Dear Friends —

It’s funny where the ideas for stories come from, and how far they sometimes travel to awaken a writer’s imagination. One of these story journeys began when I stumbled across this beautiful and intriguing grave site behind the ornate iron fence of one of California’s oldest cemeteries. The burying ground in Monterey dates back to the 1820's and lies on a peninsula between the sheltering arms of the Estero, a fresh water estuary that meanders down from the hills above the town and out into the bay.

This exquisite portrait bust, I found out, marks the grave of Kathleen Mary Murphy Peters who, the inscription said, died in Monterey in 1902. Intrigued by the marker, I went home and Googled Kathleen Mary to see who she was. What I found was that she was the wife of painter Charles Rollo Peters whose nocturnes critics compare to the work of James McNeill Whistler. (Nocturnes are works done to simulate the landscape or the building in the painting in the light of early evening or the glow of the moon.)

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From the back cover:
Avery Montgomery's life changed forever in the check out line at the Food-4-Less when she discovered her long-lost daughter, Fiona, working at the next register. Though Avery tried to reestablish contact, Fiona has secrets and failures she can't bring herself to share with her mother—and especially her father.

Finally forced to choose between her marriage to Mike and a future that includes their beloved only child, Avery struggles to heal the rift that is tearing her family apart. More

P.S. The coolest thing recently happened. I received an invitation that gave me a chance to chat, meet new friends, and talk about my September women's fiction novel, A SIMPLE GIFT at the regular meeting of the DFWTea Plano Book Club. But I didn't have to worry about high airfares and crowded planes; I did it by telephone! This innovative way to add the author's voice to book discussions is apparently sweeping the country. If your book club is interested in having me stop by to discuss my Literary Guild pick, A SIMPLE GIFT, contact me through my website or email me through Email Karyn