The Light Keeper’s Legacy Giveaway

This year from January through August I’m holding monthly giveaways of my Chloe Ellefson mysteries. The featured book for March is the third in the series, The Light Keeper’s Legacy. (Winner of a Lovey Award for Best Traditional Mystery!)

To enter the giveaway for The Light Keeper’s Legacy, just leave a comment below before 11:59 PM (Central US time) on Wednesday, March 21, 2018.

Only one entry per person, please.

Three winners will be chosen at random from entries here and on my Facebook Author Page, and announced Thursday. Each will receive a signed, personalized copy of the book.  Good luck everyone!

Researching The Light Keeper’s Legacy

 

 

This article explores examples of how technical research and photographic documentation were used to help Kathleen write the award-winning third book in her Chloe Ellefson Historic Sites mystery series.

The Light Keeper’s Legacy (TLL) takes place in two time periods:  A modern one in September 1982 featuring Chloe and police officer Roelke McKenna; and an historical thread stretching from 1869 to 1906.

Kathleen first included an historical timeline in the previous book, The Heirloom Murders. Based on reader feedback, she crafted a more extensive one for TLL. It tightly braids together the two storylines, their characters, histories, and mysteries.

This set the standard for most of Kathleen’s follow-on Chloe books.

 

 

Kathleen does the vast majority of research for each mystery, and TLL is no exception. She spends a lot of time doing this, and is very good at it. But only a small part of what’s uncovered ends up influencing or appearing in her books. Those choices are one of the reasons Kathleen’s stories have a descriptive richness, enabling readers to immerse themselves in her books.

Chapter 42

Most of The Light Keeper’s Legacy is set on Washington and Rock Islands, just off the tip of Door County, Wisconsin, in Lake Michigan. There are no bridges to either island; access is by public ferry boats and private watercraft — and in the case of Washington, by small aircraft. This remoteness plays a key role in the book.

Chapter 42 includes a number of exciting scenes. Below are brief excerpts from two, followed by examples of the research Kathleen used to craft them.

As the chapter begins, Roelke is trying to land a small plane on a grass runway at the airfield on Washington Island.

 

Imagery Copyright 2018 Google, NOAA, Terrametrics.

 

Since I hold a private pilot’s license, Kathleen asked me to pull together the technical details she’d need. The following is from the book.

 

[Roelke] made two left turns, which brought him in line with the runway.  Airspeed and descent looked good. “Washington Island traffic, Seven-Seven-Echo on final for Two Two.”  There were trees near the approach end of the grass strip, so he set the flaps full down.

He was clearing the woods when the deer bounded from cover. Three of them, all does, running straight toward Two Two.

Dammit. Roelke pulled back on the yoke and shoved the throttle forward, trying to get the Cessna to climb. Instead of ramping up the engine hesitated.

What the hell was wrong? A few eternal seconds later, the engine recovered with a roar, but airspeed was still dropping. The stall warning began to wail.

I’m screwed, Roelke thought. He was seconds away from a crash.

 

Below is the cover page of the six-page research paper I prepared.

 

Copyright 2011 Kathleen Ernst, LLC

 

Feel free to review the research; you can download a PDF copy by clicking HERE.

The second scene from Chapter 42 involves two unknown assailants who trap Chloe alone in the lighthouse, pursuing her to the very top of the four story building.

 

Copyright 2018 Google, NOAA, Terrametrics.

 

As Kathleen scoped out the setting and considered what Chloe would do in this situation, I took photos to serve as reference material for use when she wrote the scene later.

Note from Kathleen:  This was one of those afternoons where I had to be careful to keep my voice down. No need for visitors to hear Mr. Ernst and I discussing the logistics of mayhem.

 

Chloe didn’t waste time on a glance through the hatch. She’d slowed Balaclava Man down. Maybe even disabled him. Guy Two could be after her any moment though. The instinct to run-run-run buzzed through her brain.

She couldn’t go down. She couldn’t go up. Only option: going out.

Chloe dropped to her knees beside a low wooden door, wrenched it open, and scrambled onto the narrow walkway outside the lantern room. “Oh God,” she whimpered, clutching the paint-sticky railing, fighting a wave of vertigo. The trees and picnic table and outhouse below looked dollhouse-sized.

The roof’s peak stretched south from the lantern room. The roof itself fell steeply on either side. Chloe’s stomach twisted again as she imagined trying to creep down to the gutters without falling.

Wait. A heavy cord of braided copper ran from the lightning rod on top of the tower down the west side of the roof before disappearing over the edge of the gutters.

Chloe bit her lip hard. Would the cable support her weight? And even if she did make the gutters without somersaulting into thin air, what then?

 

Below are some of the photos, with descriptions linking them to the passage above.

 

Left: Chloe’s view as she races up the stairs into the lantern room. Right: Her view from the lantern room looking down through the hatch to where her pursuers will emerge.

 

Chloe’s view of the low wooden door to the narrow walkway outside the lantern room. Visible to the right is part of the Frenel lens that surrounds, magnifies, and directs the lamp light at night.

 

This reveals the steep fall of the lighthouse roof, and why Chloe’s view of the picnic table and outhouse made them look dollhouse-sized. On the right side of the photo is the heavy cord of braided copper that runs down from the lightning rod to the roof and over the gutters.

 

Here’s a ground-level view from the west of the braided copper cord running from the lightning rod (just visible atop the lantern room) down across the roof and over the gutters to the ground.

 

Now that you’ve had a chance to compare excerpts with some of the research used to write them, we’d love to hear what you think. Please leave us a comment below.

But Wait, There’s More

Hopefully this article has piqued your interest in discovering more about the ‘people, places and the past’ in the The Light Keeper’s Legacy.

There’s a whole page full of information about it on Kathleen’s website, including a discussion guide for the book, a custom Google map and a locations guide about where key scenes are set, a recipe mentioned in the book, a slide show of objects featured in the story, public radio interviews with Kathleen about the book, additional blog posts, links to booksellers that carry TLL — and more. To explore them, click HERE.

Next month I’ll post an article on this blog about interesting things that turned up whle researching Heritage Of Darkness, the fourth book in the Chloe Ellefson Historic Sites mystery series.

The Light Keeper’s Legacy – A Retrospective

When publisher Midnight Ink picked up the first book in the Chloe Ellefson Mystery series, Old World Murder, I was given a two-book contract. After turning in the second book I wrote a proposal for two more, starting with a book set at Pottawatomie Lighthouse in Rock Island State Park, Wisconsin.

(Rock Island is off the tip of Door County in Lake Michigan, and it takes two ferries and a mile walk to reach the lighthouse.  Mr. Ernst and I had the pleasure of serving as live-in docents for eight years. For nine days at a time we gave tours during the day and got to live in the lighthouse.)

Mr. Ernst in the light room with the Fresnel lens.

A few months after turning in the proposal, Mr. Ernst and I left the mainland on the first ferry, heading for the lighthouse. Cell service was not available on Rock Island at that time, so I checked my phone one last time before turning it off for the duration. Up popped a note from my agent, telling me that my proposal had been accepted. That was a great way to start the week!

Pottawatomie Lighthouse

I was excited about several aspects of the proposed book. In real life, Pottawatomie Lighthouse had been restored by a group of determined citizens who formed a support group called The Friends of Rock Island. They did a phenomenal job with a huge project, and I was delighted to fictionalize that story in the mystery.

Also, I was eager to share a bit of the island’s rich history. It’s easy to imagine lighthouse families at work when a gorgeous structure like Pottawatomie remains. But nothing tangible remains of a fishing village on the island that once was home to perhaps 300 people. Writing the mystery gave me the opportunity to breathe life into that part of the island’s story.

This peaceful meadow on Rock Island was once the site of a bustling fishing village.

The rugged setting also was ideal for a murder mystery. The only drawback was spending that week on the island cataloging, for plot purposes, every imaginable way someone could get into trouble on roadless Rock Island.

We had guests visit that year, and they didn’t return from a hike when expected. After waiting an hour, Mr. Ernst set out to search for them. That left me alone at the lighthouse, knowing the day’s last ferry had departed and the ranger with it. I admit, my imagination got the better of me, and I wished I hadn’t spent quite so much time envisioning catastrophe. (Everyone did eventually return, safe and sound.)

I wrote some of the book while staying at the lighthouse—longhand, since there’s no electricity.

 

A year later, we spent some of our time at the lighthouse proofreading the edited manuscript.

SPOILER ALERT – plot points are discussed below!

As always, I started conceptualizing the book by thinking about Chloe and Roelke’s emotional growth in the last mystery, and where I wanted them to go in this one. Chloe is feeling strong again after her bad experience in Switzerland and her struggle with clinical depression. It was satisfying to give her the opportunity to head out on her own, quite comfortable with the prospect of spending a week alone on a wilderness island.

Beach below the lighthouse.

Roelke knows he wants a relationship with Chloe, but he’s still figuring out what that means.  He expresses doubt about her trip in the opening scene. When he finally hears about trouble on the island, he makes a decision to rent a plane and fly north. He knows Chloe might resent his appearance—especially if all is well. He does it anyway. I wanted to show that Roelke is a guy who’s willing to take risks to protect people he cares about, a theme revisited in later books.

The plotline about the young idealistic environmentalists who want to simplify a complex situation is fictional, but does reflect some personal experience. In college I majored in environmental education, and remember learning for myself that most often any issue is more complicated than it may appear. I tried to share a bit of that when discussing commercial fishing in the Great Lakes. Creating the character of Stig provided an opportunity to show the difficulty faced by someone who understands both sides of the dilemma.

When doing research I wasn’t able to identify any primary source material, or artifacts, directly tied to the fishing community on Rock Island. Ragna Anderson, in the historical timeline, is completely fictional.

Emily Betts, on the other hand, was a real woman who lived with her family at the lighthouse, and served as Assistant Keeper—until she lost her job, as described in the book. Obviously I fictionalized her experience, and her interaction with Ragna, but I hope I conveyed the essence of a woman who was, by all accounts, enormously capable and widely admired.

Emily Betts and two of her children in 1883. (National Archives & Records Administration)

Although Emily was officially on the payroll as Assistant Keeper, all of the lighthouse ledger entries appear to have been made by her husband, Keeper. The roster below notes that her position was abolished.

One interesting aside: I spent a week in Door County while working on this book, and learned that the marvelous Door County Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay was hosting a temporary exhibit about the haunted history of county lighthouses. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go, but I’m glad I did. The exhibit did a great job of sharing stories and postulating possible explanations for some of the experiences that have been reported. Although many say Pottawatomie is haunted, Mr. Ernst and I have never run across anything spooky in our time there.  I was delighted that the story presented about Rock Island’s lighthouse had to do with the sound of laughing children—which I incorporated into the story.

Temporary exhibit at Door County Maritime Museum

So, what did you think? Was Roelke’s  protective instinct warranted, or all wrong for an independent woman like Chloe? Are you a lighthouse fan, and if so, why do you think so many people find them appealing? Would you be willing to spend a week alone in an island lighthouse?  I’d love to hear your thoughts.

You can explore relevant people, places, and the past on my webpage for The Lightkeeper’s Legacy. Resources include a Google map, a Locations Guide, full Discussion Guide, a recipe for Danish Apple Cake, and links to lots of additional background material. Happy reading!

That’s me, standing on “Emily’s rock” below the lighthouse.

Audiobooks!

I’m happy to announce that the first three Chloe Ellefson mysteries are now available as audiobooks!To hear clips, or for more information, visit my website.

The unabridged audiobooks were produced by Tantor Media, and narrated by Elise Arsenault, a classically trained actor, singer, and voice-over artist.

I love audiobooks, and so am particularly thrilled with this development. I hope you enjoy these too!

Washington Island Cook Book

I was thrilled to receive a copy of this community cookbook from a thoughtful reader. It’s a first edition, copyright 1947, compiled by the Trinity Lutheran Ladies’ Aid.

“At long last your requests for favorite recipes of discriminating hostesses have been compiled in a ‘Washington Island Cook Book.’ The Island has been known for its outstanding homemakers, who specially (sic) delight in serving coffee to all who cross their thresholds.” (From the Preface)

Several scenes from The Light Keeper’s Legacy are set on Washington Island, and the rest are set on Rock Island—visible in the upper right corner of the map on the cover. Both are off the tip of Wisconsin’s Door County peninsula.

My husband and I have served as volunteer docents at Pottawatomie Lighthouse, in Rock Island State Park, for the past seven summers.

The lighthouse has been restored to its 1910 appearance, when Charles and Mollie Boshka lived there with their two children.

This cookbook is a treasure for several reasons. First, it includes a number of recipes submitted by Mollie Boshka. Each one is a  tangible link back to that lovely woman in the photo.

It also reflects the families who settled on Washington Island in the mid-late 1800s and early 1900s.  Many of the women’s surnames are still common on the island today. Many of the recipes reflect Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, and Icelandic heritage.

Toward the end of The Light Keeper’s Legacy, a Washington Island friend makes Icelandic Pancakes for Chloe.

The recipes also capture an era when old traditions were blending with new.  The cookbook includes recipes for things like head cheese and vinerbrod (Danish pastry), and many include little or no instruction. The assumption was that anyone using the cookbook would just know how to put the ingredients together, or how hot the oven should be.

But the book also includes recipes for dishes like Texas Hash (which calls for 3 Tbsp. of something called “Spry”), Spanish Noodles, and several versions of Chop Suey.

In addition to several main dish recipes for Chop Suey, this one caught my eye. I have no idea how it got the name.

Finally, the book tells a story about the woman who once owned it.  I’ll never know her name, but I’ve got glimpses of her. She received the book from for Christmas in 1848; the inscription is Norwegian.

And she used the book a lot.  Pages are dog-eared and sometimes stained, and she added notes by some of the recipes. It’s fun to imagine her flipping pages, deciding what to prepare for family or friends.

This one made me smile because I grew up eating similar Jello salads.

I’m so grateful that this particular cookbook got saved, and passed from hand to hand…and ended up in my kitchen.

* * *

To read more about the Boshkas, see Making Jam for Mollie.  To learn more about Pottawatomie Lighthouse or Rock Island history, follow The Light Keeper’s Legacy link on the right side of this page.

The Empty Meadow

I had intended to write a novel “just” about Pottawatomie Lighthouse in Rock Island State Park. Why look any farther? Pottawatomie has it all:  a fascinating human history, a stunning location, an impressive and beautifully restored structure. My husband Scott and I have done stints as live-in docents for the past five years, so we know it well.

I write the Chloe Ellefson Historic Sites mystery series. Chloe is a curator at Old World Wisconsin, the large outdoor ethnic museum in Waukesha County where I once served as curator. A series about historic places, the magnificent lighthouse…it was inevitable. Clearly Chloe needed to spend time at Pottawatomie.

So I began planning the mystery novel that would become The Light Keeper’s Legacy. The basic premise:  Chloe travels to Rock Island as a guest curator, charged with developing a furnishings plan during the restoration process. Her peaceful island idyll gets off to a rough start when she discovers a body on the beach.

I wrote the first few chapters. Then something unexpected happened. During a non-docent visit to Rock Island, Scott and I explored the southern end of the island—something we’d never done.

While doing so we visited the site of a former fishing village.

At one time, perhaps three hundred people lived there.  This interpretive sign suggests what some of the buildings might have looked like.

Illustration Rock Island State Park, Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources; artwork by Benjamin Tollefson.

The village didn’t last for long. As men had to go farther from shore to fish, they needed bigger boats and deeper harbors.

Chester Thordarson, the wealthy inventor who purchased most of Rock Island in 1910, restored a couple of the small cottages and cabins still standing at the village site, intending to use them as guest accommodations.

Photo from Thordarson collection, courtesy Washington Island Historical Archives.

Note the same cabin, barely visible on the north side of the cove. Photo from Thordarson collection, courtesy Washington Island Historical Archives.

The same spot today.

Now, nothing physical remains.  A few shallow depressions—suggesting long-gone foundations—are all that can be seen of the fishing village.

Yet something does remain, something intangible but compelling. As I walked through the peaceful meadow, I imagined the bustling activity it once held.

I could almost see the little cabins, almost hear the thuds of a cooper’s mallet and the sweet tones of a Danish lullaby. I could almost smell the smoke of wood fires, the tang of new-caught fish, the wet green scent of drying nets.

As I wandered around the shallow harbor it was easy to imagine English and Irish and Icelandic and Norwegian fishermen hauling their boats onto the cobbled beach.

And, as sometimes happens when I’m writing, my vision for the book changed. I created an historical plotline featuring a family of Danish immigrants who settled on the fishing village in 1869. Ragna Anderson, a fictional woman from the Hedebo region of Denmark, became a major character.

Ragna’s story is woven with Chloe’s more modern experiences. The two are linked by the lighthouse, and by one of the real families who lived and worked at Pottawatomie Lighthouse. Emily Betts appears in Chloe’s research, and as a character in the historical plotline. My novel is much richer because of the inspiration I found in that “empty” meadow.

On Rock Island, it is very easy to focus only on the magnificent lighthouse, and the equally magnificent Viking Hall and Boathouse built by Chester Thordarson.

But those structures present an incomplete picture. Many people came and went from Rock Island without leaving any still-lingering physical evidence behind—European and Yankee fishermen, Pottawatomie and Menomonee and Huron travelers, French traders and explorers.

The same thing is true, of course, throughout Door County—and elsewhere. Next time you travel your favorite back roads, use your imagination and a guidebook or two to explore the landscape. Imagine who might have once peopled the peaceful forest; the tranquil field.  You never know what—or who—you might discover.

Location, Location!

Creating a vivid sense of place is one of my top goals when I begin a new Chloe Ellefson mystery. Each features real places that I think are very special.

So I’m excited to announce that—thanks to my husband Scott—you have two new ways to explore The Light Keeper’s Legacy‘s setting.

First is a Google Map.

You can zoom around, and click on map pins see pop-up photos and descriptions.

Second is a 12-page Locations Guide with maps and even more photos and descriptions—plus some recommendations for visiting Washington and Rock Islands.

Both of these new ‘Book Goodies’ are free, and available on my website.  If you can’t visit Washington and Rock Islands, these resources will help you imagine the places described in the book.  If you are able to visit, they’ll help you plan your trip.

Locations Guides are also available for Old World Murder and The Heirloom Murders.

Enjoy!

Making Jam For Mollie

My husband Scott and I have served as docents at Pottawatomie Lighthouse, setting for The Light Keeper’s Legacy (the third Chloe Ellefson Historic Sites Mystery), for five years now. There are lots of stories to tell. I wove some of my favorites into the book—especially those concerning the Betts family, occupants in the late 1800s.

Visitors touring the lighthouse, however, see the structure as it appeared in about 1910. Charles Boshka was head keeper then.

Charlie Boshka at an earlier posting.

I knew the basic facts of his time there, but until recently, all I knew about his wife Mollie was how lovely she was.

This was Charlie and Mollie’s wedding photo.

That changed when I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting two of the Boshkas’ descendants. Thanks to the generosity of Connie Sena and Kari Gordon, the handsome couple in the portrait displayed at the lighthouse are a little more real to me now.

Some sheet music was among the family treasures. Charlie played the violin, and even composed at least a few tunes.

The couple had two children.

Charlie and Mollie with their son, Lucien Nels, and daughter, Ella Josephine.

I adore this photograph! It gives a hint of life beyond the daily requirements for lighthouse families.

I was particularly pleased to get glimpses of Mollie. She grew roses.

Some of Mollie’s roses still bloom at the couple’s home on Washington Island.

And she was a knitter.

Mollie’s needles…

…and a closer view of her handiwork.

I hoped to find a lace pattern similar to these, practice over the winter, and knit during my stay at Pottawatomie this year. Time got away from me, so—maybe next year.

However, Connie shared another treasure with me:  Mollie’s recipe for rhubarb jam.

The week Scott and I traditionally stay as docents at Pottawatomie Lighthouse comes right at the peak of rhubarb season. Perfect.

That’s me, harvesting from the lighthouse garden.

Other than rhubarb, I brought the fixings for Mollie’s jam. I made a batch the day we arrived at Pottawatomie, and wrote the recipe out on brown paper.

Scott said the simmering jam made the whole house smell wonderful!

An added bonus?  The jam was delicious. I kept one jar for display, and we enjoyed the rest on our morning toast all week.

Mollie Boshka’s Rhubarb Jam
1 qt. rhubarb cut up fine
1 qt. sugar
2 oranges – grind rind and all
Let sit on back of stove until juices form.  Then let it boil good for 20 minutes.

Just before you take it off stove put in 1/4 lb. of walnuts, cut up fine
Also grind half a cup of raisins and put in the mixture.

*Note:  I omitted the sugar and added a splash of maple syrup instead. Also, I didn’t have a grinder, so I minced the oranges, walnuts, and raisins with a sharp knife.  Mollie’s reference to letting the rhubarb sit on the back of the stove harkens back to the days when the back burners of a wood-fired cookstove stayed warm; I stirred the rhubarb, oranges, and sweetener over low heat until it began to simmer.  I did not actually can the jam, but I plan to make another batch and freeze it in small containers.

It made me happy to bring a little something of Mollie back to the lighthouse.  And on chilly evenings, I could almost hear Charlie playing violin in the parlor—just as he did a century ago.

Gratitude Giveaway!

My latest Chloe Ellefson mystery, The Light Keeper’s Legacy, has received the 2013 LOVEY Award for Best Traditional Mystery!  This honor was bestowed by a vote of the readers, writers, agents, and publishers attending the Love Is Murder mystery writers’ conference in Chicago, the Midwest’s premier mystery/romantic suspense/thriller gathering.

To celebrate, I’m giving away three special-edition Chloe Ellefson Mysteries totebags.  The bags feature the Chloe series tagline—Living History Can Be Deadly—and an original painting of one of Old World Wisconsin’s restored buildings.  A very talented artist, Tom Redman, created the delightfully atmospheric scene.

Interested?  Just leave a comment below, and your name will go into the drawing.  I’ll pull three names on Monday evening, February 11th.

I’m truly grateful for all the support I’ve received from readers.  I love what I do, and you make it possible!

UPDATE:  Congratulations to Carolyn C., Cheryl P., and Dixie B., winners in the totebag giveaway.  All three winners entered via my Facebook page.  Thanks to everyone who shared such lovely comments.  This was so much fun we’ll definitely do it again some time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Library Box

“What did the library box look like?”

The question came up last week when I visited a book group to discuss the 3rd Chloe Ellefson mystery, The Light Keeper’s Legacy.  A library box is featured prominently in the story, linking the historical timeline to the modern one.

A reproduction library box also happens to be my favorite object in Pottawatomie Lighthouse. When I give tours as a volunteer docent, I never fail to share it with guests.

Photo by Kay Klubertanz.

Joseph St. Andre, who once lived at a lighthouse, explained the system in Living at  Lighthouse:  Oral Histories From the Great Lakes. “The Lighthouse Service had lending libraries. …Boats would take the box from one station to another one.  You had no choice of what library you were going to get. …They were good books.”

The lending libraries arrived in sturdy wooden cases, constructed to withstand the strain of transport from one lighthouse to the next.

I’ve heard and read about how precious these traveling trunks were. There may not have been a school accessible to the lighthouse children, especially in the 19th century. At Pottawatomie Lighthouse in Rock Island State Park, setting for The Light Keeper’s Legacy, two women taught school in the cellar during their time there. They no doubt welcomed each fresh installment of reading materials.

But the libraries contained more than school books. Lighthouse families were often isolated, with long evenings to fill. The librarians who filled the trunks took care to provide a variety of books for all age readers.

Light keepers and their families took pride in being well-educated. It’s easy for me to imagine how exciting the arrival of the supply ship was. Forget the lamp oil and dried peas; I’d make straight for the new library.

Mr. St. Andre echoed that sentiment when he was interviewed: “…Every time we’d get a library we’d start reading a book and everybody’d grab a book and sit in the corner and read. But you didn’t want to take somebody’s placemarker out of it, that was criminal.”