Inspiration comes, and in that moment, a story starts.

And so it was, on a long ago summer’s day, a dream came true for me. Throughout my life, I had longed to return to my birthplace. Seattle always beckoned, but it seemed too far away. And then my brother-in-law moved there. A few years later, my youngest son moved there as well. My bucket-list item became a reality.

My son asked if there was anything I really wanted to see while I was in the Seattle area. There was a place I’d heard about, and longed to go–Orcas Island, in the Puget Sound. So, we drove to Anacortes and took a ferry to the San Juan Islands.

As the sun rose, I was completely enthralled. And in those quiet moments, inspiration came. A story started that would continue to grow and change over the next few years. About a girl like me in some ways, who had been uprooted over and over, crisscrossing the country and moving every few months. Never in any place for very long. Always the new kid. Never really having a place to call home.

The scene in the above photo would become Still Water Cove in the story. The first book, titled “Still Water” would lay the groundwork for a young woman named Lisa Oliver. After her parents die in a tragic car accident, she is caught up in a dangerous mystery. Her parents weren’t who she believed they were. Who were they, and why were they always running?

The story continues in “Open Water” (book two), and finishes in “Dark Water” – releasing this fall.