A Dark Time
in Austin History
Thanks so
much for inviting me to Cowboy Kisses!
I met
Ginger a long time ago when we were both part of an online critique group for
writers of historical fiction. I’ve been writing historical romantic
suspense—mainly British or early American, so I never thought I’d find myself
on her blog with a cowboy hero of my own!
About 4-5
years ago, my blog-mates at Inkwell Inspirations decided to jump into the
novella anthology wave with hopes it would take some of us from pre- to
published. Group emails narrowed things down to Regency or Westerns and we
ended up with Austen in Austin. (We were all published by the time it
…finally…came out!)
Austen in Austin is a collection of eight (Four in
each book. Vol 2 comes out in the fall) Jane Austen inspired novellas set in
Austin Texas. That’s where the fun began! We each chose an Austen novel and brainstormed
the setting and our characters. This took some organization. We created a
spreadsheet with all our characters so we knew what each character was like and
what they were doing in any given year during the span of our eight stories.
For instance, if someone had a cat wander into their story, the rest of us
needed to know its name!
Digging up
Austin history was so enjoyable. I found a great site that shows a huge
collection of Austin post cards. What a treasure. One of them became, with the
site’s permission, part of the background of our cover. Austin in the 1880s! http://www.austinpostcard.com/
As an
historical writer, I have to admit I enjoy the research a little too much. Next
to actually visiting a museum, my favorite find is a street map or drawing of
what the setting looked like. We were able to find some wonderful old maps of
Austin as well.
When I read
a story, I never quite know if a named place is real or made-up unless I’m very
familiar with the real-life setting. Few of us recall Austin 1887 (ahem) but I
believe it’s important to be as accurate as possible. Of course, there’s always
a need to tweak history or location. In
the case of my story, I moved an entire cemetery (the Texas State Cemetery) across town and closer to the fictional location of
the Austen Academy for Young Ladies finishing school. My co-authors and I know
right were where the lovely building sits, so our characters would be
consistent in their travels.
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Because my
story is based on Austen’s Northanger
Abbey, I considered using the insane asylum as fodder for my story, but I
settled on a cemetery instead! Jane Austen wrote Northanger Abbey as a parody
of the popular gothic novels of the time. I followed suit. What I found was
worse. Austin had a serial killer not long after Jack the Ripper disappeared
from London.
Through 1884-1885, this mystery killer was called both ‘The Servant Girl Annihilator’ and ‘The Austin Axe Murderer”. Seven
women and one man died, and others survived these attacks once thought to be
Jack the Ripper himself. While I referenced this in my story set two years
later, I made sure to address the issue with respect even though my story is
light-hearted…with a naïve, but big-hearted heroine.
Thankfully,
the rest of our stories found some cheerier history unique to Austin. What we
really love about our stories is that they are all connected by setting and
characters. Our heroes and heroines show up in other stories and we’ve found
that readers really enjoy catching those cameo appearances! I learned a lot
about Austin’s history and fell in love with the city. I hope readers read the Austen in Austin anthology or my novella
Alarmingly Charming and see why. As
for cowboy kisses…my research failed me but just as I’ve never been to Austin,
I think my heroine found her moxie just in time!
I’m giving
away a copy (print or ebook) of Austen in
Austin. I’d like to ask you all if you’ve ever traveled to a place simply
because you became enamored with it through fiction? And, authors…what was the
best ‘research trip’ you took and why? If you’d like an easy visit to the
setting of my story Alarmingly Charming, here’s the link to my pinterest page: https://www.pinterest.com/debraemarvin/alarmingly-charming/
Debra E. Marvin tries not to run too
far from real life but the imagination born out of being an only child has a
powerful draw. Besides, the voices in her head tend to agree with all the
sensible things she says. She’d like to live just a wee bit closer to her
grandchildren, but is thankful that God is in control, that He chooses to bless
us despite ourselves and that He has a sense of humor.
Other than writing light-hearted romances and gritty gothics,
she has pretty normal obsessions: fabric, peanut butter, vacations, British
dramas and whatever mystery series she’s currently reading. Visit her at
debraemarvin.com, the Inkwell Inspirations Blog, @debraemarvin on twitter and
Debra E Marvin on Facebook and Pinterest, but not her house because she usually
has dirty dishes.
MORE ABOUT AUSTEN IN AUSTIN: Vol
1 Paperback and ebook, or single novella ebooks available at Amazon.
Discover four heroines in historical Austin, TX, as they find
love--Jane Austen style. Volume 1 includes:
If I Loved You Less by
Gina Welborn, based on Emma
A prideful matchmaker examines her own heart when her protégé falls for the wrong suitor.
A prideful matchmaker examines her own heart when her protégé falls for the wrong suitor.
Romantic Refinements by
Anita Mae Draper, based on Sense and Sensibility
A misguided academy graduate spends the summer falling in love . . . twice.
A misguided academy graduate spends the summer falling in love . . . twice.
One Word from You by
Susanne Dietze, based on Pride and Prejudice
A down-on-her-luck journalist finds the story of her dreams, but her prejudice may cost her true love . . . and her career.
A down-on-her-luck journalist finds the story of her dreams, but her prejudice may cost her true love . . . and her career.
Alarmingly Charming by
Debra E. Marvin, based on Northanger Abbey
A timid gothic dime-novel enthusiast tries to solve the mystery of a haunted cemetery and, even more shocking, why two equally charming suitors compete for her attentions.
A timid gothic dime-novel enthusiast tries to solve the mystery of a haunted cemetery and, even more shocking, why two equally charming suitors compete for her attentions.
