What do wagon trains, historical romance and Emma have to do with one another? Well, research on wagon trains was the inspiration for the most recent western historical romance I wrote, Emma’s Epiphany. (Don’t search for it – it is only available in a multi-author anthology right now, Hopeful Brides.)
Sometimes my stories and books begin with an idea that just takes on a life of it’s own and I run with it. I just run with the muse.
Other times I have to do research in order to accurately convey facts or time period details that are authentic for the time period I’m writing about… or truthfully for those readers who are historically knowledgeable and will call me out if I’m not. How’s that for transparency? : )
I could live in my imagination ALL DAY LONG, and create stories that have no basis in fact, but rather are fully born of my imagination and muse. However, that doesn’t always work well for authors, especially when they write in a historical period with readers who scrutinize accuracy, and so I must research!
While researching the Oregon Trail and wagon trains, I found out some facts that were surprising to me, and I wrote about that on the Sweet Americana Sweethearts blog where I’m a contributor and author member, and you can find that article here.
That research inspired a story about Emma. Emma is (this should come as no surprise for those of you who read my books) a Suffragette. She lives in Boston, and returns home from a protest that she participated in to find something that completely rocks her world. I’m not going to give you all the details, but you can find out more at the Hopeful Brides listing on Amazon.com.
Emma is strong-willed (she’s a suffragette after all!), a junior in college, and excited about all that’s ahead of her, but that all comes to a screeching halt, and yes, as you’ve probably guessed, she ends up on a wagon train headed west.
I tried to be as true to what a wagon train was really like (not a Hollywood Western version) as possible, and Emma experiences some difficult days during her journey, but at the end (as with all my books), she finds hope and… love.
I hope this will entice you to consider picking up a copy of Hopeful Brides. It’s just $.99 right now, or FREE if you have a Kindle Unlimited membership. I’m friends with the other two authors, Annie Bone and Terri Grace, and truly thrilled to be able to release an anthology with them. Get your copy of HOPEFUL BRIDES here.
If you have questions, please leave a comment, and I promise to respond to you.
Also, please head over to the Sweet Americana Sweethearts blog, read my article there, then come back here and let me know which of the 5 Facts most surprised you in the comments below, or if you already knew them all, that’s okay, too. One lucky commenter will win a $10 gift card to Amazon— so please share this post and comment below!
Have you traveled the Oregon Trail? Let us know.
Warmly,
Kate
*** This contest will run through Presidents’ Day, Monday, February 20th and the winner will be randomly chosen – but you do have to comment in order to win! Now go read the article on Sweet Americana Sweethearts and come back here and comment! Share and invite your friends to participate, too. It’s Random Acts of Kindness Day, after all. 🙂
#KateCambridge #Kindness #RandomActsOfKindness #sweetromance #historicalromance #wagontrains