B.N. Peacock

B. N. Peacock’s love of history started in childhood, hearing stories of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire from her immigrant grandparents. They related accounts handed down from their grandparents about battlefields so drenched in blood that grass cut there afterwards oozed red liquid. Such tales entranced her. These references probably dated back the time of the Napoleonic Wars. No wonder her youthful heroes included Julius Caesar and Lord Nelson. And, like one of the characters in her book, a female ancestor apparently had the “second sight.”

In addition to history, she showed an equally early proclivity for writing, winning an honorable mention in a national READ magazine contest for short stories. The story was about history, of course, namely the battle of Bunker Hill as seen from the perspective of a British war correspondent.

The passion for writing and history continued throughout high school and undergraduate studies. She was active in her high school newspaper, eventually becoming its editor-in-chief. After graduation, she majored in Classical Studies (Greek and Latin) at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. In her junior year, life took one of those peculiar turns which sidetrack one. A year abroad studying at Queen Mary College, University of London in England led to the discovery of another passion, travel. She returned and finished her degree at F&M, but now was lured from her previous interests in history and writing.

Thus began the professional student years. Anxious to find a career which would include travel, she received a M.A. in International Relations from the University of Kentucky and a M.S. in Agricultural Economics from Clemson University. The professional years followed, with work at USDA’s Economic Research Service as a commodity analyst and, yes writer, with occasional television appearances. It was during this time she met and married the love of her life, her husband Daniel, who also loves to travel. They indulged their mutual interest extensively during the BC years (before children), visiting such places as Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Tobago, among others.

Then came a long stint taking care of her two children, Daniel and Stephanie, and her mother, Stephanie, as well as a diverse collection of pets, one of which always included a Golden Retriever. Ironically, the long road around actually brought her back to her real interests, writing and history. During these years, she decided to go back to writing, doing book reviews and contributions to local papers, simultaneously beginning the background work on A Tainted Dawn. And once the children grew older, travel again become an important part of life, with the entire family going abroad as she gathered material for her book. Those multiple trips to England, Belgium, and the Caribbean were done on a shoe string budget, but they were happy and mind broadening times for all.

The family has been diminished with the passing of her mother, but work continues on Book Two in The Great War series, tentatively to be called Army of Citizens, with new trips planned to England, France and Belgium.