Katherine Keenum

This Christmas shopping street scene is the sort that might have met my new heroine Mattie when she arrived in New York City at the turn of the 20th C. It was painted by Alice Barber Stephens,  Read More 

The heroine of ANONYMITY, Mattie Palmer, works in an office near Madison Square, so imagine her witnessing crowds like this. I’ve set the novel in warm weather for various reasons, but winter settings have advantages. Cold, snow, and sleet give urgency to action, and respite from misery in cozy havens are among my  Read More 

Pauline Marie Charlotte Croizette was an artist and the sister of actress Sophie Croizette. In 1868, Pauline met Carolus-Duran in the Louvre, where she was copying old masters, and married him that year. I love  Read More 

One of the pleasures of researching an historical novel is discovering themes (I didn’t know how infatuated with Asian art and objects artists and collectors were in the 19th C until I started reading up for Where the Light Falls) and new artists. Gustave de Jonghe (1829–1893) was a Belgian painter, Read More 

Website tip: Click here to be astonished by photographically constructed night views of cities as they would appear if the stars over them were fully visible. Surely these should inspire wonderful s.f. stories or remind us to imagine fantasy worlds more vividly.

Website tip: Running through some bookmarks, I ran across an on-line test for color acuity. Take it, it's fun! (And so weirdly ego-satisfying if you do well.)

Several interests came together for me when I came across Swedish artist, Elsa Beskow (1874–1953)—Jeanette’s future career as an illustrator; my new heroine Mattie’s work in juvenile book publishing; women’s rights; and Scandinavian women artists. As a Christmas present to  Read More 

My copy of the Holiday 2014 issue of Divagations, a thrice-yearly bulletin for members of the Angela Thirkell Society of North America, arrived today. In it appears a short essay of mine on what I learned as a writer from Thirkell. For those  Read More 

Some readers have been kind enough to ask whether there will be a sequel to Where the Light Falls. So far, my answer is “I don’t know. I don’t have a story yet, but I do know that Jeanette becomes an illustrator.” Partly with her future career in mind and  Read More 

I collected this newspaper picture of Carrie Chapman Catt because it drives home the idea  Read More