For a Facebook party, I answered a question about what the inspiration was behind What Lies Beneath – Lancaster Falls – book 1 in the completed series, and I thought I would share it here.
I often get asked – how did you think up A, B, or C. Or, how do you come up with stories?
I can’t imagine not having stories constantly in my head. I mean, we go for a short walk every day after lunch, and there is this guy who sits on the same bench, just watching the park, and we always say hello, and he smiles, and he’s an older man. What is his story? I have so many ideas – from a Russian spy (don’t ask) to a bereaved husband ( 🙁 ) to an alien making observation on the speed that grass grows.
Yes, that is how scary my brain can be.
So the book I’ve chosen to highlight is What Lies Beneath – this was book 1 in the completed Lancaster Falls Trilogy, and featured something that FREAKS ME THE HELL OUT.
Reservoirs scare the life out of me. I think maybe it’s the unfathomable bottom. Or maybe it’s the fact that a dam seems to be so flimsy on the outside. But, what freaks me out, even more, is when the water level drops and ‘drowned villages’ appear. :O
This whole fear of mine inspired a complete romantic suspense series where on the hottest summer on record the reservoir is drying up and bones are found! Meep.
You can get book 1 in the bestselling series here:
What Lies Beneath
In the hottest summer on record, Iron Lake reservoir is emptying, revealing secrets that were intended to stay hidden beneath the water. The tragic story of a missing man is a media sensation, and abruptly the writer and the cop falling in love is just a postscript to horrors neither could have imagined.
Best Selling Horror writer Chris Lassiter struggles for inspiration and he’s close to never writing again. His life has become an endless loop of nothing but empty pages, personal appearances, and a marketing machine that is systematically destroying his muse. In a desperate attempt to force Chris to complete unfinished manuscripts his agent buys a remote cabin. All Chris has to do is hide away and write, but he’s lost his muse, and not even he can make stories appear from thin air.
Sawyer Wiseman left town for Chicago, chasing the excitement and potential of being a big city cop, rising the ranks, and making his mark. A case gone horribly wrong draws him back to Lancaster Falls. Working for the tiny police department in the town he’d been running from, digging into cold cases and police corruption, he spends his day's healing, and his nights hoping the nightmares of his last case leave him alone.
More info →Without a Trace
When long-buried secrets are exposed, and the search for truth becomes a race to save a life, how can two men ever hope to find real love?
Losing his brother has shaped Drew into the man he is today—heartbroken, alone, but determined to make a difference in the world. Joining the military, fighting battles in places he’s never even heard of, is his attempt to make sense of his life. After his brother disappeared, he’d imagined him dead, but part of him clung to the hope Casey was out there living his life.
One call changes everything. Casey’s body has been found, and the hope that had fueled Drew’s constant search for the truth is destroyed. Coming home to Lancaster Falls to bury his brother and face his mom’s anguish is a nightmare made real, and he has nowhere to run from the pain.
Logan has made a home in Lancaster Falls. As a police officer, he plays by the rules, and he would never think of working off-the-grid. All that changes when Drew McGuire heads into town, slams into his life, and they are thrust headlong into solving a murder. Fighting an attraction to Casey’s brother is hard enough, but the infuriating man is there at Logan’s every turn, interfering with the case, breaking the rules, and demanding that Casey’s story be heard.
More info →
All That Remains
Federal Agent Lucas Beaumont has an agenda—get himself assigned to the case of the apparent serial murders at Lancaster Falls, find out who the murderer is, and then lay the ghosts that haunt his grandfather to rest. In the midst of a horrific murder investigation, the only peace he gets is from simple moments in a warm kitchen, talking to hotel owner, Josh. Attraction to the easygoing man is something he didn’t expect; in doing so, he opens himself to hurt, but at the same time, he begins to fall in love.
Josh is struggling to keep the Falls Hotel, even with every cent he has invested in its upkeep. The one thing keeping him above water is the not entirely legal work he does on the side—a steady income that not even his son knows about. When the FBI takes over his hotel for the duration of the Hell’s Gate serial killer case, Josh is faced with the real possibility that Lucas will not only discover his secret but also steal his heart.
When tragedy hits Josh and his son, and when it seems all hope is lost, can Lucas rescue them both?
More info →Lancaster Falls Collection (The complete trilogy)
What Lies Beneath (Lancaster Falls 1)
In the hottest summer on record, Iron Lake reservoir is emptying, revealing secrets that were intended to stay hidden beneath the water. The tragic story of a missing man is a media sensation, and abruptly the writer and the cop falling in love is just a postscript to horrors neither could have imagined.
Best Selling Horror writer Chris Lassiter struggles for inspiration and he’s close to never writing again. His life has become an endless loop of nothing but empty pages, personal appearances, and a marketing machine that is systematically destroying his muse. In a desperate attempt to force Chris to complete unfinished manuscripts his agent buys a remote cabin. All Chris has to do is hide away and write, but he’s lost his muse, and not even he can make stories appear from thin air.
Sawyer Wiseman left town for Chicago, chasing the excitement and potential of being a big city cop, rising the ranks, and making his mark. A case gone horribly wrong draws him back to Lancaster Falls. Working for the tiny police department in the town he’d been running from, digging into cold cases and police corruption, he spends his day's healing, and his nights hoping the nightmares of his last case leave him alone.
Without a Trace (Lancaster Falls 2)
When long-buried secrets are exposed, and the search for truth becomes a race to save a life, how can two men ever hope to find real love?
Losing his brother has shaped Drew to become the man he is today—heartbroken, alone, but determined to make a difference in the world. Joining the military, fighting battles in places that he’s never even heard of, is his attempt to make amends for telling his brother to go to hell. After his brother disappeared, he’d clung to the hope Casey was out there living his life. Of course, he’d be furious at Drew, and probably hate his brother, but at least in Drew’s head, Casey was safe.
One call changes everything. Casey’s body has been found, and the hope that had fueled Drew’s constant search for the truth is destroyed. Coming home to Lancaster Falls to bury his brother and face his mom’s anguish and accusations, is a nightmare made real, and he has nowhere to run from the pain.
Logan has made a home in Lancaster Falls. As a police officer, he plays by the rules, and he would never think of working off-the-grid. All that changes when an anonymous tip crosses his desk, and he is thrust headlong into solving a hundred-year mystery that could be connected with the modern day death of Casey McGuire. Fighting an attraction to Casey’s brother is hard enough, but the infuriating man is there at Logan’s every turn, interfering with the case, breaking the rules, and demanding that Casey’s story be heard.
All That Remains (Lancaster Falls 3)
Federal Agent Lucas Beaumont has an agenda—get himself assigned to the case of the apparent serial murders at Lancaster Falls, find out who the murderer is, and then lay the ghosts that haunt his grandfather to rest. In the midst of a horrific murder investigation, the only peace he gets is from simple moments in a warm kitchen, talking to hotel owner, Josh. Attraction to the easygoing man is something he didn’t expect; in doing so, he opens himself to hurt, but at the same time, he begins to fall in love.
Josh is struggling to keep the Falls Hotel, even with every cent he has invested in its upkeep. The one thing keeping him above water is the not entirely legal work he does on the side—a steady income that not even his son knows about. When the FBI takes over his hotel for the duration of the Hell’s Gate serial killer case, Josh is faced with the real possibility that Lucas will not only discover his secret but also steal his heart.
When tragedy hits Josh and his son, and when it seems all hope is lost, can Lucas rescue them both?
More info →
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