My Latest Historical
I'm currently writing a new historical romance entitled ONCE A DREAMER. You might have heard of it before, but if you haven't, I'll refresh your memory. Champagne Books has a new continuity series, made up of six authors, and it's about the Orphan Train. The Orphan Train was a program used in the late 1800's and into the early 1900's where orphans from back east got on a train bound west for a new family, a better life. Sometimes they found it.
Sometimes they didn't.
Each girl in our series is a girl on the train, who've made a pact to meet up with each other again in 10 years time. And of course, they find love along the way. My particular book is set in Dodge City, KS and I'm having a blast. Why?
Because Doc Holliday is one of my secondary characters.
I've immersed myself in research, finding out more about the infamous man, and I'm not ashamed to say I watched Tombstone recently to get in the mood. Gotta love Val Kilmer. :)
It's been a fun experience. Doc was ruthless with his guns, it's true, but did you know he was also a very refined Southern gentleman? One of my crit partners asked me while reading a bit from my book if Doc would "really talk like that". The answer is - yes. Doc loved his mother deeply, but she died of TB when he was a young man. It is widely believed Doc contracted his TB from her. She taught him many things, especially how to be respectful to ladies and how to be a gentleman. She sent him to school to learn about music, fine art, and different languages.
This makes Doc Holliday even more interesting than some other notorious gunslingers. I believe he refined his gentlemanly qualities, and perhaps brought you down a peg or two while being the epitome of polite. And I think being polite while laying down the smack is definitely a skill to be learned.
But I also believe Doc had fun with his life. Sure, he was sickly, and usually numbed with whiskey (as people said he never got drunk no matter how much he drank), but I think Mr. Holliday enjoyed life. He knew he was eventually going to die. He'd watched his mother wither away--her fate was his. This is the reason he became careless with life itself. He became a gunfighter, in part, to die from a bullet rather than the painful, savage lung disease.
Poor Doc, however, his life didn't quite play out like that. He died in bed, barefoot, ravaged after all by his malady. Amazingly enough, he had the strength to laugh at that irony before he passed on.
I think I would have liked to have met Mr. Holliday. He's such a fascinating man. Moreso to me than Wyatt Earp or Jesse James or any other gunman from the Wild West. He was complicated, refined, and dangerous. I can only hope what I've written in my book has done him justice. I'd like to think that despite his darker side, Doc would want to see two people find love and maybe even help them in that regard.
One thing you can say for Mr. Holliday - he was loyal, and when he made a friend, he stuck by them, through thick or thin. But when he made an enemy, you best watch the heck out. Good thing my hero, Benjamin Sawyer, is someone he considers a friend. I'd hate for him to be on the receiving end of one of the fastest draws in the West! :)
~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com
Sometimes they didn't.
Each girl in our series is a girl on the train, who've made a pact to meet up with each other again in 10 years time. And of course, they find love along the way. My particular book is set in Dodge City, KS and I'm having a blast. Why?
Because Doc Holliday is one of my secondary characters.
I've immersed myself in research, finding out more about the infamous man, and I'm not ashamed to say I watched Tombstone recently to get in the mood. Gotta love Val Kilmer. :)
It's been a fun experience. Doc was ruthless with his guns, it's true, but did you know he was also a very refined Southern gentleman? One of my crit partners asked me while reading a bit from my book if Doc would "really talk like that". The answer is - yes. Doc loved his mother deeply, but she died of TB when he was a young man. It is widely believed Doc contracted his TB from her. She taught him many things, especially how to be respectful to ladies and how to be a gentleman. She sent him to school to learn about music, fine art, and different languages.
This makes Doc Holliday even more interesting than some other notorious gunslingers. I believe he refined his gentlemanly qualities, and perhaps brought you down a peg or two while being the epitome of polite. And I think being polite while laying down the smack is definitely a skill to be learned.
But I also believe Doc had fun with his life. Sure, he was sickly, and usually numbed with whiskey (as people said he never got drunk no matter how much he drank), but I think Mr. Holliday enjoyed life. He knew he was eventually going to die. He'd watched his mother wither away--her fate was his. This is the reason he became careless with life itself. He became a gunfighter, in part, to die from a bullet rather than the painful, savage lung disease.
Poor Doc, however, his life didn't quite play out like that. He died in bed, barefoot, ravaged after all by his malady. Amazingly enough, he had the strength to laugh at that irony before he passed on.
I think I would have liked to have met Mr. Holliday. He's such a fascinating man. Moreso to me than Wyatt Earp or Jesse James or any other gunman from the Wild West. He was complicated, refined, and dangerous. I can only hope what I've written in my book has done him justice. I'd like to think that despite his darker side, Doc would want to see two people find love and maybe even help them in that regard.
One thing you can say for Mr. Holliday - he was loyal, and when he made a friend, he stuck by them, through thick or thin. But when he made an enemy, you best watch the heck out. Good thing my hero, Benjamin Sawyer, is someone he considers a friend. I'd hate for him to be on the receiving end of one of the fastest draws in the West! :)
~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com
posted by Becka @ 10:46 AM
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