Articles Categorized Sandra Wagner-Wright

POINSETTIAS & CHRISTMAS

  Poinsettia plants appear every December in plant stores, florists, grocery stores, fund raising inventories, and even back yards. They come in a variety of colors. Red remains the most popular, but there are whites, pink and whites, purple, yellow, orange and salmon. This year I chose red, but I’ve also had pinks and whites.

SIKKIM – LAND OF MONASTERIES

The name Himalayas brings up many images. Of course Mount Everest comes immediately to mind. But there’s more to this range of mountains that stretches from Pakistan in the west across India, Bhutan and Nepal before ending in China. Tibetan Buddhism also has an association with the region, although China swallowed Tibet itself in 1950. Within

CALCUTTA, MARY PIGOT & ME – Where She Was

  As you may recall from a previous blog about Kolkata, I went to that historic city in search of clues about Mary Pigot, the protagonist in my current project. Calcutta was the capital of the British Raj until December 1911 when British administrators removed to New Delhi, and buildings in Calcutta’s historic district remain

FINDING TRANQUILITY AT PUAKO, HAWAI`I

  Did you feast on Thanksgiving excess? I did. Did you dash out for Black Friday Shopping? I didn’t – a possible mistake given the bargains I’ve undoubtedly missed. But I needed something else. I needed to metaphorically sail away into a Sea of Tranquility Everyone who looks can find their own favorite place to

KOLKATA, MARY PIGOT, & ME – Where She Wasn’t

My recent visit to Kolkata, like my visit to Edinburgh early last summer, is directly related to my current research project. This book is about Mary Pigot and the lawsuit she filed in 1883 against a prominent male missionary. Mary charged William Hastie with malicious libel. We would call his actions defamation of character. With

DURGA PUJA – THE GODDESS RETURNS

  Durga Puja occurs in every autumn, immediately before Diwali, and is the largest festival in Calcutta. This year’s festival dates were October 7 through 11. Happily I was in the city a week before the event, and so was able to see the final stages of preparation. Durga Puja is celebrated throughout India, but

GODDESS DURGA SLAYS THE DEMON

  One of the great things about the way I write historical fiction is the necessity of research travel. My current project took me first to London and Edinburgh to investigate written records [See blogs from July]. But a visit to the site of events in the story took me back to India, this time