Whispering Pines

Last week, I spent some time in North Carolina. A nice break from the harsh Ohio weather, true. But, I was under a deadline. My edits were due for Banking On Temperance, my third book in the Cotillion series, no later than two days after I got back. There was no way I could meet the deadline without taking my work with me on vacation.

My friend drove the leg of the trip from Virginia to North Carolina and listened to my story as I read it aloud to her. It took the entire six hours down and six back to finish the book. I was a virtual audio book. We caught a few mistakes together and separately, and my friend’s favorite line from my book was also my favorite one, so it all worked well.

Once we got to our destination, I turned off the computer, put my edits aside, and enjoyed a couple days of relaxation. The house we stayed at backed up to a peaceful lake where Canadian geese were splashing around, taking a break on their way north, and was in the town of Whispering Pines—I don’t know of any other town with such a sweet name. It makes me smile just to say it.

All that R&R revved my imagination, which is what vacations are supposed to do. I had a night when a scene from a new story was doing the continuous loop thing in my head. So, I broke my own rule of vacation and turned the computer on. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep until I got it down. It’s going to be a good story, I think.

Oh, and our favorite line from the new book? This happens when my hero, Basil, and the heroine, Temperance, are caught in a sudden snowstorm and are forced to spend the night together. In an attempt to be a gentleman, he offers her the bed and moves to the chair by the wood stove, which isn’t throwing off too much heat, so he’s not only cold as a stone, he’s hard as a rock.

The book will be out on May 6.