February Book Club Discussion: The Day THE Falls Stood Still

On Tuesday the Omaha Bookworm’s met at my house to discuss The Day THE Falls Stood Still with author Cathy Buchanan. I had a surprise waiting for the members of my book club, Cathy and I set up a video call! It was a treat to have Cathy on the TV in my family room. We talked for close to an hour with a few visits from my dogs tearing through the room, wine refills and delightful conversation.

We started the call asking Cathy to share a bit about herself. Married with three children, she and her husband originally planned to have five children but with both parents working, running around with the boys and trying to write life was just too busy. She (along with her husband) decided this might be a good time to try writing fulltime and a few years later her first novel was published. Okay, I am simplifying the story but this is the fast path to understand how Cathy landed on a TV in my family room.

The following are highlights of our conversation, in my own words:

Writing and Research: Cathy writes while her kids are in school and did about four months of research before starting to write The Day THE Falls Stood Still. The research was constant throughout the writing process (researching dresses, aluminum bracelets, and the pearl choker to name a few items). She interviewed sisters from the academy, fishermen, people from the power plant. This was a delightful part of Cathy’s journey, people were eager to help.

The wedding dress is actually Cathy’s wedding dress. Cathy mentioned that her had sewn her own wedding gown, she found a photo she liked and did all the beading. She has three sisters and made all of their dresses. Now that’s talent!

How was Bess created as a character: Bess started as an old woman, bitter and afraid of the river. The real Red Hill wasn’t only a rescuer but also a daredevil, he shot the Whirlpool Rapids three times. One of their children lost his life on the river and a second at the hydroelectric powerplant. Once Cathy started creating Tom she decided to include the rescuer but not the daredevil in Red Hill. After making this change she knew Bess wouldn’t be fearful and bitter.

Originally Bess was going to be an old woman, talking about all that she lost to the river.

The River men and Niagara Falls: They were often paid with liquor, it wasn’t considered a noble profession back in the day. Cathy grew up near the river, she knew people who went over the falls in a barrel, died at the river, snagged, she remembers seeing news of rescues and more about the river. It’s part of her life.

She wanted to write a historical novel set in Niagara Falls. She started looking for a story to show the wonder she feels at the falls. The quirkiness of the town. She grew up with the barge, the ice bridge, etc… childhood lore ignited her. She decided to write a story loosely based on Red Hill, She started with settling rather than plot (which is atypical).

Meeting someone special: After the book was published at an event Red Hill’s grandson approached Cathy. He said his mother wanted to meet Cathy but their schedules were crossed. Cathy didn’t know there were daughters so it was a big shock to find Edith (94 years old). Edith had wonderful stories to tell. Click below to listen to Cathy share an incredible story from Edith, around a young man, a barrel, feathers and the falls (two minutes).

Getting publisher and looking ahead: Cathy had a wonderful publishing experience and still works with the same agent. She shared the story of learning that The Day THE Falls Stood Still was selected as a Barnes and Noble recommend selection.

She didn’t have much input into the cover of the book, showed us three different versions of the hardcover (US, CA and the UK) and mentioned the book will be available in paperback later this year.

She is working on a second novel (historical fiction), it takes place in the late 1800’s and is set in Paris. It’s not my place to share the details but Cathy did mention it’s in first draft form so it will be a while before we get to read her next book. We were all intrigued and will patiently await to read this book!

Cathy’s an avid reader – one of her favorite books read recently is Olive Kitteridge. We were excited to hear this since we discussed this book last fall (November selection). She also enjoyed reading The Hours and recommends that everyone read Margaret Atwood.

Thank you Cathy for taking time from your busy schedule to meet with us.