On the Move

 In today’s jet-setting world, we tend to forget how laborious and time-consuming travel used to be. Sure, we occasionally think of the Oregon Trail and the people who traversed the western United States along its continuous pathway. We even like to read stories with characters that are struggling to cross those endless plains and mighty mountains. However, I’ve noticed a trend in my own writing, and a connecting one in some of my readers’ minds when they read my historical western romances. You see, in my historical western romances, my characters are on the move. Since my stories take place long after the prime era of the Oregon Trail migration, railway travel is the mode my characters most often use. And, well, they use it a lot. How exactly they manage to pay the expensive travel fare is something I usually leave up to the reader's imagination.

 

 

In my first Pinkerton Matchmaker book, An Agent for Elizabeth, however, I had 18-year-old Elizabeth purchase a train ticket for $122 to travel from Kansas City to Denver. I, along with a few of the authors in the series, made an educated guess based on a travel log that one of the authors was able to pull up online. Turns out that we were pretty close! Other sources I have since run across mention that train fare cost 2-3 cents per mile, and in 1870, a trip from New York to San Francisco cost around $136 if traveling first-class in a Pullman car. That was quite a lot of cash for the average person to hand over back then. It was Elizabeth's stepmother who provided her with the funds to make this trip. What neither of them knew was that Elizabeth wasn’t just going to meet her beau—who didn’t know he was her beau—she would need to become a Pinkerton agent in order to snag his interest!

 

As for my heroine, Susannah Eversoll, in my Brides of Hope Hollow story, Hope Springs Eternal, she migrated from Missouri, where she grew up, to Dakota Territory, when her first husband took a job there, and then to Piedmont, Wyoming. I imagine, as the general notion goes, most regular folks in those days didn’t travel more than five to ten miles beyond their childhood homes is true. However, as Laura Ingalls Wilder, along with other journals from people who lived back then have proven, there were some brave souls who did step into the great unknown and make long treks for the purpose of bettering their lives. My own ancestors were some of these folks. I’m not sure how desirous they were for seeking riches or seeing parts of the country they hadn’t seen before, but they were Mormons who were being driven out of their homes and needed a place of refuge. They traveled right alongside the folks who were going to Oregon or to the California gold fields, only they stayed on one side of the Platte River while the rest of the travelers stayed on their side, mainly for protection against anyone who might hold strong sentiments against them and therefore cause more trouble than they’d already faced back East.

 

Back to Susannah, though. She and her husband wouldn’t have traveled by rail up to Dakota Territory from Missouri. This was during the time of the Civil War. They left that state because of the conflicts that were happening (and unbeknownst to Susannah, her husband was deeply involved in them). Maps from that era show there were no rail lines heading up that way. It would have been a long and arduous journey, especially since their daughter, Melissa, was so young at the time.

 

Courtesy of Library of Congress

 

One reason that I chose to place Susannah and her first husband in Dakota Territory, even though it didn’t have a huge bearing on the story, was that in 2019, my family and I traveled up from Arizona to Wyoming, stopping at Independence Rock. From there, we went into Deadwood, South Dakota, and then down to western Nebraska, visiting a few historic places there, and home through Colorado and New Mexico. So it was one big loop for us—and an incredibly enlightening trip for me. In South Dakota, I fell in love with the beautiful, fragrant blossoms there. I never imagined the prairie land looking and smelling so vibrant and fresh. I was amazed! Perhaps someday I’ll write a book that fully takes place there. Here are a few pictures from that trip. It’s definitely time to take another one!

 

 

As you can also see from the map above, there were no rail lines going straight into southern Oregon from Wyoming and Idaho in the 1880s, where the Brides of Hope Hollow series takes place, so my brides have to travel through California and then up that way. Ariana, the schoolteacher in my last BofHH story, On the Wings of Hope, did some major traveling before finally settling in Hope Hollow. Her reason? She was being chased by a strange man. She started teaching in western Nebraska and then made her way to Rawlins, Wyomings, then to Carson City, Nevada, and a fictional town in northern California. And still the man followed her! I don’t know about you, but I would keep on the move if I were a lone woman in 1882 and a man whom I didn’t know kept showing up in the places I moved to!

 

Courtesy of Union Pacific website

 

Incidentally, Ariana's story doesn't begin in Nebraska. She was a rider on an orphan train. As you can see from this map, at the time Ariana rode the rails to her new home, the Union Pacific Railroad only went a little ways past Omaha, and that's where she was adopted into a not-so-loving family.

 

 So while the stories of these women traveling such far distances, and many times on their own, might seem farfetched, there were actually several brave females who did this in real life (check out the real life story of Charley Parkhurst here). And I want to pay homage to them. I don’t know that I would have had the fortitude to do such a thing. Perhaps some of them were escaping a bad situation at home. Perhaps they felt there were no opportunities for them. I especially like the fact that they put their trust in God to bring them to a place of prosperity. I am of the mindset that we shouldn’t settle for less than happiness. Yes, the old adage to bloom where you’re planted is a good one. But we can also plant ourselves where the soil is more fertile.

 

I hope these women and others in your life inspire you to take a leap of faith into the unknown. No matter what, we must keep plowing ahead until we reach our goals. 

 

One step at a time.

 

 

To learn more about Julia’s books, visit her Amazon page.

Department Store Santa Visits

 It may very well be one of the most iconic scenes of all cinematic history--that of a young Natalie Wood sitting on the lap of a man in a red suit, trimmed with white fur cuffs, and telling him that her mother told her there is no such person as Santa Claus. I'm referring, of course, to the 1947 movie, Miracle on 34th Street, with Maureen O'Hara, one of my favorite actresses of all-time starring as jaded Doris Walker, which I've seen a few times. I've also watched the 1994 remake more times than I care to admit. But one version of this beloved classic that I had never seen before was the one starring McDonald Carey and Teresa Wright. In fact, I didn't even know that it existed until I clicked on the option to watch it on Amazon Prime a few weeks ago, fully expecting to see Maureen O'Hara, with her fiery hair (although the film was in black and white) and words. Rather than being disappointed when Teresa Wright appeared instead, though, I was intrigued. The story was the very same--with almost the exact same dialogue. And, as usual, I was quickly drawn into it.

 

Why?

 

Because a good story will do that whether it's in literary or cinematic form.

 

 

 

As I watched the scene where young Susan visits Santa Claus and challenges his real identity unfold, a writing dilemma that I had been facing was suddenly solved. I'd begun a new project in which my young and impulsive heroine is being set up for a marriage of convenience by her father as a way of protection. She is an artist who has been invited to show her paintings in New York--but being from Denver, in 1885, her father doesn't feel comfortable sending her alone. He is too busy to go with her--plus, as a widower, he has a new lady friend he's secretly courting--shh! If his daughter could marry her childhood friend, then the problem would be solved.

 

The first chapter of this story was going well--but I was having a hard time making it seem believable. After I watched Miracle on 34th Street, my entire thought process changed, and I decided to make the opening scene be about my heroine's father cajoling her into playing the part of Mrs. Clause next to her childhood nemesis, who would be playing the part of Santa.  The idea grew in my mind and I wondered, did big department stores like Macy's in New York exist in the West in 1885? Probably not, but it still would be fun to write a scene in which the heroine was less than thrilled to be performing such a duty next to her nemesis.

To my surprise, though, when I looked up the question of department stores, several did exist during that time period. The first department store in America was called Arnold Constable and it was founded in New York, 1824. It started out as a small dry goods store, but by 1857 it was moved from Pine Street to a place called Marble House. Over the next century, this department store would trade locations a few more times before it closed its doors permanently in 1975. However, other department stores sprung up, including Marshal Field's in Chicago, enhancing the overall shopping experience of consumers in the late 19th century by introducing elevators and animated displays in the windows during Christmastime.

Building my own scene with my hero and heroine playing the parts of Santa and Mrs. Claus was so fun! I absolutely loved the idea of having the two of them bantering, as you can read here in this excerpt from A Christmas Groom for Maddie.

A boy of about five looked up at him in awe. “Are you really Santa Claus?”

“Ho, ho, ho. Yes, young man. And what is your name?”

“Terrence.” The boy’s eyebrows crinkled and he asked, “Why aren’t you at the North Pole getting ready for Christmas?”

“My elves are carrying on in my absence while I’m here visiting with you. Wasn’t that nice of ’em?”

Terrence’s head bobbed up and down like a jack in the box that had just sprung out of its confinement. “Yep. You must have lots of helpers.”

“I do. Couldn’t do all of this without them.”

Terrence fixed his eyes on Winston’s fake beard. “Can I feel your beard?”

That wouldn’t be a good idea at all. “I’m sorry, son. The only person who’s allowed to touch Santa’s beard is Mrs. Claus. Ho, ho, ho!”

As soon as he said it, Winston knew he was in trouble. Maddie froze, then slowly turned to face him, her eyes narrowing dangerously. Winston should have apologized. Or at least been scared. Instead, he opened his mouth and blurted, “Isn’t that right, Mrs. Claus?”

He didn’t really expect her to react. After all, they were in front of a hundred kids with their parents either shopping or standing close by. So when she sauntered over to him, the folds of her velvet dress swaying with her hips, his eyes grew round and the air around him seemed to shrivel up and wither away. Leaning over so that they were almost face to face, she slowly placed a hand on his cotton beard and—tugged. The elastic bands on either side of the fake beard stretched as the beard came away from his face.

“Hey, what are you—”

She let go just as his hand darted up to stop her. His fingers clamped around her wrist. For a second, he forgot about the beard. The only thing he wanted to focus on was her warm skin.

Smack!

Maddie’s lips twitched. Straightening her body, she put one hand on her hip and quirked an eyebrow. “Yep. Only Mrs. Claus is allowed to do that.”

The little minx!

 

But this is only the beginning of the story. As Maddie's father works to try to convince her to marry Winston, it's up to Winston himself to win her over. His chance comes when someone tries to damage her paintings. Can the two of them discover who it is in time for Christmas? Will they be able to put aside their past hurts and anger to discover a love that has always existed between them? A Christmas Groom for Maddie is a Pinkerton Matchmaker companion tale, and it revisits a beloved character by readers of An Agent for Sarah and An Agent for Amaryllis. In this tale, Maddie is all grown up and must learn to trust Winston and put others' needs before her own. 

 

 

 

I hope that you will treat yourself to A Christmas Groom for Maddie. With a swoony but sweet romance (along with a romance between two side characters) and a light mystery to solve, it's the perfect blend of holiday cheer!

 

 

DO AUTHORS HAVE FAVORITE CHILDREN...ER, STORIES?

They say that parents should never have a favorite child.  It’s the same for an author. Our minds are constantly occupied with ideas that seem to nag us to death until we get them down on paper, then relief comes—for a little while, at least—before another idea bombards us. This is true for me most of the time. But there are a few novels that I’ve written where the main characters were so stubborn, they refused to speak to me—or to each other. These stories were not my favorites to tell, by any means, even though they actually turned out surprisingly well considering how much trouble they caused me.

Why am I mentioning this? Because this summer I’ve had the opportunity to revisit one of my all-time favorite fictional couples, two former Pinkerton detectives who were perfect for each other, and who worked so well together, they could practically finish each other’s sentences. Their names are Chas (short for Charles) and Jessica Bryant. Their story began in Virginia when Chas, a Pinkerton agent working out of Denver, recovered some stolen items from President George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate on America’s West Coast and then was sent back East to return them. There, a woman by the name of Jessica Flanders was having trouble of her own. She and her sister, Amaryllis or Amy, as she’s called, who was much younger than Jessica, had just become orphaned and Jessica’s ability to take care of her sister was being called into question by authorities. Thank goodness Chas stepped in at just the right time to help her keep Amy, and Jessica was able to help him catch a pair of murderers who had tried to weasel their way into full ownership of a successful horse-breeding operation. You may have read this story already, but if you haven’t, you can find it in An Agent for Jessica as part of The Pinkerton Matchmaker series.

Fast forward seven years. Amaryllis is sixteen years old now, and her best friend, Sarah, was engaged to marry a wealthy rancher from Denver. But at the last minute, Sarah decided to marry her friend from childhood, Mark Wilson. This was part of the plot in An Agent for Sarah, which released last month, and if you read it, you know there will be sparks flying in the next installment because now it’s Amy’s turn for a happily ever after. But not until she’s abducted first. Who should come to her rescue but none other than her nemesis, Sarah’s former fiancé, Derrick Baldwin?

Amy and Derrick don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things. Will they work together to find whoever is responsible for salting a mine and forging signatures on assayers’ certificates? Because of the nature of the story, and with it following parameters that were already set in Sarah and Mark’s story, An Agent for Amaryllis is quite a bit different than most of The Pinkerton Matchmaker stories that you’ve already read. (If you haven’t read any yet, might I recommend this multi-author series to you? It really is a fun one!) For one thing, due to a threat on her life, Amaryllis is forced to go into hiding. Quite conveniently, Derrick owns a “guest ranch” (another name for dude ranch) several miles out of town, so it’s the perfect place to keep watch over her.

With this being a historical romance, however, and societal rules being what they were in 1878, chaperones are needed. Naturally, I chose Amy’s guardians, Chas and Jessica, along with their three young sons, to step into this role. What follows is a spark-filled romance and merry chase as Amy and Derrick put the clues together to capture the bad guys and realize they hold strong feelings for each other. These characters were so fun and easy to write, their conversations just flew off the page. Amy and Derrick, along with Chas and Jessica, are admittedly among my favorite of favorites as far as my own literary couples go.

 

A couple of fun facts about this story:

1) According to my research, dude ranches didn’t come into existence until the 1880s, so I moved the timeline for them up a bit to fit the plot for An Agent for Amaryllis. 

2) One way that miners used to salt mines was to place a small gold nugget at the end of a gun and shoot, letting fragments of gold splatter against the mine's walls. This sounds like the original version of paintball shooting.

I hope you’ll be ready to continue the saga of the Flanders, Bryant, and Packard families when An Agent for Amaryllis releases on July 10, 2020. These three books have been very rewarding to write. These characters feel so real to me, almost like family. I hope you enjoy their stories.