What was it about these characters that made you want to tell their story?
I loved Shauna’s strength and her love for her little boy. And I loved Zach’s steadfastness no matter what.
Like so many of your novels, location is also an important component of The View from Rainshadow Bay. What led you to set your story amid “the lavender fields of Washington State”?
See question above! 🙂 This is the way I always come at story. Every single series first started with setting. I never want a story to be able to be dropped into another setting and still make sense. Setting adds so much depth and layering to a story when it’s integrated into the plot and characters.
How important is it to find the right setting for a story? Do you ever do “location scouting” for your books?
Oh yes, I scout them out! We went to the Gulf Shores for the first time over spring break last year, and I loved it. What really got my creative juices flowing was having dinner with friends and hearing about adventures aboard a shrimp boat from their teenage boy. The opening scene of the first book in that series dropped into my head. That will be my next series! When we were in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan researching Beyond a Doubt, it was the dead of winter. My husband looked at me and said, “How about next time you set a series in Hawaii?” That’s how the Aloha Reef series was born. The setting is the most important thing for me when I come at story.
Click to find out why Colleen is drawn to writing suspense stories…