Bell Bridge Books

“A Sort of Homecoming for Me”

by Virginia Brown

I have a confession: I am an avid Anglophile. Since I was a small child, I have loved any and everything I could read, see at the movies, or watch on TV about the British Isles. Until recently, I never understood quite why I have always been so fascinated with anything English. A few years ago I began to research our family genealogy, and at last I understand. My mother’s ancestors came from England and Ireland, half of my father’s from Wales and Scotland. On my mother’s side I was able to trace our lineage back to Waleran de Gyrlington, born in 1058. He married a local Yorkshire girl, and happily set about creating a long line of descendants. Perhaps that is why, upon my first visit to England, I actually wept with emotion at setting down on the runway of Gatwick Airport. It was a sort of homecoming for me.

In researching background for NEVER TEMPT A DUKE, I chose Hampshire, a beautiful location on the southern coast with a rich history and gorgeous homes. I shamelessly borrowed from other country manors, castles, and villages to create my hero’s home and lineage. While the surrounding hills and vales are as accurate as I can describe them, the house itself is a composite of other impressive homes scattered over the English countryside. It was easy for me to imagine the Duke of Deverell in such a setting, and even easier to imagine a young American girl’s awe at finding herself living in Deverell Hall as his ward. Of course, Alyssa’s arrival was fraught with anxiety since she was pretending to be her twin brother, a deception that Blake Crandell, Duke of Deverell would certainly not appreciate. But what else could she do when faced with the alternative of languishing in a female academy at home in Virginia? Her twin, Nicky, had inherited an earldom through their father, but Alyssa’s future was uncertain. Since the duke had been made guardian, he had control over their lives until they reached the age of twenty-one. Nicky chose to go to sea, and Alyssa embarked on a deception that would change her life forever. As an American in an unfamiliar land with unfamiliar customs, she had much to learn, and never expected to fall in love with the duke. Nor had the duke any expectations of love, especially with someone he’d watched grow from a rebellious girl into a beautiful young woman. Deverell had few illusions, having been disappointed in love before, and had vowed to never allow himself to be tempted into such dangerous emotion again.

But he hadn’t anticipated the power of Alyssa’s desire or his own response. . . .

NEVER TEMPT A DUKE is an Amazon Monthly 100 for March for only $1.99! Grab it today!

Researchaholic

by Eve Gaddy




I love research. There’s nothing I like better when starting a book than to be able to do research. I love going to the library and finding books and articles on the subject I’m researching. I love being able to google the subject and have all kinds of books and articles show up in my browser. I make a research file for each book in my browser favorites and keep all the links in it. I also keep a file for print articles and I have both ebooks and paper books for research. I keep all my research for every book I’ve written. That way if I need to know something about jewel thieves, or Texas Rangers, or cops, or cold cases, or Hotshots, or any number of things I’ve researched in the past, I don’t have to start from zero. 



A really interesting thing happened just as I was starting to do research for Cry Love. I decided that even though I’d never heard of one, that it would have been logical for there to have been another Underground Railroad, but this one running from Texas to Mexico. After all, Mexico is a lot closer to Texas than Canada. Imagine my surprise when I found that my idea happened to be true.

First, I googled Texas-Mexico Underground Railroad to see if it had existed. I found a number of articles that referred to it, some with just a mention and some with more information. Information was scarce on the subject. There isn’t a lot written about it, or at least, a lot that is accessible. Most people don’t even know the Texas-Mexico Underground Railroad existed. I’ve read that much that’s written about it is in Spanish, but even in Mexico the stories about it aren’t well known. 



The kernel of an idea I started with was that of a black man and a white woman who fell in love just prior to the Civil War. The man was a slave. Again, I didn’t know much about the subject, but people fall in love all the time, so it didn’t seem impossible for such a situation to have taken place. One of the books I found fascinating is Forbidden Fruit–Love Stories From the Underground Railroad, by Betty Deramus. One section that particularly interested me was about interracial love stories from the Civil War era. The stories were touching and emotional and often tragic. 

Although I still research some of the medical references and situations and such, I do have my own personal go-to medical sources. My husband, Bob, is a retired physician who was a General Surgeon and Radiologist. He loves it when I ask him things. 

Me: “I need something really exciting to happen in the ER.” I go on to explain the circumstances, what I’m trying to accomplish, etc. 

Bob: “You don’t want the ER to be exciting. Things aren’t going well if they’re exciting.” 
Me: “Yes, yes, I know that. (He’s told me this before. Many times.) But tell me what could happen that requires both a trauma surgeon and a neurosurgeon. Something they might argue about.”
Bob: Sighs heavily. “Well, this could happen…”
Me: “No.”
Bob: “Or this…”
Me: “No.”
Bob: Audibly grinding teeth. “How many scenarios do you want?”
Me: “I want one that’s exciting.”

We go on like that for a while until I finally hear something that might work. Then, of course, I have to pick his brains about how to write the scene and finally, I ask him to read over it to make sure it doesn’t sound stupid or that I haven’t gotten something wrong. I’m fairly certain at times like that he wishes he wasn’t a retired physician. My daughter is a Physician’s Assistant so I have another source for answers to medical questions. I think she likes being asked. So far.:)

I also had to do some research about divorce in Texas. I warned my husband in case he came upon me reading about divorce and thought I was planning something. I don’t think he was worried. I’m pretty sure I’ve asked him questions about that as well. I’ve been a writer for a long time now, so he’s accustomed to being asked about all sorts of subjects–both those he knows about and those he doesn’t.

There are a number of groups for writers that are wonderful for doing research. An excellent one is the Yahoo groups Crime Scene Writers group, started by Wally Lind, a retired police crime scene investigator. The description from the Yahoo groups site reads: “A forum for asking and answering crime scene investigation, applied forensics, and police procedure questions for fiction or non-fiction writers. Writers are invited to ask and crime scene investigators, forensic scientists, and medical practitioners are invited to answer.”

As with a lot of things, research has changed markedly with the Internet. It can make a writer’s life both easier and harder. Easier to find books, articles and other resources to find answers to questions. Harder because it’s common to get distracted by every article you read and keep clicking on different articles until suddenly you are reading an article that has absolutely no relation to whatever you were researching. Worse, two hours have passed and you still haven’t found the answer to your question.

But you never know when you might need an article on Wolf Moon name variations.

RESEARCH OBSESSION? ANYONE?

By Patricia McLinn

I’m a research junkie.  Love it. Especially when the research takes me back to Wyoming, as it did last week.

It was a delight to revisit the landscape and people that Elizabeth “E.M.” Danniher discovers in SIGN OFF, Book 1 in the “Caught Dead in Wyoming” series, when she’s dropped from her top-notch TV news job in New York into rustic Sherman, Wyoming. Newly divorced, newly arrived in Wyoming, she’s not sure where she’s going – or wants to go – in her career or her life. But she’s determined to find out. … As well as figuring out whodunit when dead bodies cross her path.

Like Elizabeth, I arrived in Wyoming for the first time with no idea where I was going. A decade and a half ago, I had a free airline ticket that I had paid for dearly in inconvenience. I decided to go somewhere I’d never been before and that was expensive to fly to <eg>. I ended up in Sheridan, Wyo., rented a car and took off around the state.

It was fascinating. New and varied worlds at almost every turn.  I heard a western meadowlark for the first time, saw big horn sheep, buffalo, the Big Horn Mountains, the Rockies, vistas that brought tears to my eyes, Yellowstone Park … and met some people that brought tears to my eyes from laughing at their dry humor.  It was a terrific trip, and the first of many. I was hooked.

Now, you might think this obsession with Wyoming is strange for an Illinois native, but I swear I have mountains somewhere back in my blood, because I have this strong affinity with the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, as well as the Big Horns and Rockies of Wyoming. It feels like I can breathe deeper there.

(But Wyoming’s mountains have another advantage: They’re dry.  Plus, it’s windy, so it’s like living in one of those shampoo commercials where your hair is never frizzing and forever streaming behind you … except, of course, for when it blows in your face. If I’d known Wyoming could do that for my hair, I would have run away to the Big Horns as a teenager for sure!)

On this latest trip, I spent lots of time on a friend’s ranch, seeing newly born calves and their mommas. On my second trip (to see older calves and heifers moved to grazing land using pickup, horse and dogs to track them as they moved along) I was grateful for improved cell coverage … receiving a phone call from my friend, who said, “Just saw your car drive past the turnoff.”  Oops.

I’ve done that a few times in Wyoming, including one memorable occasion when I was tracking wagon ruts of a trail from the 1860s and ended up in a rancher’s pasture. Fortunately, he was unperturbed. Did I mention it was nearly dark and I was low on gas? Hmm, I wonder if Elizabeth could have a similar adventure … This trip included a few times when I wasn’t sure where I was, but with the mountains to my west I could figure I was heading in the right general direction and I didn’t even make any accidental pasture visits.

For sure, Elizabeth will be visiting King’s Saddlery/King Ropes [[http://www.kingropes.com/index.htm]]  in Sheridan, as I did this trip. And she’s going to receive an education on ropes as I did from Dan Morales, who generously shared just a bit of his vast knowledge of ropes and ropemaking with me. But I can’t tell you any more about that until you read LEFT HANGING, the second book in the “Caught Dead in Wyoming” series, which will be out at the end of June.

I also visited the wonderful Bradford Brinton Museum [[http://www.bbmandm.org]]  having a wonderful times wandering the grounds – I want this house! – as well as talking with an intern who gave me some great ideas and contacts I need for the third book in the series (no title yet) that I’m working on now.

So, now it’s time to unpack the rope I bought at King’s, the bowl I got at Piney Creek Pottery, the wildflower seeds from Brinton Museum and all the memories, while I get busy revisiting Wyoming through Elizabeth’s eyes in “Caught Dead in Wyoming” – hope you’ll come along with Elizabeth and me to see this fascinating place.

 Through tomorrow, SIGN OFF, Book 1 in the Caught Dead in Wyoming Series is ONLY $1.99 at Amazon Kindle!