About the Blog

About Kathleen Ernst’s  Sites and Stories Blog:

Interpreters at historic sites tell stories.  Authors tell stories.  Sometimes the two intersect.

I grew up in Maryland, surrounded by books.  My mother was a librarian, and my father and sisters all avid readers.  Before going on vacation, my mom would bring home historical fiction about whatever area or historic site we planned to visit.  We visited lots of historic sites and museums while I was growing up.  Obviously all of that made an impression on me.

Way back when, I majored in forestry and environmental education at West Virginia University, with a lot of creative writing and history tossed in.  The mix perplexed my advisor, but made sense to me.  I love books that have a strong sense of place.  When I think about history, or historical fiction, I like to consider people within their natural environment.  When I’m doing research for a new novel, the first thing I do is search for relevant historic sites.

I created this blog as a gathering place for thoughts about historic sites and outdoor museums, interpretation, fiction… whatever might fall within those loose parameters.   I hope you visit often!