The following two books each stake their claim at a fascinating juncture of history and geography. One is a fictionalized biography set on the American frontier and the other is a memoir of Eastern European life during Word War II. I am proud to say I had some influence in their development. Don't let the self-published status hold you back—you'll remember each of these characters for some time to come. Charley's Choice: The life and times of Charley Parkhurst By Fern J. Hill Infinity Publishing; $10.85 This title won the 2009 WILLA award for historical fiction, a prize given annually for outstanding literature featuring women’s stories set in the west. While I did not edit the book, I was one of Fern's critique partners during its development. It is an imaginative piecing together of the few facts known about a California gold rush era stagecoach driver, who, upon death, was discovered to be a woman. Charley Parkhurst ran away from an orphanage determined to ...