I'm Nancy Rubin Stuart, formerly Nancy Rubin, a writer of nonfiction articles and books. I'm fascinated by people in situations that challenge, perplex, or delight them --people like you and me. As a journalist and author I've written hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles and six nonfiction books.

Wondering why we're still engaged in a war on women? Read about the unsung heroines of history --my HERSTORIES series. You'll find those works on my Bookshelf page, true-life tales of women's lives over the centuries and why women continue to struggle for social and economic equality today.

My most recent book was THE MUSE OF THE REVOLUTION: The Secret Pen of Mercy Otis Warren and the Founding of a Nation. That's the story of one of America's forgotten Founding Mothers, a friend of John and Abigail Adams, who wrote about the American Revolution from personal experience. Mrs. Warren was not only the first first female historian of the American Revolution but our nation's first female playwright and an advocate for a Bill of Rights.

As you read these words, I'm currently completing DEFIANT BRIDES, a double biography of the wives of Benedict Arnold and Henry Knox which Beacon Press is publishing in early 2013.


Why do I write? The best answer is to ask why you read. Do you pick up a book to be entertained, to learn about other people, to explore new ideas and worlds -- to live more widely than you could in a single lifetime? Those are also some of the reasons why I write.

But there is one more. I write to preserve memory, to capture human experience in its dimensions and complexities. For me, to fail to write is to ignore life in all its colors be they bright, dark or many-hued. To capture our fleeting existence in print or on the screen is not only a joy, but a privilege.