Behind-the-Scenes & More
Penny shares her 2¢
I’m back with more behind-the-scenes from my work on The Spider Lady: Nan Songer and Her Arachnid WWII Army.
In my previous newsletter, I shared about my early research and the fact that I’d written a first draft that prompted me to brush up on WWII and learn more about spiders to better understand Nan Songer’s work.
I wanted to compare the timeline of WWII with the details of Nan’s timeline as she learned about and worked with spiders.
When it came to spiders, I was especially interested in their silk spinning process. Looking at diagrams like the one below helped me make sense of what I read.
Cool coincidence. While writing this newsletter, I searched Wikimedia Commons for “spider anatomy” and the image above was the first image on the results page. Notice the caption says “Original: John Henry Comstock.” I recognized the name right away because he wrote The Spider Book. Nan Songer studied from The Spider Book when she was learning about all things spiders.
The Abilene Public Library has this book in their collection. Since Nan Songer had learned from it, I thought it would be a great resource for me. Much of the information was too detailed for my needs, but the photos and diagrams were helpful.
After this I thought my research was complete. Nope! Two wonderful research opportunities were ahead. Travel was in my future!
I’d learned that there was a museum in Yucaipa, California that had an exhibit featuring Nan Songer. She’d lived in Yucaipa while working with spiders to provide silk for crosshairs during WWII and was a hometown hero.
So I flew to LAX and then . . .
. . . road trip! Yucaipa here I come!
I’d contacted the museum ahead of time and they were excited about the possibility of a book featuring Nan Songer.
The exhibit featured photographs and informative labels. Included were Nan’s adjustable, binocular-like spectacles that she wore to get a closer look at spider silk as she worked. They were made from an old pair of glasses attached to yucca tubes.
The museum had an entire notebook devoted to Nan Songer. Seeing the exhibit, reading the notebook and visiting with museum staff was an experience more than worth the travel! The notebook included a couple of articles I hadn’t found online plus a bonus — email communication from Nan’s daughter. The most exciting thing I learned was that Nan had written a manuscript about her work. It had never been published but the daughter planned to publish it. Sadly, Nan’s daughter passed away before that happened.
How could I get my hands on that manuscript?
I had a phone number for a woman in Christmas Valley, Oregon that had once worked with Nan’s daughter. When I called, she told me she’d heard about Nan Songer and the manuscript. Alas, her knowledge of the manuscript’s whereabouts ended with Nan’s daughter.
At least I had the daughter’s name and a location. I searched genealogy sites looking for relatives of Nan and/or her daughter and came up with little information except for the name of the daughter’s ex-husband. Using the last name they’d shared, I found addresses and phone numbers in Christmas Valley. I called every number. Many were no longer working. I had to leave a voicemail on others. No call backs. When I actually reached someone, I asked, “Do you know of Nan Songer?” I did this off and on for two years with absolutely no luck even when I searched other places in Oregon. No one knew of Nan Songer!
After I sold the manuscript a couple of years later I had a Zoom call with my editor, Carolyn Yoder, and told her about Nan’s manuscript. She strongly encouraged me to start searching again. Carolyn’s exact words were, “You have to be a pest!” (I found that very funny since so many people think spiders are pests. (They’re not! They’re amazing!)
The manuscript was sold and was going to be a book! That gave me new energy! Project Pest was born.
I got my pesty self on the Internet and spent many hours of searching with no positive results. Soon, I decided that the last name of ex-husband might be my best bet because I hadn’t found an obituary for him. Since I hadn’t had any luck at the addresses in Christmas Valley, my pesty self broadened the search to other states. I came up with a lot of results to narrow down because there were many variations of his first name matched with results that included his last name.
Pesting on, I cross-referenced by age and such until I felt certain I had narrowed it down. With new addresses came new phone numbers and new names of people who might have lived at one or more of his addresses and/or might be related to him.
Pest Alert! I called anyone and everyone who might have ever lived at any or every address where the ex-husband had ever lived. If someone answered, I spoke fast before they could hang up . . . “Do you know of Nan Songer?” I asked that question time after time after time after time. No one had heard of Nan Songer. I kept calling from Oregon to Washington to Arizona to California.
See what a pest I was!
Then . . .
one afternoon . . .
“Do you know of Nan Songer?”
“Yes,” answered a young lady!
I hit pay dirt in California!!
Goodness! This newsletter is getting long, right? I still have a couple of other things to share and I think it’s best to share those and finish this later. You won’t have to wait long because I’ll send the rest of the story soon so that you can find out . . .
Who was that young woman? What did she reveal? Did I get good news or bad news? And, most importantly, would Project Pest lead me to Nan Songer’s manuscript?
And that’s today’s peek . . .
Don’t forget that The Spider Lady: Nan Songer and Her Arachnid WWII Army is available for preorder.
My local bookstore, Texas Star Trading Co., will have a link for preorders very soon. Texas Star Trading Co. is the place to get signed copies. If you want me to personalize your copy, they’ll be happy to help you with that. I’ll include the link in an upcoming newsletter.
Links to preorder from other booksellers can be found here.
Add to your calendar!
Tuesday, May 6th, 4:00 – 6:00 pm
Texas Star Trading Co.
174 Cypress St.
Abilene, TX
325-672-9696
info@texasstartrading.com
Those of you who live in Abilene probably know that there’s construction on Cypress St. So far the street in front of Texas Star remains in tact. But if it is torn up in May, owners, Carol and Glen Dromgoole, have assured me that we’ll have a book signing even if we have to tweak things a little bit.
Texas Star Trading Co. will offer preorders, too. Details coming soon.
Speaking of Texas Star Trading Co., those of you who haven’t visited Abilene are missing out. The owners, Carol and Glenn Dromgoole, are two of my favorite people. They’re big supporters of Texas authors and have hosted all of my local book signings. Glenn is a Texas author himself and has written a slew of books. It’s only right that you get to know them.
Carol and Glenn Dromgoole
We opened our store in downtown Abilene in 2004, and have been flying our Texas flags ever since. We welcome you to stop by when you’re visiting our historic downtown location, but if you can’t get to Abilene, we invite you to shop our online store.
You’ll find an interesting selection of books, gifts, gourmet and music – all featuring a flavor of Texas. We’ve traveled the state far and wide to assemble an excellent choice for you.
Glenn frequently writes about Texas books in our blog. Check there for updates on some books you might want to read.
As you read above, Texas Star is more than a bookstore and it’s as charming as can be.
Until next time . . .
Penny
Go Penny go! What an adventure!
Wow! This is so interesting and you are very persistent! Can hardly wait to get your new book. See you on May 6th!💜