I am pleased to have a guest post from author Jeanette Watts, who answers...
What would be your dream place to visit and why?
JW: I assume Oz, Ruritania, and the moon are off limits? Then I would have to go with the Columbian
Exposition of 1893. It has always
fascinated me. I’m a Chicago native. I
discovered a diorama of it at the Museum of Science and Industry when I was
something like 8 years old. I have been
sorry since that day that the whole thing was temporary! How could people put in so much work, create
such a beautiful place full of Beaux-Arts palaces, and then tear it all
down? This struck me as tragic.
I want to see George Westinghouse’s new electric lights
lighting up the entire fair at night for the first time. Electric lighting was in its infancy at this
point. People had never seen such a thing
before. They were awed. I want to ride the first-ever Ferris Wheel,
where the individual gondolas were made out of railroad cars! Nowadays we have the London Eye. But this one was first. I want a pickle charm from H.J. Heinz’s
display, which is a landmark in marketing.
Heinz had a lousy location on the second floor of a building, but
managed to become one of the most popular displays in the fair by littering the
place with coupons redeemable for a free pickle charm. You could say his tactic worked “like a
charm.”
Other things weren’t quite so monumental, but they still
sound amazing and very entertaining. Who
would not want to see Canada’s 22,000 pound “Monster Cheese?”
While from the photos it looks beautiful to behold, the
Chicago World’s Fair was devoted to progress.
People could see for themselves all kinds of innovations in science and
technology. There were also new foods
debuted there, like Juicy Fruit gum.
There were pavilions dedicated to different foreign countries, where
people could learn something about other cultures.
The entire place sounds like a fantasy land of wonder and
magic, and I have been wanting to go visit there almost all my life.
Jeanette Watts
Author of Wealth and Privilege
*******************************
by Jeanette Watts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Money. Family. Love. Hate. Obsession. Duty. Politics. Religion - or the
lack thereof. Sex -- or, once again, the lack thereof.
Thomas
Baldwin finds himself married to a woman he can’t stand, while head-over heels
in love with another woman he can’t have. Talk about bad planning. He feels
like a kite, buffeted by circumstances which blow him not only through personal
crises, but also through some of the most significant events in Pittsburgh during
the late 1800s, including the railroad riots of 1877, the creation of the
Homestead Steel Works, the assassination of President Garfield, and the
Johnstown Flood. Over time, and with the help of his muse, who dances
maddeningly just beyond his reach, he takes control of his life, wresting it
from the winds attempting to control him.
A
carefully-researched historical novel about life among the privileged class of
Pittsburgh during the Industrial Revolution.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
The troops had achieved their objective. The tracks at the crossing were clear. They stood in formation, at attention, their
arms at their sides, guarding the tracks.
Their faces were impassive, and not one of them looked down.
The dead and dying lay scattered about the rail
yard. There were men, women, even
children lying face down in the dirt. A
young man in the uniform of the 14th National Guards, one of the Pittsburgh
regiments, was crawling away from the scene, his right arm and leg both covered
in blood.
From his elevated viewpoint, Thomas could see
movements beyond the rail yard, as people half-dragged, half-carried dead and
wounded away from the crossing. He could
see the shock on people’s faces – he could also feel the anger. It was a burning, deadly anger. These Philadelphians shot down protesters in
cold blood. By God, this wasn’t over
yet.
Thomas and Regina both sat down on the hard metal
deck of the water tower. They sat in
silence, too appalled by the scene below to say anything.
“They could have shot over people’s heads, and
probably had the same effect without killing anybody,” Regina said eventually.
“Could be,” Thomas answered, only half paying
attention. He’d seen movement on the
streets below. Yes, indeed: the protesters were returning. He nudged Regina – easy to do, since she’d
been leaning against him - and pointed.
She looked, and a grim, glad smile reached her lips, if not her eyes.
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
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AUTHOR Bio and
Links:
Jeanette Watts has written television
commercials, marketing newspapers, stage melodramas, four screenplays, three
novels, and a textbook on waltzing.
When she isn’t writing, she teaches
social ballroom dances, refinishes various parts of her house, and sews
historical costumes and dance costumes for her Cancan troupe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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