Under my own name, Nikki Poppen, I write for Avalon books. This month, I'm the featured author. So hop over to http://www.avalonbooks.com/ and check out the interview! it's also a chance to see my other covers. Newport Summer came out at the end of February and got a nice write up in Publisher's Weekly. If you click on my Newport Summer book cover which is on the first screen you see, you can read reviews from booklist and Publisher's Weekly. If you click on the author! author! option you can read the interview.
On p. 185 in Chapter 14, Valerian and Phillippa and her brother, Beldon, have a dinner conversation about a man named Bickford who is patenting a new kind of fuse for blasting in the mines. Valerian and Beldon decide to ride over the next day and talk with him about his invention. The Bickford fuse was a big step forward for mining safety since it took away a significant amount of risk miners faced when lighting the traditional reed fuses. Bickford did exist, he did craft this fuse and did design his own production line for mass producing that fuse in the 1830s. If you're interested in reading about this piece of Cornish mining history, try this link: http://www.cornwall-calling.co.uk/famous-cornish-people/bickford.htm
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