It's impossible to pick one day, one sight, one town, one mountain as the one that truly stood out for me, but Skagway is near the top. I was raised in California's gold country so maybe that's why Skagway, the jumping off point to the Klondike, spoke so intimately to me. I loved the museum with its wall-sized picture of an endless line of would-be miners trudging up the mountain carrying everything they believed they'd need for survival and eventual wealth. Sadly, most of them wound up broke but at the time of the climb they had hopes, high hopes.
These days Skagway mostly depends on the tourist dollar. Summer in Alaska is a frantic scramble to keep the roads operating and I was drawn to the rugged men and women (a number of Eskimo women) running the machinery. When I decided on Skagway as the setting for my contemporary romance, I had no doubt that my hero and heroine would be involved with road construction. Of course my hero was the contractor (rugged man, rugged occupation) while my heroine knew everything there was to know about operating heavy machinery.
To complicate things because romances always need complications, I decided that my heroine's father had his own construction company and he was being accused of shoddy work that resulted in a building collapse that nearly killed the hero. My hero believes the heroine's father is guilty. My heroine is determined to salvage her father's name.
Bring on the plot. Bring on physical and emotional attraction between two strong-minded people. Bring on an isolated but wonderful small town that's weaving a spell around my characters.
The only thing that's missing is me being able to return to Skagway Alaska which I'd do in a heartbeat. At least writing Midnight Sun made it possible for me to live there in my mind.
BLURB
When Brand Lockwood barely survives a building collapse, memories of trying to rescue other survivors haunt him. He vows never again to be a victim of another man’s negligence and greed—and to actively pursue the builder he feels was responsible for the collapse.
Kara Richardson isn’t going to sit by and let her father be slandered as an incompetent contractor. She goes right to the man who has brought her father so much misery and ruined his life—Brand Lockwood—and applies for a job with his firm. She can handle a bulldozer as well as any man, and she’s got to financially support her father until she can manage to clear his name. But how can she get to the bottom of things when neither man will tell her what happened?
Kara’s father demands that she come home—but it’s too late for that. Brand has already laid claim to her with his dark eyes and heart-stopping touch. Now, Kara has to find out what only Brand can tell her about the horrific accident. How can she live with the truth? And how can she live without Brand?
Good Morning, Vella! Congratulations on your new release. It looks wonderful! I wish you the best!
ReplyDeleteI have been to Skagway and enjoyed my visit. Brought along those tourist dollars. Congrats on your new book.
ReplyDeletedebby236 at gmail dot com
Well, if there was ever a hotter guy than Brand Lockwood, I don't know who it would be! Kara did her best to resist, but MG, you'd have to be superhuman to not eventually...oh, wait...Y'all need to read this book and see for yourselves! LOL GREAT COVER, too.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Vella!
Vella, congratulations on your new release. I wish you great success!
ReplyDeleteVella--your book sounds wonderful! Congrats!!
ReplyDeleteAlaska, people either love it or hate it. I see you are the former, as was my uncle. It does seem to cast a spell on folks. The story also sound fabulous, and winter reading time is around the corner. Doris McCraw/Angela Raines-author
ReplyDeleteAll right, this is my third attempt at posting here. I swear the electronic stars are aligned against me. :) Thanks for all the comments. They mean everything to me.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea to set a romance in a place you visited on a vacation. That area is wonderful, yes, very rugged but appealing, too. Your plot sounds excellent for the setting. Good characters, too. I wish you well with this novel.
ReplyDeleteVella --- I really like this cover!!!! Intriguing storyline! :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Vella --- I really like this cover!!! Intriguing storyline!! :-)
ReplyDelete