Writing The One has been an amazing journey so far. Writing it has been the most fun I have ever had. Letting others read it has been the most soul-baring experience I have had. Writing this book has only been about 5% of what is to happen next. As we prepare to release the first 100 copies in July of 2010, I hope you will help me spread the word about this story and see if people are as caught up in these characters as I have been over the last seven months.

The story has been kicking around in my head over the last thirty years. Thirty years ago I met someone like Kyle, who had experienced many of the same sad events. I couldn't help wondering, how does someone deal with all of that and move on? And someone should write a story about it! When I became an empty nester in August and was looking for a cheap hobby that I could do from home at any time of day, I sat down at the computer one evening and this story finally came tumbling out. Real-life experiences, anecdotes, places I love, people I'd met or knew well, and sayings poured themselves into what has become the first love story of Chelsea Davenport and Kyle Davis. There is no other place like the mountains of North Carolina and it has become the magical backdrop for the setting of The One.

There are many themes in this story; among them are family, hope and commitment, self-discovery, responsibilty, and perseverance. It also deals with suicide. I, like Kyle, have been forced to deal with suicide, although his account is quite different from my own. The way we dealt with it may have been the same, but the circumstances leading to the fictional one and the one in my own life were quite different. For both Kyle and myself, it took the love of those we hold dear to pull us out of the dark places and into the light again. Those people who loved us helped us heal and hold up our heads again and move on.

I hope that Kyle and Chelsea's story will strike a chord with women of all ages, whether looking back on their own first loves, or hoping to find this for themselves, or just living vicariously in the dream. It is a good dream...or maybe even a good memory!

Look for a book signing event in Greensboro in mid-July!