Deborah asked Mary Doria Russell:

My grandfather was an iron ore miner in Marquette at the time of your book, "Women of the Copper Country". This is my book club book for next week. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and felt deeply involved in the history. How much research did you do in producing the material? Have you been to Calumet?

Mary Doria Russell Yes, I spend time in Calumet, walking the streets, studying the buildings that date to the era of the story, touring mines, asking questions and loading up on research material from the local museum's bookstore.

There was a lot to learn about the copper mining industry and about Annie Clements' moment in time. I had to put her experiences into the context of several other strikes led by and for women laborers, like the shirtwaist sewers and mill girls. And the work of suffragists was germane as well.

In general it takes me about three years to write a novel. About 1/3d of the research takes place before I begin writing. I'll coast on that for about 150 pages of writing before I have to stop again and do another round of digging so I can see my way clear to the end of the story.

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