Research is always one of my favorite parts of writing a book, and this time it was particularly enjoyable, since I was learning about my adopted hometown. If you visit modern Cheyenne, you’ll find it greatly changed from 1886. Most of the buildings from that era are gone, and to make it even more confusing, several of the main streets have different names. What hasn’t changed is the welcome that residents give to visitors and newcomers. That’s part of what attracted me to Cheyenne in the first place. Do I sound like the Chamber of Commerce? Sorry!
One of the questions I’m frequently asked is how much is fact and how much is fiction in my stories. The background to Waiting for Spring is factual. Cheyenne’s wealth in the 1880s was based on cattle, but overgrazing and the devastating winter of 1886–87 destroyed many of the cattle barons’ fortunes. As the map at the beginning of the book indicates, many of the places Charlotte and Barrett visit were real. As for the characters, anyone who has a speaking role is fictional. I’ve alluded to real people, notably F.E. Warren and Joseph Carey, who became Wyoming’s first U.S. senators and who now have streets named after them, and the territorial governors of that era, but you’ll notice that they don’t speak.
Since the weather played an important role in the story, I wanted to be as accurate as I could about it. Fortunately, I had access to a diary that mentioned the weather on specific dates, so I didn’t have to imagine when it snowed or rained. Other books provided photographs of both the interior and exterior of many houses and important buildings, so once again I didn’t have to rely on my imagination and possibly get some of the details wrong. But the story itself is pure fiction.
I hope you enjoyed Charlotte and Barrett’s adventures and that you’re looking forward to the third of the Westward Winds books. Although it’s primarily the story of Elizabeth, the youngest of the Harding sisters, my heart ached for Gwen when she discovered Warren’s treachery, and so I’m giving her another chance at happiness in With Autumn’s Return. That book should be available in the spring of 2014. In the meantime, if you haven’t read Summer of Promise, the first of the trilogy, I hope you’ll find the story of Abigail’s summer at Fort Laramie intriguing. I have to admit that Puddles the puppy is one of my favorite characters in Summer of Promise, even though he’s not human.
As always, I look forward to hearing from you. For more information, including my email address, I invite you to visit my website (www.amandacabot.com). You can also find me on Facebook, and you might be interested in my blog where my “Wednesday in Wyoming” posts give you an insider’s look at the state.
Blessings,
Amanda Cabot