Category American West History
Social Distancing in the 19th Century
Patricia Grady Cox March 30, 2020 We’ve all been stressed this month. We’ll be even more stressed next month from the sound of it. Some of us, being in a group at high risk of severe complications should we contract COVID-19, have been isolating ourselves for weeks already. That gives the writers among of us […]
Happy Birthday
Patricia Grady Cox February 20, 2019 We celebrate the birthdays of Presidents Washington and Lincoln in February. Schools close, some of us get a day off from work, and the stores advertise big sales. Today I want to remember another big February birthday: The State of Arizona! When President Taft signed a Declaration of […]
Thieves and Artifacts
Patricia Grady Cox January 15, 2019 While working on my current novel, I thought it would be interesting to have my characters raid ancient Mexican pyramids and steal anything that looked valuable. It just so happened that the Phoenix Art Museum was having a special exhibit, TEOTIHUACAN: CITY OF WATER, CITY OF FIRE with artifacts […]
When Once is not Enough . . .
Patricia Grady Cox – October 7, 2018 Every now and then I think about writing a sequel to HELLGATE, my most recent novel, set in 1880 Arizona Territory. That thought gained momentum recently as I watched a PBS documentary about the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Prescott’s small Chinatown (50 Chinese in Prescott according to […]
My Story to Tell?
Patricia Grady Cox February 5, 2018 I wanted to have a character in my novel who told the story of the Navajo Long Walk from a native perspective. But how? I am not Native American. I had never done more than exchange a few words with Native Americans. I’d spent a lot of time at Monument […]
Ghost Town Godfather
Patricia Grady Cox January 18, 2018 Arizona owes its existence to mining. First gold, then silver, then copper. Eventually these mines played out or flooded out and closed down. Tombstone started out as a mining town and was too tough to die. But other mining-associated towns, such as Bisbee and Jerome, became ghost towns before […]
Discovering a New (Old) Author
Patricia Grady Cox I recently discovered a new author, at least new to me. Mari Sandoz, born in Nebraska in 1896, writes about that part of the country: Native American history, biographies, short stories, and novels. In 1964 she received a Saddleman’s Award and a Western Writers of America Spur Award for juvenile fiction for […]
More 19th Century Medicine
Patricia Grady Cox August 10, 2016 I can’t seem to stop reading this book! “The National Farmer’s and Housekeeper’s Cyclopaedia” contains too much useful information, especially if one is writing a novel set in this time period. This 1888 portal into the past offers not only the “science” but also the culture and attitudes of […]
ARE YOU SICK? HERE’S WHY!
Patricia Grady Cox August 3, 2016 I haven’t posted in a while due to a couple of relatively minor and totally fixable (now fixed) medical issues that kept me from typing. Instead, I worked on research for my current novel-in-progress and discovered I have a book entitled “The National Farmer’s and Housekeeper’s Cyclopaedia.” This book […]
What Inspires You?
Patricia Grady Cox January 6, 2015 One of the most common questions asked of authors is, “Where did you get your inspiration?” For me, reading about the history of the southwest, particularly Arizona, inspires me. The scenery of the southwest, the Sonoran desert, inspires me. Visiting places that remain untouched by time inspires me. […]
Patricia Grady Cox 