The Freedom of Hypothetical Place

Before I was a historical romance author, I was a family historian. The biggest challenge I had with pursuing my family history and helping others with theirs was getting distracted with the history of where the ancestors lived. Is it any small wonder, then, when I started writing historical novels I chose real places and researched the real people living there at the time my story was set?

Lundy 1890

That is what happened with my Eastern Sierra Brides 1884 series set in Lundy and Bridgeport, California. Most of the minor characters that mostly get cameo appearances in my books are based on real people who lived at that time in that place, even though for most of them I do not have an image, personal description, or any idea of the nature of their personality. Yes, it can be taking a chance that I might get contacted by a descendant complaining they did not appreciate how I portrayed their great-great grandpa. However, it worked.

Last year, I worked with a few of our blog authors on a multi-author series, Sweethearts of Jubilee Springs. It was set in a hypothetical locality. Yes, we based our town, Jubilee Springs, on a real place and researched the topography, climate and working conditions. We even used the real town we chose as the model for our town map. This hypothetical town allowed a great deal of freedom because we were not dealing with REAL people and worrying about their progeny raising objections to how they were portrayed. And, we could place the railroad, or the river, or the lake, or the neighboring town, or the town buildings-whatever we wanted for our stories-where we wanted them in relation to everything else. All we had to do was have guidelines we all followed so there would be some consistency between stories.

Stanislaus River, California

This year I am writing a novella for an anthology. In deciding the place, I once again went with a hypothetical town. Why? Because the business of the main family in the story is not one of the nature that every town has one.

Is it based on a real locality? Yes. In fact, last week, hubby and I made a one day road trip to the locality to take pictures and research the real people and business that will be the inspiration for the location of my story. (Sorry, Mr. T, but your descendants do not want me to portray you the way the character in my story will be portrayed. You will have to wait until future blog posts to receive your accolades.)

For now, I would like to introduce you to my newest release which is a collection of my first three books in the Sweethearts of Jubilee Springs series set in the hypothetical town of Jubilee Springs. Of the five books I wrote for this series, four were novellas and too short to publish in paperback individually. Hence, the collection. It is titled:

INDEPENDENCE DAY 1881 – Zina Abbott’s Sweethearts of Jubilee Springs, Collection 1

Another benefit of this collection is for those Kindle Unlimited readers who have not yet read all m y books in the series. You may download this book in your Kindle Unlimited queue, and read three books at a time.

Here is the book description:

Zina Abbott's first three books in the multi-author series, Sweethearts of Jubilee Springs.

Book 3 - Aaron's Annulment Bride:
Andrea married Aaron so he could get his mining company house, but now she wants an annulment.

Book 6 - Cat's Meow:
Catherine immediately falls in love with tall, hunky miner, Harold. She wants to marry him, but there is one "meowly" little problem.

Book 7 - Bargain Bessie:
Brought to Jubilee Springs after the death of her mother, Bessie, a confirmed spinster meets Zeb, a decisive, impatient rancher who is NOT pushing forty.

To access both the ebook and the print book, please CLICK HERE.

My fourth and fifth books, will shortly be available in both ebook, including Kindle Unlimited, as well as print. As a matter of interest (or not), since my fourth book in this series is a full novel, there is only three pages difference in the size of these two collections even though Collection 2 contains only two books.

Have a great day in your real world!