Three years ago my husband, daughter, and I moved to Columbia, Missouri. We didn’t know anyone here. It was a lonely time. We were outsiders.

Then, in the middle of September, 2011, we heard about an annual heritage festival at the local Boone County Historical Society (BCHS) and decided to go to it. We were impressed. We met several people there and my husband signed up to volunteer at the historical society. He has been volunteering there ever since, working on their Boone Village Restoration Project. He and numerous other people have beautifully restored two old houses.

Around the same time as the heritage festival, I joined the Columbia Writers Guild and met several local writers. I even joined a couple of writing critique groups.

Subsequently, our worlds united–authors were giving book talks hosted at the historical society. Cathy Salter and her husband Kit were producing these ‘Saturday Morning Book…