Visiting with Emma Lai

Thanks Anna Kathryn for letting me visit today!
I always appreciate a chance to talk about my upcoming release His Ship, Her Fantasy available from The Wild Rose Press on August 12th. I'm very excited!

Blurb:

Ellie Woods is in love…with a ship. When an argument with the ship results in a bump on the head, she finds herself in the strong arms of Alastair. But, who is he, and where did he come from?

Alastair has loved Ellie from afar for years, but duty has kept him from revealing himself to her. When a grave threat reveals his true identity, he hopes that Ellie will choose reality over fantasy.

Visit my website to read an excerpt.

I'm also very excited to announce that I have signed a contract for the second story in the series currently titled His Hope, Her Salvation. In addition to working on edits for the story, I'm also finishing up the manuscripts to the next two stories in the series.

Okay, enough promo. Today, I'm feeling a little nostalgic and would like to talk about where my heart is. I live in Houston and love all of the conveniences of living in a big city, but there are days I long for the simpler times. Simpler times for me involved childhood, of course.

My dad is from Ganado, a little town with a population of 1,084 the last time I looked, which was a few years ago, I'll admit. It is seventy miles southwest of Houston. Really, it's a quick drive when you realize it takes just as long to cross from one end of Houston to the other. We used to go at least one weekend a month when I was a child. I continued the trips, but less frequently up until my aunt passed away in 2003.

Ganado doesn't have much to offer, not even a Wal-Mart, but there's something to be said about being able to walk to the grocery store, hardware store, and movie theater. Then there was the Dairy Mart, way better than the Dairy Queen, which has now replaced it.

The best thing about taking the little road trip though, aside from seeing family, was stopping at Prasek's Smokehouse a few miles before the town. They have the best jerky I've ever had. When I first started making the trips as a child, they had just a small storefront. Now, decades later, they have expanded to a much larger size. No matter though because I remember the stories of my dad going to school with the Prasek boys.

So, where is my heart? They same home is where the heart is, which means I have many homes. My primary home is with my husband and two rotten puppies. However, I also consider home to be where my dad lives and my mom lives, which is two more locations. But, a small part of home is still in that little bitty town, where I never actually lived, but I did and still do. It's a memory of simpler times, extended family, and good food.

Where is your heart?

Emma Lai