It all started with a poem. “I Found Her Out There,” by Thomas Hardy, one of my favorite poems ever. I copied the whole thing here for you, because you really need to read it to understand where my inspiration for the book came from. Here it is:
I found her out there
On a slope few see,
That falls westwardly
To the salt-edged air,
Where the ocean breaks
On the purple strand,
And the hurricane shakes
The solid land.
I brought her here,
And have laid her to rest
In a noiseless nest
No sea beats near.
She will never be stirred
In her loamy cell
By the waves long heard
And loved so well.
So she does not sleep
By those haunted heights
The Atlantic smites
And the blind gales sweep,
Whence she often would gaze
At Dundagel's far head,
While the dipping blaze
Dyed her face fire-red;
And would sigh at the tale
Of sunk Lyonnesse,
As a wind-tugged tress
Flapped her cheek like a flail;
Or listen at whiles
With a thought-bound brow
To the murmuring miles
She is far from now.
Yet her shade, maybe,
Will creep underground
Till it catch the sound
Of that western sea
As it swells and sobs
Where she once domiciled,
And joy in its throbs
With the heart of a child.
The poem was written for Hardy’s wife, Emma. After her death, he was guilt-ridden because he felt—too late—that he neglected her during her life. I always loved the vivid imagery in this work, and the melancholy, regretful feel of it. So naturally I wanted to turn it into a gay romance. Why, yes, it did turn out chock full of angst, why do you ask?
At first I thought I’d mirror the poem exactly, only with two men. I was going to set it in England and everything. But then the original short story I had planned didn’t get picked for the anthology I’d aimed it at, and I started rethinking things. I figured, wouldn’t it be more interesting to switch things up a little? Or, as it turned out, a lot? I set it on the Oregon coast instead of England, and that was just the first of many changes. After I got through with it, you’d never know the book was inspired by Hardy’s poem at all, if it weren’t for the title. Okay, one of Our Heros does have a boat named Emma. Heh. Parallels to the poem do exist, in a way, but you’ll have to read the book to find out what they are. No spoilers allowed!
Blurb:
The tiny town of Sebastian's Bluff is a photojournalist's dream come true. But Ron Winters doesn't expect the moody, mysterious man next door to get under his skin and stay there.
When Drew LaSalle meets Ron, feelings he thought twenty years gone stir to life again. He wants what he could have with Ron. But does he want it enough to get past his own walls and grasp it?
Secrets, spirits and tragedy converge as Ron peels back the layers of Drew's past and Drew fights both Ron and his own ghosts on the haunted road to happily ever after.
You can read an excerpt from the book on my website:
Blurb:
The tiny town of Sebastian's Bluff is a photojournalist's dream come true. But Ron Winters doesn't expect the moody, mysterious man next door to get under his skin and stay there.
When Drew LaSalle meets Ron, feelings he thought twenty years gone stir to life again. He wants what he could have with Ron. But does he want it enough to get past his own walls and grasp it?
Secrets, spirits and tragedy converge as Ron peels back the layers of Drew's past and Drew fights both Ron and his own ghosts on the haunted road to happily ever after.
You can read an excerpt from the book on my website:
http://www.allyblue.com/TheseHauntedHeights.html
Thanks, y’all!
