Guest Blog: Julie McDonald Zander and Shattered Peace *Prize of E-Copy of either of her Books!
- ChristinaSinisi-Author
- Jul 20
- 3 min read
Have you ever wanted to write a novel? Or share your life stories in a book?
My name is Julie McDonald Zander, and I spent my early career as a newspaper reporter and editor. Then, in 1999, I launched Chapters of Life, my personal history company, and dedicated the next quarter of a century capturing life stories and preserving them in keepsake books, primarily for family and friends. Altogether, I’ve published more than 75 books about individuals, families, businesses, organizations, and communities. Since May 2007, I’ve also written a column once a week for The Chronicle in Centralia, Washington.
While offering school tours at our local museum years ago, I read a small placard about a pioneer woman who crossed the Oregon Trail in 1847 and suffered horrific tragedy. What would she do? How would she survive? I spent the next five years researching her story to find out just how she survived but thrived. I published her nonfiction book, Washington Territory’s Grand Lady: The Story of Matilda (Glover) Koontz Jackson, in 2019. But her remarkable story deserved a larger audience, so I spent the next five years attending writing conferences and critique group meetings to learn how to write fiction. In September 2024, St. Helens Press published a novel inspired by this amazing woman called The Reluctant Pioneer.
As a fan of history, I’ve volunteered time in the community to help preserve it and written many columns about early pioneers. However, at times history can be controversial, even a century later, as I discovered as a committee gathered to commemorate a horrible tragedy that unfolded on the streets of Centralia during the first Armistice Day parade in November 1919. Gunshots rang out, leaving four World War I soldiers dead on the streets of their hometown, and a mob later burst into the jail, hauled out a union activist, and lynched him from a local bridge. The conflict between the American Legion and the Industrial Workers of the World, or Wobblies, became known as the Centralia Massacre or the Centralia Tragedy.
Who fired the first shots? How did such bloodshed mar the streets of a town celebrating the peace and the end of the Great War? My second novel, Shattered Peace: A Century of Silence, released in May 2025, addresses those questions in a time-slip format.
Here’s the back cover blurb:
A forgotten diary. A century-old secret. A town still haunted by its past.
When former Navy Seabee Colleen Holmes inherits an old house in Centralia, Washington, she sees it as a chance to escape her own ghosts and start anew. But as she peels back layers of history within the home’s walls, she unearths long-buried secrets tied to a dark chapter in the town’s history.
Hidden behind crumbling plaster, a faded diary and a bundle of love letters unveil the struggles of a soldier trapped in the trenches of France and the heartbreak of those left waiting at home. Yet the diary’s brittle pages hold more than just longing—they bear witness to the explosive events of November 11, 1919, when a parade meant to celebrate peace erupted into violence and bloodshed.
As Colleen pieces together the tragic choices that shattered lives and fractured a town, she realizes history is never truly buried. The wounds of yesterday still shape today, and the past is not done with her yet.
Inspired by true events, Shattered Peace is a gripping time-slip novel of love, loss, and the echoes of history that refuse to fade. Perfect for fans of The Alice Network and The Girl You Left Behind, this haunting tale of resilience, redemption, and the pursuit of truth will linger l
ong after the final page.
Does your community hold any dark secrets from the past? Are skeletons rattling around in closets eager to emerge and dance? Do you know of outstanding pioneers or early settlers whose lives would make great novels? If you could share a story from your community or family’s past, what would it be? Leave a comment below for a chance to win a free copy of either The Reluctant Pioneer or Shattered Peace.
Links:
To find out more about me, visit my author page at https://mczander2024.ag-sites.net/index.htm and sign up for my newsletter to receive a free pictorial e-book retracing the Oregon Trail.
Find me on Facebook at Julie McDonald Zander, Author: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563140294856
The Reluctant Pioneer can be purchased here:
Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-reluctant-pioneer-julie-mcdonald-zander/1146288965?ean=9781963467000
Shattered Peace: A Century of Silence is available here:
Thank you, Julie, for a lovely post! I wish you well and can't wait to read! Blessings, Christina
These books sound amazing!
I enjoyed seeing the pictures of your trip, especially the waterfalls! Heidi M. from the Midwest
I don't know about any dark secrets, but I think your books sound good.
Sounds interesting! 😊
Your books sound like interesting reads.