Last summer I had the pleasure of visiting the Golden Isles of Georgia, the gorgeous St. Simons and its neighbor, Jekyll Island. My travel writing friend Pamela Keene lives in Georgia and knows the coast well, so she served as my guide. We stayed at the King and Prince Resort on St. Simons with our room overlooking the pool and Atlantic Ocean, visited several attractions and a haunted trolley tour, then spent a day on Jekyll, including a trip to the amazing Driftwood Beach.
Naturally, my imagination took flight and I just had to set a Viola Valentine book here.
In "The Ghost is Clear" novella, due out Feb. 14 (Valentine's Day of course), Viola's twin children, Gaia and Michael, are invited on a school field trip to Jekyll Island, so Vi and her husband TB tag alone, using the opportunity to have a romantic few days at the King and Prince with Vi writing a travel story to pay for the trip.
But those on the "Other Side" intervene. Vi has visions of a World War II shipyard worker (think Rosie the Riveter) and Gaia sees an African American woman who insists on her help but only speaks another language. Are these ghost stories related? And what about the unusual talents TB and Michael discover while on the trip? You'll have to read the book to find out more.
I adored St. Simons and Jekyll Island and I think you will too. If you get a chance to visit, don't miss the World War II Homefront Museum, the historic lighthouse and the ghost tour, some of which is in the book. On Jekyll, head over to Driftwood Beach where massive trees have died and now line the shore, appearing like giant driftwood (that's me on the beach doing a selfie). It's a great place to take photos and you'll notice it's part of the book cover.
Want to learn more about the Georgia Coast and its many islands? Visit https://www.goldenisles.com/.
And below, that's me and Pam at the top of the St. Simons Lighthouse. Needless to say, we had a ball.
