Local Author Reveals Inspiration for Latest Novel

Local author and Coastal Breeze News columnist, Mershon Niesner, has a new novel hitting the shelves. She recently spoke with Elena Hartwell, Senior Editor and Director of Programming for Allegory Editing about the inspiration behind writing The Bootmaker’s Wife.

Elena: Around the Coastal Breeze, you’re known as the lady who writes the Ask the Life Coach column but I hear you’ve recently published a historical fiction novel inspired by your great grandparents. What drew you to writing about them and the particular geography where The Bootmaker’s Wife is set?

Mershon: Although I “retired” to Florida several years ago and spent my adult life in the Chicago area, I still consider myself a Nebraska Girl and wanted readers to have the opportunity to get off of Interstate 80 and “see” the beauty of the Nebraska countryside.

Also, I wanted to relive and share stories my dad told of his grandparents forging a life in a sod house in the Nebraska Sand Hills in 1875. His grandfather was a boot maker for soldiers at Fort Hartsuff and had a shop in the nearby town of Calamus. The Jesse James true story I wrote about was one of my favorites.

I grew up as a “free-range” kid in Nebraska and many of the details I wrote about such as mushroom hunting, target shooting, using an outhouse, cooking over an open fire, walking to school in a blinding blizzard, were part of my experience. My home town of Grand Island is where the main characters, Elizabeth and Charles Horn, were married. 

Elena: How did you go about researching the era and the location for The Bootmaker’s Wife

Mershon: The original manuscript was written during Covid isolation so I was unable to visit the location in person. The following summer, however, I traveled West and stayed at a farm house, a cattle ranch, stepped inside an authentic sod house, and toured Fort Hartsuff, a restored fort in the region of their house. I took the book cover photo near where they actually lived in 1875 and ’76.

James Domeier, Superintendent of Fort Hartsuff State Historical Park, provided me with historical records as well as an extensive tour of the grounds and buildings of the restored fort. He also suggested I read The Trail of the Loup, a documentary written by H.W. Foght and originally published in 1906. Many of the true stories in the book were told to Foght first-hand. It was a wonderful resource for scenes like the grasshopper invasion and the disappearance of the two children (both true stories). 

I also received information from my great aunt who, after the death of her parents, was raised by Charles and Elizabeth. She sent me their photo and old newspaper clippings.

Elena: Tell us about the main character, Elizabeth Schultz.

Mershon: Much of what I wrote about Elizabeth is fictional. Her birthdate, wedding date and other facts are historically accurate but her personality and the kind of person she was came from my imagination. Elizabeth is just one of several brave and hardy women I portray in the book. 

As a social worker and Certified Life Coach, I have spent much of my life championing women and encouraging them to be strong. Portraying women in The Bootmaker’s Wife was another opportunity to send a similar message and revere the women who cleared the way for us today. 

Elizabeth was not quite fifteen when she married Charles who was twenty years her senior. It might seem unrealistic to many readers that a girl that young could run a household, especially in the difficult times of 1875. I was a motherless, only child at eight so, by age fifteen I had many of the homemaking skills Elizabeth displayed - without the challenges of 1875, of course. So, to me, her life seemed plausible plus her age is historically accurate. 

Elena: You are also the author of Mom’s Gone, Now What? Ten Steps to Help Daughters Move Forward After Mother Loss.Tell us about that project.

Mershon: As I mentioned above, my mother died when I was eight and her mother died when she was three. I was raised by my dad. My life has been, mostly, joy-filled and productive. I wanted to tell my story to help other daughters of loss move forward. I also interviewed over fifty motherless daughters. Their stories, along with my own experience, helped me shape the ten steps I wrote about. I didn’t choose the subject, I believe it chose me. It was another way to honor extraordinary women.  

Elena: What are you working on now?

Mershon: I’m writing a sequel to The Bootmaker’s Wife with a working title of The Bee Lady. Angie is a mysterious and interesting character in my first novel so I decided to back-track and tell her story from the time she was ten and became separated from her family as their wagon train crossed Nebraska. 

Elena: Any words of wisdom for aspiring writers who might be reading this article? 

Mershon: Just do it! Although I’d had experience writing business materials (adoptive case studies, newsletters, brochures, video scripts), I published my first book on my 75th birthday; my second at 77 and a half. It’s never too late, you’re never too old, too young, or too inexperienced. Find yourself a good editor and a support group like Marco Island Writers. 

Elena: Where can readers find your books?

Mershon: Mom’s Gone, Now What? is available at Keep In Touch, Sunshine Books, and the Marco Island Library. The Bookmaker’s Wife is available at those locations also. Both are available on Amazon as e-books and paperbacks.