Talkshow Thursday: Welcome Back, Donna Schlachter

Almost Snowed Under

By Donna Schlachter

A Sleigh Ride for Ruby is part of a multi-author project, with books releasing several times a month. Each book is historical romance, and is set in different towns and cities in our nation. The only rules are that the story must include a sleigh ride, and that it ends with a Happily Ever After. Each story is a standalone story, and I’ve enjoyed writing my submission. I named my heroine after my sister’s friend and the hero after the real-life Ruby’s husband.

Let’s take a look at my story and the cultural context of the dilemma Ruby faces:

What happens when a young woman inherits a business typically run by men? Well, in 1882, she faces with discrimination and recriminations. To the point where somebody sets out to ruin her by tampering with the equipment, her horses, and then endangering her life—and the lives of her customers.

We can scarcely believe it nowadays, where men and women have infiltrated pretty much every career choice that was previously held by the opposite sex. In Ruby’s world, there were few women doctors or lawyers. And no male nurses. Teachers were most often single young women, except at the university level, where men held that bastion. Bankers, sheriffs, and mayors were almost always men, while milliners, hatmakers, and nannies was considered a woman’s job.

So why would Ruby choose to run a sleigh business in Snowflake, Colorado, high in the mountains where winter comes early and stays late?

Because she inherited it from her father. She’d helped him since she was little, and with few other prospects in town that didn’t include cleaning and serving food, she stepped out in faith and a little trepidation.

And what of our hero? For certainly there must be one.

Clarke Everly is a Pinkerton agent, in town on a case. He spots the brave woman and admires her spunk. Being in their thirties, both considered past their prime, gives them something in common. But apart from that, Clarke knows there isn’t a common bone in Ruby’s body.

An interesting piece of research I discovered during the writing of this book is about Thanksgiving Day in the US. While the holiday was held for many years on various dates, President Lincoln proclaimed it a national observance in 1863, to be held on the last Thursday of November. It wasn’t until 1941 that President Roosevelt set the date as the fourth Thursday of November. Hence, in my story, it’s held on November 30th, the last day and the last Thursday in November 1882.

A Sleigh Ride for Ruby is available at: https://www.amazon.com/Sleigh-Ride-Ruby-ebook/dp/B0D2LVRSPZ

About A Sleigh Ride for Ruby:

After Ruby Wakefield inherits her father's conveyance business, she discovers an old sleigh in a barn. Thinking she can build her business by offering rides during the long winter season, she spruces up the sleigh. However, somebody in town is unhappy, and Ruby's business falls prey to mishaps such as broken traces, ill horses, and avalanches. Clarke Everly, a Pinkerton operative, falls into Ruby's life when he hires her sleigh to take his fiancée for a ride in the winter wonderland of Snowflake, Colorado. But when Ruby won't convey them across a frozen lake, his fiancée kicks up a fuss and leaves him cold.

Check out the book: https://www.amazon.com/Sleigh-Ride-Ruby-ebook/dp/B0D2LVRSPZ

About Donna:
A hybrid author, Donna writes squeaky clean historical and contemporary suspense. She has been published more than 60 times in books; is a member of several writers groups; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, traveling extensively for both, and is an avid oil painter. She is taking all the information she’s learned along the way about the writing and publishing process, and is coaching committed writers. Learn more at https://www.thepurposefullwriter.com Check out her coaching group on FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/604220861766651

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Photo credit Mountains: Pixabay/Abhay Baradwaj