Updated April 2

I'm doing something new this month.  I'm giving a telephone interview on April 26 at 7:30 pm CST that you can dial in by phone and listen to.  You can even have interviewer Andrea Sisco ask me your question.  The program is called Armchair Interviews, and there's a link to their web site on the links page where you can find out just how this unique program brings readers closer to writers through their live interviews.  Visit Armchair Interviews now and register to participate with me. 

With A VIEW OF THE RIVER officially in production at my publishing house and scheduled for paperback release in September, I thought I'd show you some pictures and talk about the setting and the special event that inspired this story.  First, the setting.  Linden Hill, overlooking the Mississippi River in Little Falls, MN, is now a conference and retreat center, but the two large Victorian houses were once home to two lumber magnates.  Now, I know that the lumber industry caused the displacement of many of the Ojibwe Indian people in the late 1800's and early 1900's, but when I was told that the estate was written up in a book called Haunted Gardens, I was really intrigued.  Visit www.lindenhill.com  

In my story, the estate is called Rosewood.  I changed it because the story is fiction.  The history of the lumber industry and what was done to the Ojibwe is important in my story, but my characters and their family history are fictitious.  Here's one spot that inspired the title and a rather delicious scene in the book.  On the left, what I called "Cupid's Bench."  On the right, a view of the Mississippi River at night.

And now, about that event--my younger son's Valentine's Day wedding.  Christopher and his beautiful bride rented Victorian dress from a costume shop, but Christopher's top hat is part of the Linden Hill collection.  The room shown in these pictures is also an important feature in the book.  Its grand entry made the perfect stage.

Notice anything unusual in this picture?  It doesn't show up very well here, but there's an orb of light on my son's cheek.  A spirit kiss?  Perhaps.  Did it inspire his writer mom?  You betcha!