About
I have always loved to write - letters, essays, articles, short stories - but I did not write a novel until I retired from teaching history and English in 2020. My debut historical novel, Hatfield 1677, was published in May 2024 and was an Amazon Hot New Release. It has won numerous awards and critical acclaim: “Rader paints a stirring picture with the subtlest of brush strokes—this is a moving work, dramatically compelling and historically searching. An engrossing novel that challenges stale narratives of colonial America.”—Kirkus Reviews.
I participate in critiques through the History Quill, Manuscript Academy, and The Carolina Piedmont Writers’ Guild. When I’m not writing or researching, I enjoy playing my 1905 antique piano, baking, gardening, and spending time with my family, friends, rough collie, and tabby cat.
Featured Work
Hatfield 1677
Historical fiction based on the true story of my 9th great-grandparents, Benjamin and Martha Waite, whose town of Hatfield, Massachusetts, was attacked by a tribe of Algonquian River Indians in September 1677. Martha Waite, her three young daughters, and 17 other colonists were taken captive and held for ransom. Her husband and his friend Stephen Jennings, pursued and tracked the Native Americans and their colonial captives in a courageous quest to bring them home.
