I have been enamored with history ever since childhood. Enthusiastically playing The Oregon Trail in the school computer lab, exploring museums and living history sites, devouring Sunfire romances, and watching Back to the Future, I hoped that I too would find a time machine someday. Indeed I have found a way to time travel—by researching the past that fascinates me so much. Writing historical fiction and academic historical nonfiction has brought to life that childhood desire to explore the world, past and present.