One of the big thrills this year was being invited to serve as the historical fiction faculty member at the South Carolina Writer's conference this coming October. Sounds like a great conference and it's not just about romance writing. Here's the link for those who are interested in honing their craft. One of the best things about these types of conferences is that there's so much time ot interact with faculty and get high quality critiques on your work! http://www.myscww.org/conference
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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