Today is day one of a three day blog blitz featuring Her
Independent Spirit, the third novella in the Eastern Sierra Brides 1884
series.
Catch all seven excerpts on participating blogs on my Zina Abbott website by CLICKING HERE.
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today at noon/1:00/2:00/3:00p.m.
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As part of this blitz, I decided to clarify the type of eating place
one of my main characters, Beth Dodd, works in as a cook and baker.
When I hear the term “chop shop,” I immediately imagine a sinister
garage secreted away in somebody’s backyard in which criminal-types are
dismantling stolen cars and trucks in order sell the parts on the black market
in either the United States or in foreign nations. While studying the history
of Lundy, the gold mining town on the west end of Lundy Lake in Mill Creek
Canyon high up in the Eastern Sierra-Nevada mountains in Mono County, I
discovered the term chop shop had an entirely different meaning.
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| Much of the original town was burned about 1886, but this 1890's photo shows buildings in Lundy. |
Chop shops were eateries. To say a chop shop was a
restaurant was probably using the term loosely. They were probably the closest thing to
fast food hungry miners coming down from the mines could go to in order to get
a quick steak dinner. Possibly potatoes, biscuits or other side dishes may have
been included on the side.
In my Eastern Sierra Brides 1884 series, I do have a chop
shop owner, a German named Gus Herschel, serving sides. He hires Beth because when
he tries to make biscuits, they turn out harder than the gold-filled quartz
rocks the miners send to the stamp mills to be crushed.
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| Pioneer kitchen from the Prescott, AZ museum |
There were several chop shops in Lundy. The Gus Herschel is
a fictional character. However, The Arcade Saloon owned by two Germans, Leonard
Haas and Frederick Gluntz, did exist. And, there was a chop shop as part of the
saloon building. Other chop shops were the Lundy Chop House owned by Ed Manton
with Mrs. James Boultinghouse working there, later called the Gem Chop House
when owned by Jack Hall, and Vincent’s’ when owned by J.H. Vincent. Mrs. Katie
Delahide ran the Lundy Chop Stand.
Now, here is more about Her Independent Spirit:
Although
widow Beth Dodd has agreed to wed Val Caldwell, she puts their marriage off
until the end of the year. She still desires to have a place of her own that
she and her little sister can fall back on should something go wrong in the
future. Widowed in California, she has an estate coming to her that is worth
far less than her portion from the Ohio farm that her pa sold to her late
husband for the express purpose of providing Beth with a husband and a secure
place to spend her life and raise a family. That was before her late husband
sold out and left her behind so he could return to the mines in the eastern
Sierra-Nevada Mountains. Now, she is in the eastern Sierras, but it is land,
not gold and silver, she seeks.
Louisa
Parmley has a decision to make. Will she give up her baby in order to resume
working as a prostitute at the Blue Feather brothel? Or, will she take Beth up
on her offer to keep her baby, leave prostitution behind, and work as a cook?
And, will the stubborn German cook, Gus Herschel, who owns the chop shop at the
back of the Arcade Saloon where Beth works, give in to Beth’s badgering and
promises? Knowing Louisa’s past, will he allow Louisa to bring her baby there
and work as a cook in spite of the Arcade Saloon’s strictly-enforced policy of
“no upstairs girls”?
Excerpt #4:
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| Kitchen sideboard from the Genoa, NV Museum |
Her arms akimbo, Beth turned to face Gus.
“Gus, it don’t do no good to say you ain’t goin’ to condemn her none if you
ain’t willin’ to help her do honest work. She ain’t goin’ to be no upstairs
girl no more. She’s comin’ here to be a cook, like me.”
“Nein! First Josh, now upstairs girl here you bring? No room in
kitchen.”
“I’ll stay outside most of the time so I don’t get in your way,” Josh offered.
“I won’t come in unless you call me.”
“She ain’t goin’ to be here all that long, just ‘til the minin’ season’s over.
What with people around here knowin’ about her, she can’t stay in Lundy and
have no decent life for her baby. I aim to take her with me when I go for my
little sister. Afore then, she needs to learn honest work so she can get a job
back east.”
Gus turned from his stove and stood directly next to Beth.
“Nein, herrisch Witwe!” No, bossy widow.
I am offering a copy of the book through Amazon Giveaway sweepstakes with a one in fifty chance of winning. You may access the Amazon Giveaway by CLICKING HERE and following the instructions.
About
the Author:
Zina Abbott is the pen name used by Robyn
Echols for her historical novels. You may find the first two novellas in the Eastern Sierra Brides 1884 series, Big Meadows Valentine and A Resurrected Heart, by
clicking on the hyperlinks for the novel titles or by going to Zina Abbott’s
Amazon Author Page by clicking HERE.
To learn of new releases and special offers, Zina Abbott
invites you to sign up to receive her monthly NEWSLETTER. You may sign up by CLICKING HERE.
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links for Her Independent Heart:
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Excerpt 3 &
#AmazonGiveaway on Blog Blitz:
HER INDEPENDENT SPIRIT @ZinaAbbott
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