Beth Trissel
I’m a historical/light paranormal romance author with the Wild Rose
Press. I have seven releases out with more to follow. My fascination
with Colonial America, particularly stirring tales of the frontier and
the Shawnee Indians, is an early and abiding one. My English,
Scot-Irish ancestors had interactions with this tribe, including family
members taken captive. These accounts inspired my passion. Intrigued
with all things Celtic, much of my writing features these early
Scot-Irish forebears who settled in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia
and surrounding mountains, spreading into Tennessee and the Carolinas.
This absorption with Colonial America also extends to the high drama of
the Revolution. My ancestors fought and loved on both sides of that
sweeping conflict. My research into the Southern face of the war was
partly inspired by my great-great-great grandfather, Sam Houston, uncle
of the famous Sam, who kept a journal of the Battle of Guilford
Courthouse, North Carolina, 1781, that is used by historians today.
Moreover, I am ever intrigued by ghost stories, and Virginia has more
tales than any other state. I find myself asking if the folk who’ve
gone before us are truly gone, or do some still have unfinished
business in this realm? And what of the young lovers whose time was
tragically cut short, do they somehow find a way? Love conquers all, so
I answer ‘yes.’
Thus began my ‘Somewhere’ series. In book two of that series, Somewhere My Lass, I journeyed back to 1602 Scotland and more deeply explored my Scottish roots.
In my recent release,
Red Bird’s Song, I honed in on
my early American roots in a story featuring the Scots-Irish and an
Indian attack that happened to my ancestors in the colonial Virginia
frontier. Of all my stories,
Red Bird’s Song is and ever shall be the book of my heart with
Through the Fire running a close second. A part of me is still seated around the campfire with my Native American brothers and sisters.