Everyone is drawn to some type of collecting. There is usually something that we are intrigued with and can’t get enough of, so we collect as much of it as possible. We look for it when we are at home and when we travel. And we search for as many types of it as we can find, so we have countless versions. These collections are usually comprised of some everyday things that we find interesting. 

I have a few things I collect, but my favorite thing to collect is people, usually dead ones. Now, hear me out; I am not alone in this endeavor. I recently read the historical fiction novel, “The Frozen River” by Ariel Lawhon. At the end of her book, she mentions the idea of collecting people when she writes, “I, like my father, am compelled to bring people home. Only I don’t pick mine up on the side of the road. I find them up in libraries and newspapers and strange corners of the internet. You see, the people I invite back to my place – my office specifically – and into my mind are long since dead.”

I could relate to Ariel Lawhon when I read her words since I also spend much of my time with people who “are long since dead.” To collect these people, I research their lives from every perspective and resource possible. Through this process, I learn so much about them that I could literally talk about them for hours as if they were one of my best friends. As I collect pieces of their lives, their choices, situations, accomplishments, reactions, and acquaintances, I slowly collect them as a person.

I collected my first person when I was in grade school; her name was Laura Ingalls Wilder. I remember reading every book she’d written and looking at every picture I could find (this was before the internet), trying to see her life play out in my mind. Since then, I have collected many other people, but only a few in-depth. These are people that I’ve read piles of books about, researched endlessly, and learned everything I could about. Some of the people I’ve thoroughly collected are:

• Mary Ingles (no relation to Laura)
• Alexander von Humboldt
• Henrietta Swan Leavitt
• Sir Ernest Shackleton
• Martha Ballard
• And, of course, Catalyntje Trico

I found a quote in “Seawomen of Iceland: Survival on the Edge” by Margaret Willson that summarizes the power of what I do when I collect people and write about them. Willson states, “One person can make a difference as to whether an existence is remembered or not.”I enjoy collecting and writing about people so they will not be forgotten. Since I’ve recently finished my first novel about Catalyntje, I have wondered who will call to me next. Who will I collect and write about? I have a few ideas, and I’m excited to find out.

Where to purchase your copy of “Catalyntje Trico: A Life in New Amsterdam”

Amazon: Available in paperback, hardcover, Kindle and Kindle Unlimited

Kindle Preview: Free Kindle Book Preview

IngramSpark: Paperback

Historical Slant Website: These are signed paperback or hardcover books

Book Discussion: With the New Amsterdam History Center 

Barnes & Noble: Available in paperback and ebook