It’s late 1974, and high school student, Melinda Dawson is in serious trouble. Within two hours of revealing her problem to her parents, she’s whisked off against her will to another state, far away from the boy she loves. Back in McCray, Washington, Greg Hart is one confused young man. His girlfriend vanished in the middle of the night without so much as a see ya later. After six long months, and still no word from her, he hopes to put his broken heart behind him by enlisting in the U.S. Marines. Thirty years later finds Melinda back in McCray to care for her ailing father. It’s not long before she runs into Greg, now retired from the military, and mayor of the tiny town. Immediate sparks erupt at their first meeting, rekindling the smoldering embers of a strong mutual attraction. Can the two of them bypass old feelings of anger, bitterness, and abandonment in order to find the love they once shared?

He's never been a patient man, but something tells him she's worth the wait.At 36, Carrie Jeansonne finds herself single again, with three teenagers in tow, and a new career. All she wants is a little stability in her life. What she gets is a series of mysterious phone calls that keep her guessing. Is it her disgruntled ex-husband making the threatening calls, or someone much more dangerous? Sam Langley is knocking on 40, newly divorced, and feeling like he's got nothing to look forward to. When the former office clown turned Oscar the Grouch clashes with Carrie, it seems the two will forever be at odds. As Sam and Carrie's unlikely friendship evolves into something more serious, the caller situation migrates into ugly and dangerous territory. Can they forge a path to happiness through a maze of intrigue and heartbreak before it's too late?

Writing A Novel is not a set of rules and regulations. It is an atlas, a guide to finding your own way over the treacherous passes of your first novel. Pulling together his years of experience as a novelist and a teacher, Richard Skinner covers the basics of writing great fiction - narrators, characters, settings - with charm and rigour. But more than that, he argues that the journey towards a final manuscript is as important as the finished article itself.His approach works: many of Richard's students have gone on to secure publishing deals and many more have left his courses with work to be proud of. With its balance of warmth and wisdom, Writing a Novel will give any aspiring writer the confidence to face the blank page -- and to fill it.