Monthly Archives: May 2016

Join us Memorial Day at Lower Merion’s parade

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Thanks to the kind invitation of Lower Merion Township Commissioner Steven Lindner, I’ll be riding in the Lower Merion Township Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 30. 

The parade will begin at Greenfield Avenue at the firehouse at 10:30 a.m. and process to St. Paul’s Cemetery for the Memorial Day Service at 11:15 a.m. Michael T. O’Hagan, a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, is the guest speaker for the service.  At the end of the service, many participants will march to the Leon Spencer Reid American Legion Post 547 at Simpson Rd. and County Line Rd. for a drill team show and holiday celebration.

Elizabeth Fisher, author of Dining With the Dollar Diva, and I will be selling  our books  at our vending table at the Legion from around 1130 – 2.  Stop by and stock up on some summer reading!

Happy Holidays!

 

 

 

Battle of Barren Hill 5/20/1778: Rebel Hill, Oneida Indians, Gens. Washington and Lafayette

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Becoming Valley Forge

On this day in 1778, some 2000 soldiers, including some 50 Oneida Indians, engaged in the Battle of Barren Hill, on and around the grounds of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Lafayette Hill, Plymouth Whitemarsh, PA.  This battle is one of the climactic final chapters in my novel, Becoming Valley Forge, and a climactic event of and the only true battle fought during the Valley Forge encampment.

General George Washington commanded  Gen. Marquis de Lafayette to lead this group of 2000 soldiers and head towards Philadelphia to see whether the British were planning to evacuate Philadelphia or even attack the Continental Army at Valley Forge now that winter had ended and both armies would be leaving their winter quarters–the Continental Army’s being Valley Forge and the British’s being Philadelphia and what was then its suburb, Germantown.  Once the troops reached Barren Hill, about 500 soldiers, including some 50 Oneida…

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62 Years after Brown v. Board of Education, Segregation Increasing

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Today is the 62nd anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision outlawing segregation in public schools.  “Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal,” sa…

Source: 62 Years after Brown v. Board of Education, Segregation Increasing

Becoming Valley Forge: “epic-length novel…colourful characters…a truly immersive reading experience”

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I’m thrilled with the Historical Novel Society’s review of  Becoming Valley Forge.  The HNS is a literary society devoted to promoting the enjoyment of historical fiction and is based in the USA and the UK but has members from all around the world.

Check it out:

“In her epic-length novel Becoming Valley Forge, Sheilah Vance dramatizBecoming Valley Forge 9780982494592es the horrific depredations experienced by George Washington’s Continental Army as it endured brutal conditions during the winter camp at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania in 1777.

The author centers her story around a small cast of colourful characters whose lives become tangled up in the war, whether they want to or not. There is a local blacksmith named James, a former slave, a conflicted patriot, Daniel, tavern-keeper Norman, Continental General Anthony Wayne, and the seemingly opportunistic Pennsylvania brothel-keeper, Connie.

The result of all these viewpoints playing out against the broader historical backdrop becomes a truly immersive reading experience.”
Hard work writing and researching is paying off!

Hope you enjoy my novel, too!

Peace–Sheilah