Inspiration

Beautiful places play a big part in my book. My characters first meet at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. They spend long summer days walking the trails and canoeing the waterways while they get to know each other. The Scuppernong River is across the road from Laney’s house and she does a lot of time thinking and dreaming on the river bank, mostly about Gabe :-).

This is because nature is such an inspiration to me. I’m definitely not a coffee-shop writer. I like the peace and quiet of my cozy office. My desk sits in front of a window where I have a view of the trees and the sky and can watch the birds having a bite at the feeder or taking a bath. Or I take my laptop to the back porch—screened, because I may love nature but that doesn’t mean I love all those buzzy critters to join me!

That reminds me of a funny story. My daughter Laura and I went to take some pictures of Columbia and the Refuge in November for the Facebook page. It was hunting season, so we wisely took our orange vests—which was good because my crazy daughter wore olive green. She truly looked like she had on camouflage gear. We got out there and put on our vests, ready to go. We only got a couple of hundred feet from the car before we were swarmed by mosquitoes. They were so thick that we were literally in a black cloud. Wow! We ran back to the car and tried to kill as many as we could with our hands before we dove inside. I can only imagine the hilarious picture we made, running and slapping each other, and hollering. Then once in the car, panting like we’d just been chased by a bear, we dissolved into giggles. Instead of orange vests, we should have brought mosquito netting. Or at least, the highest power bug spray on the market!

And of course, that reminds me of another funny story. When I first heard of the red wolves in North Carolina, my husband Tom and I went to investigate. He spent years as a scoutmaster, so being prepared is second nature to him. Before heading out to the Refuge, he suggested we go into Columbia Pharmacy to get some bug spray. Okay, I’m from Charlotte and spent the last twenty years in Raleigh, so it never occurred to us that there are still places that do cash only. We counted out our dollar bills, quarters and nickels to purchase the bug spray, which was eight dollars, mind you—but still, it’s the cutest little Pharmacy ever! I fell in love with the town, the people, the wolves, and the Refuge…

Thus, the book.