Kathleen Rowland

 
 
Kathleen Rowland, whose family crosses racial lines, based her two characters, Ben and Truth, on genuine history. Like Ben’s family, runaway slaves found refuge among the Seminole nation in Florida and took on their culture. After the Civil War, many African American men took jobs as scouts for the U.S. army and later became cowboys. Truth is based on African American families who’d homesteaded in Cherry County, Nebraska. The Busy Bees was an actual match making organization for women of color who took a chance to find love further west. When not writing, Kathleen enjoys swimming, sailing with her husband, and sunny days in Southern California.