Kat Smutz's guest appearances

Kat Smutz

The #HerStory Podcast

Blackout Podcast

Emily Dickinson

Andrea Tsang Jackson

Nicole Johnson

Jennifer Lee

Wangari Maathai

Charlotte Brontë

Margaret Mead

Ida B. Wells

Annie Oakley

Wendy Friedman

Katherine Taylor

Patsy Cline

Brad Rowe

Evelyn Nesbit

Eleanor Roosevelt

OwlTail

Kat Smutz grew up in the Southern Appalachian Mountain, in a small North Georgia town. A love of history grew out of listening to her parents’ stories of growing up in an isolated region of the Smoky Mountains. She began writing in high school, an obsession that eventually led to a career in journalism with detours into engineering, law enforcement and teaching.In 2009, Smutz retired to work on publishing some of the sixty-plus manuscripts she had written over the years. Her first three books were non-fiction works on the American Civil War, a subject she knows well after more than forty years as a civil war researcher.Her first historical fiction, Silent Tears, is the story of an abused wife learning to stand on her own in a Victorian society that allowed women few rights.Her next book, as yet untitled, is about a young woman who becomes separated from her family when the American Civil War erupts. She takes on the guise of a boy and earns her way by spying while she tries to find her way home. “As unlikely as the story sounds, hundreds of women dressed as men and joined the army during the civil war,”  Smutz points out. “Spies who were female weren’t at all uncommon.”Frequent travel is part of life for Smutz, thanks to her husband’s career as a federal law enforcement officer. Home is wherever the job lands them, and it does provide opportunities to visit new places and meet new people, which inspire Smutz’s work.Works by Kat SmutzNon-FictionAmerican Slavery In An HourAmerican Civil War In An HourAbraham Lincoln In An HourHistorical FictionSilent TearsContributed worksClay County Heritage Book, recollections by descendants of Clay County, NC, pioneersWater’s Edge, an anthology by the Evergreen Writers Group

Kat Smutz grew up in the Southern Appalachian Mountain, in a small North Georgia town. A love of history grew out of listening to her parents’ stories of growing up in an isolated region of the Smoky Mountains. She began writing in high school, an obsession that eventually led to a career in journalism with detours into engineering, law enforcement and teaching.In 2009, Smutz retired to work on publishing some of the sixty-plus manuscripts she had written over the years. Her first three books were non-fiction works on the American Civil War, a subject she knows well after more than forty years as a civil war researcher.Her first historical fiction, Silent Tears, is the story of an abused wife learning to stand on her own in a Victorian society that allowed women few rights.Her next book, as yet untitled, is about a young woman who becomes separated from her family when the American Civil War erupts. She takes on the guise of a boy and earns her way by spying while she tries to find her way home. “As unlikely as the story sounds, hundreds of women dressed as men and joined the army during the civil war,”  Smutz points out. “Spies who were female weren’t at all uncommon.”Frequent travel is part of life for Smutz, thanks to her husband’s career as a federal law enforcement officer. Home is wherever the job lands them, and it does provide opportunities to visit new places and meet new people, which inspire Smutz’s work.Works by Kat SmutzNon-Fiction American Slavery In An Hour American Civil War In An Hour Abraham Lincoln In An HourHistorical Fiction Silent TearsContributed works Clay County Heritage Book, recollections by descendants of Clay County, NC, pioneersWater’s Edge, an anthology by the Evergreen Writers Group

Kat Smutz - Author

Elizabeth Van Lew

Author Kat Smutz shares the story of one of the most controversial and misunderstood US Civil War spies, Elizabeth Van Lew.

#HerStory 17: Elizabeth Van Lew by Kat Smutz