Bestselling author William Martin speak about his Gold Rush research at The Gables

SALEM — Get-rich-quick isn’t just a hackneyed phrase we associate with lottery tickets and day traders. It’s a force that suspends reason, powers perilous risk and ignites unparalleled ingenuity. Some fortune hunters build empires while others collapse under the weight of failed dreams. The House of the Seven Gables is pleased to announce that bestselling novelist and master storyteller William Martin will speak about his highly anticipated work-in-progress, “Bound for Gold,” on Thursday, November 2, at 6 p.m. Nothing quite embodies the ‘get-rich-quick’ mindset as well as the California Gold Rush, as Martin will demonstrate in his colorful illustrated presentation. His newest historical novel is slated for publication on July 3, 2018. Those attending his presentation at The Gables, the last in this year’s ‘Seven Lectures at Seven Gables’ speaker series, are in for a tantalizing sneak preview. Martin is author of bestsellers that readers herald as all-time favorites including “Back Bay,” “The Lincoln Letter” and “Harvard Yard,” among others. His works are historical and the seemingly bottomless well of history gives him the layers of detail he uses to build resonance and relevance. “I discover, again and again, that the more things change the more they stay the same,” he says. Timely themes in “Bound for Gold” are foreign workers, taxes and racial animosities. As a young man writing screenplays in California in the ‘70s, Martin was drawn to the Gold Rush. That early screenplay garnered critical praise, a cover on Variety and the Hal Wallis Screenwriting Fellowship. Years later he returned to the Gold Rush and California to research anew, this time with a novel in mind. “Bound for Gold” is Martin’s sixth Peter Fallon and Evangeline Carrington adventure. According to Martin’s promotional materials, they learn of a lost Gold Rush journal and set off to modern San Francisco to find out more. “The journal, written by a young Bostonian Forty-niner, bursts to life, and we are swept back and forth through time.” Martin’s presentation will be held at The House of the Seven Gables Visitor Center, 115 Derby St., Salem, Mass. The lecture is free for members of The Gables and $7 for nonmembers. A selection of William Martin’s best-selling works of historical fiction will be available for sale and signing after his talk. Reservations are suggested. Those interested may visit www.7Gables.org, email groups@7gables.org, or call 978-744-0991, ext. 152. William Martin is the award-winning New York Times bestselling author of 10 novels, a PBS documentary, book reviews, magazine articles, and a cult-classic horror movie. His first Peter Fallon novel, “Back Bay,” established him as a master storyteller. He was the 2005 recipient of the prestigious New England Book Award. And in 2015, the USS Constitution Museum gave him the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for “patriotic pride, artful scholarship, and an eclectic interest in the sea and things maritime.” He lives near Boston with his wife and has three grown children.