True Blue

Q: Rumer and Zeb are childhood sweethearts whose paths diverge. Why did you choose to reunite them as adults?

A: Think back to someone you once loved—a good friend, an old lover, someone you have thought about many times. You know the one—certain sights or sounds trigger memories of him when least expected—your senses are awake, on fire. You notice the calendar, and it’s his birthday. You hear "Born to Run" on the radio and you still long to answer the question, "I want to know if love is wild and I want to know if love is real." You take a bite of lemon ice on the boardwalk, and the taste takes you back, and you find yourself burning to know, "Where is he now?"

His family moved away to Toronto. He went to college in Chicago, and you heard there was an accident. Friends tell you he’s working in L. A. You left him, breaking both your hearts in the process. Or he broke up with you to go out with your best friend. Hatred nearly consumed you…you sometimes wonder whether they’re still together, and although you wish they weren’t, you also hope they are—because they deserve each other.

You find, however, that you’re bigger than that. Although you can’t forget, your heart wants to forgive. You read phone books on business trips. You type their names into search engines. You look up his company on the Internet and visit the office directory. When you get a hit, your heart drops into your stomach.

You must find out how the story ends. You’re a writer, and you decide to write it. You have the power. You may wreak vengeance or bestow grace. It’s up to you. Life has thirty-two chapters, and the last one hasn’t been written yet.

Q: In True Blue, Quinn returns; readers first met her in Safe Harbor. What is it about this young person that compelled you to continue her story?

A: Quinn is wild, tender, tough, and vulnerable. She is my inner beach girl. I needed to bring her back in True Blue because I missed her so much.