Are You Like a Sea Turtle?

Hi and Welcome to my Blog:

Thanks for stopping by.  Please take a look around and make yourself to home.  You will find information about my third novel, Cape Cursed, where to purchase it, and the other books I've written as well as learning what goes in my life and in my "lane brain."  (That was the annoying nickname the boys called me in grade school.) 

Also, be sure to enter the raffle to the right and sign up for my newsletter so you will be the first to know when I have a new novel or a giveaway going.

You will notice that my prize is a $25 gift certificate to the OBX Store. For those of you who may not be familiar, OBX is a nickname for the Outer Banks, the thin strip of barrier islands on the coast of North Carolina famous for beaches like Corolla, Nags Head, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, and Cape Hatteras.

Map of the Outer Banks-Courtesy NOAA, via Wikimedia Commons

Cape Cursed is set on the Outer Banks because I love it there. It's not the most beautiful beach I've ever been to, or the warmest water, (anyone who's ever waded into the ocean there and gotten leg cramps from the frigid water will attest to that), or the most welcoming of waves (I've been dumped on my butt too many times to count).  But there's something about the place that has captivated my mind and compelled me to set my novel there.  Maybe the place has been imprinted on my brain, but I have a theory about our affinity for certain beaches.

Maui Sunset-Courtesy Earthman via Creative Commons

Two decades ago, my husband and I went to Hawaii. While there, we had the good fortune to attend a luau on Maui. We were seated in a grove of hibiscus, anthuriums, and plumeria near a white-sugar beach at sunset. Also at our table were three other couples. They were all from New Jersey and all of the men in the group had served in World War II. As we ate and watched the sun set in a dazzling splash of red and orange over the inky Pacific, one of the men commented, “The beaches in New Jersey are prettier.”

I almost choked on my Kalau pork. I hadn’t been to a New Jersey beach, but I’d been to other beaches on the Atlantic coast, and I knew they weren’t as lovely as the one on which we were presently dining. My husband and I said nothing, but made eye contact, indicating that we both thought our table mate had enjoyed one too many Mai Tais.  But he may have only been acting like a sea turtle.

Sea turtles return to the beach where they were hatched to spawn, indicating that their birth beach leaves a lasting impact. Well, I think people are a bit like turtles; we also bond with the beach. I’ve noticed that the beaches people frequented when they were young made a lasting impression on them.

The hero of Cape Cursed, Parker Swain, definitely has a tie to the beach and the fictitious stretch of land called Cape Destiny, where the book is set.  Since I live in the east, I mostly know people who have affinities to eastern beaches like Cape May, Ocean City, Myrtle Beach, and Hilton Head.

Do you think people form attachments to certain beaches? Do you have a favorite beach? Why do you think you like that beach so much?

We Have a Winner

Congratulations to Linda G. who won the raffle.  Look for more ways to win coming in the next few weeks.

Thanks,

Janice

Cape Cursed Makes Landfall-The Name Game

Welcome back on this last day of the Cape Cursed book launch!

Bliss Sherman is the female lead of Cape Cursed and Parker Swain is her male counterpart.  When I write a book, I take great care and have a lot of fun naming my characters.  One of my other novels, A Shepherd’s Song, is an allegory and all the main characters’ names have a tie-in.  I’m offering a $10 gift certificate to the OBX store to the first person who comments on this blog and can correctly tell me the significance of the characters’ names in that novel.

I came up with the name Bliss Sherman for the female protagonist in Cape Cursed because I wanted a first name that would imply beauty and happiness, and for the last name, I gave her Sherman.  I’m not from the South, but I know that the name Sherman still riles the blood there.  I wanted Sherman to denote how Bliss was coming to this beach and turning everyone’s life upside down much like the Civil War’s General Sherman did. 

I love how Southerners like to use surnames for first names.  I thought the name Parker for the male protagonist would imply something being stationery and reflect Parker’s view that the lighthouse should not be relocated.  It also reflects how Parker and his family have been fixtures on the cape for decades.  Swain is an old-fashioned word for a male suitor.  I thought would make a great last name for a romantic lead.

If you had to come up with the name for a character in a romance novel, what would it be?  I will send a bookmark to all who leave a response. 

Don’t forget to enter the raffle and tell your friends too.

Thanks for dropping by.

Janice