Smoking Hot Summer

Two minutes ago, I responded to a Goodreads question asking what inspired me to write my current novel. Right now, I am working on Book Three in the Peachland Passions series, Smoking Hot Summer, which is Nina and Colton's story.

The two of them were inseparable as children, became high school sweetheart, then Colton fled like a scared little boy when they learned Nina was pregnant and was keeping the baby.

Colton broke Nina's heart and we hate him and don't trust him, but we also do get him. I mean, he was 18, and nowhere near ready to be a daddy. Plus, and this may be his saving grace, he regrets his decision deeply. Always has. Always will. And now, he's back, he's buff, and he wants to start over.

In the Peachland Passions series, I am exploring the issues which are reality within the Okanagan, and going into fire season, forest fires loom large on that list. We had a thunderstorm here two days ago, and right now it is cloudy and windy again, so I have one eye on the weather as I work. These days my youthful delight with watching the sky split open by lightning and hearing the booming reverberations of thunder is tempered by the adult knowledge that the electricity in the air can be as dangerous as it is exciting. Which is also kind of how I feel about firefighters.

I mean, sure, there is something sexy about the concept of fighting fires. The calendars help with that, too. In reality, though? Who wants to be in love with someone who runs into burning buildings. That is just backwards, baby. Then again, I suppose if you love someone, living with the fear of potentially losing them is better than not living with the one you love, at all.

These are all things Nina will have to consider before Smoking Hot Summer reaches a conclusion. The thing about fire that we who build homes in high risk areas don't like to consider, though, is that fire is actually a natural mechanism for maintaining balance and restoration in an ecosystem. As hard as it is to watch from a temporal, human point of view, forest fires actually rejuvenate nature. They remove the old, decaying forest to make way for new growth. The soil underneath the exterior forest remains, so all the potential for a new beginning is still there.

Nina is going to have to decide if the same is true for people. Can you burn the old down to the ground and ultimately rebuild something new and beautiful? I'll let you all know once Nina and I have that figured out. In the meantime, everyone keep reading, and please stay fire safe out there this summer!