Exploring #Truro for #Book 7! #CapeCod #Travel #ghosts #romance #amwriting

Spectacular view from the Pamet Cranberry Bog Trail
Truro, MA

Sometimes I get my inspiration from a place, like when I visited the Old Jailhouse and came up with the idea for Haunted Souls.  And sometimes I decide on the setting first...and on a few occasions, some very odd coincidences have made me believe I made the right choice.  Like when I decided my debut novel, Silver Lake, was going to be set in Connecticut, in a lake district outside of NYC.  In particular, I knew I was basing my fictional lake on some of the lakes surrounding Candlewood Lake.  Having never been there, I was a little nervous about this, but I had a good reason for choosing the location.  I started reading books on the area, and then the strangest thing happened...my 8-year-old's club baseball team qualified for a tournament...right near Candlewood Lake.  I did some research in advance, and between games, we visited the spots I needed to see to make the setting come to life.

Ballston Beach in Truro

My seventh book needed to be somewhere particularly isolated.  I set a lot of my books on Cape Cod, where I've lived for 20 years, and since our peninsula is already somewhat cut off from the mainland (you can only get here via car by crossing one of two bridges), I knew I could find a location that would work.  

Doing a few quick searches, I learned Truro is the least populated town on Cape Cod, with about 2,000 year-round residents.  It's not the smallest town land-wise, but over half the town is undeveloped, protected land, and the population density is less than 100 people per square mile.  To get there takes over an additional hour from the two Cape Cod bridges.

Pamet Trail...Pamet is a Native American word for the area

So, my story was set...but I hadn't spent much time in Truro.  We've been to Wellfleet, the town south of Truro, many times (Gull Harbor is set there, although the town of Gull Harbor is fictional).  Wellfleet not only boasts beautiful beaches that are part of the Cape Cod National Seashore, but it has a quaint harbor town, a drive-in movie theater, a big flea market, and the Beachcomber restaurant/bar.  North of Truro is Provincetown, another destination spot we enjoy.  P-Town offers vast, incredible sand dunes (also part of the protected National Seashore), Commercial St. with its colorful crowds, shops, restaurants, galleries, eclectic shows and street art, quaint houses, and wonderful bike trails.

Old King's Highway in Truro.  Not the usual version of a
highway!  Unsure what we would have done if faced with
a car coming the other way...but all was quiet.

But Truro has mostly, for us, been a town we drive through to get to P-Town.  And that's the way the majority of residents want it--there are no fast food chains, no shops, no main street to stroll along.  It almost like being in another world...a beautiful, peaceful oasis.

So, I put more exploration on my list of things to do, but again, it's not right around the corner.  But then an old friend (think 40 years...we've known each other since 6th grade) messaged me to let me know he was on Cape.  Staying at a relative's place, in Truro.  Another wow, that seems like fate moment.

First Congregational Church of Truro, founded 1709

My husband and I made plans to spend the day in Truro and meet up with my friend for dinner this past Sunday, and I'm sharing the pictures I took for research.  I'll avoid spoilers, but I will say this book is, like most of my novels, a ghost mystery/romance with some history sprinkled in.  So of course a graveyard was on the list of places we needed to go, in addition to the beaches and trails.  If you ever get a chance to visit this beautiful town, don't miss it!  And if you'd like to keep up with news about this new novel (Ghost Moon), sign up for my newsletter over on the right-hand side of this page!

Very old headstones at First Church of Truro

My First #Tattoo at 43! The #fullmoon from Silver Lake's cover! #moon #ghost #mystery #romance #paranormal

Love my moon &
first initials tattoo!

I admit it, I definitely have a wild side.  I've always wanted a tattoo, and once every few years I would spend time researching the process and looking for artist recommendations.  But it's such a permanent and personal thing, and the one thing holding me back was: what did I want inked onto my body?

I've read enough to know you don't show up at a tattoo parlor and pick "flash" off the wall.  I wanted something meaningful and significant, like what I gave my hero in Silver Lake.  Jason Lansing had the Japanese symbols for an inspirational statement inked onto the outside of his shoulder right before he took the plunge and opened his own Karate studio.

I decided for sure I would somehow want to incorporate the men in my family: my husband and two sons, the most important people in my life.  But the design I had in mind still felt incomplete, and I was lacking the motivation to actually begin the process with the artist I planned to use.

Silver Lake has earned an
orange #1 Amazon Bestseller
on three different occasions!

Then I got the "call" last winter, a year ago on a cold morning of December 2011.  Silver Lake, the novel I'd worked on for 4 years, had earned a publishing contract!  It was one of the most memorable moments of my life.  My younger son and I danced around the kitchen.

Silver Lake was released in August of 2012 (eta: and ended up hitting #1 on Amazon on several occasions over the years!), and from the moment I saw it available on Amazon a few days early, I didn't sleep for almost a week.  The excitement of the arrival of a day I had been anxiously awaiting, combined with the stress of knowing many of my family and friends were finally reading my words, fueled an insomnia that lingered until those first few reviews came in (eta: Worth it! 😂💙)

Somehow, I wanted to include this huge accomplishment -- and realization of my dream coming true! -- in a subtle way into my tattoo design.  Suddenly I knew exactly what it would look like, and I wanted to get it before 2012 - the year I was first published - was history.  I quickly made a rudimentary mock-up of what I had in mind and made an appointment with the artist.

Surprisingly, it didn't hurt very much.  I did almost faint before we got started, but that's the kind of thing I do around needles.  The end result is a design incorporating the first initials of my guys with the moon from Silver Lake's cover.  I truly love it, and it serves as a reminder that you have to work for your dreams, be patient, stay strong, and never give up!  

Another eta:  In a strange coincidence, last night, July 3rd, 2023, welcomed the first Super Moon of the year...AND, a local TV show we were watching featured Candlewood Lake, which is featured in Silver Lake and has a fascinating history!  The "Silver Lake" in my book is a fictional lake inspired by the very real kettle ponds surrounding the man-made Candlewood Lake.  More on the history and our visit to the area here.