My guest today is Meg Mims, a friend and fellow author I've recently met and come to admire. It's always good to have like-minded friends, and I'm pleased she agreed to come here and share her western historical romantic suspense, Double Crossing. Welcome Meg:
Yep, Double Crossing also has a mystery element and a touch of inspirational. I call it a “blended genre”
read – check out my 5-star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads!
A murder
arranged as a suicide … a missing deed … and a bereft daughter whose
sheltered world is shattered.
August, 1869: Lily Granville is stunned
by her father’s murder. Only one other person knows about a valuable California
gold mine deed -- both are now missing. Lily heads west on the newly opened
transcontinental railroad, determined to track the killer. She soon realizes
she is no longer the hunter but the prey.
As things progress from bad to worse,
Lily is uncertain who to trust—the China-bound missionary who wants to marry
her, or the wandering Texan who offers to protect her … for a price. Will Lily
survive the journey and unexpected betrayal?
Why did you set
Double Crossing on the transcontinental railroad? Did you learn anything
about trains that surprised you while writing this book?
I loved True Grit (the
original book, the movie in 1969 and the recent version also) and was inspired
to use the “premise” of a young woman whose father is murdered, setting her on
a quest for justice. Because I had to “twist” it (in many ways, since I
couldn’t use Rooster Cogburn either!), I chose the transcontinental railroad
because I’d always been fascinated by trains. Since the UP and CP first came
together at Promontory Point in May of 1869, I decided that setting Double
Crossing several months after that historic event seemed a ‘natural fit.’ And
the research all seemed to fall into place, with a book written in 1872 about
an English nobleman taking a train trip from New York to San Francisco, plus
other interesting sources.
The most surprising thing I learned while
writing this book – most people assume trains had normal “washroom” facilities
like modern trains. Think again! Basically they were ‘outhouse’ holes with
waste falling to the track, and caused major hygienic problems over the years.
If your great-grandparents or grandparents were told to stay away from playing
on the tracks until the 1930s, when plumbing was introduced to passenger cars,
there was a good reason for that! Imagine how cold that would be in winter,
too.
Since you mentioned
Rooster Cogburn, did you create a character with the same role?
That was also tough – I
rolled Rooster and the Texas Ranger LaBoef into “ Ace” Diamond, an
ex-Confederate cavalry soldier, poker-player and wanderer… how did he end up in
Omaha, Nebraska, without his horse? I’m considering writing a brief “prequel”
short story to explain that soon! He may not be one-eyed or a drunk, but he has
an interesting history nonetheless.
Tell us about Lily
Granville. How did she introduce herself to you?
Lily went through many
transitions. First she was as young as Mattie Ross, 14 years old and so whiny
and spoiled, I disliked her. So I stuffed ‘Linnet,’ kicking and screaming, back
into the centrifuge. Out popped Julia, who was 17, religious and quite bent on
revenge for her father’s murder. Enough to shoot the killer, in fact, which
wouldn’t work – she needed to be vulnerable. Needy. Yet spunky enough to
undertake a 2,000 mile adventure and seek justice, not revenge. ‘Julia’ morphed
into Lily, who loved her father yet quarreled with him – and then overcame her
heartbreak to track the man she believed responsible for his death. Lily, at
19, has many choices ahead of her and discovers her own resilience is much
stronger than she ever knew in Double
Crossing. She’ll need that for the next adventure in Double or Nothing!
Here’s an excerpt,
where Lily is in Omaha, painfully aware she’ll need protection from the growing
danger – and then her domineering aunt shows up to persuade her to return to
Chicago:
My face burned. I gritted my
teeth, aware of the curious diners’ hushed whispers around the room, and
lowered my voice. “I overheard your plans about Bellevue. Did you think I’d
allow you to shut me away in such a place?”
Aunt Sylvia glared. “We only have
your health in mind.”
“I’m in perfect health. You’d
better take the train back to Chicago, because I already bought my Pullman
ticket.”
“You cannot travel alone with Mr.
Mason. You’re not engaged.”
“Uncle Harrison is expecting me.”
I ignored a twinge of guilt while
the fib hovered between us. Her mouth pinched tight, she drummed her fingers on
the tablecloth. Charles stood quiet, his face beet red, one hand smoothing back
his fair hair, the other adjusting his collar and tie. Angry yells and shouts
drifted through the window panes from the street, drowning out the resumed
conversation around us, the clatter of plates and flatware. Outside, I caught
sight of several men who fought with bare fists. They kicked, bit, scratched
and pummeled each other. Sir Vaughn glanced out the window and then sat across
from my aunt. He waved a hand.
“Common ruffians. These rustic
surroundings breed a lack of manners.”
“Lily, you have no idea of the
dangers. My husband traveled to Nevada earlier this year,” Aunt Sylvia said.
“Neither you or Mr. Mason have considered the impropriety of this.”
“He’s a gentleman for escorting
me.”
“I can see for myself what you
both are—”
A blood‑curdling yell, similar to what I’d
read about an Indian war cry, stopped her cold. The moment I glanced up, the
window exploded. Shards of glass rained on us and a man rolled over the table.
Scattering plates, flatware, cups and teapot, before he crashed onto the floor—unconscious,
and half‑draped
in the tablecloth among the broken china and glass.
Mere inches from my feet.
BUY LINK: Astraea Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble
Check out the reviews on Amazon and Goodreads!
6 comments:
Thanks for having me here today, Ginger!! :-D
Great blog Meg! Your book sounds like a real page turner! I loved "True Grit" as well.
Thanks, Lisa! TG is one of my fave movies of all time. :-)
Enjoyed the excerpt ... makes me want to read more.
Also liked learning a bit of the story behind the story.
hey, Jeff! Thanks for checking it out. :-D
Great excerpt, Meg. I liked the history too.
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