If you’ve been thinking about learning new skills that can help you to earn income or strengthen your knowledge, I will be teaching a ten-week copyediting class through Writer’s Digest University that starts on September 3, and here’s the description:
This workshop will provide training for aspiring copy editors in order to give them practical and marketable workplace skills. As a student in this certification course, you will progress from the fundamentals of grammar, form, and composition to advanced copyediting skills.
This certification course incorporates critiqued writing assignments and tools to communicate directly with your instructor and fellow students—to make sure that you are grasping the content. You will also have quizzes to check yourself along the way and a comprehensive test at the end of the course.
Students who complete all the assignments and pass the comprehensive test will receive documentation from Writer’s Digest of their completion of the Copyediting Certification Course. The lessons run for ten weeks and then there are an additional two weeks in which students have the chance to pass the final test.
Enrollment is limited to 35 registrations per session.Sign up here.
I hope to see you there! If you have questions, please feel free to email me at kbsagert@aol.com. (Photo by fotografierende on Unsplash)
In the summer of 2018, I began the in-depth process of researching the life of Wells Waite Miller, a man who played a key role on July 3, 1863 as Captain of the 8th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. His actions, and those of the men who fought with him, are increasingly being seen as a crucial element in the battle now known as Pickett’s Charge, and in the Battle of Gettysburg, overall.
As part of this research, I would find tantalizing scraps of information about an older brother named Lodowick—and what I found (and what I was given by retired teacher and history/research buff, Bill Molina) would play a role in Lodowick’s name being entered into official Civil War records, allowing him to receive the recognition, honor and dignity that he deserves (more about that later in the post). Because Lodowick died on March 30, 1862, I’m publishing this post on March 30, 2020.
Born in 1830 in New York, Lodowick was listed as a farmer in the 1850 census.
1850 Census
He came to Castalia, Ohio in 1852 with his parents, Amos and Emily (Graves) Miller, and his younger brother, Wells, who was born on February 20, 1842. Sadly, three of Lodowick’s siblings had already died, perhaps during a cholera epidemic: Delia (1835-January 30, 1841); Helen (October 7, 1836-February 5, 1841); and Amos (June 26, 1838-February 6, 1841).
Life in Erie County, Ohio
Amos Miller bought a farm in Castalia, one that was still in the family more than 100 years later. But, in 1860, Lodowick (who had named his occupation in 1850 as “farmer”) was listed in the census as having “erratic” employment. Why he wasn’t working on the family farm or elsewhere, I don’t (yet) know.
1860 Census
Shortly after that, Lodowick married Mrs. Sarah Fleming. The marriage contract was “solemnized” on March 6, 1861 and the wedding date was May 18, 1861.
Lodowick Marries Mrs. Sarah Fleming
Lodowick Enlists: 72nd OVI
He enlisted in the 72nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company A, in January 1862 for a three-year term of service. Only a couple of short months later, though, he died. He was “at hospital” at Camp Shiloh, dying on March 30, 1862, just a week before the Shiloh Battle commenced.
As the image indicates, his wife was awarded a widow’s pension of $8 a month, which was fairly typical. In his military records, his cause of death was listed as typhoid fever.
Fast Forward to 2020
On March 9, 2020, I was giving a presentation about Wells Waite Miller at Lorain County Community College for the Quincy Gillmore Civil War Roundtable. During it, I shared what I knew about Lodowick. On March 13, I heard from Bill Stark, the Graves Registration Officer, James A. Garfield Camp 142, of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. He had questions about Lodowick that, fortunately, I was able to answer.
By combining what he knew about Lodowick (and what question marks still surrounded Civil War soldiers from the 72nd OVI) with what I knew about Lodowick and Wells, and what Bill Molina found out about them and then shared with me, Lodowick’s information can now be entered into the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War Graves Registration Database.
This group is still working hard to identify unknown soldiers, both Union and Confederate, from the Civil War. And, it seems quite likely that Lodowick is the last “unknown soldier” from the 72nd OVI at Shiloh.
So, on the 158th anniversary of his death, I am honored to speak the name of Lodowick G. Miller. Thank you for your service!
Science fiction writers create and populate fantastic new worlds, while mystery novelists scatter compelling red herrings while deftly slipping into key clues. Romance writers make readers sigh sweetly when the heroine realizes that, yes, she really does love him, after all . . . and what about those daring pioneers as they bravely trek into unknown lands of the West?
Compared to fiction writing, nonfiction writing – at first glance – can seem downright boring. But, the reality is that there are excellent reasons for pursuing the nonfiction craft. Here are just a few of them!
Nonfiction writers have a smorgasbord of delicious publishing
venues to sample – and even indulge in. You can write magazine articles and/or
blog posts, perhaps covering marvelous travel getaways or profiling fascinating
authors, artists and more – or newspaper stories, where you reveal
fast-breaking news that will cause readers’ jaws to drop. Say, what??
Encyclopedia entries may sound dull, but I’ve had
opportunities to research and write in-depth histories of baseball and
basketball, two sports that I love, among countless other intriguing topics.
That’s right – getting paid for writing about your vocations, hobbies and
interests. And, having encyclopedia credits on your resume can cause editors’
eyes to light up! This proves that you can research effectively and present
information succinctly.
Then there are books – SO many possibilities there – plus plays, documentaries and much more! And, what about creative nonfiction that incorporates techniques of fiction as you pen personal essays and memoir pieces? Ghostwriting, where you write blog posts, articles and even books for publication under someone else’s name? Book reviews?
It’s often easier to sell nonfiction writing than fiction. That’s due, in large part, because of all of the different types of nonfiction outlets, but also because daily newspapers, content-hungry blogs, large encyclopedias and more require significant amounts of writing.
You get to meet and interview really cool people! I’ve gotten to chat with, and sometimes even hang out with, amazing human beings, ranging from international boomerang champions to a representative of Virgin Galactic as the company prepares for average citizens to travel in space – and from ESPN’s/NASCAR’s Jamie Little to Olympic and X Games skateboarder/snowboarder Cara-Beth Burnside. (Nora Robert on the cusp of publishing her 100th romance novel? That, too!)
Truth can be stranger than fiction. Did you know that the first woman to solo-hike the entire 2,000+ miles of the Appalachian Trail was 67 years old when accomplishing her goal? Or that she hiked the entire Oregon Trail, beating the wagon that followed the same path by an entire week? True, dat! Her name was Emma Gatewood and she had only an 8th grade education – but she ended up being the toast of the town, appearing on the Groucho Marx Show and other high-profile television programs.
This is an author interview that I wrote in the 1990s.
Writers of the Purple Sage by Barbara Burnett Smith
Barbara Burnett Smith proves that persistence pays. After having an agent for four years, belonging to two active writers groups, and penning several books — yet making no sales — she threw her hands up in the air and quit.
At least briefly.
“I stopped writing, stopped marketing, and even severed my connection with my agent,” Smith said. But, after another mystery writing friend, Susan Rogers Cooper, told her she was too good to not be writing, she gave it another try.
Barbara Taylor McCafferty was born on September 15, the same day as Agatha Christie. She loves figuring out a good puzzle, like those found in novels by Christie. So, what does McCafferty do for a living?
Writes mystery novels — just like Agatha Christie!
Well, not exactly like Christie. McCafferty has her own unique style, sticking her unsuspecting characters in bizarre situations and watching them wiggle their way out of them.
“I always start a story with a question that begins with ‘wouldn’t it be funny if?'” she said. “Like in my book, Ruffled Feathers, a guy gets a ransom note and the person allegedly kidnapped is standing right next to him. So, you wonder, ‘Is this an error in timing? A gag?'”
Toss in one fresh, sassy, 34-year-old ex-cowgirl, mix in two parts of a murder almost spoiling a folk art museum quilt display, add a dash of a fifty percent Anglo, fifty percent Latino, one hundred and ten percent macho cop with gorgeous eyes, and what do you have?
You have the deliciously intense, tangy-tasting romance of Benni Harper and Gabe Ortiz, in Earlene Fowler’s first mystery novel: Agatha Award nominee, Fool’s Puzzle.
All good people, unit! Be glad that Linda Fairstein is on our side.
Fairstein has worked as a prosecutor in New York for over two decades, and she has been the chief of their sex crimes prosecution unit since 1976. She frequently speaks out against the cruelties of domestic abuse, sexual assault, and other types of violence against women, lecturing in the highest spots of the land. Those places include Harvard Law School, Kennedy School of Government, the Radcliffe College Alumna Association, Vassar College, and Cornell Medical School.
“Not long ago, I returned to the town of my youth, and made a disturbing discovery. It had weathered the intervening thirty years better than I had, at least physically, and that had the effect of giving me a bit of a jolt, as if the events of the summer of my fourteenth year hadn’t been as cataclysmic as I’d imagined.”
With those two sentences, Les Edgerton skillfully draws us into the harsh world of Corey John, a boy who reached out for love, but found kindness in meager supply and affection all too rare. When Corey dared to soar with the natural optimism of youth, his hope was carelessly crushed by those who should have loved him most.
Just an FYI that I’ve written a guest blog post on the subject. (Yep! That’s it. If you find yourself in need of blog content for your website, whether B2B or B2C, please contact me at kbsagert@aol.com to talk about my ghost blogging for you.)
