Toni Dwiggins
“Never stop a man with a shovel...."
My aunt and uncle had a cabin in the California gold country, on a plot of land they hoped held tailings from an old gold mine. One night my aunt heard a commotion outside, and looked to see a man in the front yard digging a hole. Spooked, she woke my uncle and told him. Tired from the day's exploration, he mumbled “Never stop a man with a shovel.” So she went back to sleep. The next morning they found a hole nearly seven feet deep. Did the mysterious digger think there was buried gold? Was he planning on burying a body? They never found out. The story was told many times in my family, and I always wondered. I ended up writing a book set in the gold country, albeit without the mysterious digger. But he might appear in a future story. Hmmm...never stop a writer with a shovel mystery to be unearthed.
My aunt and uncle had a cabin in the California gold country, on a plot of land they hoped held tailings from an old gold mine. One night my aunt heard a commotion outside, and looked to see a man in the front yard digging a hole. Spooked, she woke my uncle and told him. Tired from the day's exploration, he mumbled “Never stop a man with a shovel.” So she went back to sleep. The next morning they found a hole nearly seven feet deep. Did the mysterious digger think there was buried gold? Was he planning on burying a body? They never found out. The story was told many times in my family, and I always wondered. I ended up writing a book set in the gold country, albeit without the mysterious digger. But he might appear in a future story. Hmmm...never stop a writer with a shovel mystery to be unearthed.
More Answered Questions
Christie
asked
Toni Dwiggins:
Is there a chance that you could involve fracking in one of your next books? You already wrote about radioactivity (kind of), quicksilver poisoning and vulcanism in your books that were really well researched. I like reading about environmental issues in your books, and to combine them with geology, because that makes you special as an author.
P.J. Skinner
asked
Toni Dwiggins:
Are you interested in doing a give away with me and Joanna Penn and Rose Sandy? If you have a free book you can put in a box set with ours, or if you are interested in taking part in a giveaway (2 Paperbacks) that will be sent out to all our mailing lists to get new readers, please email me at [email protected]
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