I’m delighted to welcome my author friend, Shirley Raye Redmond, to my blog today. We’re going to escape for the weekend with Shirley to her home town of Los Alamos in New Mexico, USA. Enjoy!
Los Alamos, New Mexico: Where Discoveries are Made
By Shirley Raye Redmond
I am blessed to live in Los Alamos, a snug little community nestled on a plateau in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico. If you know anything at all about Los Alamos, you will recall that it was once a “secret city,” where scientists during WWII were frantically working to develop the atom bomb before the Germans did so. WGN has recently aired a television drama Manhattan (referring to the top secret Manhattan Project) that depicts life (sort of) as it was on top of “the Hill” in those frantic war days. Today, Los Alamos is the home of Los Alamos National Laboratory, where scientists from around the world pursue advances in everything from nuclear energy to biotechnology.
Although my new Christian regency, PRUDENCE PURSUED, takes place in 1806 in Bath, England, I realized, after a bit of reflection for this blog post, that Los Alamos and Bath actually have a few things in common.
(1) Both Bath and Los Alamos boast ruins. Today’s city of Bath in Somerset is built on top of and around the ancient ruins of the Roman town of Aquae Sulis. The Pajarito Plateau where Los Alamos now stands was once home to the Anasazi and Bandelier National Monument is a popular tourist destination for those interested in cliff dwellers.
(2) For centuries after the Romans vacated, the British have gone to Bath to soak in the famous hot springs and, like Jane Austen and her contemporaries, to drink the medicinal waters in the Pump Room. I did that when I visited Bath some years ago and much prefer soaking in the hot springs which we have in abundance here too. We also have the Aquatic Center, a high altitude Olympic size swimming pool, which attracts swim teams from all over the country.
(3) Bath and Los Alamos are both great towns for history buffs. While UNESCO named a World Heritage Site in 1987, the U.S. Congress is presently considering the viability of a Manhattan Project National Park here. We already have a wonderful history museum and a science museum. And LIVABILITY recently named Los Alamos the #1 Best Small Town in America!
Come visit—and enjoy the world’s best green chile bacon extra cheese breakfast burrito!
At the advanced age of twenty-seven, vicar’s daughter Prudence Pentrye is on the shelf. Content to occupy her time by attending meetings of Mr. Wilberforce’s Abolition Society and helping her father administer vaccines in an effort to prevent a small pox epidemic, Prudence is resolved to see that her younger cousin Margaret does not share her own unmarried fate.
But Margaret is plain and shy. She is repulsed when a swashbuckling baronet, Sir James Brownell, makes her an offer of marriage. With his sunburned skin, eye patch, and indifference to fashion, Sir James is not Margaret’s idea of a romantic suitor. Nor does Margaret enjoy his tales of fighting against Malay pirates and trekking through tropical jungles on the island of Borneo in hopes of capturing a living orangutan.
Prudence, however, finds herself secretly smitten. Will she maintain control of her traitorous heart or will she trust God to make her life richer and more rewarding than the one she had planned for herself?
SHIRLEY RAYE REDMOND is an award-winning author of children’s books and sweet romance. Her Lewis & Clark: A Prairie Dog for the President (Random House) was a Children’s Book of the Month Club selection. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, the Faith, Hope and Love Chapter of RWA, Southwest Writers and Women Writing the West. Prudence Pursued is her second inspirational romance novel. Connect with her via her facebook author page or at www.shirleyrayeredmond.com
Her titles are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.
Looks like a lovely place to visit.
Lynne, I agree, and the history is fascinating.