Please help me give a warm welcome to author, Regan Walsh! Thank you for stopping by on your tour, Regan and best of luck with Whisper Cape!
I’m often asked how the story of Cael and Addison
materialized. I’ve thought about this and to be quite honest, I believe it was
a couple of things. I’ve mentioned before in other interviews that the
background on the cover inspired me, which is true, but it isn’t the only
thing. In fact, I wrote the first draft of Whisper Cape before I even came
across that beautiful little archway.
The story unfolded as I wrote it. I didn’t start with an
outline and I had no idea where it was headed or how it would end. It is most
definitely character driven. Addie and Cael are real to me, and the story
really came from them and they continue to be in my heart.
At the time I wrote Whisper Cape, we lived in an
eighty-year-old house that I believe, to this day, was haunted with a very
loving and friendly ghost. Occasionally weird little things around the house
would happen to suggest a haunting, strange and peculiar little things. Nothing
frightening, as I said, this was a loving and friendly ghost. I frequently wore
a gold chain. It was about sixteen inches long and one night I took it off and
placed it, stretched out very carefully, on top of the dresser. When I woke up
in the morning, it was on the floor, but it was also tied in a knot. I don’t
think it could have just landed that way. Someone or something had to have tied
it. I’ve been told that the knot signified love.
There were other incidences. Sometimes I would wake up,
hearing the floor creak. I was never brave enough to get up from under the
protection of my covers though, to check it out. We had hardwood floors in that
house and I could tell exactly where in the house the creaks came from. My
husband and I were usually the only ones home. My stepson would visit on
weekends and heard the floor creak too. One night he got up to see who was
there (he was around 17 at the time) and when he entered the hallway and peeked
out into the living room, he said he saw a blur of something go around the
corner from the living room into the kitchen. He followed it, but no one was
there. That was spooky.
My computer was set up in the downstairs bedroom, actually,
it was more of a finished basement, and as I sat there, day after day, typing
Whisper Cape, I felt the spirit around me, encouraging me. My husband’s mother
and father had passed away earlier that year, and we had all of their keepsakes
and valuables shipped across country to us so we could go through them. Among
them were many pictures of his sister, who had passed away at the tender age of
twenty-five. She was a fantastic writer, by the way, writing about her travels
abroad, and her other adventures, and I don’t know if the spirit was her or
not, but just having all those pictures of her around and reading some of her
writings, was very inspirational.
I started writing WC in September of 2007 and finished
the first draft December 15, 2007. For those short three months, it was as if
something was driving me to get that story down. I couldn’t stop. I wrote every
day, eight or nine hours a day, non-stop. When I finished the first draft, I
set it aside to enjoy the holidays. I didn’t look at it again until February 1,
2008. I read it from beginning to end and then removed scenes and added
different ones, including the scenes with the archway. I often long for those
days in the basement, especially when I can’t seem to find the right words.
The background on the cover was taken at The Little River
Inn in Mendocino, California.
My husband and I were there celebrating our wedding
anniversary. I have to say it was the most romantic place I’ve ever, ever
been—aside from Bora Bora, where we went for our honeymoon. If you’ve never
been there, I highly recommend it. I took this picture after
walking out to the edge of the cliff and noticed that little figure formed by
the two rocks just on the other side of the arch. It reminded me of an angel or
a ghost and my imagination began developing scenarios almost immediately.
At that time, I had already written my first draft of
Whisper Cape, but after seeing the angel formed by the rocks, I had the picture
enlarged and framed, which now hangs on the wall above my desk, and with it
there, I rewrote the entire manuscript.
This picture has definitely been a major influence on my
inspiration for writing Whisper Cape. I believe it helps having a picture in
mind while writing. Some people who have read my book have made comments on how
great my descriptions of the beach house and the surrounding areas are. Whisper
Cape is a fictitious town, combing both The Little River Inn in Mendocino and
the massive cliff sides of the Oregon coast. I drew from my experiences and
pictures of both of those locations to write this book.
I’m sure it’s possible I could have written Whisper Cape
without having been to these places, but I don’t think I could have been as descriptive
if I hadn’t actually been there or felt the connection that I had with the area
in the scenes.