Pieces of Blue

Today, I have the pleasure of hosting author Liz Flaherty to the blog. Liz writes engaging stories of life on the lake full of small-town charm, friendship and community. Enjoy this peek at her newest book, “Pieces of Blue.” Welcome, Liz!

Pieces of Blue and Why I Write Lake Stories

I think I could release an anthology entitled Liz Flaherty’s Lake Stories. I’ve written a bunch of them. Three Harlequin Heartwarmings took place on Lake Miniagua. The three-book New Season series was set at Cooper Lake on the edge of Fallen Soldier, Pennsylvania. Banjo Creek (not a lake!) ran through Life’s too Short for White Walls. The Girls of Tonsil Lake wasn’t really set at the lake, but we spent some time there anyway, remembering how the Girls grew up, and then they went to an island off Maine for a long girlfriend vacation.

I’ve never lived on a lake, although I’ve camped near them. I don’t know how to swim. I love visiting friends who do live on lakes or who, like my friend Nan Reinhardt, have cottages where they spend soul-saving time.

But one day my husband and I meandered to small, rural Town Lake, just south of Akron, Indiana, turning around at the end of the dead end road that gives access to it. That visit gave me Harper Loch. Not everything in Pieces of Blue happens there—there are only 86 people on the lake, one store, one church, and one beauty salon, after all—but Placer, the town closest to it, strongly resembles Akron.

Akron is where my doctor’s office is, where I go to church, where two of my nieces live, where I used to sit at the drugstore counter and drink a small coke and talk to friends. My first bra and many pairs of stockings came from Eber’s Five & Ten. The town has a great 4^th of July parade and a pretty little park like the one you’ll read about in Maggie’s story. Kristy’s Hometown Bar & Grill is a real—and delicious—place to go.

As I’ve wandered through this post, I think I figured out why I use lake settings so often. It is for the sense of community so many people find in them. Nan and her husband and friends look after each other. They have a good time. That’s what happens with Harper Loch’s residents, too.

I hope you enjoy meeting them in Pieces of Blue.

Life comes in shades of blue…

Self-imposed loner, Maggie North, has worked for bestselling author Trilby Winterroad her entire adult life, starting as simply his assistant and ending up as his ghost writer. Through ups and downs–including a divorce from an abusive husband–he has been the one person on whom she could always rely. So when Trilby dies suddenly, Maggie finds herself adrift, not sure what she’ll do or where she belongs in the world any longer. And the confusion continues when she discovers he’s not only left her his beloved dachshund, Chloe, but a house she knew nothing about, on a lake she’s never heard of.

It only takes one visit for Maggie to fall in love with both the house and the small lakeside community. The longer she’s there, the safer she feels and the more her life begins to expand…as do her feelings toward her friend and Trilby’s attorney, Sam Eldridge.

But is she really safe? Or are the glistening pieces of her new life about to shatter as an old danger returns?

Excerpt:

I think I’m more all right than I’ve been in years, which I feel bad thinking so close to the time of Trilby’s dying, but I also know about honeymoon periods. I understand that I’m enthralled by the newness of the Burl specifically and Harper Loch in general, but I would tire of the smallness soon enough if I stayed. I’d mind having to drive a half hour to find the ingredients I want for a recipe that falls outside the norm of rural central Michigan. I’d miss Muskegon’s library and its parks and going to the Black Dog with Ellie. I’d miss Ellie, too, and Sam.

I had to admit, though, that it was fun seeing them here. I’d loved discovering Placer with Ellie, and Sam fit into this house as if he belonged here.

Maybe he did.

“So, tell me about the Burl,” I requested. “My mind’s been busy enough that it’s kept my curiosity on the back burner. But you know this house, the lake, some of the people here. How is it that in all the years we’ve known each other, you’ve never mentioned Harper Loch?”

“We’ve known each other, but only in relation to Trilby. You were his assistant, I was his lawyer, and we both loved him. Although you and I saw each other enough that we became friends, we leaned more toward just being acquaintances. Sometimes it was strictly professional, too. I was your lawyer. You helped my office staff sometimes if they were swamped.”

I was unexpectedly hurt by being thought of as a mere acquaintance, but he was right. I frowned at him. “You’re not answering my question.” Realizing I sounded grumpy and he couldn’t possibly know why, I stretched my hand across the table. “Hello. My name’s Maggie North. I’d like to be friends.”

When he took my hand, I understood what I’d read in romance novels about frissons—isn’t that a cool word?—of feeling going right up my arm. I’d read a few where that particular shudder of feeling was an open invitation into bed. That wasn’t happening, but still…a frisson is a frisson and I was going to enjoy it. And remember it.

Bio: Liz Flaherty has spent the past several years enjoying not working a day job, making terrible crafts, and writing stories in which the people aren’t young, brilliant, or even beautiful. She’s decided (and has to re-decide most every day) that the definition of success is having a good time. Along with her husband of lo, these many years, kids, grands, friends, and the occasional cat, she’s doing just that. Find her on Facebook or her blog, Window Over the Sink. A girl just can’t have too many friends! https://linktr.ee/lizflaherty

Thanks so much for sharing with us today, Liz. Loved meeting the cast of “Pieces of Blue!” I’ve never lived on a lake either, but I know people who do, and I enjoy their peaceful photos of dreamy sunsets and beautiful nature scenes.

Happy reading, everyone!