Highlighting Historical Romance with Angela Christina Archer
Someone once asked me: “Have I ever used real women as inspirations for my characters?” The answer is yes. And one in particular was for my heroine in A Road Paved in Copper.
Anyone who knows my dad knows he likes to tell stories. One afternoon while visiting my parents, he started telling me this story about the woman who founded a small town that sits between Tonopah and Hawthorne called Mina. Her name was Ferminia Sarras and she was sort of the inspiration of my story.
After 1900 rich discoveries in Tonopah and Goldfield transformed Nevada’s mining landscape. Investors scoured the state, hoping to cash in on the next bonanza, and Fermina’s claims attracted a lot attention. She became a regional celebrity who paved the way for women miners and was also nicknamed Nevada’s Copper Queen because of her talent for finding copper, which wasn’t as easy as gold and silver.
I think the best part of her life story is her travels San Francisco. She spent her whole life not only mining, but traveling back and forth from the desert to the city. Once she would gather large sums of money, she would ride to the city and blow her fortune on fancy hotels, fine dining, and hoards of younger men. As soon the money was gone, she would say, “I guess I better get back to the desert.”
She’d return to her mines, don her overalls, and take to the hills again, looking for gold, silver, and copper.
http://www.nevadawomen.org/research-center/biographies-alphabetical/ferminia-sarras/
https://petticoatsandpistols.com/tag/ferminia-sarras/
About the Book
Men. Either they want to kill her or they want to love her.
From the dirt and grime of her gold mines in Nevada to the fanciest hotel rooms on the on the streets of San Francisco, Ava De La Vega lives exactly how she desires: enjoying herself while she spends her money on fine wines, decadent meals, and the company of attractive young men that she tosses away by morning. She loves only three things—gold, silver, and the ever sought-after copper.
A ex-miner from the snowy Klondike, Craig Harrison isn’t looking for work–especially one that could get him killed. However, after Ava offers him a job in her mines, he finds that he just can’t say no to her.
When attacks by claim jumpers become a deadly problem rather than just an annoyance, Ava’s fight to protect what is hers becomes more than she bargained for, and one that could cost her, not only her land, but the life of the man who she’s starting to fall for.
Can they survive? Or will they lose everything, including each other?
Excerpt
Face after face fluttered past my vision until I finally found the oval one I’d been searching for, a familiar one amongst a sea of strangers.
Sitting in the corner just as John had mentioned, Walter McCoy flipped through the pages of the latest issue of the San Francisco Chronicle. The newspaper glowed with the sunlight, making the parchment appear almost translucent and the black letters jumble together. Dressed in his usual cream-color suit, his sandy blond hair was flecked with silver gray strands that showed his age and matched the salt and pepper color in his handlebar mustache.
My grip tightened on the handbag in my arms so tight my knuckles whitened. Although I desired to cause a scene, doing so would only reflect poorly upon me, not him. Instead, I needed to remain calm and reserved—the picture of sophistication, and yet, still holding the disposition of someone not to underestimate. Reflections of polite behavior I’d learned long ago that would bring me what I wanted faster than raving like a lunatic who would be denigrated to nothing more than a pathetic woman.
“Good afternoon, Mr. McCoy,” I said as I approached him. My stride deliberately calculated with each step.
“Why Miss De La Vega, this is quite the surprise seeing you at the Cliff House, of all places.” Although Water smiled as he peered around yellow parchment, a darkness that clouded through the blue hue of his irises and seemed to deepen his sonorous voice.
Always the man of statute, he spoke and moved slowly, as though he believed this display of eloquence propelled him to a higher social standing above everyone else. In my youth, I thought it did too, but the older I became and the more knowledgeable about the man Walter was, I just found it annoying.
“Are you really so surprised, Mr. McCoy? I mean, we both frequent the place when we are in town, so it’s almost inevitable for us to see one another, isn’t it?”
“I suppose that is so . . . or perhaps, it’s as simple as some of your little messengers around the city informed you of my whereabouts.”
He folded his newspaper, laying it on the table before he fetched his glass of sinfully red wine and took a sip, letting out a satisfied breath.
Anger seethed through my veins.
“At least my spies didn’t follow you around at night while you are going to dinner, or wait around in your hotel lobby for you to leave your room.”
Book Links:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34441094-a-road-paved-in-copper
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Angela+Christina+Archer
https://www.amazon.com/Paved-Copper-Angela-Christina-Archer-ebook/dp/B0713N8T3V
About the Author
Growing up in Nevada, reading was always a pastime that took second place to trail riding and showing horses. When she did find the time in her youth to curl up with a book, she found enjoyment in the Saddle Club Series, the Sweet Valley High series, and the classics of Anne of Green Gables, The Box Car Children, and Little House on the Prairie. Although, writing always piqued her curiosity, it wasn’t until September 2009 that she worked up the courage to put her passion to paper and started her debut novel.
When she’s not writing, Angela spends her days from dawn to dusk as a stay at home, homeschooling mom. She also works in her garden and takes care of her many farm animals, as well as loves to bake and cook from scratch. She doesn’t show horses anymore, but she still loves to trail ride her paint horse, Honky, as well as enjoys teaching her daughters how to ride their horses, Sunny and Cowboy.
Links:
https://www.angelachristianArcher.com
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorACArcher/
https://www.amazon.com/Angela-Christina-Archer/e/B00J4IVVZM
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8073551.Angela_Christina_Archer