The Joys of Binge Reading

Ann Parker is the award-winning author of the Silver Rush mystery series set in 19th century Colorado. And yes, that is Silver Rush as distinct from the possibly more well known Gold Rush.

Hi there I’m your host, Jenny Wheeler and today Ann talks about how a close family relationship led to her writing the Colorado based Silver Rush series, how she’s combined being a science writer by day with being a fiction writer by night, and why she says being a science writer has been a big advantage in writing the series.

Book Giveaway this week

Our Giveaway is Murderous May Mysteries, including Book #2 in my Of Gold and Blood mystery series Brother Betrayed, which has also now out in audio for anyone who prefers to listen to their stories.

Links for that Give away and all the other things we discuss in this episode can be found in the show notes for this episode at the website, the joys of binge reading.com.

And you can now look for Binge Reading on YouTube – audio only, no video. If you like to consume your podcasts through YouTube, now you can hear Binge Reading that way.

And don’t forget, if you enjoy the show, leave us a positive comment, so others will find us too. Word of mouth is still the best publicity anyone can get.

GET FREE MAY MURDER MYSTERIES Links to this episode

Leadville Colorado https://www.leadville.com/

Barbara Hambly Benjamin January series: https://www.goodreads.com/series/50581-benjamin-january

Louisa Locke: https://mlouisalocke.com/https://www.goodreads.com/series/50581-benjamin-january

Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini mysteries: https://www.amazon.com/Books-Marcia-Muller-Bill-Pronzini/

Carpenter and Quincannon series: https://us.macmillan.com/series/carpenterandquincannon

Sulari Gentile, Rowland Sinclair mysteries: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3856582.Sulari_Gentill

Kerry Greenwood: Phryne Fisher series: http://phrynefisher.com/

Michelle Black, Victorian West mysteries: https://www.michelleblack.com/

Edgar Allan Poe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe

Camille Minichino, the Periodic Table mysteries: http://www.minichino.com/

Silver Lies: https://www.amazon.com/Silver-Lies-Ann-Parker-audiobook/dp/B00A31112C/

Iron Ties: https://www.amazon.com/Iron-Ties-Silver-Rush-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B07VMH5B8C/

Fort Sumter: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/fort-sumter

Where to find Ann Parker online

Website: annparker.net

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annparker.writer

Email: annparker@annparker.net

But now here’s our show.

Introducing historical mystery author Ann Parker

Jenny Wheeler: Hello there Ann, and welcome to the show. It’s great to have you with us.

Ann Parker – Historical mystery author of Silver Rush Colorado series

Ann Parker: Oh, and it’s so great to be here. Thank you, Jenny.

Jenny Wheeler: Now just to get our geography straight before we begin. You are in Northern California and I’m in New Zealand and we’re about 16 hours apart. I’m right about Northern California, am I?

Ann Parker: That’s correct. Yep. About 50 miles away from San Francisco. Most people know of San Francisco, so yeah.

Jenny Wheeler: That’s not that far. I must assume that I have driven up that Captain Cook Highway in the part in the past.

Ann Parker: Oh, Captain Cook Highway? I don’t know what that is..

Jenny Wheeler: Oh, I thought that it was the Coastal Road. I thought it was called Captain Cook Highway. Maybe I’ve got that wrong.

Ann Parker: oh. You could, I think you’re talking highway 1 0 1, but in any case along the coast, it’s beautiful. Yeah.

Jenny Wheeler: It’s gorgeous. You are an award-winning writer with eight books to your credit and they’re called the Silver Rush Mystery Series, and they’re set initially in Leadville, Colorado, although the most recent book, which we’re going to be talking about today, you’ve moved to San Francisco.

Tell us how you got started with these. I understand you’ve got a family connection with the Leadville. Tell us about that.

Ann Parker: I have a lot of family history in Colorado in general. My parents were raised there, and I still have cousin and a brother who’s there.

But it was my paternal grandmother who was raised in Leadville in the late 19th century. And this was a bit of family history I didn’t know until I was, oh gosh, into my forties and heading toward 50.

And as a family genealogist, I was shocked because truly all she ever talked about was Denver, Colorado and how wonderful it was and how she met grandpa and stuff.

When my uncle told me that my grandmother was raised in Leadville, I was like, what? What’s Leadville? I’ve never heard of this place.

And my uncle got very excited and said, ‘Oh my gosh. It was just the biggest mining area, in the country at the time, with silver mining.’

People came from all over. It was like the Gold Rush in California. He says, oh Ann, I know you’ve been thinking about writing some fiction. You need to research Leadville and set a novel there.

I just followed my uncle’s directions and it’s been quite a journey. I gotta say

Leadville beat the Comstock at its peak

Jenny Wheeler: Was it a bigger area than the Nevada area in its time?

Ann Parker: In its time it was, People came from all over the world to Leadville and many of them didn’t realize it’s up at 10,000 feet in the Rocky Mountains, so it’s like almost, like two miles.

And, there was no infrastructure at first and no railroads. People would get up there and spend their last pocket money and be stuck in a place where winter lasts nine months out of the year.

There were some harrowing stories from up there in that time. Yes, it was quite interesting.

Jenny Wheeler: Your lady sleuth is Inez Stannert. She has been on quite a journey herself, because she started out on the East coast and she ended up in Leadville. In book one she makes that transition. Tell us a bit about Inez and where she came from.

Ann Parker: Okay. first of all, I’ll just say this right out. Inez Stannert is my granny’s maiden name.

Jenny Wheeler: Oh.

Ann Parker: Now Granny was a very proper woman but I just loved her name. I thought it had such a strong ring to it and I wanted to honor her in some way.

I asked the family, the ones that were left, she was long gone, ‘Do you think Granny would be okay if I took her name and gave it to this, rough, strong minded, strong willed woman who runs a saloon?’

They said, ‘oh, she’d love it. she’d just be tickled. She’d think it was great. that’s how the name came about.’

And when I was trying to think of her background, I’d been reading about how a lot of the people who came west started on the East coast and I put together a background where she’s from a wealthy East Coast Family.

The father is one of those capitalist industrialist sorts who makes a fortune in iron.

None of that’s in the book. Because you don’t really go into a lot of background.

But she comes from a very privileged background, but she’s a wild child and she meets this handsome, sweet talking gambling man and she kicks over the traces and heads west with him.

That would be her husband Mark Stannert. It was fun to write someone who comes from a privileged background but is able to be a bit of a chameleon and, fashion herself as needs be for the situation.

Inez – from East coast socialite to card sharp

Jenny Wheeler: Yes. As you mentioned, she has to become a card sharp and a saloon owner in Leadville.

There isn’t perhaps too much else for her to do. But she’s moved on through the books. She’s had a rather unrespectable persona in those first few books, but now she’s in San Francisco.

She’s gathered a young woman, to her side as a guardian, Antonia.

And she’s now trying to remake herself as a respectable businesswoman, largely for Antonia’s sake, so that Antonia will be able to have a decent life.

And in this book, a building that she purchases as an investment with a friend, one of the walls tumbles down virtually the first night they own it and there’s a body in the wall and there’s also gold coins in the wall.

That’s a great way to start and it’s quite a temptation with all these gold coins to try and find out what’s been going on.

Tell us about The Secret In The Wall? That’s the book’s name, isn’t it?

Ann Parker: Yes. The Secret In The Wall. And, yes, it’s been a lot of fun, although it was rather unexpected, for Inez to decide she was going to San Francisco, and off she went and bringing Antonio with her.

And, she helps women who run small businesses in San Francisco, and she supports them with money and forms business partnerships.

I’m always on the lookout for ideas, plot ideas that show up in either historical documents or newspapers.

And this body in the wall thing was born from a real incident in San Francisco. where they were digging in the basement or subbasement of a San Francisco house, and unearthed a coffin containing a perfectly preserved body and they had no idea who this was.

How did they end up down here? It turns out that the house was sitting on top of what used to be an old cemetery in San Francisco.

How a ‘body in a wall’ came about

All the bodies had theoretically been moved but they missed a few, including this one. I read that article back in 2016, I think, and it just sat in the back of my mind.

I was thinking, that is so cool. And then, when it came time to write this book, it’s like the body just moved into the wall and it was like, whoa, let’s see what happens from here.

And Antonia, who’s about 12 or 13, no one’s real sure of her age, she’s fascinated by Treasure Island, which at this point is coming out in serial form in in a young adult magazine.

And so when the body falls out along and our fake eye pops out of the skull and rolls across this floor, then you’ve got Antonia thinking pirates. And Inez is more like, who is this? And who does the gold belong to?

Because Inez always has her eye on the financial end of things. So that’s the start of it.

Jenny Wheeler: Looking back to Leadville, what’s Leadville like today compared with it was in the 1880s?

Ann Parker: It is a much quieter place. In 1880 there was talk of making it the capital of Colorado. It was that big and that rich.

There was a lot of money coming in and coming out of Leadville and there were like, oh, I don’t know, 20,000 people living there up at the top of the mountain and now it’s much quieter.

The mining industry has pretty much gone away now. There’s one or two small operations, but it’s become a Mecca for extreme sports. Like for people who will run a hundred miles all above 10,000 feet

Jenny Wheeler: Gosh.

Ann Parker: And bicycles or cross country ski-ing. People are starting to realize that this is really a lovely place.

You get a lot of second home buyers popping up and it’s changing.

It was very quiet for a long time. and now I think there’s more interest in it as a place for people to spend time, not just for the history, but for the beauty of the area and for the sports that are possible.

Leadville a historic delight for today’s visitors

Jenny Wheeler: Are there many historic buildings left? Is it anything like, say Virginia City, where there’s a real sense of the past history?

Ann Parker: Oh, yes. At this point, if you walk down Harrison Street, which is the main street in town, Harrison Avenue, they still have the boardwalk.

So you can walk on it and get a sense of what that sounds like.

If you imagine hundreds and hundreds of feet, walking up and down and going here and going there. And the side avenues and streets also have a lot of the historical houses still.

It’s really wonderful. they’ve put together some great hiking trails through the mining district, which is all quiet now. it’s a great place to visit and get a sense of the history.

Yeah. You could still do that. They haven’t knocked it all down.

Jenny Wheeler: Oh, that’s wonderful. And of course, pretty well, everybody has heard of the Gold Rush, but hardly anybody has heard of the Silver Rush, and certainly not as far as I understand it.

Why do you think that is? And what was the difference between the two rushes?

Ann Parker: They were about 30 years apart. The California Gold Rush was, 1849, and the Colorado Silver Rush was 1879.

That’s about when it ramped up. There were a couple things that were different. The technology had evolved for, separating silver from other metals in the rocks

And the thing that intrigued me, the Gold Rush is before the Civil War and the Silver Rush is after the Civil War.

So for me, there is this resonance and these repercussions from the US Civil War that for people who lived it, that would be only 20 years in the past.

It would still affect them and the incidents and the episodes would still have a resonance. And as to why, it’s not as well-known as the Comstock. I certainly didn’t know about it, until I heard about it from my family.

Never Miss out!

Never miss out on the hottest new authors, regular FREE BOOK OFFERS and Most Popular podcasts.

Yes please to FREE BOOKS and updates on popular books We won’t send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. .formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] *{box-sizing:border-box;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"]{-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased;-moz-osx-font-smoothing:grayscale;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] legend{border:none;font-size:inherit;margin-bottom:10px;padding:0;position:relative;display:table;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] fieldset{border:0;padding:0.01em 0 0 0;margin:0;min-width:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] body:not(:-moz-handler-blocked) fieldset{display:table-cell;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h1,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h2,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h3,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h4,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h5,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] h6{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-weight:inherit;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] p{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-weight:inherit;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] ol:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] ul:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] blockquote:not([template-default]){text-align:left;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] p:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] hr:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] blockquote:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] ol:not([template-default]),.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] ul:not([template-default]){color:inherit;font-style:initial;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .ordered-list,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .unordered-list{list-style-position:outside !important;padding-left:1em;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .list-item{padding-left:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][data-format="modal"]{display:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][data-format="slide in"]{display:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][data-format="sticky bar"]{display:none;}.formkit-sticky-bar .formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][data-format="sticky bar"]{display:block;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-select,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-checkboxes{width:100%;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit{border:0;border-radius:5px;color:#ffffff;cursor:pointer;display:inline-block;text-align:center;font-size:15px;font-weight:500;cursor:pointer;margin-bottom:15px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:relative;vertical-align:middle;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button:hover,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit:hover,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button:focus,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit:focus{outline:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button:hover > span,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit:hover > span,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button:focus > span,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit:focus > span{background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.1);}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-button > span,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit > span{display:block;-webkit-transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;padding:12px 24px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input{background:#ffffff;font-size:15px;padding:12px;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;-webkit-flex:1 0 auto;-ms-flex:1 0 auto;flex:1 0 auto;line-height:1.4;margin:0;-webkit-transition:border-color ease-out 300ms;transition:border-color ease-out 300ms;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input:focus{outline:none;border-color:#1677be;-webkit-transition:border-color ease 300ms;transition:border-color ease 300ms;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input::-webkit-input-placeholder{color:inherit;opacity:0.8;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input::-moz-placeholder{color:inherit;opacity:0.8;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input:-ms-input-placeholder{color:inherit;opacity:0.8;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-input::placeholder{color:inherit;opacity:0.8;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="dropdown"]{position:relative;display:inline-block;width:100%;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="dropdown"]::before{content:"";top:calc(50% - 2.5px);right:10px;position:absolute;pointer-events:none;border-color:#4f4f4f transparent transparent transparent;border-style:solid;border-width:6px 6px 0 6px;height:0;width:0;z-index:999;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="dropdown"] select{height:auto;width:100%;cursor:pointer;color:#333333;line-height:1.4;margin-bottom:0;padding:0 6px;-webkit-appearance:none;-moz-appearance:none;appearance:none;font-size:15px;padding:12px;padding-right:25px;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;background:#ffffff;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="dropdown"] select:focus{outline:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"]{text-align:left;margin:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"]{margin-bottom:10px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] *{cursor:pointer;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"]:last-of-type{margin-bottom:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] input[type="checkbox"]{display:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] input[type="checkbox"] + label::after{content:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] input[type="checkbox"]:checked + label::after{border-color:#ffffff;content:"";}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] input[type="checkbox"]:checked + label::before{background:#10bf7a;border-color:#10bf7a;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label{position:relative;display:inline-block;padding-left:28px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label::before,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label::after{position:absolute;content:"";display:inline-block;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label::before{height:16px;width:16px;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;background:#ffffff;left:0px;top:3px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-group="checkboxes"] [data-group="checkbox"] label::after{height:4px;width:8px;border-left:2px solid #4d4d4d;border-bottom:2px solid #4d4d4d;-webkit-transform:rotate(-45deg);-ms-transform:rotate(-45deg);transform:rotate(-45deg);left:4px;top:8px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-alert{background:#f9fafb;border:1px solid #e3e3e3;border-radius:5px;-webkit-flex:1 0 auto;-ms-flex:1 0 auto;flex:1 0 auto;list-style:none;margin:25px auto;padding:12px;text-align:center;width:100%;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-alert:empty{display:none;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-alert-success{background:#d3fbeb;border-color:#10bf7a;color:#0c905c;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-alert-error{background:#fde8e2;border-color:#f2643b;color:#ea4110;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-spinner{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;height:0px;width:0px;margin:0 auto;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;right:0;width:0px;overflow:hidden;text-align:center;-webkit-transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;transition:all 300ms ease-in-out;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-spinner > div{margin:auto;width:12px;height:12px;background-color:#fff;opacity:0.3;border-radius:100%;display:inline-block;-webkit-animation:formkit-bouncedelay-formkit-form-data-uid-d471e51619- 1.4s infinite ease-in-out both;animation:formkit-bouncedelay-formkit-form-data-uid-d471e51619- 1.4s infinite ease-in-out both;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-spinner > div:nth-child(1){-webkit-animation-delay:-0.32s;animation-delay:-0.32s;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-spinner > div:nth-child(2){-webkit-animation-delay:-0.16s;animation-delay:-0.16s;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit[data-active] .formkit-spinner{opacity:1;height:100%;width:50px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit[data-active] .formkit-spinner ~ span{opacity:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by[data-active="false"]{opacity:0.35;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit-container{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;width:100%;z-index:5;margin:10px 0;position:relative;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit-container[data-active="false"]{opacity:0.35;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;background-color:#ffffff;border:1px solid #dce1e5;border-radius:4px;color:#373f45;cursor:pointer;display:block;height:36px;margin:0 auto;opacity:0.95;padding:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;text-indent:100%;-webkit-transition:ease-in-out all 200ms;transition:ease-in-out all 200ms;white-space:nowrap;overflow:hidden;-webkit-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;user-select:none;width:190px;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:center;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg width='162' height='20' viewBox='0 0 162 20' fill='none' xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%3E%3Cpath d='M83.0561 15.2457C86.675 15.2457 89.4722 12.5154 89.4722 9.14749C89.4722 5.99211 86.8443 4.06563 85.1038 4.06563C82.6801 4.06563 80.7373 5.76407 80.4605 8.28551C80.4092 8.75244 80.0387 9.14403 79.5686 9.14069C78.7871 9.13509 77.6507 9.12841 76.9314 9.13092C76.6217 9.13199 76.3658 8.88106 76.381 8.57196C76.4895 6.38513 77.2218 4.3404 78.618 2.76974C80.1695 1.02445 82.4289 0 85.1038 0C89.5979 0 93.8406 4.07791 93.8406 9.14749C93.8406 14.7608 89.1832 19.3113 83.1517 19.3113C78.8502 19.3113 74.5179 16.5041 73.0053 12.5795C72.9999 12.565 72.9986 12.5492 73.0015 12.534C73.0218 12.4179 73.0617 12.3118 73.1011 12.2074C73.1583 12.0555 73.2143 11.907 73.2062 11.7359L73.18 11.1892C73.174 11.0569 73.2075 10.9258 73.2764 10.8127C73.3452 10.6995 73.4463 10.6094 73.5666 10.554L73.7852 10.4523C73.9077 10.3957 74.0148 10.3105 74.0976 10.204C74.1803 10.0974 74.2363 9.97252 74.2608 9.83983C74.3341 9.43894 74.6865 9.14749 75.0979 9.14749C75.7404 9.14749 76.299 9.57412 76.5088 10.1806C77.5188 13.1 79.1245 15.2457 83.0561 15.2457Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M155.758 6.91365C155.028 6.91365 154.804 6.47916 154.804 5.98857C154.804 5.46997 154.986 5.06348 155.758 5.06348C156.53 5.06348 156.712 5.46997 156.712 5.98857C156.712 6.47905 156.516 6.91365 155.758 6.91365ZM142.441 12.9304V9.32833L141.415 9.32323V8.90392C141.415 8.44719 141.786 8.07758 142.244 8.07986L142.441 8.08095V6.55306L144.082 6.09057V8.08073H145.569V8.50416C145.569 8.61242 145.548 8.71961 145.506 8.81961C145.465 8.91961 145.404 9.01047 145.328 9.08699C145.251 9.16351 145.16 9.2242 145.06 9.26559C144.96 9.30698 144.853 9.32826 144.745 9.32822H144.082V12.7201C144.082 13.2423 144.378 13.4256 144.76 13.4887C145.209 13.5629 145.583 13.888 145.583 14.343V14.9626C144.029 14.9626 142.441 14.8942 142.441 12.9304Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M110.058 7.92554C108.417 7.88344 106.396 8.92062 106.396 11.5137C106.396 14.0646 108.417 15.0738 110.058 15.0318C111.742 15.0738 113.748 14.0646 113.748 11.5137C113.748 8.92062 111.742 7.88344 110.058 7.92554ZM110.07 13.7586C108.878 13.7586 108.032 12.8905 108.032 11.461C108.032 10.1013 108.878 9.20569 110.071 9.20569C111.263 9.20569 112.101 10.0995 112.101 11.459C112.101 12.8887 111.263 13.7586 110.07 13.7586Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M118.06 7.94098C119.491 7.94098 120.978 8.33337 120.978 11.1366V14.893H120.063C119.608 14.893 119.238 14.524 119.238 14.0689V10.9965C119.238 9.66506 118.747 9.16047 117.891 9.16047C117.414 9.16047 116.797 9.52486 116.502 9.81915V14.069C116.502 14.1773 116.481 14.2845 116.44 14.3845C116.398 14.4845 116.337 14.5753 116.261 14.6519C116.184 14.7284 116.093 14.7891 115.993 14.8305C115.893 14.8719 115.786 14.8931 115.678 14.8931H114.847V8.10918H115.773C115.932 8.10914 116.087 8.16315 116.212 8.26242C116.337 8.36168 116.424 8.50033 116.46 8.65577C116.881 8.19328 117.428 7.94098 118.06 7.94098ZM122.854 8.09713C123.024 8.09708 123.19 8.1496 123.329 8.2475C123.468 8.34541 123.574 8.48391 123.631 8.64405L125.133 12.8486L126.635 8.64415C126.692 8.48402 126.798 8.34551 126.937 8.2476C127.076 8.1497 127.242 8.09718 127.412 8.09724H128.598L126.152 14.3567C126.091 14.5112 125.986 14.6439 125.849 14.7374C125.711 14.831 125.549 14.881 125.383 14.8809H124.333L121.668 8.09713H122.854Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M135.085 14.5514C134.566 14.7616 133.513 15.0416 132.418 15.0416C130.496 15.0416 129.024 13.9345 129.024 11.4396C129.024 9.19701 130.451 7.99792 132.191 7.99792C134.338 7.99792 135.254 9.4378 135.158 11.3979C135.139 11.8029 134.786 12.0983 134.38 12.0983H130.679C130.763 13.1916 131.562 13.7662 132.615 13.7662C133.028 13.7662 133.462 13.7452 133.983 13.6481C134.535 13.545 135.085 13.9375 135.085 14.4985V14.5514ZM133.673 10.949C133.785 9.87621 133.061 9.28752 132.191 9.28752C131.321 9.28752 130.734 9.93979 130.679 10.9489L133.673 10.949Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M137.345 8.11122C137.497 8.11118 137.645 8.16229 137.765 8.25635C137.884 8.35041 137.969 8.48197 138.005 8.62993C138.566 8.20932 139.268 7.94303 139.759 7.94303C139.801 7.94303 140.068 7.94303 140.489 7.99913V8.7265C140.489 9.11748 140.15 9.4147 139.759 9.4147C139.31 9.4147 138.651 9.5829 138.131 9.8773V14.8951H136.462V8.11112L137.345 8.11122ZM156.6 14.0508V8.09104H155.769C155.314 8.09104 154.944 8.45999 154.944 8.9151V14.8748H155.775C156.23 14.8748 156.6 14.5058 156.6 14.0508ZM158.857 12.9447V9.34254H157.749V8.91912C157.749 8.46401 158.118 8.09506 158.574 8.09506H158.857V6.56739L160.499 6.10479V8.09506H161.986V8.51848C161.986 8.97359 161.617 9.34254 161.161 9.34254H160.499V12.7345C160.499 13.2566 160.795 13.44 161.177 13.503C161.626 13.5774 162 13.9024 162 14.3574V14.977C160.446 14.977 158.857 14.9086 158.857 12.9447ZM98.1929 10.1124C98.2033 6.94046 100.598 5.16809 102.895 5.16809C104.171 5.16809 105.342 5.44285 106.304 6.12953L105.914 6.6631C105.654 7.02011 105.16 7.16194 104.749 6.99949C104.169 6.7702 103.622 6.7218 103.215 6.7218C101.335 6.7218 99.9169 7.92849 99.9068 10.1123C99.9169 12.2959 101.335 13.5201 103.215 13.5201C103.622 13.5201 104.169 13.4717 104.749 13.2424C105.16 13.0799 105.654 13.2046 105.914 13.5615L106.304 14.0952C105.342 14.7819 104.171 15.0566 102.895 15.0566C100.598 15.0566 98.2033 13.2842 98.1929 10.1124ZM147.619 5.21768C148.074 5.21768 148.444 5.58663 148.444 6.04174V9.81968L151.82 5.58131C151.897 5.47733 151.997 5.39282 152.112 5.3346C152.227 5.27638 152.355 5.24607 152.484 5.24611H153.984L150.166 10.0615L153.984 14.8749H152.484C152.355 14.8749 152.227 14.8446 152.112 14.7864C151.997 14.7281 151.897 14.6436 151.82 14.5397L148.444 10.3025V14.0508C148.444 14.5059 148.074 14.8749 147.619 14.8749H146.746V5.21768H147.619Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M0.773438 6.5752H2.68066C3.56543 6.5752 4.2041 6.7041 4.59668 6.96191C4.99219 7.21973 5.18994 7.62695 5.18994 8.18359C5.18994 8.55859 5.09326 8.87061 4.8999 9.11963C4.70654 9.36865 4.42822 9.52539 4.06494 9.58984V9.63379C4.51611 9.71875 4.84717 9.88721 5.05811 10.1392C5.27197 10.3882 5.37891 10.7266 5.37891 11.1543C5.37891 11.7314 5.17676 12.1841 4.77246 12.5122C4.37109 12.8374 3.81152 13 3.09375 13H0.773438V6.5752ZM1.82373 9.22949H2.83447C3.27393 9.22949 3.59473 9.16064 3.79688 9.02295C3.99902 8.88232 4.1001 8.64502 4.1001 8.31104C4.1001 8.00928 3.99023 7.79102 3.77051 7.65625C3.55371 7.52148 3.20801 7.4541 2.7334 7.4541H1.82373V9.22949ZM1.82373 10.082V12.1167H2.93994C3.37939 12.1167 3.71045 12.0332 3.93311 11.8662C4.15869 11.6963 4.27148 11.4297 4.27148 11.0664C4.27148 10.7324 4.15723 10.4849 3.92871 10.3237C3.7002 10.1626 3.35303 10.082 2.88721 10.082H1.82373Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M13.011 6.5752V10.7324C13.011 11.207 12.9084 11.623 12.7034 11.9805C12.5012 12.335 12.2068 12.6089 11.8201 12.8022C11.4363 12.9927 10.9763 13.0879 10.4402 13.0879C9.6433 13.0879 9.02368 12.877 8.5813 12.4551C8.13892 12.0332 7.91772 11.4531 7.91772 10.7148V6.5752H8.9724V10.6401C8.9724 11.1704 9.09546 11.5615 9.34155 11.8135C9.58765 12.0654 9.96557 12.1914 10.4753 12.1914C11.4656 12.1914 11.9607 11.6714 11.9607 10.6313V6.5752H13.011Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M15.9146 13V6.5752H16.9649V13H15.9146Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M19.9255 13V6.5752H20.9758V12.0991H23.696V13H19.9255Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M28.2828 13H27.2325V7.47607H25.3428V6.5752H30.1724V7.47607H28.2828V13Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M41.9472 13H40.8046L39.7148 9.16796C39.6679 9.00097 39.6093 8.76074 39.539 8.44727C39.4687 8.13086 39.4262 7.91113 39.4116 7.78809C39.3823 7.97559 39.3339 8.21875 39.2665 8.51758C39.2021 8.81641 39.1479 9.03905 39.1039 9.18554L38.0405 13H36.8979L36.0673 9.7832L35.2236 6.5752H36.2958L37.2143 10.3193C37.3578 10.9199 37.4604 11.4502 37.5219 11.9102C37.5541 11.6611 37.6025 11.3828 37.6669 11.0752C37.7314 10.7676 37.79 10.5186 37.8427 10.3281L38.8886 6.5752H39.9301L41.0024 10.3457C41.1049 10.6943 41.2133 11.2158 41.3276 11.9102C41.3715 11.4912 41.477 10.958 41.644 10.3105L42.558 6.5752H43.6215L41.9472 13Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M45.7957 13V6.5752H46.846V13H45.7957Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M52.0258 13H50.9755V7.47607H49.0859V6.5752H53.9155V7.47607H52.0258V13Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3Cpath d='M61.2312 13H60.1765V10.104H57.2146V13H56.1643V6.5752H57.2146V9.20312H60.1765V6.5752H61.2312V13Z' fill='%23373F45'/%3E%3C/svg%3E");}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit:hover,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit:focus{background-color:#ffffff;-webkit-transform:scale(1.025) perspective(1px);-ms-transform:scale(1.025) perspective(1px);transform:scale(1.025) perspective(1px);opacity:1;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit[data-variant="dark"],.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit[data-variant="light"]{background-color:transparent;border-color:transparent;width:166px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit[data-variant="light"]{color:#ffffff;background-image:url("data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg width='162' height='20' viewBox='0 0 162 20' fill='none' xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%3E%3Cpath d='M83.0561 15.2457C86.675 15.2457 89.4722 12.5154 89.4722 9.14749C89.4722 5.99211 86.8443 4.06563 85.1038 4.06563C82.6801 4.06563 80.7373 5.76407 80.4605 8.28551C80.4092 8.75244 80.0387 9.14403 79.5686 9.14069C78.7871 9.13509 77.6507 9.12841 76.9314 9.13092C76.6217 9.13199 76.3658 8.88106 76.381 8.57196C76.4895 6.38513 77.2218 4.3404 78.618 2.76974C80.1695 1.02445 82.4289 0 85.1038 0C89.5979 0 93.8406 4.07791 93.8406 9.14749C93.8406 14.7608 89.1832 19.3113 83.1517 19.3113C78.8502 19.3113 74.5179 16.5041 73.0053 12.5795C72.9999 12.565 72.9986 12.5492 73.0015 12.534C73.0218 12.4179 73.0617 12.3118 73.1011 12.2074C73.1583 12.0555 73.2143 11.907 73.2062 11.7359L73.18 11.1892C73.174 11.0569 73.2075 10.9258 73.2764 10.8127C73.3452 10.6995 73.4463 10.6094 73.5666 10.554L73.7852 10.4523C73.9077 10.3957 74.0148 10.3105 74.0976 10.204C74.1803 10.0974 74.2363 9.97252 74.2608 9.83983C74.3341 9.43894 74.6865 9.14749 75.0979 9.14749C75.7404 9.14749 76.299 9.57412 76.5088 10.1806C77.5188 13.1 79.1245 15.2457 83.0561 15.2457Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M155.758 6.91365C155.028 6.91365 154.804 6.47916 154.804 5.98857C154.804 5.46997 154.986 5.06348 155.758 5.06348C156.53 5.06348 156.712 5.46997 156.712 5.98857C156.712 6.47905 156.516 6.91365 155.758 6.91365ZM142.441 12.9304V9.32833L141.415 9.32323V8.90392C141.415 8.44719 141.786 8.07758 142.244 8.07986L142.441 8.08095V6.55306L144.082 6.09057V8.08073H145.569V8.50416C145.569 8.61242 145.548 8.71961 145.506 8.81961C145.465 8.91961 145.404 9.01047 145.328 9.08699C145.251 9.16351 145.16 9.2242 145.06 9.26559C144.96 9.30698 144.853 9.32826 144.745 9.32822H144.082V12.7201C144.082 13.2423 144.378 13.4256 144.76 13.4887C145.209 13.5629 145.583 13.888 145.583 14.343V14.9626C144.029 14.9626 142.441 14.8942 142.441 12.9304Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M110.058 7.92554C108.417 7.88344 106.396 8.92062 106.396 11.5137C106.396 14.0646 108.417 15.0738 110.058 15.0318C111.742 15.0738 113.748 14.0646 113.748 11.5137C113.748 8.92062 111.742 7.88344 110.058 7.92554ZM110.07 13.7586C108.878 13.7586 108.032 12.8905 108.032 11.461C108.032 10.1013 108.878 9.20569 110.071 9.20569C111.263 9.20569 112.101 10.0995 112.101 11.459C112.101 12.8887 111.263 13.7586 110.07 13.7586Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M118.06 7.94098C119.491 7.94098 120.978 8.33337 120.978 11.1366V14.893H120.063C119.608 14.893 119.238 14.524 119.238 14.0689V10.9965C119.238 9.66506 118.747 9.16047 117.891 9.16047C117.414 9.16047 116.797 9.52486 116.502 9.81915V14.069C116.502 14.1773 116.481 14.2845 116.44 14.3845C116.398 14.4845 116.337 14.5753 116.261 14.6519C116.184 14.7284 116.093 14.7891 115.993 14.8305C115.893 14.8719 115.786 14.8931 115.678 14.8931H114.847V8.10918H115.773C115.932 8.10914 116.087 8.16315 116.212 8.26242C116.337 8.36168 116.424 8.50033 116.46 8.65577C116.881 8.19328 117.428 7.94098 118.06 7.94098ZM122.854 8.09713C123.024 8.09708 123.19 8.1496 123.329 8.2475C123.468 8.34541 123.574 8.48391 123.631 8.64405L125.133 12.8486L126.635 8.64415C126.692 8.48402 126.798 8.34551 126.937 8.2476C127.076 8.1497 127.242 8.09718 127.412 8.09724H128.598L126.152 14.3567C126.091 14.5112 125.986 14.6439 125.849 14.7374C125.711 14.831 125.549 14.881 125.383 14.8809H124.333L121.668 8.09713H122.854Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M135.085 14.5514C134.566 14.7616 133.513 15.0416 132.418 15.0416C130.496 15.0416 129.024 13.9345 129.024 11.4396C129.024 9.19701 130.451 7.99792 132.191 7.99792C134.338 7.99792 135.254 9.4378 135.158 11.3979C135.139 11.8029 134.786 12.0983 134.38 12.0983H130.679C130.763 13.1916 131.562 13.7662 132.615 13.7662C133.028 13.7662 133.462 13.7452 133.983 13.6481C134.535 13.545 135.085 13.9375 135.085 14.4985V14.5514ZM133.673 10.949C133.785 9.87621 133.061 9.28752 132.191 9.28752C131.321 9.28752 130.734 9.93979 130.679 10.9489L133.673 10.949Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M137.345 8.11122C137.497 8.11118 137.645 8.16229 137.765 8.25635C137.884 8.35041 137.969 8.48197 138.005 8.62993C138.566 8.20932 139.268 7.94303 139.759 7.94303C139.801 7.94303 140.068 7.94303 140.489 7.99913V8.7265C140.489 9.11748 140.15 9.4147 139.759 9.4147C139.31 9.4147 138.651 9.5829 138.131 9.8773V14.8951H136.462V8.11112L137.345 8.11122ZM156.6 14.0508V8.09104H155.769C155.314 8.09104 154.944 8.45999 154.944 8.9151V14.8748H155.775C156.23 14.8748 156.6 14.5058 156.6 14.0508ZM158.857 12.9447V9.34254H157.749V8.91912C157.749 8.46401 158.118 8.09506 158.574 8.09506H158.857V6.56739L160.499 6.10479V8.09506H161.986V8.51848C161.986 8.97359 161.617 9.34254 161.161 9.34254H160.499V12.7345C160.499 13.2566 160.795 13.44 161.177 13.503C161.626 13.5774 162 13.9024 162 14.3574V14.977C160.446 14.977 158.857 14.9086 158.857 12.9447ZM98.1929 10.1124C98.2033 6.94046 100.598 5.16809 102.895 5.16809C104.171 5.16809 105.342 5.44285 106.304 6.12953L105.914 6.6631C105.654 7.02011 105.16 7.16194 104.749 6.99949C104.169 6.7702 103.622 6.7218 103.215 6.7218C101.335 6.7218 99.9169 7.92849 99.9068 10.1123C99.9169 12.2959 101.335 13.5201 103.215 13.5201C103.622 13.5201 104.169 13.4717 104.749 13.2424C105.16 13.0799 105.654 13.2046 105.914 13.5615L106.304 14.0952C105.342 14.7819 104.171 15.0566 102.895 15.0566C100.598 15.0566 98.2033 13.2842 98.1929 10.1124ZM147.619 5.21768C148.074 5.21768 148.444 5.58663 148.444 6.04174V9.81968L151.82 5.58131C151.897 5.47733 151.997 5.39282 152.112 5.3346C152.227 5.27638 152.355 5.24607 152.484 5.24611H153.984L150.166 10.0615L153.984 14.8749H152.484C152.355 14.8749 152.227 14.8446 152.112 14.7864C151.997 14.7281 151.897 14.6436 151.82 14.5397L148.444 10.3025V14.0508C148.444 14.5059 148.074 14.8749 147.619 14.8749H146.746V5.21768H147.619Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M0.773438 6.5752H2.68066C3.56543 6.5752 4.2041 6.7041 4.59668 6.96191C4.99219 7.21973 5.18994 7.62695 5.18994 8.18359C5.18994 8.55859 5.09326 8.87061 4.8999 9.11963C4.70654 9.36865 4.42822 9.52539 4.06494 9.58984V9.63379C4.51611 9.71875 4.84717 9.88721 5.05811 10.1392C5.27197 10.3882 5.37891 10.7266 5.37891 11.1543C5.37891 11.7314 5.17676 12.1841 4.77246 12.5122C4.37109 12.8374 3.81152 13 3.09375 13H0.773438V6.5752ZM1.82373 9.22949H2.83447C3.27393 9.22949 3.59473 9.16064 3.79688 9.02295C3.99902 8.88232 4.1001 8.64502 4.1001 8.31104C4.1001 8.00928 3.99023 7.79102 3.77051 7.65625C3.55371 7.52148 3.20801 7.4541 2.7334 7.4541H1.82373V9.22949ZM1.82373 10.082V12.1167H2.93994C3.37939 12.1167 3.71045 12.0332 3.93311 11.8662C4.15869 11.6963 4.27148 11.4297 4.27148 11.0664C4.27148 10.7324 4.15723 10.4849 3.92871 10.3237C3.7002 10.1626 3.35303 10.082 2.88721 10.082H1.82373Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M13.011 6.5752V10.7324C13.011 11.207 12.9084 11.623 12.7034 11.9805C12.5012 12.335 12.2068 12.6089 11.8201 12.8022C11.4363 12.9927 10.9763 13.0879 10.4402 13.0879C9.6433 13.0879 9.02368 12.877 8.5813 12.4551C8.13892 12.0332 7.91772 11.4531 7.91772 10.7148V6.5752H8.9724V10.6401C8.9724 11.1704 9.09546 11.5615 9.34155 11.8135C9.58765 12.0654 9.96557 12.1914 10.4753 12.1914C11.4656 12.1914 11.9607 11.6714 11.9607 10.6313V6.5752H13.011Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M15.9146 13V6.5752H16.9649V13H15.9146Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M19.9255 13V6.5752H20.9758V12.0991H23.696V13H19.9255Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M28.2828 13H27.2325V7.47607H25.3428V6.5752H30.1724V7.47607H28.2828V13Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M41.9472 13H40.8046L39.7148 9.16796C39.6679 9.00097 39.6093 8.76074 39.539 8.44727C39.4687 8.13086 39.4262 7.91113 39.4116 7.78809C39.3823 7.97559 39.3339 8.21875 39.2665 8.51758C39.2021 8.81641 39.1479 9.03905 39.1039 9.18554L38.0405 13H36.8979L36.0673 9.7832L35.2236 6.5752H36.2958L37.2143 10.3193C37.3578 10.9199 37.4604 11.4502 37.5219 11.9102C37.5541 11.6611 37.6025 11.3828 37.6669 11.0752C37.7314 10.7676 37.79 10.5186 37.8427 10.3281L38.8886 6.5752H39.9301L41.0024 10.3457C41.1049 10.6943 41.2133 11.2158 41.3276 11.9102C41.3715 11.4912 41.477 10.958 41.644 10.3105L42.558 6.5752H43.6215L41.9472 13Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M45.7957 13V6.5752H46.846V13H45.7957Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M52.0258 13H50.9755V7.47607H49.0859V6.5752H53.9155V7.47607H52.0258V13Z' fill='white'/%3E%3Cpath d='M61.2312 13H60.1765V10.104H57.2146V13H56.1643V6.5752H57.2146V9.20312H60.1765V6.5752H61.2312V13Z' fill='white'/%3E%3C/svg%3E");}@-webkit-keyframes formkit-bouncedelay-formkit-form-data-uid-d471e51619-{0%,80%,100%{-webkit-transform:scale(0);-ms-transform:scale(0);transform:scale(0);}40%{-webkit-transform:scale(1);-ms-transform:scale(1);transform:scale(1);}}@keyframes formkit-bouncedelay-formkit-form-data-uid-d471e51619-{0%,80%,100%{-webkit-transform:scale(0);-ms-transform:scale(0);transform:scale(0);}40%{-webkit-transform:scale(1);-ms-transform:scale(1);transform:scale(1);}}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] blockquote{padding:10px 20px;margin:0 0 20px;border-left:5px solid #e1e1e1;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .seva-custom-content{padding:15px;font-size:16px;color:#fff;mix-blend-mode:difference;} .formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"]{border:1px solid #e3e3e3;max-width:700px;position:relative;overflow:hidden;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-background{width:100%;height:100%;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;background-size:cover;background-position:center;opacity:0.3;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] [data-style="minimal"]{padding:20px;width:100%;position:relative;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-header{margin:0 0 27px 0;text-align:center;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-subheader{margin:18px 0;text-align:center;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-guarantee{font-size:13px;margin:10px 0 15px 0;text-align:center;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-guarantee > p{margin:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-powered-by-convertkit-container{margin-bottom:0;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-fields{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-wrap:wrap;-ms-flex-wrap:wrap;flex-wrap:wrap;margin:25px auto 0 auto;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-field{min-width:220px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-field,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"] .formkit-submit{margin:0 0 15px 0;-webkit-flex:1 0 100%;-ms-flex:1 0 100%;flex:1 0 100%;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] [data-style="minimal"]{padding:40px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"]{margin-left:-5px;margin-right:-5px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"] .formkit-field,.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"] .formkit-submit{margin:0 5px 15px 5px;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"] .formkit-field{-webkit-flex:100 1 auto;-ms-flex:100 1 auto;flex:100 1 auto;}.formkit-form[data-uid="d471e51619"][min-width~="600"] .formkit-fields[data-stacked="false"] .formkit-submit{-webkit-flex:1 1 auto;-ms-flex:1 1 auto;flex:1 1 auto;} What attracted Ann Parker to mysteries

Jenny Wheeler: And your family was from there, so Yes.

Ann Parker: Yeah, their PR wasn’t as good perhaps, or the marketing people. We’re a little quieter.

Jenny Wheeler: So why did you decide to write it as a mystery? You could have made it historical fiction or a romance. What attracted you to the mystery genre?

Ann Parker: I did toy with the idea of making it a straight historical novel without a dead body. But, as a child I was a voracious reader and along with everything else I read Sherlock Holmes and I read Edgar Allan Poe so I already had a tilt toward mysteries, and in my day job I was sharing an office with another woman who’s a physicist.

Her name is Camille Minichino. We became very good friends and Camille decided – Camille’s, this amazing person – She decided ‘I’m going to write a mystery series based on the periodic table.’

Jenny Wheeler: Oh my goodness.

Ann Parker: The Hydrogen Murder, The Helium Murder, and so on. And so I got to see her on her path to publication and all the fun she was having.

I thought maybe I ought to try to turn my story into a mystery.

A mystery also gives you a framework where there’s certain things that have to happen.

You have to have clues, you have to play fair, there’s justice to be served somehow or other.

And, I liked having that frame, which I could then go in and put up the wallpaper and decide where the furniture was going to go.

It’s nice to have the house, the frame of the house.

Jenny Wheeler:. You mentioned the Civil War and of course the Civil War does feature in The Secret In The Wall because there’s an aspect of the story that flicks back to that, without perhaps doing any spoiler on it.

Can you comment on that a little bit? Is that the only one of your books with a Civil War aspect?

The Civil War in California

Ann Parker: No. Most of them seem to have a Civil War aspect.

It’s just how it works out as I start writing.

And, certainly the first, Silver Lies, and Iron Ties, the second have that connection. And definitely in that second one, with the railroads, but yeah, Now, here’s the thing. I am born and raised Californian.

I make my trips to Colorado and go, oh, I would love to live here.

But then I end up coming back to California where my home is. And nowhere that I can recall in my educational upbringing was I ever told about California’s role in the Civil War. I thought all that happened back east, right

Jenny Wheeler: Yes. Yeah.

Ann Parker: Fort Sumter, and what have you.

As I started to delve into it, because I was curious and I can’t remember exactly what sparked that curiosity, it might have been the gold coins that got me thinking about it. And I was really surprised and really thrilled to find that there was quite a California history.

There were people from both sides. supporting both sides during the Civil War. A lot of skullduggery, Just a lot of things going on, and I’m thinking that’s perfect. I’m gonna bring that in somehow.

I love learning things along the way. That’s probably one of the most exciting things for me, is learning new stuff when I’m writing.

Jenny Wheeler: Of course. A lot of southerners came west after the war as well, didn’t they?

Ann Parker: Oh, absolutely. They moved to the west and particularly, as I read in passing, Los Angeles. I think because there’s a lot of farming going on down there and it’s warm. Probably the environment was a lot like the south for agriculture.

Jenny Wheeler: So turning away from the specific books to talk a little about your wider career. You are still working as a science writer as you’ve mentioned. Did your friend ever finish all of the periodic table mysteries, by the way?

Murder mysteries written around the periodic table

Ann Parker: No she didn’t. She got up to, I think oxygen was the last, that would be eight. I think she got further than that. And then she’s continued in short stories

Jenny Wheeler: You’ve had a, you’ve had a career in science yourself. Has that helped or played into your fiction career in any way?

Ann Parker: Oh, absolutely, in the sense that very early on in my science writing job I had to learn how to research.

Basically, how it works is, they assign me a subject, okay, they say, this project has just completed, they’ve got their results.

Write an article about it that’s understandable to the, general public. And a lot of times, it’s something I know nothing about.

So, I have to contact the, experts. I have to read the background, I have to really dive into the subject, understanding, enough of it plus some to write about it.

And that became very handy when researching my fiction, because I’m not a historian, I have no background in history.

Everything that I learn, I am learning for the book, so to speak. and also writing of any kind keeps those writing tools sharp.

So the day job has been very helpful in those respects.

Ann Parker – Making a splash with a debut novel

Jenny Wheeler: Now your first book was quite a humdinger in the sense of a debut novel.

It got picked up by quite a number of sites as one of the Best Books Of The Year, and now you’ve gone on to write another seven of them.

I’m not quite sure how you define success as an author, but I consider that to be a success in its own right, and I wondered, What you’d credit that with?

Is there any particular secret you could share with others about how to keep it going.

Ann Parker: That’s an interesting one. A secret? I don’t know.

For me personally, I have to be passionate about the subject. If I don’t really care about the subject or can’t get involved and excited, why spend my time writing about it?

This is for me personally, I know for many writers, it’s a very workman-like type job.

It’s write the next one. This is what it’s gonna be about, go and you do it. Success is a funny thing. I was not expecting my little Victorian West mystery to end up so high on the radar, that first one, not at all. So it’s serendipity. A lot of it is just chance.

And I think, oh my gosh, I feel for people who come to me and say, how did you do it?

I was just in the right place at the right time. I found a publisher after many publishers turned it down. I found a small publisher who said, yes, we’d love to do your book. It could have just as easily ended up in a drawer and never seen the light of day.

Jenny Wheeler: Yes. I think it got, the Chicago Times made it a Book Of The Year, I think, didn’t they?

Ann Parker: Yeah, it was Chicago Times named it the Best, one of the Best Mysteries of the Year. Publishers Weekly named it one of the Best Mysteries of the Year.

It won the Willa Award for best historical fiction. Yeah. You know that first book of mine just racked them in. It made me feel very proud. Very surprised.

Novelist Ann Parker’s work process

Jenny Wheeler: That’s wonderful. Do you do more than one a year or what sort of a schedule are you on?

Ann Parker: Oh my gosh. I am on no schedule. I write them one at a time.

My contracts are for a single book. It’s because my life is as it is and I’m the kind of writer I am. Doing a book of year is not – I have seldom done that.

Let me put it that way. For the eight books, you can look at the publishing dates and get an idea.

I’ve been at this for 20 years. I have eight books. How come I don’t have 20 books? Oh, very good question.

It takes me as long as it takes and, I do tend to be driven by panic and close deadlines. The closer it gets to deadline the faster I write, and I suspect that’s true for a lot of people

Jenny Wheeler: Yeah, I’m sure it is. Has the pandemic interfered with your life in any way or changed anything about your writing?

Ann Parker: It certainly threw me for a loop personally. I was very worried about family members and work just did this, as for many people, it went 180 from being in the office, having an office environment to working from home. That was it. All the equipment came home, connections were made.

This is it. And I’m, moving my little setup. I sit out at the dining table for a while and then I go into an empty bedroom. It really took the wind outta me in a way.

But I did manage to write The Secret In The Wall during the pandemic and there are some pieces in the book, some scenes that are very claustrophobic feeling, and that was as a result of how I was feeling while, being stuck at home.

I know lots of writers, or any number of them, anyway, who just churned the books out. It was like, oh boy, I’m home alone. I’m gonna write four books a year. That wasn’t me.

Never Miss out!

Never miss out on the hottest new authors, regular FREE BOOK OFFERS and Most Popular podcasts.

No transcript available.

Ann Parker – Silver Rush Mysteries