Nancy’s Books
Kindle Books
Nancy’s Print Books
A 25-year history of a renewable energy company. This was a fascinating journey for me – not only did I get to learn about rewnewable energy (I’m a green-at-heart), but I also get to work with some fabulous folks at the company.
Discover Your Family History Online, A Step-by-Step Guide to Starting Your Genealogy Search (2012 Family Tree Books). This book will replace my previous title, Discover Your Roots Online. Although the original book was a ground-breaker for its time, it’s now out-of-date as the Internet changes so rapidly. This title is new, filled with techniques for finding ancestors using free and commercial Internet resources.
Historic Photos of Old California: This was a fun project and allowed me to do two of my favorite things – - research historical data and then write about it! This book included historic images from all over California, beginning as early as photography existed and ending in the 1920s. You’ll find images of both Northern and Southern California here, including some fantastic images of San Diego’s Old Town (the birthplace of California) and San Francisco immediately following the Great Earthquake of 1906.
San Diego Then and Now: Another coffee table book that was done with my long-time friend David Cortner. David is a professional photographer and web guru based in North Carolina. Once the “then” images were chosen, I researched each and then scouted out the locations photographers had used in the original images. David and I then spent weeks traveling to each site and getting great “now” images.
Remembering Old California The story of California began when a Portuguese captain sailing for Spain found a beautiful natural harbor as he plied his way up the Pacific coast. Little could he have imagined that dropping his anchor in what is now San Diego Bay would be the birth of the Golden State, with its rocky cliffs and rugged beaches in the north, and orange trees, warm ocean breezes, and boulevards lined with palm trees in the postcard-perfect south.
My first two books (now out-of-print) were both co-authored, on amateur astronomy: Beginner’s Guide to the Sun (with Peter Taylor) and Eight Easy Observing Projects For Amateur Astronomers (with David Cortner). I was always a great fan of solar and lunar observing, while David is an expert at deep sky astronomy and astrophotography. Doing the two astronomy books fueled my fire for exploring more about scientific subjects – something we English majors pretty much avoided back in the day 
