I had introduced Grace Stone in book 2 of the Cedar Key Series, Casting About, as Monica’s best friend. Grace owned the coffee shop in town and I felt she had more to her story so I wanted her to be the main character in book 3. Grace was originally from Brunswick, Georgia and found her way to Cedar Key ten years before. However, she had never returned to Brunswick, and I wanted to share with readers why Grace never wanted to return to her home town.

One of the central themes for Sunrise On Cedar Key is the relationship between sisters. I’m an only child, but I’d always been fascinated by the interaction between my mother and her sister. So the idea for the sister relationship in this novel stemmed from that.

Grace’s Aunt Maude was briefly mentioned in Casting About and I felt that Maude also had a story to tell. In keeping with my knitting theme, Aunt Maude provided me the perfect vehicle for doing this. She relocates to Cedar Key to be near her niece and begins a new business venture, Blue Moon knitting retreats.

I’ve always maintained that life is stranger than fiction. Therefore, I’ve incorporated a bit of this in Sunrise On Cedar Key. In the chapter about the first knitting retreat that Maude has, you’ll meet two cousins. One from the Boston area, one from England. Their story is based on the experience that I had last year, when I was contacted by a cousin in England that I never knew I had. But she found me—over sixty years later!

I hope readers will resonate with my characters but also with the fact that despite the ups and downs of life, love in all of its various forms is what matters most.