When Jane Porter, my publisher at Tule Publishing asked me to switch settings and write sweet, small-town romance in Marietta, Montana, I have to confess, I was more than a little apprehensive. Right off, leaving safe, familiar River’s Edge, where “everybody knew my name…” was a little sad, although I’m not sure I’m done with RE forever. Also, it was daunting to come to a setting that was already created, and by amazing writers who are way more experienced in the ways of the West and cowboys than me. Frankly, I’d never been to the West before and I knew nothing about cowboys. Oh, I’d spent lots of time in California and I’d been Oregon, but those were family and vineyard vacations. I was intrigued with the whole idea of moving to Montana, though, and joining authors I love in Marietta.
The first order of business was to read—I was already a Marietta fan, so I knew some about that little fictional town in Crawford County, Montana. With the help of my amazing editor, Sinclair Jayne, and all the great online information available at Tule, I began to know the town even better. But it occurred to me that if I was going to write more than one book in Montana, maybe I’d better go see it for myself.
I called my friend and fellow Tule author, Carol Light, and said, “Hey, wanna go to Montana?” Carol was an immediate, “You bet, when do we leave?” We picked Big Sky country because it was not too far from Bozeman (neither is Marietta), and the VRBOs there were out-of-season, so fairly reasonable. To be honest, Big Sky, the town, is a winter playground for snow skiers and snow boarders, but all around the area are ranches and not far away is Virginia City and Ennis and other towns that reeked of cowboys and Western life.
In late July, I left my local airport at 8:30 a.m.; Carol left her local airport 10:15 a.m. and we met up in the Denver Airport. Then we flew together to Bozeman–one of the cutest airports I’ve ever seen! There are bears and moose everywhere and some crazy huge bird hanging from the ceiling! The whole airport was mountain stone and cedar beams–really pretty and lodge-y (If that’s not a word, it should be). We also saw the coolest ad for a fishing outfitters that felt like the universe was telling me that moving from River’s Edge to Montana is a capital idea! Take a look!
There are 64 mountain ranges in Montana and our condo was nestled right in the middle of the Madison Range at an altitude of 7000 feet. Lone Mountain was visible from Big Sky as well as several other mountain ranges, including the Gallatin Range and the Absaroka Range, which are part of Marietta lore.
We spent two days of our week at Yellowstone National Park, which is just overwhelming and spectacular! Carol used the term “moonscape of boiling mud and geysers” to describe the Fountain Paint Pot thermal field and Old Faithful. I can’t think of a better way to say it. It was awe-inspiring and this little Midwestern gal couldn’t stop saying, “Wow!” What a spectacular experience that national park was!
When we drove west to Virginia City the first thing I noticed was that the landscape was so very different from Big Sky. In Big Sky, it’s all huge mountains and pines. As we headed west, the terrain changed to rolling hills and pastures and wheat and hayfields. Junipers dotted the landscape and there were lots of ranches and fences and sagebrush. I absorbed it all–even-saw a ranch that reminded me of what I imagined Del Foster’s ranch to be–and oh, the cows and horses! Virginia City and Ennis were real Old West towns and just steeped in history!
I think the most important thing that we discovered there is how big the world is–Big Sky indeed! The mountains overwhelmed us every time we went outside even though we were only halfway up. We loved tramping to Ousel Falls, so I would have a picture in my head (and on my phone) of what I imagined Juniper Falls to look like. I absorbed Montana and imagined the little town of Marietta in each place we visited. We saw enough cattle ranches and guest dude ranches that I can add some authenticity to my Juniper Falls Ranch stories. The Big Sky area wasn’t as cowboy-centric as I imagined it would be, but the vibe was definitely Western.
All in all, this move to Marietta is going to be a fun journey. I can’t wait to share my cowboy/Western romances with you! Hope y’all will come along with me to Marietta and Juniper Falls Ranch!
All My Best,
Question: Have you ever had to change course and do something entirely different? How’d it go?
