Paradise flat

(Currently on submission)

Description

Widowed librarian Gemma McCallister counts her blessings: friends, a beautiful Savannah home, books and gardening, her beloved daughter and grandson. But in her quietest moments, when a coastal breeze clean from a storm carries the smell of pine and water, she remains haunted by the tragedy that changed the trajectory of her life over fifty years ago.

Then comes a call that shatters her calm: her estranged sister, Calliope, has died and left Gemma an unexpected inheritance—Paradise Flat, the sprawling Lake Tahoe estate of her youth. There's just one catch: the will stipulates she must spend a night in the decaying mansion and read a letter Calliope wrote before her death. Reluctantly, Gemma returns to the place she vowed never to revisit, driven by a single promise: the letter contains a clue about the mysterious disappearance of Daniel, the boy she loved and lost.

In a storm that could wash away everything, Gemma enters the decaying halls of Paradise Flat, where the past comes alive with dangerous secrets, spirits seeking vengeance, and memories of a love torn apart by prejudice and betrayal. As she digs deeper into the tragic events of her youth—events tied to a cruel family rivalry, a stolen ring, and a murder—Gemma is forced to confront the truths she has buried for decades.

Set against the opulent backdrop of Lake Tahoe's Gold Coast, Paradise Flat intertwines the past and present through dual timelines, exploring the haunting legacy of love, loss, and redemption in an emotionally charged, suspenseful tale of family, mystery, and the power of facing one's past.

why did you write this book?

I wrote Paradise Flat because of a deep, nostalgic connection to a place that shaped much of my childhood. The novel is inspired by a real house where I spent many summers on the Gold Coast of Lake Tahoe, a location rich in beauty and mystery. My large, extended family had been vacationing there since the 1950s, and over the years, I grew to treasure not only the physical surroundings—the house, meadow, caretaker’s cabin, and the magical landscape—but also the stories and memories which colored my childhood.

When the owners decided to sell the property and our family was no longer able to rent Paradise Flat, I found that as the summers passed, I grew wistful and nostalgic about my many summers spent there. Much like Gemma, the main character in the novel, I found myself wanting to return to Paradise Flat in my mind, and being a writer, thus the setting for Paradise Flat was born. But I needed a plot! During early brainstorming sessions in the shower (because who doesn’t brainstorm in the shower?), the scene appeared in my mind: an older woman driving the 89, that curving two-lane road I knew so well, her heart starting to pound as she prepared to return to the old lake house estate of her youth.

And thus, the lines came to me:

“It had been so many years, but when the car took that familiar rounded bend, I felt my breath catch. There they were, unmistakable on the ancient sugar pine trees, the dappled shadows splashing all around. Three canvas rings, held in place by enormous metal screws to mark the road that led to all the grand summer houses, when the snow otherwise obscured the turn-off in the winter.

 Three Ring Road.

My chest tightened, and I steeled myself for what lay ahead.”

Shortly afterwards, the other elements of the story quickly unfolded: Gemma, the retired librarian living with a heart full of secrets, returning to the now dilapidated lake side estate of her youth…the nostalgia and glamor of the 50s and 60s…a tragic, secret love affair…a haughty senator’s son and the powerful Spencer family…the legend of the water babies…a murder…and Daniel, always…Daniel.

Toni Morrison once said, “If there is a book you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” Paradise Flat is the book I have always wanted to write—a gothic, romantic tale blending forbidden love, family secrets, and a reverential love for the natural world. It’s a story close to my heart, and I hope readers will come to love it, too.