I was so happy that I got to go back to the Appalachian Mountains for another story about the Frontier Nursing Service after I wrote These Healing Hills a few years ago. I liked writing about a Frontier Nursing midwife the way I did in that story, but I wanted to share more of the Frontier Nurses Service history. The nurse midwives were such amazing women and Mary Breckinridge was a wonder in how she came to Hyden and brought better health to the mothers and children up in the hill country.
So it was great when I got the go ahead to go back and write more about Breckinridge and to focus on the couriers, young women usually from socially prominent families. Somehow, through force of personality, Mary Breckinridge convinced these girls, who had always had lives of comfort, to give that up for a season and come to the mountains to live in rough circumstances with no conveniences while they took care of the nurse midwives’ horses, ran errands, cleaned stalls, weeded gardens or did all sorts of things they had never even thought to do before. That was my character, Piper. And just like the real young women who volunteered to be couriers, it changed her life. The real life couriers loved their experiences in the service of the Frontier Nurses so much that once they married and had daughters, they signed them up on the courier waiting list while they were still babies.
An Appalachian Summer follows Piper along this volunteer trail and while romantic encounters were certainly not allowed while the young women were volunteering, I let Piper’s childhood sweetheart follow her to the mountains. So, this story is more romantic than some of my other stories although I always find a way to sneak some romance in with the history. You have to love Jamie as he faced many challenges after his family lost their fortune when the markets crashed in the 1929. 
Plus there’s Piper’s aunt Truda who thinks romance may have passed her by forever, but sometimes a person can get a second chance at love.
Sometimes things just pop up in a story that make writing it more fun and Truda was that kind of character. Then there were all the great local characters that always add to any story.
If you haven’t had the chance to read about Piper and her summer as a Frontier Nurse courier, then now is your chance to grab an ebook copy of An Appalachian Summer for a super low price of $2.99 or maybe less at some ebook sites. You can find buy links on my website on the book page for An Appalachian Summer. Just click on the Buy Now link and it takes you to a choice of book sites. Always check the price before you finish your purchase to be sure you’re getting the price you expect. Ebook sales come and go.
Oh, and in case you didn’t know, the folks in the hills say Appalachian like this “app uh latch’ un.”
Do you like stories that are set in the Appalachian regions of our country?
Comments 10
That is such a great price so I purchased it! I love what I call the low mountains of Appalachia. I also love the high mountains I lived in in Idaho and in Germany near the Alps. There is a softness to the Appalachian mountains that is not present in the Rockies or the Alps. They are slow and easy like a Southern accent.
Author
The Appalachian Mountains are very old and have been worn down over the centuries, Karen. Calling them the low mountains is very descriptive. To say they are slow and easy like a Southern accent is a poetic description.
You are fortunate to have seen those beautiful high mountains too. I’ve been to the Rockies but never the Alps. I’ve seen pictures though.
Yes, I love reading books set in Eastern Kentucky particularly. Thank you for writing about Appalachia.
Author
So glad you’ve read my Appalachian stories, Greta. I sent the book you won in my giveaway here. You should get it next week.
I am a children’s librarian and one of my favorite picture books to read to the younger classes was, When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant. The young girl telling the story about visiting her grandmother in the “mountains” in the summer and getting dunked in the creek for baptism. So many great tales in that book! Life so simple!
Author
What fun it must be to introduce children to the joys of stories, Bonnie, by reading to them. I need to look up that book and check out the stories.
I certainly loved and enjoyed your Appalachian stories! I would to read another one about these gutsy ladies if you were given the go ahead!!
Author
So many stories I would like to write, Pamela. If only it didn’t take me so long to write a book. 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed going to the Appalachia area for stories. I’ve got another one coming up next year, but not about the Frontier nurses. But it might be good to consider another story with them.
Yes, I LOVE Applachian stories! I love historical fiction and mountain stories, especially abou the packhorse library program.
(not interested in an ebook, though) Thanks!
Author
Not everybody likes to read ebooks, Susan. I used to not be crazy about electronic reading, but I read both print and ebooks these days. I still prefer the print books. There’s just something about holding the book as you turn pages, but now most of the time I’m reading a print book and an ebook at the same time. It’s so easy to dip into the ebooks and they are always at hand if you don’t mind reading on your phone.
I’m glad you like Appalachian stories and that you enjoyed my packhorse librarian one. That program was another that was really interesting to research.