Special Guest Post by B.C. Walker, Author of The Meadowlark

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

In 1885, southeastern Idaho was the last part of the country to open for homesteading. Young Cassie Rapp arrives with her family to farm a country overrun by sagebrush and lacking water. With others they meet, they harness the mighty Snake River and turn 100,000 acres of barren earth into the rich farm community it is today.

Have you ever felt like you had a story inside of you, waiting to be told? That's how I felt for decades about my "Idaho book." I grew up in Idaho and had always wanted to write about it. After writing professionally for years and winning several awards for personal narrative essays, I felt like it was time to take the plunge and start writing.

It wasn't until Memorial Day in 2017 and 2018, when I took my aging mother to visit cemeteries in southeastern Idaho, that the idea for my book really took shape. I was struck by the many graves with death dates no earlier than 1890, and I began to wonder about my ancestors. Who were they? Where did they come from? And why were all their dates post-1885?

As we drove around the area, I also noticed the networks of canals and ditches, which had terrified me as a child. I followed them on Google Maps and discovered they all came from a single outlet from the Snake River, called the "Great Feeder." I was intrigued and felt like I had found a story that had never been told before.

After many discussions with my wife and trusted advisors, I finally had the framework for my story. I named the characters after my family members and did a lot of research on familysearch.org to make sure the historical details were accurate.

The first draft of my book, "The Meadowlark," was written in about three months, but I went through at least five major drafts before I was happy with it. I used spreadsheets to track birthdates, ages, and death dates to make sure the historical details were accurate. I also separated the old line and modern line in one draft to make sure each line flowed well without too many jumps or anachronisms.

I'm currently working on another story that may or may not involve the characters from "The Meadowlark." I'm excited to see where this new story takes me, and I hope you're inspired to follow your own writing journey as well. Remember – the best stories often come from the most unexpected places.

B.C. Walker

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About The Author

B.C. Walker's passion for history began at a young age, instilled by his family's legacy of hard work and perseverance, which included being among the early settlers of America and later, the American West. This fascination with the past led him to pursue a joint degree in American Studies and Political Science, become a speechwriter, and eventually take on roles in marketing and communications for successful organizations such as Ancestry.com, Intel Corporation, and VitalSmarts. Despite his professional success, Walker has continued to hone his writing skills—winning several awards for personal narrative essays and now his debut novel, The Meadowlark, which draws on his experiences and fascination with the past to tell a rich and immersive story of life in southeastern Idaho. Find out more at https://bcwalker.com/