December, 2021
Dear readers,
What a year this has been. Filled with loss, pain, fear, uncertainty -- no, wait. That was the year before. That was 2020. How can 2020 have happened all over again? Plan A was, we weren't supposed to have to worry about boarding a plane or riding the rails. We weren't supposed to keep our gatherings small and mask up indoors. We were supposed to be more or less normal. Well, we're not. And so on to Plan B: keeping ourselves and our family and friends and neighbors safe in any way we can. We have so little control over the big picture, but by now we know what works: getting vaccinated and boosted, wearing those good old masks when among those who may not be, and just generally ... caring.
The other day I heard someone say, "I'm so done with Covid." And yet how many times have you heard this before: "Covid's not done with us." Not for now, anyway. We will beat Covid, though. Sooner or later, it will be just a painful memory. Let's all make it sooner, so that we can go back to having an everyday or holiday meal with people we love, and scream our heads off at indoor concerts (I put that in for the young 'uns), or catch a simple cold without worrying that it's something worse. Let's hug our grandparents and hug our grandkids and plan fun Halloween parties and big weddings, all without stress. (Okay, there is no way to plan a wedding without stress.)
Let's be good and do what's right. For all our sakes. May this holiday season make your dearest wishes come true.
December, 2020
Dear readers,
2020. In the future, that's all you will ever have to say, and people will remember instantly the year that so dramatically changed their lives. From spring in the eastern part of the country through summer in the south through autumn everywhere, no region has been spared the pain of the coronavirus. We've all had our turn. And if we were ever confident enough to think, "We're doing better at this than they are" well, that's over. This plague spares no one anywhere.
So, Christmas. What do we do about Christmas? We know what we'd like to do with our extended family or group of friends: greet, hug, kiss, share a meal, open gifts, watch old movies, and fall asleep on the couch. But for the very reason that we all want to congregate --
to be with the people we love --we can't do that. If we love them, we have to stay away from them. Just for this year. It won't be forever; vaccinations are coming. By the 4th of July, we'll be greeting, hugging, kissing, sharing a cookout, watching fireworks, and falling asleep on the couch. And every moment will feel that much sweeter, because we'll have done our part to keep the ones we love safe from harm and able to enjoy that summer holiday with us. 4th of July, folks, will be the new Christmas.
There's a slogan going around: We're all in this together. Amid all of the disinformation, denial, confusion and apathy, that one truth stands out: we are all in this together. You, me, all of us. Let's beat this. Together.
It won't be the merriest Christmas or the happiest New Year ... but a better time is just ahead.
Wishing the season's blessings for all,
December, 2019
Dear readers,
Stuff happens. It's taken me a seriously long time to figure that out. I've always believed that you could mold, shape, slice, dice, and basically create your own destiny. The important thing (I believed) was to stay on your toes and be proactive at all times. Do that, and you'll be good to go.
That's not, it turns out, how it works. This past summer, both my husband and I were hit with medical conditions neither of us had a clue were building to a head. Both are fixable, one more than the other, but it meant that instead of long walks on the beach, we were doing time in physical therapy. Instead of day trips to Block Island or Martha's Vineyard, he was working cardio and I was flat on my back doing isometrics. Boogie boarding? Not gonna happen. Our old sailing dinghy, the one I worked on the previous fall for over a month of sanding and painting and which now looks as though it's never been in the water? It hasn't.
Stuff happens. The tricky part is how to deal with it. Lucky for me, I'm pretty good at sitting at home like a mushroom on a fallen tree limb. But I would be lying if I said I don't alternately whine and fume at not being able to do all of the (mostly physical) things I'm used to doing. Stoic, I am not. Philosophical, I am not. But I know enough to realize that I am one of the luckiest people on earth because I have a loving husband (we started dating, no kidding, in high school); a great family (we never talk politics); and stellar friends (we always talk politics).
All of this is by way of saying: hold on to the good stuff. Don't let the other stuff distract you or get in the way of the things that really matter. Someone has a bigger house, a nicer car, a newer phone? Who cares? Someone can run circles around you and you have to sit while you're brushing your teeth? It happens. Hold on to love, and let everything else go. If you want more than that, you're being greedy; I get that.
Now all I have to do is remember it.
With all good wishes for a wonderful holiday season. May you be blessed with peace and serenity and surround yourself with people who care.
December, 2018
Dear readers,
Everybody knows that from Halloween through Thanksgiving to Christmas Day takes approximately two weeks -- never mind what the calendar foolishly claims. For Pete's sake, we haven't even put away the nicer gift bows to use again next year when someone or other is dropping a big ball in New York. Happy New Year! One and done. We chip away at the mountain of Christmas cookies but will barely finish them before having to bake a carrot cake for Easter. Then, after working through the fourteenth different recipe using leftover Easter ham, we find ourselves slapping burgers on the grill for the family Fourth of July bash. Forget about Labor Day -- everyone is too busy laboring to celebrate it, and besides, school has already been in session forever. (Ask the kids.) Indian summer? Slow-moving fall? Apparently not. Halloween candy and costumes start showing up in August nowadays--I used to be offended when CVS put 'em out in September!--and here we are at Halloween again.
And there you have it. I've finally figured it out: it's the holidays' fault that time flies by so quickly. I used to be so naive, blaming smart phones and gaming and social media and even my advancing age/declining attention span, but no. The real culprit is the holiday calendar. We are always looking forward, rushing toward, here it comes, how soon will it be here. That kind of thinking is fine when you're seven--you have all the time in the world to look forward to--but when you reach a certain age, wanting time to fly seems a little counterproductive.
For a while now, there has been pushback. It comes in the mindfulness movement. (I'm not real crazy about that word mindfulness; it has a trendy ring to it that makes me want to roll my eyes.) Google it and you'll come up with dozens of definitions, but basically they have one thing in common: an intense awareness of what you're doing or feeling, without judgment, by which I assume they mean, without second-guessing. So if you're brushing your teeth, you're supposed to just focus on the simple feel of the bristles on your teeth (I believe I read that in the New York Times). And if your teenage son drips gravy on the new Christmas tablecloth, you should assume that he didn't do it on purpose. (It's probably, though not entirely, a safe assumption.) You're pruning one rosebush but can't get to the others? Concentrate on the one you're trimming and forgive yourself for not doing them all.
The whole point of mindfulness is to be more accepting and to live more in the moment. The good news is, it reduces stress without drink or medication. The bad news is, at this time of year it's really, really hard to do.
But we have to try, haven't we?
With all best wishes for a happy (and reasonably stress-free) holiday season,
December, 2017
Dear readers,
The year went by so fast. Where did the time go? How can it be Christmas? What happened to Halloween? Wasn't it just Labor Day? What did I get done all year? Really. What did I get done all year?
Raise your hand if any of that sounds familiar. I've been claiming for years that the older I get, the faster time goes by. But now I'm not so sure. I think that the older I get, the better I get at wasting time. I used to blame eBay (early a.m. coffee time was spent in an ongoing hunt for vintage Christmas houses and figures for my mantel display). Then I blamed cable TV (all those morning political analysts saying the same thing but taking three hours a day to do it). Now I just blame the Internet in general (for making me go sideways when I have every intention of looking up the capital of Montana but end up reading about Twelve Different Ways to Clean Your Glass Shower Doors).
Pretty sad. I know I'm not alone, though. Temptations abound. Spotify, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube -- and these are just the social media I know about. The real list of distractions is endless, as is the list of manipulators who suck us in to them. Sociologists are having a field day covering the ramifications. Is this latest, youngest generation of users -- iGen, as someone has dubbed it -- really going to end up being a lost generation, more comfortable alone in their rooms with their smart phones than hanging out with friends in a mall? (Could be, since malls are closing at a record rate.)
What we need is a Resistance. Three cheers to all who ban devices at the dinner table -- three cheers to all who even have a dinner table -- and hats off to all who leave their phones outside their bedrooms at night (exception: parents with kids who are actually out on dates). There has to be a way to combat this exploding phenomenon of isolation. We need to be less like a prison, more like a village. We need to see and talk to and appreciate people up and down the social ladder and of all political and spiritual persuasions. It isn't so hard to do. It just requires opening our hearts and our minds to someone who is not us.
May you enjoy a season of shared love and peaceful moments, and a year that ends with technology having taken a back seat to real-life experiences.
Warm wishes for a happy new year,
December, 2016
Dear readers,
Some of you may have noticed that I haven't been blogging much, either on my home page or on FB. The truth seems to be that I'm not, apparently, a blogger. That surprises me, because I can certainly talk a blue streak (ask any one of my forbearing friends). I'm sure that if I still wrote for a New York publisher, I would be feeling pressure to blog something -- anything -- just to keep my name out there. It's what you do. But I'm an independent writer now, and I don't have to if I don't want to. That's the good news. The bad news is that I feel guilty when I sneak out in my PJ's with a cup of coffee to watch a butterfly basking on a blade of grass in the mid-morning sun. (Who invented guilt, anyway? It's such a drag.)
If I had something profound to say, I would blog it. If I thought it could change the world, I would blog it. If I thought it could change just one mind, I would still blog it. If I thought you really wanted to know my favorite food, movie, song, book ... I might blog that. But if you've already read any of my books, then you're probably the kind of reader who would like simply to jump into another world, vividly drawn, for a few hours of entertainment. You're not looking for an answer to the meaning of life, not in a romantic work of fiction. What you're looking for is to swipe or turn the last page of a novel with a sigh of contentment. Why would it matter to you if my favorite color was green?
Still, like most authors with websites, I've posted a biography with photos -- although in it, I'm pretty sure I didn't mention my favorite food (cabbage, no kidding), movie ("Music and Lyrics," no kidding), song (Clapton's "Old Love"; it gives me goosebumps just to type that), or book (Seton's "Katherine," mostly because I was so young when I read it). So there you have it, after all. My favorite things.
Warm wishes,
December, 2015
Dear readers,
If ever there were a need for holiday joy, it's now. Events this past month have left us, once again, in an anxious frame of mind. It's all too understandable, but we owe it to ourselves and to those we love -- and especially to those who have been so hurt by these tragedies -- to honor the spirit of the season. That spirit surely includes giving: of ourselves, our time, our resources. Let's be generous. Let's be kind. Let's show those who know only how to take and destroy that we know, and practice, a better way. Let us love our neighbor.
May you experience peace and serenity in the coming year.
Warm wishes,
December, 2014
Dear readers,
It's that time of year again ... when we run around madly with too much to do and not enough time to do it in. Ten times a day, this thought zips through my brain: What was I thinking?? I'm as guilty of overly optimistic time management as anyone, but really. I actually thought a kitchen renovation, since we'd done one before, would be a piece of cake. At Christmastime. I'll be doing dishes in the laundry room and wearing out the Shop Vac before too long, so I'd like to take a moment now to thank you for reading my books and letting me know that you're enjoying them. It means a lot to me to hear from you.
May your season be merry and bright, and may all good things come to you in the coming year.
Warm wishes,
December, 2013
Dear Readers,
There is no better time to thank you for your wonderful notes, postings, and e-mails; they have made this past year a delight for me. I hope that my books have given you the chance to slip away into another world for a while -- a world where misunderstandings are straightened out, wrongs are made right, children listen to their parents (eventually), and men and women find their ideal mates, all of it in a seaside setting.
May you and your loved ones enjoy a year of peace, happiness and good health, and may every blessing be yours.
Warm wishes,
October, 2013
Dear Readers,
The final eBook in the BY THE SEA series is now available! Book Four, The Heirs,
is set in modern-day Newport and is a return to my usual mix of mystery, romance
and foggy nights, with a formal ball or two thrown in for good measure (the novel
is set in mansion-filled Newport, after all). Like the other three books of the
original print saga, The Heirs has been extensively revised and updated. Some
revisions are the direct result of fan feedback: I learned, for example, that
readers aren't big fans of ambiguous endings, so I've worked hard to wrap
things up in a satisfying way.
I should add that this last, fourth book, like the first three, can be read as a stand-alone
work. If historical novels aren't your thing, then The Heirs with its modern
setting should suit you very well. If historical novels are your thing, then by all
means, pick up Tess, Amanda, and Laura. And if you want a big, fat, satisfying
read that will have you following the lives of several families (think Downton
Abbey), then all four books of BY THE SEA should be just the ticket. To introduce you
to the saga, I'm offering Book One, Tess, free at all the major eBook stores.
Have a fun and happy Halloween, everyone!
Warm wishes,
September, 2013
Dear Readers,
If it's a new month, it must be a new book: Laura, Book Three of the BY THE SEA series, is now available in eBook format. Of all my books, I think Laura required the least research; I have the subject down pat. I know what it feels like to live aboard a boat and out of touch for years at a time, and to pour body and soul and every blessed cent you have into making sure the thing just keeps floating. I know what it feels like to be alone with only your mate and a cat, 600 miles from the nearest shore. I definitely know what it feels like to be exhausted, sleep-deprived, and scared out of your wits in a brutal storm. (The guy who said going to sea is like being in prison with a chance of drowning wasn't kidding.)
I also know the absolute bliss when the wind is fair, the night is warm, and the moon is bright enough to read by. When the canopy of stars overhead, and Bethoven's 8th in your head, overwhelm you with a sense of your own insignificance. I'm willing to bet that everyone has felt that kind of intensity in some form, whether at a concert or in a church, with a lover or holding a newborn.
Laura Powers may have been brought up on a farm with the expectation that she'd become a proper Midwestern schoolmarm, but she has other ideas. She's too restless, too eager to find ... something, in her life, that takes her far from everyday routine. And she does -- but not where and with whom she thought she would find it. I hope you enjoy Laura. It comes from the heart.
Warm wishes,
Midsummer, 2013
Dear Readers,
I want to thank all of you who have taken a leap of faith and bought "Tess," Book One of my four-book series BY THE SEA, and made it a #1 bestseller in multiple NOOK fiction categories, including NOOK Press's Summer Favorites. "Tess" is set in a century I don't usually cover (late nineteenth), but in a place I do (Newport, Rhode Island). Still, I know that readers are used to downloading contemporary mysteries from me, and "Tess" is something else entirely: a rags-to-riches story of a stunningly beautiful Irish maid in one of the biggest mansions on Newport's Gold Coast. Tess's story doesn't end on the last page, though; look for more about her in the next three books.
Book Two is "Amanda." I like Amanda. She's an American heiress who can be a maddening, royal pain, but ... I like her. Her heart is in the right place, and Geoffrey Seton, impoverished English aristocrat, gradually becomes aware of that. Very gradually. "Amanda" was a lot of fun to write, and I hope it will be just as much fun for you to read. "Amanda" is in eBook stores now.
I should add that the four books of BY THE SEA no longer resemble the original
out-of-print saga titled "The Challenge and the Glory." I have revised, edited,
broken up and reordered the paperback. (I've been busy!) So be aware of that,
should you run across an old copy in a used-book store.
Book Three, "Laura," will be out before long, but meanwhile, here's wishing you some lazy, enjoyable reading in the chaise lounge or beach chair of your choice.
Warm wishes,
Early Summer, 2013
Dear Readers,
Summer marches on, and with it, the first release in my four-book series, BY THE SEA. In its original print format, all four books were included in a saga titled "The Challenge and the Glory." (Long title, big book; the manuscript ran nearly a thousand pages.) But since the saga spans four entirely separate periods (the summers of 1895, 1920, 1924, and the 1980's) it seems logical to publish each story separately. They're all connected, though, tracing the loves and fortunes of three separate families in Newport, Rhode island.
Book One is called TESS: she's an Irish maid in one of the castle-sized "cottages" that the Vanderbilts, Astors, and others with equally absurd fortunes built in their efforts to trump one another. The staffs for these mansions were huge, controlled by women who revelled in their husbands' millions and could teach today's CEOs a thing or two about ruthless management and crushing the competition. Tess has none of their advantages, but she has brains, beauty and a good heart.
The first three books of the series (TESS, AMANDA, and LAURA) fall in the category of historical fiction/romance. Me! Writing historical fiction! The dozen eBooks I've released before this have all had contemporary settings, but I grew up reading historical fiction and there's still a place in my heart for the eras before iPhones and Facebook. The fourth book, THE HEIRS, is set in modern times and involves a mystery.
I loved writing this saga. Loved doing the research for it, loved creating heroines without wealth who by dint of their intelligence and determination were able to realize their dream, or at least make it possible for their descendants to realize theirs. Look for the other books in the series to follow about a month apart from one another. Please let me know what you think; I'd love to hear from you. And if you'd like to "Like" me on Facebook, I'd appreciate that, too.
To see larger versions of the covers for the next books, just click on the images to the left.
Happy summer to you!
Warm wishes,
February, 2013
Dear Readers,
We've all heard the expression "a man's home is his castle." But what happens when a man's castle turns out to be someone else's home? That's the situation in DREAM A LITTLE DREAM, my latest contemporary eBook release.
William Braddock, Baron of Norwood, has earned a fortune that dwarfs the one his English grandfather lost in the Great Depression, but there's a little something still missing that he needs to acquire: the family castle. Like an idiot, Will has promised it to his grandmother. He can afford to buy it back, all right. Problem is, it's been moved to the other side of the ocean.
It's inhabited, still, by the whimsical couple who bought it and by their daughter and two granddaughters, the elder of whom is fiery Elinor MacLeish. Elinor is the stuff of men's nightmares --stubborn, feisty, impulsive, reckless, and not particularly submissive. Not to mention, she's an American. Just to complicate matters, she's also attractive, sexy, intriguing and an exhilarating opponent. She has Will on his ear in no time flat.
But Will hasn't got where he is by giving up easily. A good thing, too, because besides the whole MacLeish clan, he finds himself crossing swords with yet another adversary who has his own agenda. And overseeing all the skirmishes and battles are a pair of ghostly lovers whose ties to the castle are far, far more ancient than those of anyone else.
I hope you enjoy DREAM A LITTLE DREAM. It's a modern fairy tale with a "definite Gothic touch," as Library Journal put it. Fun and lighthearted, it's just the book for curling up with on a long winter's night.
Warm wishes,
December, 2012
Dear Readers,
Some years wander sweetly, almost aimlessly, to their close, and some years are like asteroids shooting past as they roar to their end. I remember, decades ago during an overnight sail on a starry, moonless night, being absolutely dumbfounded by a piece of space debris that shot out of the heavens and burned up in a massive, chartreuse flash before us. It happened so fast! Did it really happen at all? It was so magical, so fierce, so awesome that it was scary.
That was my 2012. Out of the blue, my ebooks suddenly took off, and that was magical for me. But the year brought fierce loss as well: of beloved friends; of a gentle old cat. And all of it happened in the blink of an eye. Every year is like that, of course: beautiful and fun and awful and sad, a hurtling forward at what seems to be ever-increasing speed.
Which is why I want to stop, just stop, and take this moment to wish everyone a very happy holiday season. Whatever your belief, may it bring you comfort and joy.
Warm wishes,
October, 2012
Dear Readers,
It's nearly Halloween. Summer's been over for a few weeks now, but you'd never know it, watching the weather. A hurricane hybrid that's being described as "epic," "historic," "unprecedented," "The Perfect Storm 2.0," "dire," "record-shattering" and "Frankenstorm" (except this isn't funny) is bearing down on the northeast as I write this. So many millions will be affected by Hurricane Sandy in so many ways that it's almost impossible to comprehend.
We in Newport are bound at least to lose power, and I wanted to thank you before that happens for your gratifying responses to the release of my backlist as eBooks. EMILY'S GHOST, BEYOND MIDNIGHT, and TIME AFTER TIME, all ghost stories, are on Barnes & Noble's Top 100 NOOK Books Bestseller list right now. They're definitely in the spirit of the season (okay, yes, that's a pun) and fun reads, so if you haven't read them, pick one up and enjoy.
I've just released another book, TIDEWATER, which has just appeared on the B&N NOOK bestseller list today. One reviewer called it "compulsively readable suspense" and another likened it to Hitchcock. It's definitely at the darker and more emotionally charged end of my books, but I've tried to keep an element of charm and surprise in it. As always, the relationships between all of the characters were my main focus. Ex-lovers, mother-daughter, husband-wife: put them all together in a pot, mix well, turn up the heat, and you have a cauldron of boiling emotions. This was a tough book for me to write, but my editor thought it was my best to date. I'd love to know what you think.
In the meantime, I've just done a fun interview with Rachel Harrington, paranormal romance author, that appears on her site.
Here's a link to it.
Thank you again for letting me know that you're enjoying my books; I treasure each and every one of your e-mails.
Warm wishes,
June, 2012
Dear Readers,
I want first to say a big, huge thank you to all of you who have been buying my books as they're released. A MONTH AT THE SHORE and A CHARMED PLACE continue to enjoy being on the NOOK Top 100 bestseller list at Barnes & Noble, and SAND CASTLES reached #4 there a few days after its release on June 15. I wish I could hug every one of you.
A little about the idea behind SAND CASTLES: a decade ago we had an addition built to our tiny four-room cottage and -- this was my brilliant idea -- we kept on living in the house for the entire nine months it took. (Any of you ever see the movie "Money Pit"? Then you'll know a contractor is merely toying with you when he promises to have something, anything, done in "two weeks.") If you've ever had a contractor take over your house -- whether to install kitchen cabinets or to update a bathroom -- then you know what it's like suddenly to be living on intimate terms with total strangers who're slugging their third cups of coffee before you've had a chance to brush your teeth.
In SAND CASTLES, Jim Hodene has won millions of dollars in the Powerball lottery. (It happens. Someone recently won 290 million dollars on a ticket bought in the same Stop & Shop where my husband occasionally buys us a ticket -- because what man isn't convinced that his ticket will be THE ticket?) Jim and Wendy Hodene live in Wendy's too-small ancestral house in Providence, Rhode Island, and Wendy gets the bright idea to make her beloved house bigger rather than to move into a ready-made new one.
That's where the trouble begins. Forget about the dust and rubble that's fraying everyone's nerves; far more dangerous agendas are at work than the threat of tripping over a box of nails. Mysterious phone calls; a husband who turns out not to be who he claims; a newly hired contractor of steely will and deep integrity who has other interests than Wendy's on his plate; a fragile and beautiful woman who appears out of nowhere to cause endless chaos -- all are land mines scattered along the path that Wendy must follow before she can find true happiness.
This is a book about love and loyalty and money, and who has too much and who has too little of it. Happy reading!
Warm wishes,
May, 2012
Dear Readers,
First: thank you for your wonderful response to my release of A CHARMED PLACE in eBook format. It reached a charmed place of its own -- #5 -- on Barnes & Noble's NOOK Book Bestseller List and has remained on the list for the past two months. Some authors might feel ho-hum about that, but I was -- and am -- astonished. And grateful. And ... just happy. Thank you!
My latest release is A MONTH AT THE SHORE. It's been out for two weeks and is #6 on the NOOK bestseller list as I write this. (Still astonished, still happy.) I know that the low introductory price has a lot to do with the success of those releases, but I hope that readers are enjoying the stories themselves. When I began to write, I decided to include what I myself like to read. So each book is a love story, but one that's caught up in a mystery and with a good dose of family drama. I have one overriding goal in mind: to make my characters real and believable. Superheroes need not apply, and neither do vampires, angels, girls with dragon tattoos, or shapeshifters. (Okay, once in a while I might have an opening for a ghost.) But I want you to be able to relate to the characters -- a sister, a mother, a son, a brother. A husband, a boyfriend, an ex. Love them or hate them, I want you to know them. As one reader wrote in her review: "I feel as if they're extended family."
I got the idea for A MONTH AT THE SHORE after dropping in at a small garden center in a town in Massachusetts. The nursery was such a forlorn affair: pots of dried plants thrown haphazardly on a table; shrubs in bone-dry containers; a paint-peeled shop with absolutely no curb appeal. Maybe they were short-handed, maybe someone was ill. Maybe they were exhausted and just didn't care anymore. I wanted to sprinkle magic dust over the whole nursery and make it all better. And so was born this novel.
It's the story of three outcast siblings who band together to try to save Shore Gardens, the family nursery that was allowed to slide into ruin by their tyrannical father. He's gone now, and foreclosure looms while developers wait like vultures. Laura and Snack Shore, who have long since fled the town, have promised their sister Corinne, who stayed, that they'd give her a month to try to restore the place to its former charm. One month! So the last thing that Laura needs are the attentions of privileged Kendall Barclay, president of the local bank -- or his appalling discovery at the nursery that leads to a murder investigation.
A MONTH AT THE SHORE has my trademark blend of romance, mystery, and family drama. Hope you enjoy it!
Warm wishes,
March, 2012
Dear Readers,
Okay--anyone who's ever wanted to live in a rose-covered cottage by the sea, raise your hand.
Yep. Me, too. Of course, if you've read my "bio" on this website, you know that I've lived on the sea, in an old wood boat. And now I live overlooking the sea, in a cottage up on a hill. But for as long as I can remember, I've wanted to live by the sea--close enough to hear the waves lapping on a shore not far from my bedroom window. When a dream is that intense and that long-lived, there's only one thing to do about it: write a book about it. And so was born A CHARMED PLACE, set in a sleepy beachfront town on Cape Cod in Massachusetts.
Maddie Regan and her family share a summer house there that's been passed down for generations. Rosedale cottage is nothing fancy (Hyannis and the Kennedy compound are several towns away) but Maddie grew up with happy memories in the house, and she'd like nothing more than to keep on enjoying them.
However.
She has a teenaged daughter who's straight from the pages of Reviving Ophelia; a brooding and bitter ex-husband who's changed his mind and wants back in to the marriage; and a mother who's still grief-stricken over the unsolved murder of Maddie's father. Maddie's plate, in short, is overflowing with touch-and-go emotions. The last thing she needs is for her college sweetheart to rent the local lighthouse for the summer. The fact that her family blames the man for just about everything except the erosion of the beach in front of their cottage is just one more complication in Maddie's life.
There are long-buried secrets here, and lost passion waiting to flare all over again. If you've ever wanted to live in a rose-covered cottage on the shore ... if you've ever been driven up one wall and down another by an impossible teenager ... if you've ever had to deal with the heartache of a shut-down marriage and the friction of a difficult relationship with a parent ... if you've ever wondered about that man from your past who might have been The One--then this book is for you.
Enjoy!
January, 2012
Dear readers,
When we fall in love, we want to believe.
Holly Anderson is perfectly happy in her funky career as a folk artist--until she meets Sam Steadman, who doesn't seem to be happy doing anything. Sam's come to Martha's Vineyard to track down the con artist who has just scammed his struggling parents out of their nest egg. Holly shouldn't believe in Sam but does. Sam doesn't believe in Holly but should. And those two are just for starters.
Holly's mother has just been dumped by her husband of thirty years--but she still believes. Holly's father has fallen for the con artist who duped Sam's parents; he believes, big-time. And the con-artist, young, smart and gorgeous Eden Walker? Eden believes in Eden. Period.
Holly has a sister, Ivy. Ivy has a husband Jack. Jack's another piece of work.
Should any of these women believe in any of these men? As I was writing SAFE HARBOR, I admit that I had my doubts. By the time the story was done, some of those doubts were justified and some of them weren't. I think you'll enjoy this one. The book is fun, fast, and heartbreakingly true. Let me know what you think; I'd love to hear from you.
Warm wishes,
Christmas, 2011
Dear Readers,
beThe holiday season is upon us. How do I love it? Let me count the ways.
I love that Newport is quiet again. That the air has a bite to it. That we can
have cozy fires. That I can wrap myself in soft sweaters and watch Masterpiece
Theater without feeling guilty that I'm not outside Doing Summer Stuff. That the
garden's asleep. That the birds are safe there, with heated water, lots of food,
and shelter in our shrubs. That I can experience, once again, the sweet joy of
arranging a Christmas village on our mantel.
But the season is really about family, isn't it. The noise, the laughter,
the fights, the hugs -- all the ups and downs of mixing it up with people you
know so well, but who will always have the ability to ... well, surprise. I
was thinking very much of family dynamics when I wrote KEEPSAKE, in which one
man has the power to throw an entire family -- an entire town -- into a state
of dread. Stonemason Quinn Leary is determined to clear his father's name of
a murder he didn't commit, and he's willing to walk over anyone who tries to
stop him. But Olivia Bennet, the town princess and a school rival when Quinn
fled Keepsake with his fugitive father seventeen years earlier, is a grown woman
now, and she's not afraid to cross her arms and say "Not so fast." Can you be soul
mates and bitter enemies at the same time? You can if your loyalties are divided.
This is a story of conflicting loyalties, and of second chances for happy ever afters.
I should add that the Christmas village arrangement on my 2011 mantel is a nod to the opening scene in KEEPSAKE in which Quinn arrives at the village green just in time
for the Christmas tree lighting. I didn't have a little gazebo for my village,
so I made one. Total cost: fourteen cents. Sometimes it's the humblest objects
that bring the sweetest pleasure.
Click on the Christmas button at the top of this page to enter my Christmas site and see the 2011 mantel arrangement, complete with deer in the pen, gazebo, Santa, and kids -- just as it appears in the opening scene of KEEPSAKE.
Happy Holidays!
October, 2011
Dear Readers,
The calendar tells me it's Fall, and if the weather would just cooperate here in New England,
we could get on with it. (Who wants to rake leaves when it's 87 degrees out?) Fall is the
season for riotous color, bracing winds, wooly sweaters, touch football and crunchy apples.
Cornstalk decor. Stacked-up firewood. Pick-your-own pumpkins -- the season, in short,
for Halloween.
When I think of Halloween, I think of witches. When I think of witches, I think of Salem.
Which is why I've decided to release Beyond Midnight in e-book
format this month. It just seems right. Some of my stories are lighter in tone, some
of them darker (never fear; all of them are fun). Beyond Midnight is a spooky tale, one
in which the owner of a prestigious pre-school in Salem, Massachusetts finds her family
and fortune imperiled by a modern-day witch hunt. I'm especially fond of the characters
in Beyond Midnight. We've all been teenagers, known clueless fathers, mourned a true love,
been charmed by a toddler. They're all here, and their stories are our stories. We'll
wring our hands for them, watch them develop, and in the end, we'll rejoice with them.
Enjoy ... the story, and the season.
Summer, 2011
Dear Readers,
Thank you for your enthusiastic response to my decision to make my books available in eBook format.
I've loved hearing from you again, and your online posted reviews and ratings are very welcome and appreciated. TIME AFTER TIME,
a lighthearted romp, is the kind of beach read that will leave you smiling; you'll hardly notice the sand all over your blanket and in your food.
I'll write more -- and I'll upload more books -- as soon as the weather breaks. Meanwhile,
I'll be on the beach myself, wiping the sand from the cup of my lemonade slush.
Spring, 2011
Dear readers,
There are valid explanations for some behavior, and then there are excuses.
I can't offer a decent version of either one to account for the long lapse in my novel writing.
I don't have a dog, so he couldn't have eaten my homework.
I haven't been hospitalized (well, okay, briefly, after I jumped off a moving bike
and broke my leg, but other than that). And I haven't been hijacked by pirates while
sailing the local seas (New England hasn't had a decent pirate in over 200 years).
So how to account for my writing coming to a screeching halt after my last book, A Month at the Shore, was published?
I'm going with the joy of freedom. I was taking a break to consider a new direction in my writing,
and meanwhile my husband decided to take an early retirement, and then ... well, that freedom thing
became addictive. It was awfully nice to pretend I was twelve again.
Except, of course, that I wasn't (see my previous reference to the bicycle incident).
It's only recently that I realized I don't have to give up my freedom in order to write. In a word: e-books!
The concept has changed my view of the world. Finally I can write what I want, when I want, how I want -- and as an added bonus,
I'm married to a computer geek who's been just itching to make my previous and future books available for Kindle, NOOK, and other e-readers.
If that's not a working definition of "freedom," I don't know what is.
As readers of my books know, some of my novels have paranormal elements in them, and some of them don't.
Some have a more humorous feel, some have a more serious feel. I'm what one reviewer called a "writer that's hard
to pigeonhole," and I like it that way. What all of my books do share are vividly rendered New England settings
with heroes who are quietly strong, heroines you can relate to, and normal family and friends wandering
through to balance off the quirky ones. No superheroes, serial killers, or buckets of blood are featured
in my stories; I've found you can have page-turning suspense without them.
So in the coming months, look for the first seven of my previously published books to come
out in e-book formats, with the rest to follow. EMILY'S GHOST and EMBERS are available now as e-books, and BELOVED will be available in April.
I'll keep announcing books on this page as they roll out in Kindle and NOOK.
So -- hello again. It's nice to be back.
Warm wishes,
