Hi, everyone,
I hope you'll forgive me. I'm reposting an old post today due to limited internet access and my forgetful self. This article is still relevant, however, because every time a new book is thought about, we have to decide where to place the characters. My newest soon-to-be-released book and a blurb will follow at the end.

Finding a location in which to plop our characters has tremendous bearing on the story, but can be a bit of a dilemma for the author. Several elements come into play and must be considered. For instance what is the time period? Is the story a historical, contemporary, or futuristic? Is the story a time travel or paranormal?

I decided early on that all my stories would take place in my native state of Texas. This worked for me because first and foremost I'm comfortable writing about Texas and would need little additional research. Next, the state has any terrain I might need for any time period and with its multiple areas to choose from, each story can be unique unto itself.

When it came time to choose an area in which to base my Texas Code Series, the natural choice for me was right here in North Central Texas. The history of the Bennings and McTiernans started back in 1859 when Ian Benning and Dermot McTiernan came from Ireland with its political unrest to start their lives anew in Texas with the land grant amended in 1850. The Texas Emigration and Land Company offered 160 acres to single men, plus a free cabin, seed, and musket balls.

North Central Texas Land - Peters Colony

The two men received their land located north of Dallas in the originally named Peters Colony. Each generation will have a chance to tell their stories in and around the fictitious town of McTiernan, along with the ever changing landscape that will either be a blessing or a challenge all the way to present day when the first novel, CODE OF HONOR, takes place.

El Paso, far west Texas, a beautiful area of desert and Mountains, is the location of, Book Two, CODE OF CONSCIENCE. CODE OF JUSTICE, Book Three, is set in Dallas, back in North Central Texas, and Book Four, CODE OF LAW, may be in the lush land of The Hill Country.

 El Paso, Texas and the Franklin Mountains

                                                        Dallas, Texas, City Skyline

Two other areas of this great state range from the mountains of Big Bend, to the coast at Galveston. 

 Big Bend National Park

Galveston, Texas

My most recent stories, The Brides of Texas  Code Series, are also set in Texas. Book One, Katie and the Irish Texan and Book Two, Matelyn and the Texas Ranger are set in Dallas (1875) and Galveston (1877).

Book Three, Angel and the Texan From County Cork, is set in Denison in North Central Texas close to the Texas Panhandle.

Blurb:

Jamey O'Donnell has reached a crossroads in his life. It's time to make his own way and stop living off the charity of others, specifically from his brother-in-law, Ian Benning. Off to find his new life, Jamey stops to help an old friend only to find out the friend has been killed. Can he help the widow restart her life and then walk away? Will he be able to ignore the newly awakened emotions she brings to the surface?

Angel Rivers buried her first husband on the trail after a short three month marriage. Now, one year later, her second husband, Will, has been shot and killed leaving her to fend for herself, to work a ranch with little to no knowledge. When the stranger shows up in her barn on the coldest day she's ever experienced, can she trust that he's her husband's friend and not a henchman sent by her neighbor? The same one she suspects of the killing? Will she embrace her bad luck in marriage and bury the feelings stirred by the stranger to live a life alone?

Anyway, you see what I mean about the choice of location. My stories could be located anywhere in our beautiful country. The details might change depending which area is chosen and that has the potential to redirect a storyline. My choice was logical for me and I hope resonates well with you the reader.

Thank you for visiting with Sweethearts of the West today. I hope you'll leave a comment to tell me your thoughts on this subject. Love hearing from you!

Carra

Carra Copelin Website, Carra's Blog , Carra's FB page , Carra's Twitter Page

Denison, Texas: The Little Railroad Town That Could

My dad was born on a farm just outside Denison, Texas in 1916. Third to the youngest of thirteen children, he left home at the age of 17, “hitting the road” during the Great Depression. He traveled all over the western U.S., eventually settling in San Francisco, where he met my mother, a Minnesota farm girl who had come west during WWII in search of work and a bit of adventure.
 

My dad with legs dangling, his siblings and father, ca. 1925

Daddy never lived in Denison again, but he was always proud of coming from the town where President Dwight Eisenhower was born in 1890. The President’s home has been restored and is now the centerpiece of the Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site, which includes a museum.

 

 

Dwight Eisenhower Birthplace, Denison, Texas

 

Denison was founded in 1872 to serve as a depot for the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad (MKT) or "Katy" as it’s affectionately known. The town was named after MKT vice president George Denison. The first train arrived on Christmas Eve, 1872.

 

 

1881 Ad for the MKT

 

Denison was incorporated the following summer. Main Street boasted a neat row of businesses, but beyond that sprawled a tent city of bars, gambling halls, and brothels. However, because the town was laid out where the MKT crossed the Red River (both important transportation routes), it soon grew into a thriving center of commerce in the Old West. In 1875 John Henry "Doc" Holliday kept offices in Denison. By the end of the 1870s the town had two cotton compresses, a large flour mill, and a slaughterhouse. In the 1880s an opera house was built, and the Denison Herald began publication.

 

 

1891 Aerial Map of Denison by Artist Thaddeus Fowler

 

In The Sunday Gazetteer on January 11: “It is believed to include every residence within the city limits, covering a territory of over three miles square”  -- Amon Carter Museum website http://www.birdseyeviews.org/zoom.php?city=Denison&year=1891&extra_info=

 

During the mid-19th century, an epidemic of phylloxera, small insects that feed on the roots and leaves of grapevines, destroyed most European vines. Denison horticulturalist T.V. Munson pioneered ways to grow phylloxera resistant vines, for which he was inducted into the French Legion of Honor. Denison was named sister city to Cognac, France.

 

On February 6, 1873, Denison established the first free public school in Texas. In 1886 a post office opened, and in 1889 the town had 5,000 residents. In addition to the MKT, several additional rail lines connected to Denison. In 1901 the first electric "Interurban" railway in Texas was completed between Denison and Sherman, Texas. Sherman is situated seven miles south of Denison in northeastern Grayson County.

 

New Union Depot, Denison Texas (postcard, circa 1909)

Rusk Avenue facing north, Denison, Texas (postcard, circa 1911)

By the mid-1920s Denison had just over 17,000 residents and 400 businesses, including four banks. It also hosted two high schools, nine grade schools, and a number of churches. My grandparents moved into town after losing their farm during the Depression, and my great grandmother, who lived with them, died at their home in 1939 at the age of 91. So, you see, I have deep roots in this small Red River railroad town that broke ground in several arenas.

 

I  mention Denison in Dearest Irish, Texas Devlins, Book III.

 

Here’s a snippet from the story, set in 1876.

 

Rose stretched and yawned. Something hard supported her head, and another something lay half across her face. This object felt like cloth and gave off a vaguely familiar scent. Swatting whatever it was away, she opened her eyes and had to squint at the bright sun glaring down at her from on high. In the time it took to blink and shield her eyes with her hand, everything that had befallen her during the night burst upon her like a waking nightmare.

Realizing she lay on the hard ground – she had the aches and pains to prove it – she turned her head to the right and saw Choctaw Jack lying a hand’s breadth away. He lay on his back, head pillowed on his saddle and one arm thrown over his eyes. Where was his hat, she wondered absurdly. Recalling the object she’d pushed off her face, she rose on one elbow and twisted to look behind her. First, she saw that she’d also been sleeping with a saddle under her head; then she spotted the hat she’d knocked into the high grass surrounding them. Jack must have placed it over her face to protect her from the sun’s burning rays. In view of his threat to beat her if she tried to run away again, she was surprised by this small kindness.

A throaty snore sounded from her left. Looking in that direction, she saw Jack’s Indian friend sprawled on his stomach, with his face turned away from her. He was naked from the waist up, his lower half covered by hide leggings and what she guessed was a breechcloth, never having seen one before. His long black hair lay in disarray over his dark copper shoulders.

He snored again, louder this time. Rose’s lips twitched; then she scolded herself for finding anything remotely amusing in her situation. Glancing around, she wondered how far they were from the Double C. Jack had been right to chide her last night. She’d had no idea where they were or in which direction to run for help. Even more true now, she conceded with a disheartened sigh.

She heard a horse snuffle. Sitting upright, she craned her neck to see over the grass and spotted three horses tethered among a stand of nearby trees. She caught her breath. Was one of them Brownie? Aye, she was certain of it. Excited and anxious to greet him, she folded aside the blanket cocooning her and started to rise, but a sharp tug on her ankle made her fall back with an astonished gasp. Only then did she notice the rope tied loosely around her ankle. To her dismay, the other end of the rope was wrapped around Jack’s hand.

“Going somewhere?” he asked, startling her.

 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CK9LGA2 (Kindle & Print)

 

http://tinyurl.com/l64ctss (Nook)

 

Other Books in this series available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble:

 

White Witch: Texas Devlins Origins (a Prequel Novella) 

Darlin’ Irish: Texas Devlin (Book I)

Dashing Irish: Texas Devlins (Book II)