RaeAnne Thayne finds inspiration in small-town newspaper beginnings

RaeAnne Thayne shares what helped build the foundation for the heroine in her new release, Redemption Bay, book two in her Haven Point series.

RaeAnne: I started my writing career straight out of journalism school as a beat reporter for a small daily newspaper, circulation 12,000. It was a fantastic learning experience for a cub reporter and offered me amazing career and life-enriching opportunities. I was always up for an adventure, from riding in a hot-air balloon to taking a trip through the mountains with a motorcycle gang to trying my best not to get starstruck while interviewing visiting celebrities.

I learned invaluable writing lessons along the way: How to work under relentless deadline pressure; how to ask what I hoped were insightful, thought-provoking questions; how to convey a great deal of information with a tiny word count. Most important, I learned that everybody has a story. Everyone deals with both tragedy and triumph and sometimes it only takes a little work to wriggle that story out. That was my favorite part of being a reporter, finding exactly the right question to open the spigot to a fascinating story.

Along with the exciting activities that came my way for feature articles, I also covered what at the time I considered the mundane. My particular beat assignment was city and county government, which meant I attended endless hours of city council, county council and planning commission meetings.

Yes, they could be dry. Budgets, zoning plats and city easements aren't always the most gripping of topics. True confession time: Occasionally, I might have caught myself in the middle of a long, minutia-filled meeting daydreaming about my latest idea for a romance novel. Even then, I was looking ahead to the day I would sit down and write a book, never imagining that one day I could say I had written 50 of them!

Still, as tedious as these meetings could sometimes be, I never lost sight that the decisions being made in these council chambers by average, civic-minded people could have a real and profound impact on their neighbors' daily lives. Small-town government officials are often asked to solve every single problem in town, from tipped garbage cans to a neighbor's parking violation to a dispute over water usage. It's an important job and never easy.

The intricacies of government on a national scale are obviously newsworthy yet local mayors and town council members — usually underpaid and invariably underappreciated — can play a much more crucial and immediate role in creating well-run, livable communities.

This was the inspiration for my new book, Redemption Bay. The heroine, McKenzie Shaw, is the mayor of the small town of Haven Point. McKenzie is a composite of many women I met and worked with as a reporter. She is smart, savvy, compassionate and fiercely protective of her little community and the people who live there. She also faces many challenges — she's young, she's female (still a liability in some parts of the country, unfortunately), and in many respects, she's an outsider.

When the town of Haven Point suffers a natural disaster, McKenzie grows into her leadership role as she rallies her community to help.

We see similar situations played out in the news every day. In a crisis, it is often neighbors reaching out to lift neighbors. There's something so heartwarming and life-affirming about seeing this outpouring of support — from local restaurants providing sandwiches for volunteers to teenagers working alongside senior citizens to fill sandbags or shovel out debris.

Unlike the national lawmakers who typically make the headlines and appear on the news programs, in a crisis it's usually local leaders on the frontlines mobilizing their communities, organizing the relief effort and quietly going about the business of making a real difference in the lives of their neighbors.

About Redemption Bay (courtesy of HQN Books):

McKenzie Shaw would do anything for her hometown of Haven Point. It may be small, but it's never let her down…unlike gorgeous, infuriating Ben Kilpatrick. He was her childhood hero until he closed his family's factory, leaving the town's economy in shambles. Now his tech firm is considering opening a local facility. For Haven Point's sake, McKenzie has to grit her teeth and play nice.

What could a town filled with painful memories ever offer Ben? Yet seeing the town through the eyes of McKenzie—its fiery young mayor—he suddenly has his answer. If only he can resolve the animosity crackling between them, Ben may have found the place where he can build ties and find healing…a place where love arrives when it's least expected.

Find out more about RaeAnne and her books at www.raeannethayne.com.