On THE MIRACLES

The Miracles, a novel-in-progress and seventh in my Americana series, is moving along slowly—by selfish design. I've discovered that writing novels is far more enjoyable than publishing them, so I'm taking my sweet time and wallowing in this one.

It begins in 1910, features Angela Farmer—the nurse who aided Hank Fenn in an earlier book—and tells how she went from orphan to nurse to nanny for a young Abigail Farnsworth, who had helped deliver quadruplets on a train in yet another novel.

Fortunes turn sour for both young women, so much so that Angela must leave Redding, Connecticut under an assumed name—that of her orphanage friend, schoolmate and fellow nurse Brinda Miracle, who died accidentally on their first day at City Hospital—and lead an orphan train destined for St. Paul, Minnesota.

Orphans not claimed along the route—and thus remaining in the new Brinda's charge—include a 12-year-old Mongoloid, idiot savant (sorry, but more polite terms had not been created by 1910) and pickpocket named Nicholas, an 8-year-old Lizzie Borden fan named Maxine, and 6-year-old Zane with the amber eyes.

Brinda Miracle and her wards move into an orphanage located between NinaClifford's brothel (pictured) and the Bucket of Blood Saloon (both actual places, the orphanage was not). Real-life historical characters besides Nina include two-term Mayor Laurence “Larry Ho” Hodgson, boxers Mike and Tommy Gibbons, author F. Scott Fitzgerald, and a very young Henry Fonda.

They're a temperamental lot, so it's no wonder I must proceed carefully. To be completed by early 2019.