Posts by GarLaSalle
Battling the Northerners: Stories that Shaped Widow Walk
During the summer of my second year in medical school, at the invitation of Dan Hunt, a classmate who also was a Pacific Northwest transplant, I had the opportunity to work as a salmon fisherman on his “reef net” boat. That summer, I met several Lummi Tribe Native Americans who live in the area right…
Read MoreWho Were “The Northerners” of the Pacific Northwest?
In 1844, a schooner called “Pigeon” was found adrift, empty and burned out, off of Maury Island in the south part of the Oregon Territory’s Puget Sound. The craft’s seven man crew was never found. Natives in the area attributed the disaster to an early morning attack by the “Northerners” who came on longboats. WHO…
Read MoreDrums of the Castle – Timballo di LaCasella
The following is a recent variation on an ancient recipe, created originally in Valenzano á Bari, by the family of my grandfather, Alfonso. Because the people of his village did not use surnames the way we do now, and because his family had lived within the protected domain of the local castle in Valenzano, when he,…
Read MoreRecipe: Italian Country Bread with Cannellini, Escarole and Olive Oil
Over the past few months it has been my treat to bring together in cooking classes a variety of friends, college, medical school and high school classmates, fellow writers, physicians and long-lost cousins. We remodeled an already beautiful home on Capitol Hill in Seattle by ripping out a small kitchen and creating a huge, modern…
Read More13 Things to Remember When Writing Historical Fiction
Guest post by Avasta Press Kelsye Nelson, the founder of Avasta Press, hosted a webinar with historical fiction author Gar LaSalle. Gar talked about 13 things to remember when writing historical fiction. He answered questions from the audience at the end of the webinar. Our favorite tip is number 13: Villains abound. Gar writes villains…
Read MoreItalian Translation of Widow Walk Now Available!
Guest post by Avasta team. [dropcap color=”” boxed=”no” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]W[/dropcap]idow Walk is now available with side-by-side Italian translation. You may read the English on one side, and read the Italian version on the other. It is perfect for language learners! Italian description: A metà dell’Ottocento il Nordovest Pacifico, un vasto territorio fatto di foreste impenetrabili…
Read MoreCreation of “FLOW”…Bronze Sculpture
We installed two bronze sculptures a few weeks ago. This short video shows the steps: including my original maquette model, the CAD scanning, the CNC-cut blow up into industrial (blue) foam, my undercutting the foam (because the CNC can’t do that), the clay coating of the foam, the texturing of the clay, the latex molding of…
Read More12 Grants for Writers
Guest post by Avasta team. Do you write full-time? Have you ever considered applying to grants for writers? Grants give writers the opportunity to work on specific project or ideas. Grants are fantastic tools to help supplement your income. We have put together a few grants for writers. Deadlines are a few weeks away! Please click on more…
Read MoreKSER Sound Living Interview – Isthmus & Storyteller Award
Guest post by Avasta team. In an in-depth interview with Ed Bremer from KSER 90.7, Gar touched upon the Gar LaSalle Storyteller Award: his motivations and vision for this grant, in partnership with Artist Trust. Gar talks about the storyteller award at (48:16). You can listen to the interview here: [button link=”https://soundcloud.com/90-7-kser/kser-soundliving-08-07-15-isthmus-lasalle” color=”green” size=”small” type=”” shape=”round” target=”_blank” title=”” gradient_colors=”|” gradient_hover_colors=”|” accent_color=””…
Read More“Historical novelist turns NW history into best sellers”
New Day Northwest, a show that airs on King 5 TV, takes a look at the award winning Widow Walk and Isthmus books, which showcase NW history in novel form.
Read MoreHow to Create an Award-Winning Book Cover
My book ‘Widow Walk’ won the USA Books News’ Best Book Cover Design Award in 2013. Widow Walk is set in mid-nineteenth century Pacific Northwest region, called the Oregon Country, which included parts of present day Washington state and Vancouver B.C. Author and publisher Kelsye Nelson interviewed me last week. We talked about the processes…
Read MoreWriting and the Splendor of Solitude
At every book reading and presentation, I have been asked questions about how I go about my writing: whether my process is compulsive/disciplined or impulsive/inspired, where I write and how frequently. My answer is that I am impulsively compulsive. I write when I have something to write and am disciplined only about preserving the turning…
Read MoreAnnouncement: Full Prize List for March Land Rush Campaign
Join the Land Rush to enter a drawing for a chance to win one of these fabulous prizes: [fontawesome icon=”fa-star” circle=”yes” size=”medium” iconcolor=”#a88458″ circlecolor=”#ffffff” circlebordercolor=”#e8e8e8″ flip=”” rotate=”” spin=”no” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ class=”” id=””][title size=”6″ content_align=”left” style_type=”single solid” sep_color=”” class=”” id=””][title size=”6″ content_align=”left” style_type=”single solid” sep_color=”” class=”” id=””]THREE-DAY WRITING RETREAT[/title] “There is nothing to writing. All…
Read MorePostpartum Care in 19th Century America
One of the female characters in Widow Walk, Emmy Evers, receives postpartum care after suffering a miscarriage. Emmy was cared for by a male doctor and some female caretakers, whose greatest concern is her postpartum fever as they had seen so many women perish when this was present. Because she was hemorrhaging, the physician who attended…
Read MoreCross Dressing Warriors in the Civil War
One of the characters our Emmy Evers meets in Book Three of the Widow Walk Saga, The Fairness of Beasts, is a young woman who disguises herself as a Union soldier in order to be close to her lover. Cross dressing was not uncommon. Although both the Union and Confederacy forbade women to enlist and women distinguished…
Read More