Had I known all those years ago when my brother
offered my help as a prep cook at a remote horse ranch that it would spark a
book over forty years later, I would have paid more attention.
My latest Shandra Higheagle release came to me when I’d
decided to write another series using the area where I grew up. I wanted to
introduce the new character in a Shandra book. But how did I get Ryan and Shandra
to his neck of the woods?
A honeymoon! At a remote hunting lodge in the Eagle
Cap Wilderness. The only way to the lodge is hiking, horse back riding, or
flying. And that is the way it was and
still is for the horse ranch I worked at one weekend.
I had spent a year at college and was home working
nights at the hospital as a nurse’s aide. My brother was a wrangler at the
horse ranch and told the cook there that his sister would help out one weekend
when her help couldn’t be there. I
thought it might be fun. However, for the flight in with the cook and supplies,
I was stuck in the back with the supplies of a two-seater prop plane. The fuel fumes and the bouncing was making me
sick to my stomach. Then they said, look we’re landing…I raised up to see the
side of the mountain, with a deep canyon below and trees coming at us. There
was a small strip of grass or a meadow that the plane landed on.
 |
| I kneaded bread on an old wooden table like this. |
Once there I discovered I was the person who was up
first and went to bed last. I had to get things ready for the cook in the
morning and clean up everything in the evening. The down time I had during the
day, I napped when I would have rather gone on hikes. There was an outhouse and
water that trickled out of a pipe that came from a stream of melted snow.
This experience has been embellished and I’ve added a few
more amenities and better buildings to Charlie’s Hunting Lodge in my book, Homicide
Hideaway, book 12 of the Shandra Higheagle series.
If there was ever a time to test Ryan and Shandra’s
new marriage it is their time spent at the lodge.
Have you ever stayed at a remote lodge or place? Did
you like it?
Homicide Hideaway
Book 12 in the Shandra Higheagle Mystery Series
Love… Marriage… Murder
Less than twelve hours after arriving at a remote
hunting lodge for their honeymoon, Shandra Higheagle and Detective Ryan Greer
find a body. Shandra’s cousin had quarreled with the man earlier, and the clues
point to her as being the murderer.
Fish and Wildlife State Trooper Gabriel Hawke, arrives
and immediately takes a dislike to Shandra’s cousin. But he is willing to work
with Shandra and Ryan to discover the truth.
Universal Book Link: https://www.books2read.com/u/3nYweo
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I'm in awe that you worked at a place like that, Paty. My idea of camping is a cheap motel. LOL You are such a good writer, I look forward to each new release! Best wishes for continued success.
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