivated to the very end.

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My Thoughts

I was fascinated by the passion, drive, and accomplishments of Natalie Curtis in  this biographical historical fiction. Jane Kirkpatrick captures the pain of Native Americans who’d fallen silent due to government mandates. But Natalie won’t let them be forgotten. As she fights for rights of Native Americans, she finds healing for herself. See my complete review on the Standout Stories blog here.

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Blurb for The Memory Weaver

Eliza Spalding Warren was just a child when she was taken hostage by the Cayuse Indians during a massacre in 1847. Now the young mother of two children, Eliza faces a different kind of dislocation; her impulsive husband wants them to make a new start in another territory, which will mean leaving her beloved home and her departed mother’s grave–and returning to the land of her captivity. Eliza longs to know how her mother, an early missionary to the Nez Perce Indians, dealt with the challenges of life with a sometimes difficult husband and with her daughter’s captivity.

When Eliza is finally given her mother’s diary, she is stunned to find that her own memories are not necessarily the whole story of what happened. Can she lay the dark past to rest and move on? Or will her childhood memories always hold her hostage?

Based on true events, The Memory Weaver is New York Times bestselling author Jane Kirkpatrick’s latest literary journey into the past, where threads of western landscapes, family, and faith weave a tapestry of hope inside every pioneering woman’s heart. Readers will find themselves swept up in this emotional story of the memories that entangle us and the healing that awaits us when we bravely unravel the threads of the past.

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My Thoughts on The Memory Weaver

Eliza Spalding Warren is another real-life protagonist, the daughter of a missionary family to the Nez Perce people in Oregon Territory. As an adult, she’s trying to piece together the dark memories of her childhood–particularly being taken hostage at age ten–while also wanting to move beyond them. I was plunged into Eliza’s world which alternated between her mother’s diary excerpts, glimpses into Eliza’s childhood, and her current challenges as a mother and wife.

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Coming soon . . . Across the Crying Sands

Blurb for Across the Crying Sands (will release on May 20, 2025)

In 1888 Mary Edwards Gerritse is a cheerful, well-read, witty, and confident young woman who spends as much time as possible outdoors on the rugged Oregon coast where she and her husband, John, are making a home. The two are a formidable pair, working hard to prove up their homesteading claim and build a family.

But as Mary faces the challenge of young motherhood and struggles with questions about her family of origin, she finds the fearless girl she once was slipping away. Life feels less like the adventure she thought it would be and more like a daily struggle.

When Mary loses the baby she’s carrying (and nearly her own life in the process), she finds an unconventional way to bring the joy back into her life: by taking over a treacherous postal route. As Mary becomes the first female mail carrier to traverse the cliff-hugging mountain trails and remote “crying sands” beach, with its changing tides and sudden squalls, she recaptures the spark she lost and discovers that a life without risk is no life at all.

You can pre-order Across the Crying Sands on Amazon.

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Here are some excerpts from the author Q & A for The Healing of Natalie Curtis (featured on the blog on May 20, 2024)

What was your inspiration for writing The Healing of Natalie Curtis? What’s your personal connection to her or to Native Americans? 

Jane: It’s the unanswered question that appeals to me. Several stories (All She Left Behind, The Memory Weaver, Beneath the Bending Skies) weren’t Oregon Trail stories but the historical women led fascinating lives. That was the case with Natalie. I wanted to know, How did it happen that a classical musician who had had a breakdown find healing in Native American music? 

I worked for a tribe in Oregon for 17 years and attended their “medical sings” (as they called them) where music was meant for healing. I never forgot that. And I wondered how one woman could have brought about change—and changed her own life too through music.

How do you plot a fictional biography when you’re trying to be faithful to the facts, yet need to fill in the gaps with your imagination? What were some of those gaps? 

Jane: I make a timeline of what I called “shared knowings” using the works of people who have already written about my subject—if there are any. There were two non-fiction books about Natalie. I also had her book and her other writings. 

A biography allows one to write about what someone did and when they did it. Fiction allows one to explore why they might have done what they did and how they might have felt. The latter is what I’m filling in. What made her have her collapse in 1897? How did she feel traveling west? How did her relationship with her brother impact her life? All good grist for fiction that is meant to move people.

How do you want this novel to resonate with your readers?

Jane: Before I write any of my novels, Natalie’s story included, I answer three questions from the book Structuring your Novel by Meredith and Fitzgerald. What is my intention, what is my attitude (what do I feel deeply about), and what is my purpose in writing this story (or how do I hope a reader will be changed by reading this book). 

I write many pages but get the answer down to one sentence each that I post at the top of my computer so when I get lost in telling the story, I can look at those answers. It keeps me writing and not going off on tangents which I love—like what colors of Crayon were available in 1907?

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Jane Kirkpatrick Bio

Jane Kirkpatrick is a New York Times and CBA best-selling and award-winning author of over 40 books and 50+ essays. Her many historical novels, most based on the lives of actual people, speak of timeless themes of hardiness, faith, commitment, hope, and love.

Her works have sold over 2 million copies, and have won literary awards such as the Wrangler (National Cowboy Museum), WILLA Literary (Women Writing the West), Will Rogers Medallion (Will Rogers Foundation), and the Carol (American Christian Fiction Writers).

She is a Wisconsin native and graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Communications and Public Address and holds a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Clinical Social Work. Prior to her writing career, she worked with Native American families on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Central Oregon as a mental health and early childhood specialist for seventeen years. She was also the director of the Deschutes County Mental Health Program in Bend, Oregon. Jane and her husband Jerry now live in Redmond, Oregon with their dogs. Learn more on her website.

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Join me next time for a visit with author Susan Pope Sloane.

Meanwhile, have you read any of Jane’s books? Do you have a favorite time period you enjoy reading about? Answer in the comments below.

COMMENT BELOW ON JANE’S BOOKS FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A PAPERBACK OF YOUR CHOICE!

Ever reading,

Laura

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