Me? Well, I'm thinking it's about time for another road trip. As a California girl, I feel pretty fortunate that there are a lot of great places to visit within driving distance to one another. I'm a bit further north than I used to be, but there are times when the coast and the Monterey area just start calling. It's probably why I set my upcoming Butterfly Harbor series (from Harlequin Heartwarming) there. At least if I can't get there in the physical sense, I can go in my mind. In case you need a little help imagining, here's some help:
Ahhhhh. You feel better now, right? The idea for this series kind of happened in a flash--one of those a-ha moments writers dream of. It's like striking a vein of gold in a mine. There's a small town just outside Monterey called Pacific Grove. It's a bit of a tourist destination with a large retreat center and tons of small businesses. The houses are eclectic and traditional, the ocean is right over the hill and the weather, honestly, couldn't be more perfect. Hence the model for Butterfly Harbor. But my stories needed some added punch, something at stake, and having the town struggle for survival seemed the perfect answer.
THE BAD BOY OF BUTTERFLY HARBOR (on sale 12/1) opens the series. Holly Campbell, a life-long Harbor resident isn't convinced all the new ideas to bring the town back to prosperity are going to work, especially not when it means having to alter the precise schedule that keeps her life running smoothly. She sure doesn't believe the return of Luke Saxon, the town's one-time notorious bad boy returns to take over as the new sheriff. There's a lot of history between these two but there's also a lot of discoveries to be made. At its heart, this book is about forgiveness and persevering through life's sometimes crippling challenges; it's also about the resiliency of the human spirit.
For me, the beauty of the coast helps bring everything into balance, as it does for me whenever I return to the place that inspired me. Two years ago, before I started writing the book, I took a road trip with three good friends (my Monterey girls as I call them). We spent the weekend exploring every inch of Monterey and Pacific Grove and they helped me delve into what makes small towns like these so special and fun to write about.
So as we head into "the crazy" season, where the windchill kicks up and the sun sets sooner than it should and the Christmas carols start ringing through the radio, I'm thinking it's about time to load the girls up, head down south and get some new story ideas, you know, in case anyone wants to read more about Butterfly Harbor.
In the meantime, have you subscribed to the Sweet Romance Reads newsletter? Our upcoming holiday edition is going to be jam-packed with lots of reading treats for you sweet romance fans. Just click on the subscribe button on the right of this page and you're in!
USA Today and national bestselling author Anna
J. Stewart can't remember a time she didn't have a book in her hands or a story
in her head. Early obsessions with Star Wars, Star Trek and Wonder
Woman set her on the path to creating fun, funny, and family centric
romances with happily ever afters for the independent heroines she writes for
both Harlequin and Berkley. Anna lives in Northern California where she deals
with a serious Supernatural & Sherlock addiction, surrounds
herself with friends and family and tolerates an overly affectionate cat named
Snickers (or perhaps it's Snickers who tolerates her). Visit her online at
www.authorannastewart.com.
I don't think I've had a road trip with friends since college! LOL! My husband and I take road trips all the time tho. Living where we do, every visit to family involves a road trip
ReplyDeleteButterfly Harbor sounds like fun. I used to like road trips until I became the one doing all the driving. Still, I love exploring new places. Good luck with the 'Bad Boy' book. I always love that kind of book!
ReplyDeleteThis is out of topic but holy cow... The model on the cover of the book is beautiful! The most beautiful I've ever seen~
ReplyDelete