I’ve just entered! đ
The four categories in the New Zealand Heritage Writing Competition are Fiction Book, Non-Fiction book, Poetry and Short Prose.
Old Sacramento and the Pony Express!
Hi All!
Spent a great day and a half in Old Sacramento!
Stayed at the Vagabond Inn Executive-Sacramento (Old Town), which I highly recommend for value for money, great people and great offerings! Â Plus, they’re right across the street from Old Sacramento!
I was met by the Pony Express larger-than-life statue, and after being hurried out of the enclosure by a bicycle policewoman, was lucky enough to have my photo taken by my old friend Dan!
The Sacramento History Museum was great, and their merchandising manager has copies of A Long Trail Rolling and two books by Pat Hearty and Joe Hatch for review! Here’s hoping they want to carry them in the museum!
It’s lovely at night, after the best fresh chiles rellenos I’ve ever had at La Terraza, the buildings all lit up all over Old Sac…
Then onto the Amtrak at Old Sac, Â LOVELY old building…
Hmmm.. so this is what happens when one moves too quickly with the panorama setting… but it’s lovely nonetheless!
And on to Eureka, Fortuna and Bayside for three more talks!
The first one was today, and we made the newspapers and websites here!
And wouldn’t you just love to have one of these 16th C windows in your front door? Found them at The Blacksmith’s Shop
It’s in Ferndale, lovely place!
Thanks for showing me some of your most special places around Eureka and Arcata, Mum and Lars!
Have a great day, all!
Two more talks tomorrow, if you missed today’s!
3 pm at the Humboldt County Main Library at Eureka and
7 pm at the Bayside Grange !
Come on by!
XX
Lizzi
Author Talks This Week
If you’re anywhere near the Humboldt, California area, come on by one of the Author Talks I’m giving on Friday and Saturday of this week!
Fortuna Library: Friday 24 June, 4 pm at 753 14th St, Fortuna
Eureka Library: Saturday June 25, 3 pm at 1313 3rd St, Eureka
Bayside Grange: Saturday 25 June, 7-9 pm at 2297 Jacoby Creek Rd, Bayside, Eureka
Â
Everyone welcome!
Hope to see you there!
Regards,
Lizzi
The Pony Express Rides Again!
Hi All!
It was Great!!!!
Grit in your teeth, hot, sweaty horses and people… and the mochila, being handed from horse to horse every two miles, for 2000 miles…
What else could it be but fantastic?
Here’s where our group started, at Simpson’s!
It was a three-generation-Hearty Family affair, from Izzy, below shown with dad Matt, Gregg (a few pics below), Jeff (no pics, only saw him once!) and Kellie with her babies and hubby Kevin!
Pat Hearty’s Group IIIÂ of the National Pony Express Association’s Utah Chapter took over the mochila on the morning of the 19th June and we passed it hand to hand and horse to horse until we got into Salt Lake City that evening at around 6 pm. Group II caught up an hour on its runs and we caught it up a further half hour during ours, which was a bit tricky in the streets of Salt Lake City!
What with small disasters besetting some of our group’s members, several of us got to ride two and three times! Â I was lucky enough to ride the Pat Hearty’s Leonard and Matt Hearty’s Sonny!
I was even brave enough to use a Go Pro AND a helmet (the former unheard-of and the latter rare)!  Footage will follow after I learn how to edit it…it’s very long and a bit repetitive… but it gives a non-rider the sense of what it might feel like!
Sonny and I coming down from Lookout, or General Johnstone’s Pass, on my first PX ride, the same hill where Aleksandra finds plenty of trouble in A Long Trail Rolling!
Here’s Sonny and Leonard having a little break between rides:
Gregg Hearty off to an interesting start! (Sorry Gregg, this pic from previous year, but my rides seemed to always follow Gregg’s and wasn’t able to get a pic!) Kellie and Kevin Kimber in the background
Linda Hearty and a few riders at the Historic Stagecoach Inn near the old Camp Floyd!
[wpvideo HPEMjHQJ]
The oh-so cruisy Sonny in the streets of Salt Lake, pausing for a snack with the freesias, lavender and freeway behind…
The Deseret News came and met with us on State Street leading in to Salt Lake and Pat’s son Matt Hearty and Kevin Kimber, Pat’s son-in-law made front page news on the day! Here’s the photo I took while the reporter got his famous slinging-on-of the mochila for the front page… starring Sonny on the right and Kellie (nee-Hearty) Kimber’s mare Cheyenne on the left.
Sonny and Matt racing down the streets of Salt Lake City, complete with pilot cars before and after, led by a police escort!
Sonny the posing horse, doing his thing again with me after Matt took him on his last lope of the 2016 Express Re-Ride down the streets of Salt Lake:
‘Let’s go!’ Â he says…
Thanks to the National Pony Express Association and the State Branches! Â My personal appreciation to the Hearty and Hatch families for all their care and assistance!!
That’s all for tonight, folks!
Author Talks this week:
Take good care out there, and if you’re in the Humboldt, CA area, come on by one of the Author Talks I’m giving on Friday and Saturday of this week!
Fortuna Library: Friday 24 June, 4 pm at 753 14th St, Fortuna
Eureka Library: Saturday June 25, 3 pm at 1313 3rd St, Eureka
Bayside Grange: Saturday 25 June, 7-9 pm at 2297 Jacoby Creek Rd
Â
Everyone welcome!
Hope to see you there!
Regards,
Lizzi
Talks Scheduled for Utah, Eureka, Fortuna and Bayside
Hi All!
Here is the more complete list of talks!
They will be  Meet the Author sessions, and I’ll be talking about History, Writing History, A Long Trail Rolling,  and doing some readings from some of the books!
If all goes well tomorrow, there will be some footage shot during my ride in the Pony Express Re-Ride!!!
Can’t wait to see you all there!
I’ll sign books and there will be a small number of books available for sale!
Hope to see you at one of the sessions!
Here’s a bit from the posters…
Come along and meet Lizzi Tremayne
Lizzi, an awarded writer, teacher and equine veterinarian, writes Historical Romantic Suspense with a Pony Express flair.
Catch her on her visit from New Zealand to ride in the Re-Ride!
Salt Lake City, Utah: Â
Monday 20 June, from 3-7 p.m. Venue: The Hatch Residence,  1614 S. 1700 E., Salt Lake City, (801) 466-4092
Fortuna, California:
Friday, 24 June 4 p.m. Â Venue:Â Fortuna Library: 753 14th St, Fortuna
Eureka, California:
Saturday, June 25, 3 p.m. Venue: Â Eureka Library:Â 1313 3rd St, Eureka
Bayside, California:
Saturday, 25 June, 7-9 p.m. Venue: Â Bayside Grange: 2297 Jacoby Creek Rd
Everyone welcome! Hope to see you there!
Find Lizzi at:
https://lizzitremayne.com or
FB Lizzi Tremayne Author!
The Mochila is Coming Closer
Here at the Pat and Linda Hearty residence,  we’re preparing and waiting with expectancy for Group 1 of the Utah Pony Express Association to hand over the mochila to us at Simpson Springs tomorrow morning!
Our team, Team 3, led by the Heartys, will have 42 rides of two miles each, which will be split up between the twenty horses and sixteen riders tomorrow, to complete our  85 mile portion of the over-2000 mile re-ride.
TOMORROW!
We spent the day doing final shoeings with rubber shoes  or borium points for those horses who will complete our stretch into the streets of Salt Lake City.  I’m lucky enough to not be one of those riding through town, but who knows, by the end of the day!  While they guys finished shoeing, I set to work on six horses, being honourary groom… Manes and tails on these cool Quarter Horse brumbies… hadn’t seen a comb for awhile, so armed with a great brush and a bottle of Show Sheen, they’re NEARLY done!
Last prep for myself tonight, I’m learning how to use the Go-Pro, and will be riding with it on my hat!  Hope to have good footage tomorrow for you all!  Not  a western hat, but it will at least keep me from scrambling my brains in the unlikely event of a mishap! And it’ll hold the Go-Pro!  Here’s my practice run….
[wpvideo RUr8m38q]
Hope to see some of you out on the trail, or at the talk at Joe and Annette Hatch’s place on Monday between 3 and 7 pm (see previous blog posts for details)! Â Talk, readings, book signing, and of course, books for sale, by yours truly or two great Pony Express books by Patrick Hearty and Joe Hatch!
Bye till after the ride!!
XX
Lizzi
Come Along to a Talk Soon!! Salt Lake, Sacramento, Arcata!
Hi All!
You’re all invited to some talks, coming soon!
What we’ll talk about….
A Long Trail Rolling is an Historical Romantic Suspense novel, and the first in The Long Trail Quadrilogy. The book is a crossover between YA and Adult.
I am an awarded, self-published author, equine veterinarian with an equine dental practice(UCD grad) and high school teacher. I have recently stepped down from being the President of the Romance Writers of New Zealand. A California native, I have lived in New Zealand since 1991.
The purpose of my trip to the USA is to ride a portion of the Pony Express Re-Ride on June 19th, over the Utah part of the trail included in my story.Â
There will be:
¡      Readings from the novel
¡      Talk about the Pony Express (as will have left from Old Sacramento on its way east the previous week!)  I’ve got a PowerPoint presentation with plenty of pics from the Utah portion of the trail and will hopefully have some great Go Pro footage from my riding of the Re-Ride on the 19th of June!
¡      Discussion of writing, or researching and writing historical novels
¡      Talk about NaNoWriMo with budding writers of any age. I led a group of thirteen year olds through NaNo last year in New Zealan
 We’re open to suggestions!Â
Would love to see you all there!
xxx
2016 USA Book Tour: West
Salt Lake City, Utah:
Monday 20 June, from 3-7 p.m.
Venue: The Hatch Residence, 1614 S. 1700 E.,
Salt Lake City, (801) 466-4092
Sacramento, CA:
23 June TBA
Eureka, CA:
25 June late afternoon, location TBA
Will be updated as locations are confirmed.
Hope to see you all there!
xx
Lizzi
Talks around the world, anyone?
Hello Everyone!
I’ll be on the road in June and July and wonder if any of you could please give me any leads you might have on bookstores, libraries or the like which might be interested in hosting Lizzi Tremayne for a book talk and signing?
I’ll be in Salt Lake City, Utah (To ride in the Pony Express Re-Ride!
The ‘Pony’ is pivotal in my published novel A Long Trail Rolling) from 19-20 June, and have a talk scheduled the afternoon/evening of the 20th. Everyone invited!
I’ll be near Sacramento on the 21-22 June, nothing booked there yet.
I will be in Eureka/Arcata, CA from 23-26, and have one booking there so far.
I’ll be in the SF Bay Area on the 26 and part of 27.
London 27th, then down to Worthing.
Over the next two weeks, will be travelling northwards, York, Leeds, etc. up to Scotland, into the Highlands, and then back south through England.
Leave UK on the 12th, and to San Diego for RWA.
Any ideas around those places and times, anyone? All welcome! I will have a PowerPoint presentation on laptop!
Kindest regards,
Lizzi
The Pony Express Rides Again!
It was fantastic, the Pony Express, wasn’t it? 400 horses, 120 riders, nearly two hundred stations and several hundred station keepers, water /feed carters and the like, through hostile territory, alkali deserts, and high mountains, to get mail across the continental USA in TEN DAYS! Unheard of!
The mochila, that piece of leather with the big (locked) pockets, slipped over the express pony’s saddle.
It would leave San Francisco and be transferred from the saddle of one horse to another, across two thousand miles of the Old West, through to St. Jo, Missouri! (They went the reverse direction, too, of course!)
But it only lasted eighteen months, I hear you say! Â Yes, you’re right!
But now, it’s baaaaaccckkkkk…….
And it’s run every year, by a crazy bunch of historical horse nuts. There’s plenty of info here from the National Pony Express Association about the Pony Express, the trails, the stops, you name it, they’ve got it!  There are even classroom lessons!
If you want to join them, they’re always mad keen to have more people get involved to keep ‘The Pony’, as they call it, alive!
And I’m riding! Woo hoo!!!!!!
So who’s with me?
I’m riding through ____________, the section of the trail in Utah where Aleksandra, my heroine, has her most ‘exciting’ ride!
(Fill in the answer correctly to go into the draw for a specially autographed copy of A Long Trail Rolling. Click on the Leave a comment button below!)
First, I plan to speak and sign books in Salt Lake City before the event, details forthcoming. If you can make it, keep your eyes on this blog!
BUT…
If you can’t make it, I’ll be wearing a Go-Pro! Luckily my portion of the trail is during the daylight hours, so you can see it too!
Here are some of the Mustangs I saw and photographed on my last trip over the trail!
Anyone recognise this photo? Â Hint, I took it… It’s in several places on this website!
Clifton Flat, on the Utah portion of the trail. That little bit of trail you see there is probably the piece of trail that looks most like the original trail back in the day!
This is Patrick, the man who’s helped me so much with A Long Trail, and even written the Foreword. He’s a Past President of the NPEA and he and his family keep the history alive every year. He’s written several books about ‘the pony’Â Â with Dr. Joe Hatch.
I’ll be posting highlights and vlogs from the trail after my ride, so keep your eyes open between the 19th (USA time) and 21st of June! Â Sorry I can’t live-stream, but I suspect internet and phone reception’s not the best out there!
Best wishes from NZ to you from all of us, we’ll be up in the Northern Hemisphere soon!
Love from NZ, here’s a pic of me and my equine boys… One is no longer with us, but he lives on through his brother…
XX
Lizzi
Learn Something New Every Day!
Hmmm… Well….
I’ve learned something new in the past few days… so it can’t all be bad. đ
TAKE-HOME LESSON NUMBER ONE: Use only ONE year for all ‘first’ copyrights for a book. (helps to not do all this in December and January, LOL).
TAKE-HOME LESSON NUMBER TWO: If you have any queries, ASK. I usually do, but must not have, as have no email record of it.
TAKE-HOME LESSON NUMBER THREE: When you lose, be nice about it. I did, and it made all the difference to their committee and I over the last 24 hours.
A little bad news for me today (but fantastic news for another lucky finalist!)
There have been copyright date issues regarding my entry in the Virginia Romance Writers HOLT Contest, where I was a finalist in both the Best New Book and the Best Romantic Suspense categories.
I entered it by the USA copyright date (2015), which was correct for the competition, but it was listed online still with the original NZ copyright date (2014), which was correct at the time they were posted. A further challenge was the fact that I’d won the 2015 Koru Award Best First Novel, which required a 2014 copyright date (NZ contest, NZ copyright). I believed the NZ copyright date had no bearing upon international rights with respect to this contest.
My mistake.
A not insignificant one, it turns out.
While I have been disqualified, the Virginia Romance Writers and their Contests Committee have been kind enough to refund my entry fee and I plan to enter their competitions in future, with other books. They have given me their blessing on this. đ
Still smiling.
Plus, I still have the comfort of knowing A Long Trail Rolling was one of only four finalists in two categories of a contest with over 400 entries.
That’s nice. đ
Thankfully, Australia’s RUBY contest entry conditions are based upon publication date. My fingers are firmly crossed.
Thanks for the kind words, all,
PS, my new FB pages are:
Lizzi Tremayne Author Facebook page
This is attached to my Elizabeth Anne Thompson Facebook page
My previous Lizzi Tremayne Facebook page will be deleted soon…Tidy-up time!
Take care, I smell my chutney burning…. speaking of which, will post on that soon!
xxx
Lizzi
USA and UK visit Coming Up!
Hello All out there!
Putting the word out now…..I’ll be in the USA and UK in June and July.
If any of you would like me to speak, please private message me via
Facebook on my Lizzi Tremayne Facebook page or
Twitter on my Lizzi Tremayne Twitter page
 I’ll be in
Utah: Salt Lake City  (Riding in the Pony Express Re-Ride!)
Patrick Hearty, below, is providing me with a horse to ride over Lookout!
Pat and his lovely wife Linda! at Simpson’s Springs!
You can see the Re-Ride go past if you are somewhere along the trail! Â Here’s the page for more info!
From there, I’ll take a train through Utah, Nevada and down to California, via Truckee Meadows, where Aleksandra and Xavier will ride Dzien, Charro and Rogan en route to California in The Hills of Gold Unchanging, coming soon…
I’ll be visiting  Sacramento,
then north to Eureka, then back south to the SF Bay Area–La Honda, where I grew up!
then north to Eureka, then back south to the SF Bay Area–La Honda, where I grew up!
I have a few talks booked, but have room for more!
From there, will fly to
UK: London, south coast, and then north to the Scottish Highlands. đ
MAYBE Â Virginia. Not sure if can make that one work.
Please let me know if you’d like to see if I can fit you in!
Thanks, and have a great month!
Lizzi
Finalist!!!
How very exciting!
Opened email today to find this!
and the lovely note attached:
Dear Lizzi Tremayne
Itâs my pleasure to let you know that your novel, A Long Trail Rolling, has been selected by our reader judges as a finalist in the HOLT Medallion contest in the Romantic Suspense AND Best First Book categories. Congratulations!
Â
On June 11th, Virginia Romance Writers will host an awards luncheon to announce the HOLT Medallion Winners and Award of Merit Finalists. Please see the attached invitation for more information.
Etc…..
 Woo HOOOOOOoooooooo…..
đ
Thanks, everyone, who helped me get this far!
xxx
Lizzi
Hamilton Zinefest this Saturday!
Come on by the Hamilton Zinefest  this Saturday!
Lizzi Tremayne and Blue Mist Publishing will have a presence there, not sure if we’ll have the big red and blue gazebo or not, but we’ll be there with bells on!
It’s at Creative Waikato, Alexandra Street (next door to Mr Miltonâs Canteen)
Click here for more info.
Take care, all, and hope to see you there!
Kindest regards,
Lizzi Tremayne
Blogging at Ada Soto's Page!
Hi All,
Blogging over at Ada Soto’s page, about food, Â Aleksandra and some bits of her Polish ancestry!
Come on by!
Click HEREÂ to go straight to it!
Enjoy!
It’s just the weather to make some Zurek!
The Comstock Lode
Hello All!
It’s been some time since I’ve been blogging, been so busy finishing The Hills of Gold Unchanging and A Sea of Green Unfolding !
A few months ago I completed the research and wrote the sections about Virginia City and the Comstock Lode,
and am transcribing them from my … scribbles to Scrivener, and I’m in the chapters about the Comstock Lode, in Virginia City and Gold Hill areas of what was then Utah Territory, and is now the state of Nevada.
The Comstock had a unique problem, for the West. Unlike gold lying in veins of quartz between solid rock, as is found in the California mines, in Virginia City, copious silver existed in the mix of loose quartz and clay making up the rich lode. Unfortunately, the composition made the lode highly unstable, as repeated dehydration and re-wetting of the rock mix made it alternately swell and shrink. The timbering methods used up until the advent of Philipp’s invention were unable to hold back the loose rock and keep the tunnels open, resulting in frequent and fatal cave-ins.
Philipp was brought from California to try to solve the problem the miners in the Comstock Lode were experiencing. He made it work, and his square-set timbering was to become the gold standard in mining for the next fifty years.
Well done, Philipp!
Here is square-set timbering!
(this and following from:Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
I really liked this one, because it shows the miners in it…
…and how it was made in situ.  (From the  Nevada State MuseumPhotograph Collection)
This from the Eureka Miner’s Report, photo is of a mine in the Dakotas:
(from:Â http://eurekaminer.blogspot.co.nz/2010/08/eureka-miner-weekly-roundup-new.html)
(From:Â http://www.onlinenevada.org/articles/square-set-timbering)
And the man himself, who started it all, at the Ophir Mine in Virginia City, Mr. Philipp Deidesheimer.  One can only assume that is his lady wife.
I came across a reference to an episode on the old Western serial Bonanza and looked it up. Just finished watching it!  While the show varies a bit from what I’ve read in the research, it’s a good little watch, and will give you a good idea of how the square-set timbering method described in Hills of Gold works!
Here’s the link for it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSD2TSjjJ8c
Enjoy!
Back to writing!
XX
Lizzi
NB: Â A big thank you to all of those people who have placed such wonderful photos and drawings on their websites!
XX
L