California's First Theater

Behind the boring name—California’s First Theater—is a remarkable little building. A building that serves as a hideout enveloped in a net of magic in my novel, Linked. On the corner of Pacific and Scott Streets in Monterey, even without the magic, it’s one of the area’s most unique historic buildings—a building that always struck me as full of mystery. Jack Swan, an English sailor of Scottish ancestry, built the wooden portion of the building in 1845, with lumber salvaged from a shipwreck.

Jack added the adobe portion, and then it served as a rooming house with a barroom. When he built a small stage and benches in 1847, it became California’s first theater, though no one called it that at the time. But that’s not all that was done first at Jack Swan’s place—Jack also made and sold the first pies in California. Imagine, California with no pies!

In 1906 the California Historic Landmarks League bought the building and donated it to the State of California. As Joel, Linked‘s young cowboy from 1874—excuse me, Joel. Stockman from 1874— says, “Nice what they bother to keep the place up, made it into a museum. Ain’t no proper name, though, California’s First Theater. They ought to call it Swan’s. It were Swan what made it what it were; it weren’t never the same without him.”

Jack Swan is a fascinating figure, but what’s always intrigued me about his building is the shipwreck. As a teen in the Monterey area, I imagined what it would be like living in a house built with the lumber from a wrecked ship—a house built from the wreckage of others’ dreams, from shattered lives. Whenever the topic came up, I asked about that shipwreck. How did the ship sink? Were the passengers rescued? No one had the answer.

I’m sure someone out there knows, and if you’re that Monterey County history buff who has those secret details, please do contact me! But . . . I write fiction. I’m in the business of making things up. So of course I had to make up the answer to my questions! And those answers became an essential part of the story behind Linked. Here is part of the shipwreck scene from Linked.

“Somebody has to do something!” Luisa turned to the men, who were dripping with sweat and shaking with exertion.

“Please! Tio, Papa, it was an accident!”

Neither turned or even flinched. They were deaf to her cries, blind to what they were doing to all of them. Just like the boys. The boys she loved so much, ached for so much, and yet hated—hated for what they had done to each other, now to all of them.

Now the boys were dead, and magic roared out of their fathers—each of whom blamed the other for the tragedy—and into the ship itself. It severed one of the masts, which swept the deck with a broom of flaming sails on its way down. Smoke filled the air. The snapping of wood broke like thunder through the night, and the unceasing vibrations of magic rattled Luisa’s teeth so that it seemed they would crack together and fall right out of her head. Then the planks collapsed beneath her. She was falling. There was only cold, only black, only silence. A silence that terrified her more than the bone-shaking noise.

That shipwreck, caused by a terrible clash of magic in the 1840′s, would forever change the life of modern-day teen Andra Quincy, who comes into the possession of Luisa’s magic bracelet, and discovers the power of the magic that destroyed that ship and that still infuses the old timber walls of California’s First Theater.

Sample several chapters of Linked for free or buy the book now on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The Pacific House and Custom House Plaza

Drunkards, lawyers, and bear fights, oh my!

One of historic Monterey’s most beautiful landmarks, the Pacific House, was purchased by the first US Consul to Mexican California, Oliver Larkin in 1843. It was the first county courthouse, and has been used for office space and warehousing. It’s also been the home of a tavern and of a corral.

The garden, featured as the background image of this blog, was added in 1927. Sitting in the shade of the magnolias, you’d never guess that the arcade and courtyard once held violent bull and bear fights.

In Linked, a different sort of clash takes place in this courtyard, showering the quietly bubbling fountain with beams of deadly magic. Fourteen-year-old Andra Quincy’s magic charm bracelet has plunged her into the Seven, an alternate reality, in which people from Monterey County’s rich past are trapped. As she tries to rescue little Morgan Baxter before she’s lost to the Seven forever, Andra finds herself involved in an intense magical battle with the Sevenpeople, right here in the Pacific House courtyard and garden.

Shouts reverberated against the upstairs windows on the front side of the Pacific House, then the windows banged open and bolts of magic hit the bricks right in front of Andra’s feet. Andra leaped back in fear and pain, and made herself flat against the building again. The bricks smoldered and she could feel the heat blistering her feet right through her shoes . . .

. . . Luisa lowered her hands, smiled, bounded down the stairs, and marched straight for Andra. Something about the look on her face made Andra shrink back against the inside of the arch. She lifted her hands slightly and felt her body throbbing with magic.

The back side of the Pacific House garden wall

Learn more about the Pacific House here and here. Sample several chapters of Linked for free or buy the book now on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Looking for magic, adventure, and a touch of romance in your next read? Linked is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

In Linked, Fourteen-year-old Andra Quincy’s summer in Marina, the fog pit of Monterey County, isn’t exactly off to a great start. It’s her birthday, and her best friend has ditched her for a boy. Her parents are cruising the Caribbean while she’s at home rubbing her goose-bumpy arms and dreaming of sunshine and adventure, and being baby-sat by her flaky uncle, Ryan. But when Andra puts on her only birthday gift, a silver charm bracelet from Ryan, it plunges her into a magical alternate reality for each seven-o’clock hour.

Andra discovers that a local six-year-old, Morgan Baxter, thought to have been kidnapped, has actually disappeared into the Seven, a place that few have entered and most never escape. Determined to rescue Morgan from the Seven even though the kid is trying to kill her, Andra enlists the help of a dorky classmate she’s only known as Golf Ball Head, who turns out to be much more than she imagined, and Joel Westin, a trigger-happy boy from 1874, who both terrifies and charms her. Andra must figure out who to trust and how to get Morgan and herself out of the Seven before it’s too late and they become a part of it forever.

Try the first chapter for free, right here.

Looking for magic, adventure, and a touch of romance in your next summer read?

In Linked, Fourteen-year-old Andra Quincy’s summer in Marina, the fog pit of Monterey County, isn’t exactly off to a great start. It’s her birthday, and her best friend has ditched her for a boy. Her parents are cruising the Caribbean while she’s at home rubbing her goose-bumpy arms and dreaming of sunshine and adventure, and being baby-sat by her flaky uncle, Ryan. But when Andra puts on her only birthday gift, a silver charm bracelet from Ryan, it plunges her into a magical alternate reality for each seven-o’clock hour.

Andra discovers that a local six-year-old, Morgan Baxter, thought to have been kidnapped, has actually disappeared into the Seven, a place that few have entered and most never escape. Determined to rescue Morgan from the Seven even though the kid is trying to kill her, Andra enlists the help of a dorky classmate she’s only known as Golf Ball Head, who turns out to be much more than she imagined, and Joel Westin, a trigger-happy boy from 1874, who both terrifies and charms her. Andra must figure out who to trust and how to get Morgan and herself out of the Seven before it’s too late and they become a part of it forever.

Try the first chapter for free, right here.