by Kristin Holt
Like many authors, I often use
photographs to inspire my writing.
Who better to inspire a
fictional hero, than a handsome true-to-life hero?
Captain Robert Gibson, was born in 1886 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire,
Scotland. Intelligent, well-educated, uncommonly bright, and patriotic, he gave
his life as a military war hero in WWI.
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| Captain Robert Gibson, Scottish scholar and WWI soldier killed in 1915. Inspiration for Chadwick Hughes. |
The first time I saw his image,
I was astounded--handsome! Loyal, brave, bright, strong.
In my mind's eye, at least, I
patterned Chadwick Charles "C.C." Hughes, hero of Sophia'sLeap-Year Courtship after this handsome war hero, with utmost respect.
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| Cover model on book cover, inspiration for Sophia Sorensen. |
The cover was ready for this
new Sweet Romance (set in the winter of 1888-89) by the time I needed a visual
image of my heroine, Sophia Sorensen.
I already knew my heroine had to be somebody pretty amazing, because I'd
borrowed my great-great-grandmother's name. Interesting, at least to me and my
immediate family, the cover model strongly resembles the true-to-history Sophia
on my family tree.
I've written a blog
post about why and how images spark creativity in writing.
This time, I already had a
story. I just needed an anchor--mental images of the characters to help readers
sketch an image too. As I wrote this brand-new release, I gathered images
during my research process about every component of the story: fashion, bicycles,
railroad, mail-order brides (and fraudulent companies), hard winters, leap
year, leap-year courtships, and more! The images are all gathered on a Pinterest Board for this title. Please,
stop by and take a look.
Sophia's Leap-Year Courtship
released yesterday!
Book Description:
Union Pacific Station Agent Chadwick
Hughes has everything in a state of readiness to welcome his mail order
bride…everything but the bride. The woman he’s corresponded with for a year
didn’t change her mind or miss her train in Omaha—she never existed. Chadwick’s
mortified to discover he’s been swindled by a fraudulent matrimonial agency in
Chicago. He needs a lawyer if he’ll ever recover a dime of the fortune he spent
on worthless membership fees and the nonexistent bride’s transportation west.
Sophia Sorensen, Attorney at Law, is a
spinster on the edge of propriety. The good people of Wyoming Territory are
open to a lot of things, including Lady’s Privilege during Leap Years, but some
aren’t fond of her day-to-day behavior. Why, the woman rides her bicycle hither
and yon, showing her petticoat ruffle and ankles. She might be the least
ladylike specimen beneath Wyoming skies, but it’s entertaining to watch her
court the U.P. Station Agent, Chadwick Hughes, the most-eligible bachelor in
the county.
Learn lots more about this new title and the research
pictured on the Pinterest board, on my website.
Hi! I'm Kristin Holt, USA Today
Bestselling Author.
I write frequent articles (or view recent
posts easily on my Home Page, scroll down) about the nineteenth century American West–every
subject of possible interest to readers, amateur historians, authors…as all
of these tidbits surfaced while researching for my books. I also blog monthly
at Sweet Romance Reads, Sweet Americana Sweethearts, and Romancing the Genres.
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