Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tour Presents...
Gold Digger
By Rebecca Rosenberg
One look at Baby Doe and you know she was meant to be a legend! She was just twenty years old when she came to Colorado to work a gold mine with her new husband. Little did she expect that she’d be abandoned and pregnant and left to manage the gold mine alone. But that didn’t stop her!
She moved to Leadville and fell in love with a married prospector, twice her age. Horace Tabor struck the biggest silver vein in history, divorced his wife and married Baby Doe. Though his new wife was known for her beauty, her fashion, and even her philanthropy, she was never welcomed in polite society.
Discover how the Tabors navigated the worlds of wealth, power, politics, and scandal in the wild days of western mining.
Praise for Gold Digger
“Rosenberg’s rollicking Western adventure strikes gold with a gutsy, good-hearted spitfire of a heroine and action aplenty.”
THELMA ADAMS, bestselling author of Bittersweet Brooklyn and The Last Woman Standing
“Gold Digger tells the true story of Lizzie ‘Baby Doe’ Tabor, a beautiful young woman who in 1878 marries the son of a wealthy miner in order to save her family from penury. Shrewd and stubborn, Lizzie fights back-biting Victorian society, wins and loses vast fortunes, and bests conniving politicians in her larger-than-life story. A twisting tale worthy of Mark Twain, with a big-hearted heroine at the center.”
MARTHA CONWAY, author of The Underground River.
A Conversation with
Rebecca Rosenberg
Please give a warm Coffee Pot welcome to Historical Fiction
author, Rebecca Rosenberg.
Hello everyone! If we haven’t
met, I’m Rebecca Rosenberg, author of my new novel, GOLD DIGGER, The
Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor.
I live on a lavender farm in
Sonoma, California. When I am not reading and writing, I am playing mahjong or
learning more about champagne for my upcoming book, Champagne Widows. (Somebody
has to do it!)
 |
| Rebecca Rosenberg and Baby Doe Tabor. |
It is so nice to meet you, Rebecca.
Let’s get straight down to business…! What inspired you to write GOLD DIGGER,
the Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor?
I
grew up in California and Colorado, camping in the mountains, exploring ghost
towns, panning for gold in rivers. As a girl, I read brochures about Baby Doe
Tabor’s life and became obsessed with this twenty-year old who came west for a
gold mine with her husband who abandoned her. She ended up pregnant and working
the gold mine alone. Then meeting, an old prospector, twice her age and
married, who strikes it rich on the biggest silver vein in history…I knew I had
to tell her story as it had never been told before. Society branded her a GOLD
DIGGER, but she proved her loyalty and grit to the very end of her life.
 |
| The Matchless Mine is located in Lake County, Colorado. |
What a remarkable life Baby
Doe Tabor had, I am not surprised you wanted to tell her story. What were the
challenges you faced in researching this period of history?
The
period of the gold and silver rushes in America is well documented. Baby Doe
and Horace Tabor’s papers are at HISTORY COLORADO and I have spent a few days
reading and copying the great parts of these papers. It is amazing that readers
can still visit so many important places of the Tabors and really get a feel
for the times they lived. Leadville, Colorado is where the Tabors met and it is
like a living museum of the gold/silver rush. I wrote a couple of weeks there
by myself, as well as research trips to the National Mining Museum (Leadville),
a sprawling and truly amazing museum with actual-size exhibits, rare mineral
display, impressive miniature mining models. In Leadville, you can visit the
Silver Dollar Saloon, the Tabor House and even the Tabor Opera House. The
history is living all around you! It was harder in Denver where all the Tabor’s
property has been torn down. But, in Washington D.C., where Tabor was U.S.
senator, you can have a Gibson cocktail at the Round Robin bar just like Tabor
and President Arthur had. I love research!
 |
| Buckhorn Exchange |
What an amazing period to
research. There are many books about the Wild West. Can you tell us three things
that set your novel apart?
I feel like there are many,
many more novels about World War II and the twentieth century, not so much the
nineteenth century, like Gold Digger.
#1. I feel that Americans
will enjoy learning their history, after all, these are our ancestors who did
amazing things that we do not usually think about. There is a lot to be learned
from them. From Gold Digger, I have learned that money runs out due to no fault
of your own! For the Tabor’s that was the U.S. demonetizing silver. For me, it
was the California fires, destroying my home and it costing twice what it
should to rebuild!
#2. I like to write about
real women and the grit and spirit they had to live in an atmosphere where
women had no rights at all, Not even the right to vote, until 1920.
#3. Many I always like stories
where you can go visit the actually places where the story happened. When
Celestine Prophecy came out, I visited Peru! When Twin Peaks was popular on
television, we went to Snoqualmie, Washington to have cherry pie and coffee at
their café. With Gold Digger you can see so many real places and understand the
story! And even if you don’t visit, there are many websites to visit and get
more information.
Thank you for stopping by for
a chat today! Before you leave, can you tell us what are you currently working
on?
I am working on the third draft of
CHAMPAGNE WIDOWS, the first book of the series. When I finish the fifth draft,
I’ll send it to my publisher, LAKE UNION. Then, I’ll get to work on polishing
the sequel to Gold Digger, SILVER DOLLAR (Baby Doe’s daughter!)
Giveaway
During the Blog Tour, we will be giving away a copy of Gold Digger, a gold facial mask & soap set, and recipe brochure to five winners. Three winners will receive an ebook of Gold Digger. You can enter HERE!
Giveaway Rules
• Giveaway ends at 11:59 pm EST on June 28th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
• Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY.
• Only one entry per household.
• All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspicion of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
• The winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.
• Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY.
• Only one entry per household.
• All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspicion of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
• The winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.
Pick up your copy of
Gold Digger
Rebecca Rosenberg
A California native, Rebecca Rosenberg lives on a lavender farm with her family in Sonoma, the Valley of the Moon, where Jack London wrote from his Beauty Ranch. Rebecca is a long-time student of Jack London’s works and an avid fan of his daring wife, Charmian London. The Secret Life of Mrs. London is her debut novel.
Rebecca and her husband, Gary, own the largest lavender product company in America, selling to 4000 resorts, spas and gift stores. The Rosenbergs believe in giving back to the Sonoma Community, supporting many causes through financial donations and board positions, including Worth Our Weight, an educational culinary program for at-risk children, YWCA shelter for abused women, Luther Burbank Performing Arts Center to provide performances for children, Sonoma Food Bank, Sonoma Boys and Girls Club, and the Valley of the Moon Children’s Home.
For more information, please visit Rebecca’s website and blog. You can also find her on Facebook and Goodreads. Visit the Facebook page for The Secret Life of Mrs. London.
