A Short & Sweet Summary
In the Spotlight
Writing Projects
In the Spotlight
Sept. 2017
Due to popular demand, I will return as a guest of East Brandywine Township on September 27th to discuss my book-in-progress, The Story of Milford Mills and The Marsh Creek Valley. The updated book (from a now out-of-print book) includes many more chapters, new maps, and rare photos of area hamlets that were part of the eminent domain process.
The presentation, “Talkback of Milford Mills,” begins at 7:30 pm at the township building in Guthriesville and will include a Powerpoint presentation of the expanded book. An important part of the evening, however, will be time to share stories and photos of the “lost” village of Milford Mills.
Guest Speaking
Writing Projects
In the Spotlight
I have many years of experience giving original presentations that are custom-made to each audience.
Here are a few examples:
- “International Marketing and Branding – how products were sold the “Sharples Way.”
This fascinating illustrated lecture will highlight the marketing genus of Philip M. Sharples (1857 – 1944). His pioneering techniques were used to sell his cream separator to such far-flung countries as Japan and Germany.
This lecture will appeal to students of marketing as well as early advertising such as illustrated color magazine ads. The success of the famous Sharples Tubular Cream Separator can be seen in its duration – it sold from the 1890s to the 1930s – and the fact that it was considered a life changer by farm women across America.
- A lecture about the Brandywine Tradition of Art. This illustrated talk is based on my book, 100 Artists of the Brandywine Valley.
One of my lectures was featured here:
https://www.unionvilletimes.com/?p=7479
- A lecture on “Indian Hannah” aka Hannah Freeman. Scroll down below and download my magazine story about the county poorhouse, where Hannah spent her final years.
Writing Projects
Writing Projects
Upcoming Publications
The subject of many of the images in the "Photo Gallery" are found in The Story of Milford Mills, first published in the late 1980s. I am expanding the book with additional historic maps, vintage photos, and interviews. I am thrilled with the response I received at my outdoor lecture "Milford Mills: A Lost Village," hosted by the East Brandywine Township in June of 2017 at the west boat launch at Marsh Creek State Park.
To learn more about the book or to sign-up for
http://quillman-publications.com
My upcoming publication, The American Revolution in the Brandywine Valley, is explained elsewhere.
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Upcoming Publications
Upcoming Publications
Upcoming Publications
My upcoming publication, The American Revolution in the Brandywine Valley, is scheduled to be published in early 2023 by Schiffer Publishing.
The hardback book is an illustrated history featuring contemporary images by photographer Fred Weyman
The book is based on my many years of research and on the work of the Brandywine Task Force. Read more about this county group in my magazine piece available on the "download" section of this web site.
Services
Upcoming Publications
Services
My services include help with book publications such as content review, line-by-line editing, and basic copy editing.
I am experienced with on "on-demand" publishing such as Amazon's platform, CreateSpace. This method is ideal for writers interested in getting their manuscripts into production and into the hands of readers.
Visit: http://quillman-publications.com/services/
About Me
My background
I am the author of several regional books about the area's artistic and cultural history, including 100 Artists of the Brandywine Valley, which showcases painters, sculptors, and photographers. I spent more than 20 years writing about the Arts and local history for the Philadelphia Inquirer. My last five years at the paper were spent covering the local dining scene outside of Philadelphia.
I earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English with a creative writing focus.
My graduate degree is from Philadelphia's Temple University, where my creative writing advisor was the novelist David Bradley and I won the Maurice Beebe prize for essay writing, an award connected to an internship at the university press.
My writing roots
My interest in writing dates back to childhood when I co-produced a rather messy newspaper with hand-drawn columns and fake advertisements that were satirical before I knew the term.
I went onto be the first sophomore to live in the “literary” house at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. The college has the largest literary endowment in the nation, thanks to the 1930s novelist Sophie Kerr.
During my time in “Richmond House,” the Associated Writing Program was based there and the visitors included New Yorker writers and poets, and such literary luminaries as John Barth and Allen Ginsburg, who during their respective visits, ate an oysterman’s lunch and stayed overnight after trying to repeat his 1967 "happening," when he famously led a group chanting ancient Aramaic exorcism rites in an attempt to levitate the Pentagon. Naturally, we were inspired as young writers with Ginsberg's unwavering faith in the power of words.
The following year, I took a workshop with Ginsberg and heard a rare performance of Howl when I was a student at Manchester College, Oxford University. It was one of many memorable parts of my Oxford "experience," which included studying in the historic Bodleian library and writing weekly essays with tutors at different colleges. My free time was spent exploring Oxford's book shops, seeing plays in London, and taking part in the university races as a member of a women's crew team for Linacre College.
Other literary honors
My different honors in Arts journalism, creative nonfiction, and fiction typically have been in the form of grants and scholarships to well-known literary workshops.
They have included the “Tin House” (a literary magazine) summer writing program in Portland, Oregon; the Vermont Studio School; the University of New Mexico’s summer program in Taos; and the Summer Literary Seminars (SLS) , an international literary study and cultural organization. I took part in SLS's workshop in Vilnius, meeting writers and poets from throughout the world but especially from former Soviet bloc nations in Eastern Europe.
I have also been accepted into the teaching program of the Pennsylvania Writing and Literature Project at West Chester University and have received funding for writing projects from the Leeway Foundation and the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts.
As the co-author of Walking the East End: A Historic African-American Community in West Chester, Pennsylvania, I earned a preservation service award from the West Chester Downtown Foundation.