Many authors talk about writing the “book of their heart.” Sometimes it happens by accident. That's what happened to me. I was published in traditional contemporary romance when Stella Carmichael came knocking on my door – figuratively speaking. One day driving to The Day Job, an hour from my home, in the city of Portland, I was listening to my favorite radio station, K103, when they gave away a trip to anywhere in the world to one lucky listener. Instantly my imagination took off. What if a woman in trouble won that trip? What if her daughter won the trip and sent her mother as far from her normal life, such as it was, as she could? What if...? And so Stella's story was born. One of my favorite cities in the world is London. It made sense England was where Stella had to be sent to sort herself out...but it wasn't just Stella who was in trouble. The plot thickened.
Bitterly resentful of her family and a life that isn’t what it’s supposed to be, Stella Carmichael finds herself responsible for her unruly granddaughter, and on a plane to London. Faced with hard truths about her relationship with a husband who’s gone and a family that is falling apart, she reluctantly gets to know her sullen granddaughter, makes new friends, and embarks on an unexpected flirtation. Somewhere along the way will she discover family is a gift, and living, something to be treasured?
Family, community, and the journey home. Those are the stories I write, that touch my heart. I hope they touch yours, too.