Now, who are the Bad Guys, again? The "Why" of the Late Prohibition Era in Puget Sound, WA Oh, bad guys. Villains. They make a story so interesting, especially when those doing the dirty deeds are supposed to be the good guys. My story, Welcome to Cottage Bay, begins along the shores of a mythical […]
Welcome to Cottage Bay
Cottage Bay stories are meant to inspire and encourage. They begin with historical fiction, weaving together real-life places and people with tales of the late Prohibition era in Puget Sound, just as the Great Depression got underway. Cottage Bay characters will grow and develop through each generation to present day. Everyone's Welcome to Cottage Bay, especially so readers find hope and happiness in every story.
I've written three other books nestled in and around Cottage Bay. When I finished each of them, they didn't feel quite right, so I set them aside and listened to my heart. A few months later, I dreamt of Rose Nicovich, delicately stepping over the line from where her cement basement turned into dirt floor and I could see whiskey barrels stacked to the far wall-- lots of them. I saw this from the perspective of a strong man, deeply in love, transfixed by her beautiful legs. The next image was of her tending his bloodied ear as two other men, who looked strikingly similar to each other, stood by.
I woke the next morning and could think of little else. Over the next few weeks, the story emerged for me. We have our own distillery here in Gig Harbor and the staff were so helpful whenever I had questions. They offered essential technical input on the distillation process. A former volunteer from Seattle's Smith Tower helped me piece together the rest. There are both fiction and non-fiction characters from this era that help tell the story of how this group of first-generation Cottage Bay residents found their family and settled into their new, beautiful country.
This story represents the start of The Cottage Bay Series, First Generation. Welcome to Cottage Bay begins on a Black Tuesday after Thanksgiving by introducing us to Rose Nicovich, her father, her uncle and her mother, all sampling Rose's bootleg whiskey. What happens next plunges the family into a dark season.
These real-life and fictional characters offer compelling inspiration by bringing together friends, family, and community so this little fishing village is buoyant throughout the generations to come.
Common Ground…On a Pitcher’s Mound
The importance of creating connection and common ground to inspire, encourage, and comfort others I’ve been writing stories just about my whole life. When I can’t sleep, I’ll work out dialogue or a chapter in my head and it busies that part of my brain enough so I can drift off. Every once in a […]
Seattle, Prohibition, the Great Depression and the Smith Tower
The more I thought of Rose Nicovich and her hundreds of whisky barrels, the more I wondered what life in Puget Sound was like during the waning days of Prohibition just as the Great Depression got underway. I’d never written a historical fiction and romance before, so I figured I better figure it out. Historical […]
Chapter 1 - Never Judge a Book By its Cover
The gravel made a companionable, earthy crunch as Rose walked from Cottage Bay’s library in the early spring twilight. Just before a secluded forest area along her homeward route, she passed the row of small rental cottages. For the past two weeks, there stood the big man from Chicago. What was his name? Tommy, Toby, […]
Prologue
The Second Black Tuesday of the Year “Set it down wherever Rose says it should go,” Sanja Nicovich called down the stairs. Sanja deemed the red velvet sofa too out of place for their front room. Her husband, Sebastijan, usually called “Seb”, and her brother-in-law, Tomo, were pressed into service to stow it in the […]
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PO Box 2685, Gig Harbor, Washington 98335