06 Jul Rose Ann Woolpert Mrs. R. Pacheco #HistoricalFiction #BiographicalFiction #LiteraryFiction #AmericanHistoricalFiction #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub @cathiedunn

FEATURED AUTHOR: ROSE ANN WOOLPERT

It’s my pleasure to welcome Rose Ann Woolpert as the featured author in the The Coffee Pot Book Club Blog being held between July 6th – 10th, 2026. Rose Ann Woolpert is the author of the Historical Fiction / Literary Fiction, Mrs. R. Pacheco: The Untold Story of Playwright and California First Lady Mary McIntyre, published by Historium Press on May 26, 2026 (252 pages). 

Below are highlights of Mrs. R. Pacheco, Rose Ann Woolpert’s author bio, and an excerpt from the novel.

Tour Schedule Page: https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2026/06/blog-tour-mrs-r-pacheco-by-rose-ann-woolpert.html

HIGHLIGHTS: MRS. R. PACHECO

Mrs. R. Pacheco: The Untold Story of Playwright and California First Lady Mary McIntyre
by Rose Ann Woolpert

Blurb:

Mrs. R. Pacheco is a sweeping story of love, ambition, and colliding cultures in the American West, inspired by the actual life of playwright, novelist, and California first lady Mary McIntyre Pacheco.

It is 1859, and the glittering promise of the California Gold Rush has faded into dust, leaving behind a land suspended between ambition and uncertainty.

Into this shifting world steps Mary Catherine “Molly” McIntyre, a young woman newly unmoored by loss, carrying both the weight of family duty and the quiet, persistent call of her own dreams.

Based on the remarkable life of Mary McIntyre Pacheco, Mrs. R. Pacheco unfolds as an intimate portrait of a woman caught between cultures, expectations, and the fragile hope of self-determination. When Molly marries Romualdo Pacheco, a Californio statesman destined to become California’s first Hispanic governor, her life is swept into a world both foreign and exhilarating, where love must contend with tradition, and identity is shaped by forces beyond her control.

As Molly navigates the complexities of marriage, society, and a rapidly changing California, she discovers within herself a fierce creative spirit that refuses to be silenced. Her journey from grieving daughter to pioneering novelist and playwright becomes a testament to resilience, illuminating the quiet strength required to carve a voice in a world not yet ready to hear it.

Rich in historical detail and alive with emotional depth, this novel evokes the textures of nineteenth-century California, from its sunlit landscapes to its deeply rooted cultural divides. Through Molly’s eyes, readers are drawn into a story of longing, reinvention, and the delicate balance between belonging and becoming.

Both sweeping and deeply personal, Mrs. R. Pacheco is a story of love shaped by circumstance, ambition tempered by sacrifice, and the enduring courage it takes to stand between worlds and claim a life as one’s own.

Buy Link:

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/mdpjwE

AUTHOR BIO: ROSE ANN WOOLPERT

Rose Ann Woolpert is drawn to questions history leaves unanswered. As an author whose work is grounded in fact and shaped by imagination, she writes stories that explore how individuals navigate change, loss, ambition, and identity.

Her writing is often inspired by California history, particularly the lives of women whose stories risk being lost to memory. Family recollections, historical records, and careful research inform her work, while fiction allows space to imagine motives, choices, and inner lives beyond the historical record.

Author Links:

Website: www.roseannwoolpert.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61589451520229

Substack / Blog: https://roseannwoolpert.substack.com

Historium Press Author Page: https://www.historiumpress.com/hp-authors/rose-ann-woolpert

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Rose-Ann-Woolpert/author/B0H1YYBNG4

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7089965.Rose_Ann_Woolpert

EXCERPT: MRS. R. PACHECO
The Untold Story of
Playwright and California First Lady Mary McIntyre 

During the eighteen-seventies, Californians took risks everyday.

Molly and Lizzie rode up Filbert Street in a horsecar packed with shoppers. It was winter, and the day was miserably wet and cold. Molly shivered, pulled her wrap tight against the wind, and listened to her sister complain about life in San Francisco.

“I don’t know how much longer I can put up with it,” Lizzie said. “I’ve repeatedly told Henry how I worry about living here, and now we have our baby to consider. The city has grown entirely too fast. And those terrible earthquakes! Mister Pickering’s pharmacy was almost destroyed three years ago. The poor man was lucky to get out alive. I don’t want to think what might happen if another, stronger quake comes along.”

Molly clutched her packages with one arm and used her free hand to grip the leather strap dangling above her head. The cobblestone streets were slick with drizzle, and the horsecar jerked back and forth, wheels lurching and clanking against the steel rails. The draft horses struggled to pull the heavily laden car. It was hard to keep their footing on such a steep hill, and the click and clack of iron horseshoes on the stone pavement only added to the racket.

Molly tightened her hold on the strap. She leaned close to Lizzie and raised her voice to be heard over the noise. “I hear they plan to install a cable car on Clay Street.”

“Newfangled inventions won’t make the city any safer.”

“At least they’ll keep the streets cleaner. Less manure to step around.”

Lizzie sniffed. “Even so, I think our family should move to Oakland.”

“All that way across the bay?”

“It’s not so far. Henry can take the ferry to his office each morning and still be home in time for supper.”

Molly understood Oakland’s rural appeal. Broad, wide-open fields and magnificent groves of live oaks gave the children plenty of space to play. The houses going in near Lake Merritt’s shoreline would be a quiet respite from San Francisco’s noise and bustle.

“Great things are coming to Oakland,” Lizzie said. “They’ve finished putting in the railroad, and there’s a brand-new train station at 16th and Wood. We’d be well connected to the rest of the country. The town’s fast becoming the most important—”

“Whoa! Hold on!” someone shouted.

“Look out,” the driver cried. “We’re slipping!”

He slammed down hard on his brake, but it was no use. The horsecar began sliding steadily backward down the hill.

“Everyone, jump!”

A woman shrieked, and panic broke loose. Frightened passengers leapt from the carriage and scrambled to escape. People were shouting frantically, searching for loved ones, tripping over the belongings now scattered across the cobblestones. Someone shoved Molly. Her skirts became tangled around her legs and her knees hit hard on the pavement. 

“Lizzie, where are you?” she screamed.

“Over here,” Lizzie shouted. “Are you hurt?”

Molly struggled to her feet and rushed to throw her arms around her sister. Then she saw the horsecar. It was sliding backward down the rails, rolling slowly at first, but quickly gaining speed. The poor horses were still attached to their harnesses, and she covered her ears to block out the horrible shrieks of injured animals.

Lizzie clung to Molly and whispered, “I don’t want to look.”

They both turned away to avoid the spectacle of the wreckage. Unfortunately, they could not escape the dreadful noise when everything crashed in a jumbled heap at the bottom of the hill.

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