Writer’s Inspiration | Exploring the Past

A few weeks ago I was presented with the opportunity to take my daughter to the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, NSW.

I might’ve grumbled at the time (my other daughter was returning from India that same day and I wanted to know All The Things!) but I went, because I realised this was the perfect opportunity to (re)visit Ophir, the setting of my novella More than Gold in the Across the Shores novella collection from Barbour (out this Saturday).

This collection started as a conversation between some author friends back in 2020, and when we didn’t hear back about our proposal we weren’t sure whether it would ever see the light of day. But then the go-ahead came, which meant writing, which meant lots of research for my Australian goldfields-set story.

Now I’ve visited Ophir before, many years ago, but it was great to return and see how much lined up with the historical documents, diary entries, and letters I’d researched. Ophir was the site of the first ‘payable’ gold in Australia. Gold had been discovered but authorities kept quiet about it, not wanting a rush of people to come or the economy to collapse. Until they saw what was happening in California and realised having more people move to the Colony was exactly what they wanted after all, so they gave a ten thousand pound reward for the first payable gold.

Edward Hargreaves is credited with finding gold (although many think he just exploited two local brothers who’d actually found it), and when news of his discovery broke, it resulted in thousands of people from around the world sailing to Sydney then travelling for days over the Blue Mountains to reach the scrubby creekside area known as Ophir (named after the place of gold mentioned in the Bible). In fact, immigration spurred on by subsequent gold rushes nearly quadrupled Australia’s population in the space of 20 years (from 430,000 to 1.7 million), and contributed to ideas of ‘mateship’ that helped shape Australia’s identity.

Ophir today is a very dry and isolated place, down winding valleys, with a creek providing a refreshing dip on a hot summer’s day. There are remnants of gold exploration, including some tunnels, and several mossy gravestones. As a fan of history it was fun to explore this area again – I certainly had no such appreciation when I was a kid! But to catch a snippet of the past, that I’d already woven into my story was an opportunity I was really glad I hadn’t passed by.

Here’s a bit about the story:

Sometimes love finds you where you are, and other times it meets you across distant shores as four women discover in these four historical stories linked by a shared gold pendant.

Josephine Wilkins is headstrong and heartbroken—why else would she have left all she knew to follow her brother’s dreams of finding gold across the seas? Daniel Jardine is simply seeking adventure, in a land far away from family responsibilities and duty, two burdens he’s happy to disregard in his quest to be known for himself. When these two finally meet sparks are set to fly, as they discover that digging deeper than first impressions reveals the true value of one’s character, and real love and faith is worth far more than gold.

Side note: I decided to make my hero the descendant of one of my Regency Brides couples, so if you’ve read those books you’ll have some extra fun 🙂

Grab your copy at Amazon, Christianbook, Koorong, etc