If you loved Mrs. Purvis,
the quirky landlady in
Ticket to Tomorrow,
you'll be glad to know her boarding house is home to the heroine in
this book as well. And Seth Howell, who brought the rowdy group of boys to
visit the Wild West Show in
Ticket,
is back...as the hero this time.
Copper Sunrise, the fourth book in
the series, may be purchased separately to complete the set that spans
Arizona's territorial years from Elizabeth O'Roarke's arrival in 1867 to her
granddaughter, Catherine's, involvement in the statehood celebration on
Valentine's Day, 1912.
The Arizona series comes to an
end with Book Four,
Copper Sunrise.
As an Arizona native, this has
been an especially meaningful series for me. I've been able to delve into
state history and draw upon the recollections of family members who heard
firsthand the stories of those who settled here in the early days.
I enjoyed following the O'Roarke and Garrett families as they grew along with the Arizona Territory.
It was hard to say goodbye to these characters I've come to know so well!
Women Reporters in 1860?
While DiAnn Mills, Darlene Mindrup, Kathleen
Y'Barbo, and I were doing
the research for the Golden Gate Gazette,
we learned there was, indeed, a newspaper strike in San Francisco at that
time. The newspapers were forced to hire women to fill in. . . but had a
hard time keeping their new employees because they kept getting married!
The Capstone Center in "Watcher in the
Woods"
A number of readers have written to me
about the "creepy" setting for "Watcher in the Woods" in the novella
collection
Hidden Motives. The story takes place near
Williams, Arizona. . .which isn't at all creepy.
J
The wide open spaces that
spread to the horizon, the isolation, and
the maze of dirt roads winding off in different directions are all
there, though. It's a wildly beautiful, lonely setting, one I felt would
be perfect for a story of suspense.
A Town Named
Petunia
Working on my novella, "Double
Running," in
A Stitch in Timewas an absolute hoot! After all, where else are you
going to read about a town named after a dead pig? To top it
off, we stuck those poor characters out in the middle of No
Man's Land. Fellow authors Tracey Bateman, Cathy Marie Hake, and
Vickie McDonough share the blame for the trials we inflicted on
the Stafford family and their neighbors.
While camping with my family on the
north rim of the Grand Canyon, I spent some time reading about the
Santa Fe Trail. What, I wondered, would have happened to someone
stranded along the trail? That germ of an idea grew into my first
published book, Journey Toward Home. Little did I know when I started
writing that it would grow into a series of books telling the stories of the
Bradley and Canfield families.
How did that happen? Simple! Once I
got to know the Bradley family, I knew there were more stories
there, just waiting to be told. The Measure of a Man
came next, showing what happened to Lizzie when she grew up. After
that, I moved my setting from New Mexico Territory to Prescott,
Arizona's First Territorial Capital, to write Season of Hope,
the story of Rachel Canfield.
Then I faced a dilemma--who to
write about next: Lizzie's younger brother, Willie, or Rachel's
younger sister, Violet? Again, the answer proved simple. Willie made
a trip to Arizona Territory to deliver three of the orneriest kids
imaginable to their guardian. Of course, he just happened to
meet Violet, and the rest of their story is found in Cross My
Heart.
All four of these titles can be read
start-to-finish in the collection
Sagebrush Brides.
* * *
For anyone interested in learning more about Arizona's territorial days,Sharlot Hall Museumis a
fantastic source of information. If you're ever
in the Prescott
area, stop in for a visit!
