Local authors Richard Hurley and TJ Meekins are celebrating the release of their new historical fiction, "Queen of the Northern Mines," with a book signing and free multimedia show entitled "California and the Civil War.""The novel begins in November of 1860, just before the War breaks out. Will Stafford, a young attorney from Virginia, arrives in Nevada County and instantly attracts the attention of bloodthirsty outlaws and passionate females," says co-author Meekins. "Our mother and daughter heroines, Molly and Ida Hatfield, run a stage stop at the You Bet Diggings called 'Missouri House.' It's a microcosm of the colliding cultures …












