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

A Well Appointed Kitchen in Old Texas

In my Western Historical, KATIE AND THE IRISH TEXAN, A Brides of Texas Code Series Novella, Book One, my heroine, Katie, worked in the kitchen of The Eatery. Between researching for this and watching Mrs. Patmore at Downton Abbey, I've become interested in how women in Old Texas would've put their kitchens together.





"A Southern kitchen and pantry are a study for a Northerner. In the first place you notice three or four cabinets with doors of wire net. These doors are to keep out the flying cockroaches and the clouds of innumerable gnats and flies of 20 different species, which are blown heedlessly about by every breeze into all corners, or which deliberately follow their noses - if they have noses - in quest of bread, meat, pastry, sugar or anything good to eat or drink. And if you look lower, you'll see that every cupboard and every table there and in the dining room has a shallow tin dish set under each of its feet, and that each dish is full of water. That is to keep the ants which swarm over the floor from mounting higher."   Excerpt from "Among the Insects in a Southern City" July 1885

A well appointed kitchen began with the proper furniture.

One of the first things a cook needed in her kitchen was a good stove or range.It was best to place a piece of hard, asbestos board under the stove or range because of its durability and easiness to keep clean.

Possible kitchen set up in Old Texas

Next on the list for the cook would've been ovens. Separate ovens were necessary for meats and pastries because  delicate cakes and pastries would take on the flavor of meat cooked in a hotter oven.

A sink and a sink-side work table as large as the room would accept was indispensable. The table's edge would've overlapped the sink and would've been covered with zinc. This material was durable, easily kept clean and not burned by hot pans. When scrubbed clean, this could also be used as a molding board and dough could be scraped off with a knife. If covered with oilcloth, the kitchen table could've been used as additional work space.

The well appointed kitchen would've also had a tableware cabinet sitting just above the sink-side worktable to save time and steps lost in walking from the sink to the table. The kitchen cabinet would've had metal bins for flour, meal and other foods that entice mice. It was an investment that was a money saver in the long run.

Other items of importance were a stool, footstool, a washboard hung by the sink to keep dishcloths and towels clean and sweet smelling, a slate to write down needed supplies, dinner mats lined with asbestos to protect the table's surface from hot pots and dishes, pot holders, and stove mats made of asbestos. Match safes to protect matches, ash receptacles, sleeve protectors and dishcloths made from cloth sugar, flour and cornmeal sacks rounded out the necessities.

I'll be posting more about homes in Old Texas from time to time. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

Hugs, Carra

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

Meet Carra Copelin's Newest Heroine

Meet My Character

Two posts ago, I talked about my work in progress or WIP, for Matelyn And The Texas Ranger, A Brides of Texas Code Series, Book 2. This post I'd like to introduce you to the heroine of this western historical. 

1) What is the name of your character? Is she fictional or a historic person?

My heroine is Matelyn Gloria O'Donnell. She is the cousin to the heroine in my previous western historical, KATIE AND THE IRISH TEXAN, A Brides od Texas Code Series, Book 1. She is completely fictional, except she is exhibiting traits of the spunky woman she is named for - my mother, Matelyn Gloria Roddy Carr. 

2) When and where is the story set?

The story is set in the year 1875. Matelyn's tale begins in New Orleans, Louisiana, then wends its way to Dallas from Galveston on the Texas coast. 

Matelyn O'Donnell traveled from New Orleans to Galveston, Texas in a ship similar to this one.

3) What should we know about her?

Matelyn is a single woman who learned to take care of herself early in life and is fiercely

independent. This trait served her well on the trip from Ireland with her brother, Jamey, and cousin, Katie. She fought for what they needed and for their safety. Being self-sufficient has proven beneficial  in her job as a lady's companion and will be essential for her survival when she reaches Texas. Her strength and independence have prevented her falling in love thus far, but she's certain there is someone willing to love her for who she is.

4) What is the main conflict? What messes up her life?

The trip to Texas from New Orleans offers Matelyn an incredible opportunity to begin her life anew. When plans go awry and she's forced to rely on a Texas Ranger for her very survival, she finds it hard to comply with his overbearing attitude. After surviving being stranded in the Gulf when their ship is sunk during a hurricane and trying to figure who wants her dead, she begins to doubt her thoughts of complete independence. She develops a closeness and unexpected feelings for this tortured man and begins the process of finding a chink in his armor.

A dress not unlike Matelyn may have worn.

5) What is the personal goal of the character?

Matelyn wants to marry a good man, have children and a home of her own. Barring that, she at least wants to be self-sufficient, living life on her own terms.

6) Is there a working title? 

The title is MATELYN AND THE TEXAS RANGER, A Brides of Texas Code Series, Book 1. 

Blurb: 

Overcome by the death of his wife, Ian Benning leaves his small son in the care of best friends, Katie and Dermot McTiernan. He rejoins his old outfit with the Texas Rangers to keep his mind off the loss of his only love, Emma. His assignment takes him to Galveston on the Texas Coast in pursuit of a group of bank robbers, and to the middle of a horrific hurricane.

Matelyn O'Donnell accompanies her employer, Veronique de Marceau, from New Orleans to Galveston, Texas to reunite Veronique with her cruel and conniving husband, Gerard. Introduced to Ian Benning while aboard ship, Matelyn dismisses him as a criminal in cahoots with Gerard. When their ship is capsized from the vicious winds and waves in the Gulf of Mexico, Ian Benning rescues her from certain death.

Will she accept that he is undercover and help him bring de Marceau to justice? Will she be able to ignore her overwhelming attraction to this lonely, distraught man? Can Ian tuck away his deep feelings for his lost wife to keep from losing this beautiful, feisty dark-haired beauty?

Great to see y'all here. Have a great weekend!

Carra

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

A GIRL FROM DALLAS

As some of you know from previous posts, I'm a sixth generation Texan on my mother's side. My ancestors helped to settle Dallas in 1845 and stayed in the area. I am proud to be a member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.

Matelyn Roddy and Phillip Carr met in Dallas in 1942. She was 14 and he was a much older man of 18. They dated, with my grandmother's permission, until he enlisted in the Army in February 1943. A very determined young girl, my mother boarded the train a few days after her 15th birthday and headed  for North Carolina to say, "I do".

Matelyn and Phil Carr c.1943

Gloria Lynn Carr (Cope) aka Carra Copelin about 9 months old in this snap.
I'm proud to say I've managed to maintain my girlish figure. 

I came to Dallas on December 6, 1947 at 11:55 am, via Florence Nightingale Hospital.

My first abode - 1022 Kings Highway

My parents lived with her family in a beautiful old home in Oak Cliff, a suburb of Dallas.

Mother and Daddy bought their first house in 1951, in the newer neighborhood, where my brother made his appearance in 1952. We lived there until 1956 when we moved to Arlington.

Carra in 3rd grade

 I attended school there from 2nd grade through the 12th and I graduated from Sam Houston High School.

Jerry Cope about 10 months

Now, oddly enough, I met my future husband, Jerry Cope, at the local A&P Grocery and as folks do we got to talking. He was born at Florence Nightingale Hospital, lived in Oak Cliff and moved to Arlington in 1953. Turns out we've always lived within five miles of each other.

Jerry in 3rd grade

Jerry and I married in May, 1967 and started building our home in 1969, in Arlington. Where else? It remains our home today.

Our daughter, Amye, came along in 1972 on Thanksgiving morning and our son, Brady, was born in 1976 in the Bicentennial year. 

I worked as a Medical Laboratory Technologist from 1965 (I did start in high school) until the clinic I worked for sold the lab in 2008. Since Jerry was already retired, I decided to stay home, too. Why should he have all the fun?

Writing became my focus and my first book, Code of Honor, Texas Code Series, Book One ,was published in July 2013. Three other titles followed with a fifth due out soon. I'm a member of RWA and serve as President of Yellow Rose Romance Writers.

Jerry and I this past summer on our Arkansas vacation.

I enjoy getting together with friends, critique partners and my bridge group. Our grandkids come over frequently, oh and Jerry is now a chicken farmer. He has twelve chickens out back in their area we call, Cackleberry Farms. Save your cartons, we should be gathering eggs by November.

Katie and the Irish Texan, a novella, is the first book in the Brides of Texas Code Series. It's available on Amazon Kindle and soon to be at Apple iBooks.

Blurb:

Dermot McTiernan is determined to move on with his life after losing his one and only love to another man. He decides to try his hand at ranching in North Central Texas with his friend, Ian Benning. He figures if that doesn't work out, there are many other opportunities in the booming post-war state. When the luscious red-head from County Cork, Ireland shows up in Dallas, can he retain the courage of his convictions and move on without her?

Kathleen O'Donnell made a monumental mistake marrying, Kelsey Gilhooley. Her decision for entering the union, no matter how honorable, had made her life a living hell. Even though still married, she holds out hope for finding the man of her dreams. When she comes across her tall, dark-eyed Irishman in Dallas, Texas, will she be able to abandon happiness and walk away a second time?

Link to Amazon Kindle:  http://tinyurl.com/n8wg34k for $1.99.

Thanks for visiting, Carra

Find me on my website: http://carracopelin.com

Facebook: http://facebook/carracopelin

Twitter: http://twitter/CarraCopelin

HURRICANE!

Recently, I ventured into plotting my second western historical novella titled, Matelyn and the Texas Ranger. The story takes place in Texas around 1875. So while planning how I would put my heroine through h-e-double hockey sticks, I discovered something that I'd bet most Texans don't know. There was another devastating hurricane before the 1900 Galveston strike.

The name of the town was Indianola and it was a major Texas port. In 1853, it had been relocated to Matagorda Bay and Powderhorn Bayou to take advantage of deeper waters.The steamships of Morgan Lines could easily navigate these waters making them able to enter the bay through Pass Cavallo and sail to Indianola in a few hours.

The relocation, however, made the town more vulnerable to rising waters and storm surges from tropical storms and hurricanes. It also meant the road leading out of the town would've been submerged making it impossible for the residents to escape. They would've been forced to ride out the storm in their homes only a few feet above sea level.

The hurricane of September 1875 inflicted extensive damage and loss of life. Approximately 300 people were killed and nearly three-quarters of the town's buildings were destroyed. Unwilling to concede to the forces of nature, the locals only partially rebuilt the town. A mere eleven years later, in August of 1886, another hurricane wreaked havoc to this area of the Texas Coast and finally brought to an end this once prosperous frontier seaport. Below is what's left of Indianola today.

I guess you can tell how my heroine, Matelyn O'Donnell, arrived in Texas. Now she has to make her way to North Central Texas. Wish her luck.


My western historical romance novella I told you about last month, Katie and the Irish Texan, is now on Amazon. I hope you'll give it a read and let me know what you think.

Katie and the Irish Texan

  








As always, I appreciate you joining me today. Please leave a comment, if only to say hi. I love our talks!

Carra

Find me on my website:

http://carracopelin.com

Facebook: http://facebook/carracopelin

Twitter: http://twitter/CarraCopelin

A HISTORICAL FIRST - FOR ME

I'm so excited to share my news with you. For the last several months, I've posted about Jefferson and Dallas,Texas history in the late nineteenth century. More specifically, 1873. Texas was finally recovering from the war and these two cities were booming with populations as large as 30,000. I hope I've captured some of the spirit of the people and the cities in my novella, KATIE AND THE IRISH TEXAN, my first historical. It tells the story of the McTiernans and their beginnings in Texas. 

The following is a brief introduction to my story. 

Blurb:

Dermot McTiernan is determined to move on with his life after losing his one and only love to another man. He decides to try his hand at ranching in North Central Texas with his friend, Ian Benning. He figures if that doesn't work out, there are many other opportunities in the booming post-war state. When the luscious red-head from County Cork, Ireland shows up in Dallas, can he retain the courage of his convictions and move on without her?

Kathleen O'Donnell made a monumental mistake marrying, Kelsey Gilhooley. Her decision for entering the union, no matter how honorable, had made her life a living hell. Even though still married, she holds out hope for finding the man of her dreams. When she comes across her tall, dark-eyed Irishman in Dallas, Texas, will she be able to abandon happiness and walk away a second time?

          Excerpt:

Dermot looked around the room and its many patrons. Most were men dressed in black business suits. He noticed two women serving food and drinks, one a tall brunette, the other had red hair worn in a long single braid down the center of her back. He sincerely hoped the brunette served them because he wanted nothing else to remind him of Katie O'Donnell What-ever-her-married-name-was.

He closed his eyes to the memory and swore he caught a whiff of her scent. His imagination was playing a cruel trick. He thought to get up and leave, but before he could tell Ian he'd changed his mind about eating, a female voice whispered in a familiar brogue. "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph."

Kathleen O'Donnell Gilhooley almost swallowed her tongue. The very moment she'd prayed for since the day she'd left Ireland a year ago had materialized, yet she wanted to run as far and as fast as she could. She'd hoped to meet Dermot McTiernan dressed in her best, but obviously the saints had other plans.

Hands shaking, she smoothed the humidity-laden curls back from around her face, and blotted the perspiration from her forehead with the hem of her apron. Trying her best to hide her nervousness, she stepped forward, shoulders squared. "Dermot, is it really you?"

"It would appear so, wouldn't it?" He stared past her to the window apparently fascinated by the activity on the street.

 There was no way she could've known how he'd react to seeing her for the first time in almost ten years, but his tone took her aback none-the-less.  She wondered if he'd gotten her letter explaining the circumstances surrounding her union with Kelsey Gilhooley.  From his reaction this morning, she guessed he hadn't. Either that or it hadn't made a difference.

Well, that was okay. They were here now and, hopefully, with time on her side, she could make him understand. "How many eggs for ye?"

Dermot's friend and the taller of the two by a couple of inches, spoke up first. "I'll have four, please."

Kathleen waited patiently for Dermot to speak. He took so long, she wondered if he'd gone mute in the last minute and a half.

Finally, he lifted his head, looked her straight in the eye but spoke to his companion, "Ian Benning, this is Katie O'Donnell."

"Pleased to meet you, ma'am." The man stood, offered his hand in greeting.

She shook his hand, correcting her name, "Kathleen Gilhooley, 'tis my pleasure." She directed her attention back to Dermot. "Will ye be havin' four eggs, as well?"

"Sure."

After turning in the order, she checked on the pan of biscuits she'd left cooking in the oven. She'd placed them in to bake just before going out to help Sarah take orders. Normally she liked to help out in the dining room instead of being cooped up in the over-heated kitchen. This morning, however, turned out to be a different story.

Following what just happened in the dining room, she certainly questioned her decision to leave her homeland. She might've expected anger when they met, discomfort to be sure. What he'd exhibited had been much different. He'd been distant and sullen. That scared her more than any outburst.

She put two biscuits on each plate and took them to the table. The man introduced to her as Ian, thanked her. Dermot said nothing until she grabbed the pot and poured each of them a cup of coffee. The hurt and betrayal in his eyes wounded her far more than any physical injury she'd endured in her marriage to that drunken monster Gilhooley.

As she turned to walk away, he grabbed her hand demanding, "What're ye doin' here?"

His tone set her off and, while she knew it wasn't rational, that he was trying to defend himself by making the first strike. But she'd learned to protect herself, too, and rose to the bait. "'Tis a free country and I can be here if I want." She backed away in an effort to pull her hand from his grasp, but he only tightened his grip.

"I want to know why you're here," he demanded through clenched jaws. "How could ye've done such a thing to me?"

Ian stood. "McTiernan, calm down and let her go."

"I'll let her go when she gives me a good answer."

Kathleen looked about the large room in a panic. Every one of the café's patrons watched the scene with interest including the owner, Mr. Browder, who was walking in their direction. She feared what Dermot might say and she needed this job to keep her room above the establishment.

"Can we talk outside?" she pleaded. With one last great tug, she wrenched her hand loose but the motion sent her reeling backwards into the table behind her where she sat in a plate of fried eggs and a bowl of strawberry jam. A couple of gentlemen, their mouths agape, helped her stand, after which they returned to their seats. Her face heated with humiliation, she straightened to face her boss.

"Mrs. Gilhooley, please return to the kitchen. I'll handle the situation from here." He turned to Dermot and Ian. "I apologize for the interruption to your meal. Let Sarah or me know if there's anything else you require."

Kathleen entered through the kitchen door, as Mr. Browder aided the diner who'd lost his eggs to her backside. The whole incident had been embarrassing enough without having to sashay through the dining room with bright yellow yolks streaming down her green skirts.

Mrs. Browder waited for her with a wet soapy rag. "What in the world caused all that commotion?"

"A reunion with an old friend that didn't go as well as I'd hoped."

"I see."

Sarah came into the kitchen carrying the customer's empty plate. Her look was one of wary amusement. "Mr. Browder said to replace Mr. Smith's breakfast right away."

 Kathleen took the egg soaked rag from Mrs. Browder and, while the older woman fussed over cooking the gentleman's eggs, she found she didn't care if her dress could be saved. She really didn't even care if she lost her job.

The only thing that mattered to her more than her livelihood or a place to lay her head at night was Dermot. She had to talk to him and make him understand she'd married to ensure a good future for her parents. After that, well, she didn't know yet but, being the optimist she was, something was bound to turn up.

Well, there it is. I hope it peaks your interest. The book will be released on June 27 on Amazon in ebook and print.

As always, thank you for visiting Sweethearts of the West.

Hugs and love,

Carra

Find me on my website:

 http://carracopelin.com

Facebook: http://facebook/carracopelin

Twitter: http://twitter/CarraCopelin