Even though the town Shady Gulch has been in my mind since I conceived this new historical western romance series, I still need to get it platted out. Yes, platted out. I have to figure out the population and then read up on towns of that population during the time period to figure out what and how many businesses would be in the town. It is a railroad town, so I also have to figure in the depot, the water tanks, and because it is set in farming country, the grain elevator. I want there to be only one church. The one led by my hero who also guards the bank transactions that go by train--his day job.
The town also has to be large enough to handle a rowdy, filthy saloon where the whiskey is made in the back room and women can be bought upstairs, a saloon in the large hotel, and the Silver Dollar Saloon where my heroines in the series work.
I'm thinking one mercantile, one church, a blacksmith, two hotels--one that is for the normal person and one that is fancy(with the saloon and a restaurant), two cafes, bakery, seamstress, Chinese laundry, doctor, school, sheriff's office and jail, land grant office, bank, boot maker, livery, and a flour mill. I'll probably think of something else as I'm platting it out.
The main characters who work in the Silver Dollar Saloon have been jotted down with names, characteristics, and how they will fit into the series. I'll need to also consider the people who own and run the businesses I add to the town. They will at one time or another come into contact with my main characters.
The fun part about this series is it's set in North Dakota or Dakota Territory as the series begins. Which gives me lots of nationalities to play with. ;)
I don't have any graphics for this series yet, but my cover artist is working on them. As soon as I have a series graphic, I'll be adding to my posts about this series.
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