The decade of the 1880s proved among the most disastrous, desperate, life-threatening (and life-taking)–as winter in North America was at an extreme, the whole decade long. Climatologists have theories we understand today, but were unknown to our Victorian American ancestors. If you read a fictional book set in the 1880s, that touches on a mild winter, be surprised. Today, March 11th, is the anniversary of “the big one”.
A bicycle built for two plays a role in my new release, Sophia’s Leap-Year Courtship. Such bicycles are romantic–and they’re making a resurgence. I see them in romantic bridal photography, all over Pinterest, and the research for the book showed me just when they were originally “a thing” and how they could fit into this book. Come see!
In the third and final article about Nineteenth Century Ice Cutting, I share some of the highlights of the history surrounding a Boston entrepreneur’s ice company, both domestic and foreign. Historic sources share insights and facts that make ice a pretty cool subject to study! See vintage images of ice cutters at work.
I’m a woman. I’ve never fired a gun (other than a BB gun when I was twelve). I read a lot of western historical romance and I write it too. When writing The Marshal’s Surrender (the most gun-intense book so far), I still had to do a lot of research to make sure my story stood on an accurate historical platform. Where did gunmen stash their Colt revolvers? What did their holsters look like? Did they wear a belt? What about a hidden, back-up gun (like gamblers always seem to have)? In this article, I share vintage photographs and an 1877 patent image, showing those of us unfamiliar with nineteenth century firearms what they looked like.
Weather can be a character in a book, just like a person or an animal. In the case of The Marshal’s Surrender, Winter is a setting and a villainous character, hiding clues, endangering lives, impacting nearly every scene as a sense of place and timing. Have you ever thought of weather in the role of character?
