I’m so excited for my new book, An Unexpected Escapade. It’s been long in the making. When I had the ideas An Unexpected Adventure, I knew I was going to make the series into a trilogy. I also knew book two would be about girls, their horses, and a unicorn. Little did I know the trials that would come with that.

Background for the story

I live in rural America on the Southern Oregon Coast. I love everything about it–the mountains jutting right up against the coast, the small town feel, and the climate (most of the time). However, I noticed that kids didn’t think they lived in a wonderful place. The media tells them they’d be better off if they lived in the city and glorifies a more hectic lifestyle or job possibilities than the ones they may dream of. So, I wanted to feature normal, everyday kids from my area. My thought was that it would give them a way to see what they are as good and positive.

Background for An Unexpected Escapade

I was inspired by two girls in my junior high Spanish class. As I watched them interact and listened to them talk about animals, I knew they would fit perfectly for a story about a unicorn. During the middle of the year, a new girl moved in. The first word she learned in Spanish was rata–rat. As their junior high years progressed, I watched them grow, but I also saw some tragedy come their way. What I didn’t expect was for that tragedy to strike me so hard either.

As I tried to write An Unexpected Escapade it was more reality than fantasy, and I didn’t want to face that. So instead, I finished writing To Save a Race and put this story on hold. Finally, about a year after starting, I finally was able to pick it up and make it more fantasy than reality. From there, the story flowed.

Blurb for An Unexpected Escapade

Protect friendship, family or a creature that’s not supposed to exist?

Ana and Daisy have been friends since third grade, but a rift in the space-time continuum in their little town may change that. When a unicorn waltzes into the pasture with Daisy’s appaloosas, a poacher, who will stop at nothing to gain the unicorn horn and its healing tears, shows up. Daisy is focused on saving the unicorn while Ana’s parents face sudden life-threatening health issues. When Ana learns about the healing tears, she’s forced to choose between friendship and her family’s health.

Can the girls find the grace to compromise and save Ana’s parents and the unicorn?

More about the book

It’s a mashup of The Unicorn Chronicles and My Neighbor Totoro. The girls find a friend in their pasture, much like Totoro, and meanwhile there’s a poacher willing to do anything to get the unicorn’s horn and tears. It draws us closer into the rural town of Myrtle Beach, Oregon, and as the countdown to release draws closer, I’ll be posting more about it on social media.