Kit Morgan

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It’s that time of year when the holiday bazaars begin to pop up in churches, high school gymnasiums, granges halls, and any number of other places. I love them, and have gone to quite a few. I love the Christmas bazaars and have gone to a few fall themed and Halloween themed events. But this year I’ve noticed something new whether the bazaars were held in a gym, a church, a grange or the fairgrounds. What you ask?

Authors! Yes, book signing authors!

I came across authors with devotionals, mystery/thriller authors, women’s fiction authors, regency romance, fantasy, paranormal, children’s books and even some cook books! Imagine my surprise when I kept spotting people in my “tribe” so to speak signing books amidst Christmas decorations or fall themed goodies!

The authors I spoke with said signing at these types of events is great fun and they get to meet a lot of people. Some events have the author manning their signing table the entire time. Other venue’s I attended, the author didn’t have to be there the entire time, but I noticed most did show up on the weekends to man there tables. 

I got to speak with a fantasy writer, William Burt, who’s been writing as a hobby for years, and has about a dozen books. Another gentleman, Ken Baysinger, who writes thrillers was working on his next book when I spoke to him.

There was also a mystery writer I spoke to, Kimila Kay. By golly, they need some western romance writers at these things! 

I’m sure there have been author sightings at other holiday and fall craft bazaars. Writing is a craft, after all, but a wee different from knitting or sewing. Though we are piecing together a story, polishing it, putting on any last minute touches and then getting it out into the world for all to see.

Writing is a solitary job, and so one thing the authors I ran into all said was, it’s nice to get out and about and meet new people. And people weren’t just browsing, they were buying books. Myself included. I bought a fantasy book. Book signings are fun, I’ve done a lot of them in my author career and plan on doing a lot more, but I’ve craft fairs and bazaars are one place I never thought to sign at. I remember running into author Brenda Novak at the California State Fair years ago. She said it was fun, but I’m not sure is that’s something she’s still doing. Still, I might have a go at these smaller events. The only problem I can see is wanting to shop! Holiday craft fairs and bazaars are loads of fun and you can find so many cool things and now books too!

So have you been to any craft fairs or holiday bazaars yet this year? Do you plan on going? I’m giving away one free ebook of mine of choice to one lucky winner!

You’ve won one free e-copy of Mrs. Pettigrew’s Christmas Match.
Email Kit at authorkitmorgan@gmail.com so she can get you your prize!

I just released my first Christmas book this year. Mrs. Pettigrew’s Christmas Match. And of course, you can’t write a Christmas story set in 1882 without doing a little research. Mrs. Pettigrew is a rich (make that very rich) widow and famous matchmaker. She’s throwing a small Christmas ball. The first social gathering she’s hosted since her husband died two years earlier. She’s hired a new maid, a young woman down on her luck who needs a job desperately to survive. And wouldn’t you know, there’s a handsome young man that lives three houses down who should be in want of a wife! It’s all the encouragement Mrs. Pettigrew needs to do a little warm-up before getting back into the matchmaking game. She does this by making the pair spend as much time together as she can manage by sending them off on errands together. But she never lets her “new maid” put on a maid’s uniform, and insinuates she’s a houseguest, not an employee. This puts our heroine in a pickle, and she can’t seem to find the opportunity to tell Mrs. Pettigrew’s handsome neighbor she’s just a servant. At least she gets to enjoy decorating Mrs. Pettigrew’s house and preparing for the ball! Now if she could just get a chance to tell our hero what she really is, she can same them both a lot of embarrassment. Mrs. Pettigrew sees to it she never gets the chance. Good thing I didn’t set the story back as far as the 1830s. There wasn’t a whole lot of decorating going on.

You see, Christmas back then wasn’t quite what it is now. The fact Christmas didn’t really start to flourish until the 1870’s says a lot. In fact, around 1830, most folks back east didn’t “do Christmas.” Hardly anyone decorated the inside of their home, and no one had a Christmas tree. If anyone did decorate, those decorations were sparse.

As time went on, and the idea of Christmas became more popular, more and more people began to celebrate it, complete with decorations and a tree. By the time 1856 rolled around, the state of Massachusetts made it a legal holiday and there were folks hanging up stockings, hoping Santa would come fill then. And when an illustration of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert sitting at a table with a Christmas tree on it began circulating, it grew even more popular.

Then, on December 25, 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant made it a legal holiday for federal employees. Yet there were still many that didn’t celebrate it and so used the holiday to catch up on chores.

If you had money, you could afford ornaments from Germany. In fact, there are ornaments from the 1870’s that are reflected in ornaments today. And there are things like holly, pine, boxwood, ferns, and fir. They were used back in the day to decorate and still are. We love hanging fir boughs  on the curtain rods around the house and will string Christmas lights through them. The house always smells so good when we do that. 

And of course, it’s always nice to have a live tree, but not everyone can due to allergies or other factors. But myself, I do like decorating with some greenery here and there. We don’t go crazy, but  have fun setting out the family nativity scene, which is ancient, and other Christmas items that have been in the family for decades.

What are your favorite things to decorate your house with? Are you modest with your decorations, or do you go all out? I’m giving away one free e-book of Mrs. Pettigrew’s Christmas Match to one lucky commentor!

Congratulations, you’ve won a free e-copy of Cowboys & Debutantes Historicals!
Email Kit at authorkitmorgan@gmail.com so she can get your prize to you.

Since I’ve been caregiving for someone in California, I haven’t been able to get out much. But a couple of weekends ago, I managed a day trip to Columbia. The town is a historical area and state park that encompasses the main part of downtown. Everything is still as it was back in the mid 1800s and is a wonderful place to visit.

Columbia is in the heart of the California Mother Lode and the Columbia State Historic Park is a living gold rush town that has the largest collection of existing gold rush-era structures in the state. I’ve blogged about Columbia years ago, but since I hadn’t visited Columbia in such a long time, I thought it would be fun to tell you about it again. 

I love spending time in Columbia. It’s like stepping back in time to a nineteenth century mining town. All the folks working in the shops dress in 1850’s attire, and there are all sorts of fun little shops. You can even take a stage coach ride!

My book, Minnie, Cowboys and Debutantes Book 3 is set in Columbia, inspired by the Columbia Mercantile 1855. The year the building was constructed by French provisioners from Lyon, France after the tent and wood city of Columbia burned to the ground earlier that same year. The new mercantile was built out of brick and iron. The city primarily built their new  buildings out of wood which were very quickly destroyed by fire a second time in 1857.

The hero in my story owns the town mercantile, so when I had the chance to visit the Columbia Mercantile 1855 (yes, that’s its name) and met Teresa Torbett, who runs it, I had to ask a few questions.

The state of California owns the mercantile, and Teresa and her husband were awarded the concession contract after submitting a proposal to operate a grocery store– but for the first time in an 1850’s style. They’ve since transformed it into a lovely establishment that is like a Trader Joe’s wrapped up in an 1850’s mercantile!

The mercantile carries local, organic produce, international and craft beer, foothill wines, sushi making supplies, Indian food, fresh-baked, vegan, gluten-free–even a music supply store, garden tools and gloves, and local fine art original paintings and prints. The better question is, “What don’t they have?”

I remember snapping some pictures of the building years ago. That’s what inspired me to write Minnie’s story. The store was also the inspiration for Ruggles & Son General Store which appears in my Fiddler’s Gap series. There’s just something about an old fashioned general store that touches us and makes us envision simpler times. And visiting the Columbia Mercantile will certainly do that! 

The Columbia Mercantile 1855 doesn’t look like it would be a real grocery store. Folks think it’s a mercantile transformed into a gift shop or something. So when they walk in and find actual groceries, some are taken aback.

The store has baskets of produce here and there, and a tiny shelf-filled cubby that serves as the “Pharmacy”.  There are eggs and other staples and Teresa has meats in the back such as beef, elk, buffalo, and more. All in all it’s a fantastic store for the locals and tourists to shop in, all within an old fashioned mercantile setting. 

Is there an old fashioned general store or mercantile you’ve been to? If so, what was it like? For me, we had the Springwater Store which was much smaller than the Columbia Mercantile 1855, but still fun to go to. We used to ride our horses to the store and buy candy and then eat it on the three and a half mile ride home. I’m giving away a free ebook of my Cowboys and Debutants box set which includes Minnie’s story to one lucky commenter! Here’s a little more about the set:

These riches to rags mail-order bride stories prove that love can be found in the most unexpected places, and that money does not always make the man. But as our debutantes know, it sure helps!

Effie Stout is in her third season and beginning to worry if she’ll ever find a husband. But just when she sets her sights on a good prospect, the unthinkable happens. Her family falls into ruin. Forced to become a mail-order bride by her stepmother, Effie does her best to live like the other half and not get her or her would be groom killed in the process.

Minnie Stout, along with her sisters and cousins, had been forced after a family tragedy, to become mail-order brides. Now here she was, heading west, WAY west, to California, where she’d never find so much as a crumb of her old life. Unfortunately for Minnie, she didn’t allow herself to imagine a new one, either. Add to that a snobby rival, and watch the sparks fly!

Lula Stout, along with her sisters and cousins, had a charmed life. Emphasis on the word “had.” They lived in New York City, the daughters of rich shipping magnates. And in a blink of an eye, they were reduced to nothing, their father and uncle’s business gone. Right along with their reputations. To help fix the mess, Lula’s step-mother forces Lula and her sisters to become mail-order brides, sending each off without informing them where the others are going. Reeling from loss and not knowing if she’ll ever see her sisters again, Lula steps off the stage in a little town called Clear Creek, wondering what the future will bring. What she brought was a whole lot of anger and heartache.

Simply email Kit at authorkitmorgan@gmail.com so she can gift your e-book prize to you!

In my latest book, Miss Verity, (The Brides of Fiddler’s Gap, Book 8) my poor heroine is staying with the hero’s family. She’s been wearing the same dress all week, which back then was common, but she comes from a wealthy family, so not so common. In short, the hero buys her some clothes and wants her to get everything she needs, which back then could be a lot considering the layers of clothes women wore.

This has been one hot summer for a lot of us, so the thought of wearing layers of clothing like they did in the old west makes one shudder. But even though people wore several layers of clothing, they weren’t as heavy or as hot (especially in summer) as one might think. Back then there were no synthetic fabrics, a lot of which don’t breathe very well. But natural fabrics like cotton, linen, and wool could be milled into either light fabric or thick and heavy material. Back then they made clothing according to its use rather than for pure fashion. Winter clothes required heavier fabric, work clothes too. The same thing holds true today for brands like Carhart, Dickies and Levis, who all make their clothes with heavier cotton fabrics. And of course, lighter fabrics are used for hotter months. Today, a lot of clothing is fashion based, not use based. And we don’t run around wearing layers of clothing as part of our fashion ensemble.

On the other hand, a fella in the old west might don long underwear of light cotton – also known as a “union suit” or a pair of drawers. He’d follow this with a cotton or linen shirt and a pair of trousers. These were usually wool trousers or maybe cotton canvas. He’d then top it off with a cotton, linen or wool jacket. Men might also put on a neckcloth with a collar. Some collars were removable. Women wore a lot of removable collars as well. For the men, a removable collar was made of white linen and stiffened to stand tall on the neck. And of course, we mustn’t forget one’s hat!

With the right clothes, (those made of wool, linen or cotton) you could be quite comfortable whether it was hot or cold out. All three types of natural fabrics breathe and are comfortable. Back in the day during the hotter months, they were more concerned about covering up to keep the sun off their bodies. People would often wear cotton undergarments to absorb moisture, and wool or linen as one’s outer clothing, as a breeze could travel through and keep you cool.

So many of our clothes today are a mix of natural fibers with things like polyester and other synthetics. As I mentioned, these synthetic fibers and polyester just don’t breathe the way the natural fibers do, so these fiber mixes aren’t as functional as natural fibers. I don’t think a cowboy would like a polyester windbreaker. I think he’d much rather stick with his duster!

Myself, I do love a nice cotton dress in the summer. I’ve owned clothes made from linen too, and of course wool coats. What’s in your closet? Clothes made of natural fibers or more a mix of natural and synthetic? I’m giving away one free e-copy of choice of my books to one lucky commenter!