Where do you like to vacation? Lynn wants to know….
When I was a child, my family didn’t go on a summer
vacation. If we went on a trip, usually it was to see family. My parents moved
to Idaho from a small town in South Dakota, Winner. My grandparents lived on a
farm complete with tiny house and huge barn.
As a child when I visited, the cousins would take me to the
creek to swim, tell ghost stories in the hotter than Hades attic where we
slept, and promised to write after I left so we’d at least be pen pals.
One year, we broke our no-vacation rule, and spent a week at
Yellowstone. Seeing the bubbling mud pots, the clear but boiling hot springs,
buffalo herds, and, of course, Old Faithful, sticks with a kid.
When my little sister was born, we headed west for a summer trip
and stopped at the ocean. Walking through the waves on the still cold Oregon
Coast, I was in charge of my teacup poodle and the kid. We got too far out and
a wave came up on us. I had to make a choice. I picked up my dog.
My sister has never forgiven me.
When I married, my
husband wasn’t a traveler. We camped and fished, but he liked being at home
with me next to him.
After the divorce, I started traveling. I haven’t been out
of the country, yet. I have a map of the United States posted on my work cube,
with all the states I’ve visited numbered. I still have a few to go. I love
finding the out of the way little towns, with a claim to fame. Like the
Merimac Caverns in Missouri or visiting Mark Twain’s Hannibal. Caves scare me,
but I’d never tell my current husband that.
I just love going.
It was during one of these impromptu trips where the Tourist
Trap Mystery series was born. South Cove isn’t any particular town, but a
hybrid of the town where I’d love to live.
My husband’s trips of choice surround his sports teams – or Nascar. This was our trip to Bristol last year.
What’s your favorite vacation spot? Maybe I’ll visit
someday.
Guidebook to Murder –A Tourist Trap Mystery
In the gentle coastal town of South Cove, California, all
Jill Gardner wants is to keep her store–Coffee, Books, and More–open and
running. So why is she caught up in the business of murder?
When Jill’s elderly friend, Miss Emily, calls in a fit of
pique, she already knows the city council is trying to force Emily to sell her
dilapidated old house. But Emily’s gumption goes for naught when she dies
unexpectedly and leaves the house to Jill–along with all of her problems. .
.and her enemies. Convinced her friend was murdered, Jill is finding the list
of suspects longer than the list of repairs needed on the house. But Jill is
determined to uncover the culprit–especially if it gets her closer to South
Cove’s finest, Detective Greg King. Problem is, the killer knows she’s on the
case–and is determined to close the book on Jill permanently. . .
