One for the Road is about Suzanne Martin, a photojournalist who starts a vineyard after her husband dies in a car wreck. The story follows Suzanne as she builds a new life on an abandoned farm near Cobalt Mills, Virginia. Suzanne quickly learns that not everyone is happy with her new venture, particularly the owners of a larger vineyard up the road. As strange incidents on the farm grow dangerous, she must take matters into her own hands or risk losing everything.
One for the Road is the first novel I completed. It took me a long time to work through the middle of the story. I credit the Anne Lamott book Bird by Bird for giving me the encouragement to keep writing.
The idea for the book came after my husband and I took several wine tasting trips and decided to look into starting our own vineyard. (I'm told many people come back from wine-tasting trips with this fantasy.) We spent months researching possible locations, viticulture and wine making. We eventually realized that taking on the triple business of farming (growing and harvesting the grapes), manufacturing (making and bottling the wine), and retail (running the tasting room) was more than we could manage.
We made the right decision, but I was still intrigued by the idea. That’s when I decided to write a novel about a woman who takes on the challenge of starting a vineyard. I used everything I’d learned in our research to help Suzanne start her new life, a life that grows and changes throughout the story just like her fledgling grapevines.
