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Historical Research for a Debut Novel

Alyssa Schwarz • Aug 31, 2023

Join me today as I welcome author Alyssa Schwarz as she shares about her debut novel.


Every book requires some research. My debut novel, The Glass Cottage, has a historic element that takes place in an old Colorado ghost town, so I got to do a little digging. The fun part about researching a split-time story is how your contemporary characters get to discover the historical alongside you as the author and reader.

 

Here are a few interesting snapshots of my research for this book and a fun fact about the real life town it’s set in:

 

1. While writing, my parents and I took a trip to see the famed ghost town, St. Elmo. Tucked away in a narrow mountain valley, away from highway noise and cell reception, it felt as if we were stepping back in time a hundred years. I'll admit, I couldn't put down my camera, and that was when I saw it... Iris's house. Well, not really her house, but I was so inspired by the humble log cabin with the lace drapes decorating the aged windows, I couldn't help but wonder what her life would have been like living in a mining boom town at the height of the Colorado Gold Rush.

 

2. In 1886, the aquamarines from Mt. Antero were first introduced to the mineralogical community by “Nels” Nelson Daniel Wanemaker via a letter from Roselle T. Cross to George F. Kunz. It is debated as to whether or not Wanemaker was the first to discover the blue gemstone on Mt. Antero, but to this day, Antero remains the highest known gem locality in the United States. The largest ever recorded discovery in Colorado was back in 2004, when an amateur rockhound unearthed a specimen measuring 37 by 25 inches with over 100 aquamarine crystals and other gems!

 

3. How do you pronounce Buena Vista, Colorado? The town’s name has been pronounced “BEWna Vista” instead of the Spanish “BWAY-na Vista” ever since it was founded. It all came about at a meeting in 1879, when residents and property owners in the area at the convergence of Cottonwood Creek and the Arkansas River held a meeting to create a formal community. They had been told that would help attract a railroad line (eventually it attracted three). Two names were proposed by attendees: Collegiate Peaks, after the mountains in the area, and Buena Vista, which means “beautiful view” in Spanish, certainly an appropriate description. Alsina Dearheimer, the resident and property owner who suggested the name Buena Vista, certainly knew how the Spanish words were pronounced, her first husband having been a language and music professor. But she insisted that the pronunciation for the town name be Americanized into “BEW-na,” borrowing the first syllable of the English word beautiful. Her suggestion won out. An interesting anomaly was born, and Dearheimer became known as the Mother of BEW-na Vista. To this day, the tradition remains, but it can also be shortened to “BEWNIE” or simply BV.

 

 

 

 

Meet Alyssa:

1.  What do you enjoy doing for relaxation?

I love to hike, bake, paint or do any kind of art project, and write fun flash fiction stories to tame all the story ideas floating around in my head.

2.  What can your readers expect from you next?

The last book in the Prescott Family Romance series is set to release just over a month from now on October 3rd! Help me spread the word and pre-order the book for your chance to win some fun artwork and bookish swag! If you do preorder the book, just send me a message on IG with your order number and you’ll be added to the drawing. :)

3.  What can readers who enjoy your book do to help make it successful?

Reviews! Reviews! Reviews! It takes less than a minute to write a simple review, but each one helps train the algorithm to better promote the book and ensure more future readers find it.

 

 

Reader Question: What book are you looking forward to reading this Fall? Leave your comment below.

 

 

A peek inside The Glass Cottage:

 

Prologue

 

Colorado Mountains

October 1883

 

The icy wind tore at the edges of Iris’s scarf, and she cinched the ends closer to her chest. She didn’t know how many hours she’d spent on the mountain, but it hadn’t taken long for the storm to charge in with a fury. Fingers aching from the cold, she moved one numb foot in front of the other, hoping to find shelter… and soon.

Loose scree cracked and groaned its protest as she scrambled along the slope face. On such an exposed part of the mountain, nothing was secure. Not even the ice-glazed rocks that paved the path beneath her could be trusted to support her movements.

Iris tested the ground with her foot and took another tentative step forward. She pressed blindly ahead, one inch at a time.

Every shallow breath burned within her chest, a sure sign she was above tree-line, but she could be anywhere on the bald peak. The near white-out conditions made it impossible to distinguish any recognizable landmarks, let alone a trail. For all she knew, she could have already hiked two or ten miles through the snow, but she had to face reality.

She was lost.

Another gust of wind wailed against her, sending chills raking through her body. She rocked back on her heels to brace herself, but the shift in body weight dislodged the loose rocks at her feet.

A scream escaped her lips as she plunged down the slope.


Check out the book here at a great deal: The Glass Cottage will be on sale for $0.99 (a 90% discount) from August 30 - September 3

o  Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Alyssa-Schwarz/author/B09HR9RVWV 


About Alyssa:

Alyssa is a Colorado native who attended the Colorado School of Mines, got her masters in Geological Engineering, and promptly became a watercolor artist and author (as one does). She loves writing heartfelt romances with happy endings, a bit of mystery, faith, humor, and second chances. Receive a free short story when you sign up for her newsletter at: https://www.authoralyssaschwarz.com/


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