Nancy Shattuck was inspired to write this series when she discovered her direct ancestors had lived through King Philip's War in 1675-76. Exploring their history, she was so impressed by the complexity of the colonial experience that each family member began to tell a different story. No longer a novel, the "chronicles" were born. Nancy earned a master's degree in Comparative and Japanese Literature at Washington University (WU) in St. Louis and completed the classwork for two separate doctorates, in Comparative Literature at WU and American Literature at Wayne State University. Previous publications include Book One of The Watertown Chronicles series, William, The Patriarch, a children's fable, The Fishers, and a travel memoir, Travel Wings: An Adventure, in addition to short stories and poetry. She is the recipient of an American Academy of Poets award in 1978; Tompkins awards for poetry and fiction in 2004, 2005, and 2007; a John Clare award for poetry in 2005; a Judith Siegel Pearson award for poetry in 2005; and a Heck-Rabbi award for drama in 2006.
