When Tim Piper wrote “The Powell Expeditions,” a series wasn’t quite on his mind. But as he progressed through the book that introduced us to Jubilee Walker, things took off, and now we’re seeing the third book in the series, “The Northern Pacific Railroad.”
In this interview, Tim talks about how the series grew from his first novel, plotting out the stories and where we’re going from here.
Was it always your plan to write a series?
When I began writing my first novel, “The Powell Expeditions,” I had given no thought to writing a series. It was my first attempt at writing a novel, so it was enough of a challenge just to complete the book. But as I neared the end of writing it, I was enjoying the process so much that I wanted to keep writing. I thought my Jubilee Walker character could be woven into other historical explorations and adventures, so I researched America’s western expansion during the post-civil war years. I found events that I could envision getting Jubil involved in—and the series was born.
The second book, “The Yellowstone Campaign,” revolves around the expeditions and events leading up to the creation of America’s first national park. Book three, just released, “The Northern Pacific Railroad,” is based on Jay Cooke’s efforts to build a second transcontinental railroad. I am currently working on a fourth and final book in this era of the series. I have some other literary ideas that I would like to pursue next, but I’m not ruling out the possibility that I may someday return to the Jubilee Walker series.
Now that we are three books in, do you need to re-read the other two in order to keep the details straight?
Yes, I re-read the earlier books. It helps to refresh my memory of the timeline, and review the arc and portrayal of characters. However, my memory is not up to the job of recalling the finer details, so I rely on another source for that. I create a summary document for each book that lists every scene and the pages it begins and ends on.
As I’m writing a book, the scene summary is very useful for referring back to find some detail, and invaluable for finding details that occurred in previous books. Keeping this scene summary updated during the revision stage is a bit tedious, but I find it worth the effort. I make one final review of the scene summary before freezing a book for publishing. Another method of keeping details straight is to find a good editor. Mine seems to be able to remember everything that anyone ever said or did at any point in any of my novels. I don’t know how she does that. I use my scene summaries in an effort to avoid over-reliance on her to point out my inconsistencies.
What are some of the real-life events that you incorporate into the book?
In 1864 a company was chartered to build a second American transcontinental railroad, the Northern Pacific, to connect the Great Lakes at Duluth, Minnesota, with the Pacific Ocean at Puget Sound. The project got off to a weak start due to difficulties in obtaining funding, but that changed in 1870 when famed financier Jay Cooke took control. Public bond sales soared, largely on the strength of Cooke’s reputation, and the project was finally underway. But many people questioned the need for the railroad and also doubted it could ever be made safe.
By 1872, six hundred miles between Bismarck and Bozeman remained to be surveyed, but the route would pass through the traditional hunting grounds of the Sioux. Sitting Bull was gathering strength to resist this incursion into their hunting grounds. My novel, The Northern Pacific Railroad, portrays the events of the railroad surveys that took place in 1872 and 1873 to determine the route the railroad would follow through this territory. Two surveys set off in 1872, one starting in Bismarck going west, the other from Bozeman heading east to meet the westbound crew. The westbound survey made it to the planned meeting point, but the eastbound survey failed to reach the goal. In 1873, another survey set out to complete the job. The events of these surveys are portrayed accurately in the novel, with my protagonist, Jubilee Walker, participating in them as Jay Cooke’s representative. The impact that these events had on Cooke’s financial empire are also portrayed true to the historical record.
When it comes to picking these historical settings, do you look at different options?
I wasn’t really a writer looking for a historical setting when I got the idea for my first novel. I was a hiker who dreamed of writing. During one of my early trips to Rocky Mountain National Park, I hiked the Longs Peak Trail. After the hike, I purchased a book on the history of the mountain and learned the first person to summit it was Major John Wesley Powell.
Researching Powell, I was surprised to learn he had close connections to my hometown, Bloomington, Illinois. Much of Powell’s life struck me as something out of an adventure novel, but I did not find any fiction that had dramatized it. I carried the idea with me for years until I finally wrote my novel. With its completion, I had established my protagonist, Jubilee Walker, as a young man with dreams of becoming an adventurer and explorer in the post-civil war west. So, I only looked at historical settings that fit my characters. Fortunately, that era of American history had some dramatic events that gave Jubil more opportunities for adventure.
I’ve read that the series has won a number of awards. As a writer, does this make you want to “up your game?”
I would not know how to do that. I don’t believe anyone writes in an effort to win awards, or if they do, they must very often be disappointed. Awards are a wonderful affirmation that you are doing something right, but I don’t think they should be a goal. All you can do is make your best effort, and hope that it resonates with people.
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