Old Memories and New Ideas

When I was growing up, we drove from North Carolina to Florida to see my dad's brother's family every year. My parents always tried to find one educational or fun thing along the way. When I was in second or third grade, we stopped at Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp.

I don't remember much about that visit except that my mom didn't want to take a boat trip because she was afraid a snake might fall in the boat. The name of the place stuck with me, though. When I wanted an unusual setting to use in my mage series, I remembered the Okefenokee. I drew on that and on the small town where I grew up to create the mages' world.

The swamp doesn't play a large role in the first book because I couldn't get back to see it. Relying on the internet, I didn't want to insert details that might be wrong. I finally visited the Okefenokee (actually a national wildlife refuge) last year with my husband and our son. I was surprised by the place's beauty and completely fell in love with it. So the swamp is the setting for various magical events in the series.

That long-ago vacation led me back to the Okefenokee, and seeing it in person gave me a flood of ideas. My parents' educational side trip has paid off in ways they never imagined.