Spark of an Idea

Wendy Wilson Spooner     @Wendy_W_Spooner

Allen Hamilton is a name that inspires me to my core.

The first time the idea sparked to write his story was on a research trip to Ireland where I was hunting for ancestral records with my husband and parents. As we searched archives in tiny villages surrounded by deep green hills, and combed through the records in town halls flanked by ancient castles and cathedrals, something deep within me stirred—a connection to the past as tangible as the cobblestones beneath my feet.

Allen was the oldest son of my 3rd great-grandfather. When he turned 18, he met a man from “the states” at his great-aunt’s manor house in County Donegal that lit the fire of the American dream in his heart, and compelled him to cross the Atlantic alone to find a way to save his family. Allen’s father was a Clerk of the Crown and one of 17 sons of a landed gentry family near Enniskillen Castle in Northern Ireland. But when the British forced oppressive fees and tax laws on the people it imploded the economy—three decades before the Irish Famine. And seeing no hope for recovery, Allen borrowed the six-pence for passage and crossed the ocean in search of an answer.

BASED ON A 2OO-YEAR-OLD LETTER COLLECTION

A faded and worn letter collection survives today, written by Allen’s parents to him after Allen went to America. My mom and my daughters and I transcribed many of the faded, damaged letters which copies can be found on microfilm in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah as well as the genealogical library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The correspondence is both inspiring and heart-breaking, filled with the family’s trust in God as they suffered, while Allen journeyed thousands of miles away through antebellum America, seeking for a way to make a success of himself so he could bring his family to him before it was too late.

As starvation and typhus fever raged throughout his homeland, it was who and what Allen became in the U.S. that still inspires me today.

I wrote Once Upon an Irish Summer through the eyes of Allen’s fictional descendant, a young gifted artist struggling through debilitating grief, because what we learn from the past entirely holds the promise of changing our future.

NO REGRETS

Writing this story in dual timeline was one of the hardest tasks I could have taken on as a debut novelist. But I would do it again because the outcome has inspired countless people to delve into the lives of their own ancestors. And I believe that those who came before us want nothing more than for each generation to become a little better. And that is what Once Upon an Irish Summer is all about. To learn about the people we come from, to honor them, and then to stand on their shoulders to become someone even better. 

Wendy Wilson Spooner, Lic. G., LCoT, is a Genetic Genealogist by day, a writer by night, and an artist in between.

Her love of what we can learn from history compels her to write the true stories she unearths during her research because she has found that truth is indeed, much more exciting and inspiring than fiction. 

Wendy is a member of the International Society of Genetic Genealogist, The Association of Professional Genealogists, Romance Writers of America, and The American Night Writer’s Association. As an award-winning author of professional articles and poems, she’s turned to novel writing to share what she has learned with a greater audience.

When not writing or researching, Wendy paints, hikes, binges on Bollywood movies, and spends time with her greatest loves—her family.

https://wendywilsonspooner.com

https://www.facebook.com/authorWendyWilsonSpooner/?modal=admin_todo_tour

https://twitter.com/Wendy_W_Spooner

https://www.instagram.com/wendyspooner/

http://KnowMyRoots.com

Building a Fictional Town for Your Book

By Patricia Potter

When I started writing “A Soldier’s Promise,” I knew I had a problem. All my other books were set in an actual place: Atlanta that I knew well, Memphis that I knew nearly as well, Boston that I had visited many times and the Georgia coast that I had haunted for many years. Other locations were intentionally vague: a Texas Ranger station, a ranch in Colorado, a trail drive, etc. But now I was writing a book where a small town is really a character in the book. I wanted it to be eccentric, and quite obviously I couldn’t use a real one where everyone knows everyone. The only solution was to build my own town.

“Promise” is the story of a wounded vet returning to a life foreign to him after eighteen years in the army. With him is Amos, a retired military dog with PTSD. My vet, a loner without family, is seeking a quiet refuge where the two can heal each other. That refuge is a cabin left to him by his best friend who was killed in their last battle together.

But where to place that town and what and who should be included? I knew I wanted him to go to a small town in Colorado on the edge of the Rockies. The first step was a giant Colorado map on which I circled every small town. Then I googled each one. Most have web sites with valuable details: population, industry if any, businesses, city government. The latter was particularly helpful. It often included the composition of city government and the size of its police department, including the names of officers and dispatchers. The latter was doubly valuable for providing names typical of the region. When I thought additional information was needed, I would call the listed number and, as always, people were always eager to answer any questions.

Armed with this information, I then went to the State of Colorado web site as well as my own encyclopedia for information on weather, flora and wildlife. I knew the story would include a rattlesnake bite and a national forest. After days of estimating distances and researching towns, I decided to place my town of approximately 3,000 souls about a hundred miles west of Pueblo.   

I had the basics now. At last, I could become a town planner. I designed my l town, complete with street names, businesses, town hall, elementary and high school, police station and a community center. There’s a hardware store, of course, and a sarcastic veterinarian who is also involved in search and rescue. There is an elderly doctor, a grocery store, drug store, small bank branch, real estate and insurance company, general store with some clothing, service station and garage, Maude’s diner that makes the best steaks in Colorado and four bars/saloons. There is a lake, public picnic area and community center with ball fields.   Everyone knows everyone, and when a newcomer appears, there is mass community interest, the last thing my protagonist wants.

A big problem was the town’s name. My original name was Lake City until I discovered a small town of similar size in the Colorado Mountains named Lake City. I was halfway through the book then and couldn’t believe I had missed it when researching small towns. But just as a precaution, I googled Lake City and sure enough there was one. Back to the drawing board. I ended up with Covenant Falls and you have to read the book to find out why. It has to do with a legend and Colorado history.

       

Once I had my town, the population was easy. It’s decidedly elderly because young people have to go elsewhere for jobs. The mayor is a widow with an eight-year-old son and a motley crew of rescue dogs. She is constantly at war with the president of the city council.

         

Covenant Falls is now as real to me as my own Memphis and I expect it will be the location of other books. After all, I did build it.             

________________________________________________________________________________

Patricia Potter is the USA Today Bestselling Author of more than sixty books, including historical romances, suspense and romance. Her complete list of her books can be found at Romance Wiki. She has been published by Bantam, Berkley, Harper and Harlequin, and her books has been translated into twelve languages. She is a past president of the 10,000-member Romance Writers of America, Georgia Romance Writers and River City Romance Writers. She is an avid advocate of animal rescue groups, including Pets for Vets, and is the proud adoptive mother of two rescue Australian Shepherd mixes. You can connect with Patricia on her website and blog, She shares this site with five other best-selling authors, Story Broads. Her latest book, A Soldier’s Promise, released April 1, 2014.