GRANDMA’S WEDDING QUILTS Series debuts today with the release of THE PREQUEL, a short introduction title by Kate Cambridge. My contribution to this 12-volume series (including the prequel) is Pleasance’s First Love. In this article, I share the gem of an idea, true-to-history, that came from researching quilts in Colorado in the 19th century. Who knew a quilt could have two “tops”?
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.
When did U.S. Marshals begin? What were their responsibilities? Can you believe President George Washington signed the Marshals into law for the purpose of working the National Census? Over time, their job description changed, but they’ve been the one law enforcement position with a time-limit. At the turn of the century, Marshals still didn’t have universal badges. My new release, coming December 20, 2016, is a U.S. Marshal turned small-town Sheriff. He’s learning his problems aren’t smaller or easier.
The Marshal’s Surrender
Coming December 20, 2016
While dimples and beauty marks were seen as attractive and stylish, Victorian Americans deplored freckles, “moth marks”, suntans, and sunburns–most unfeminine! Commercial products promised to eradicate such unwelcome blemishes and guaranteed beauty! If potions and powders failed, one photographer promised no freckles showed in his cabinet cards.
“Mason Jars” (glass bottles for home food preservation) were invented and patented in the United Sates in the Victorian Era. Industrious homemakers grew large gardens, tended fruit trees, and bottled everything from jams and jellies to grape juice, apple sauce to soups, tomatoes to green beans. How did women accomplish this work?
