We enjoy getting to know our readers and answering questions, but, of course, we can’t possibly meet every reader of Plank Road Summer. Here’s an opportunity for you to ask questions about the plot or characters or “backstory,” the research, the writing process, or anything else related to our lives as authors.
Post your questions using the “Submit Comment” button below, and one of us will post a response. We reserve the right to edit comments for content or clarity (because writers are always revising, after all).
Plank Road Stories 
While doing some geneology research on my family I came across your book Plank Road Summer I just wondered where you got the idea for the name Katie McEachron.
Thanks, Vic McEachron
Tonganoxie, Ks.
while doing some geneology research on my family I came across your book Plank Road Summer. I just wondered where you got the idea for the name of the character Katie McEachron.
Thanks, Victor McEachron
Tonganoxie, Ks.
Victor, we used the historically accurate names “McEachron” and “Mather” as a tribute to the two families who lived on the adjoining homesteads featured in the story. Charles K. McEachron and his bride moved to Wisconsin Territory from New York State in 1845. There’s plenty of information on the McEachron family in “The Grassroots History of Racine County.”
I am in the Burlington school learning about we are starting it this week so far I would like to know if the plank road ran through Union Grove Wisconsin
Yvonne, the plank road in the book did not run through Union Grove. Highway A, which follows the original route of the plank road (and is officially named Plank Road), crosses Highway 45 (Colony Avenue) several miles north of Union Grove.
Are the McEachron and Mather Inn homes still standing?
Yes, they are, Chris. Both are still the homes of Yorkville families, and the owners of the Mather Inn just opened a wedding florist business called Flowers at the Inn. Wouldn’t Florence Mather be pleased to know that?
Trying to do some local sleuthing—where, exactly, is the McEachron homestead? I wouldn’t want to invade anyone’s privacy, but I’d love to be able to identify it as I drive by.
The McEachron homestead is now Bo-Mar Farm, at the northeast corner of Highways 45 and A (Plank Road). The Mather Inn still stands across the pasture on what is now Moyer Farms.