It Started With A Fox

Road Trip with the Guy Next Door began with a single image. A big, gruff man crouching at the side of a road, talking to a fox. There was a woman standing a few feet behind him, watching him with a soft expression, as if she was seeing him for the first time. That image became MMC Mitchell and FMC Tania; everything grew from there.

What I loved most about their setup was how unfair it was. Two people living right next door to each other for six months, both very aware of the other, but neither able to do anything about it. Tania had given Mitchell three polite waves and he’d never responded, because he’d been warned by her brother that she was off limits. 

I should also confess that I put the Only One Bed trope in this book twice. The first time Mitchell takes the floor like the honourable, infuriating man he is. The second time,  stranded at a mountain lodge with the road closed behind them, the floor is simply not an option, and the careful distance runs out completely. I regret nothing!

Writing Mitchell was one of the best challenges of this book. He's a man of very few words who communicates care through actions rather than feelings, and getting his interior voice right took work. I rewrote his voice a few times to try and capture it. But when he finally cracks, I wanted it to feel not like a man losing control but like a man making a very deliberate decision to be true to how he feels. I hope it lands that way.

Tania surprised me. I knew she'd be the sunshine to his storm, but I didn't anticipate how quietly brave she'd turn out to be. Her burn scars and the story behind them arrived late in the drafting process. Suddenly these two had a genuine shared understanding that went deeper than attraction, and the scene where they finally see each other's scars is one of my favourites.

There are some things in this book that Snowflake Falls readers will enjoy spotting. The cinnamon roll from the vending machine is a small nod to the previous book. Weather predictor Carl also appears in multiple stories. And Alden, grumpy and overprotective and quietly guilt-ridden, has his own story coming in Galentine’s Day with the Guy Next Door.

Rev the raven was pure joy to write from start to finish. I cannot resist a quirky animal sidekick. Every book needs a scene-stealer and he is absolutely mine.