Welcome fellow Lyrical Press author, Stephanie Heafner!

Paradise.....

I think everyone has their own ideas of what paradise is. For some it's a palm-tree laden beach with waves crashing at the shore and a steel drum band...for others it's a deserted cabin in the woods with only silence surrounding them. I bet many even look at their own backyards as paradise! :)

Whatever your idea of paradise is, I think it's very important to have something...some way of escaping.

It seems today that life is so full of "must-dos". We must clean the house, we must pay bills, we must do laundry, we must mow the lawn.... Then add in errands and shuttling kids to games and practices and classes. Our day to day life is filled with jobs and chores and when it's all over, we sleep for a few hours and then do it all over again.

Why do we do it all??? Well, I can't speak for most, but I know why I do it. It's that image of paradise in my head. It motivates me to keep on doing what I need to do. Eventually my reward will come.

For my newest release, Paradise Cove, inspiration came from a writing prompt for a flash fiction contest. The prompt asked writers to create a story about paying off a car loan and celebrate by taking off for a week. Where would you go? what would you do? I whipped up this little story about a woman who books a vacation online to Cancun. She gets there, and it is very run down. But she can envision what the resort was like in its heyday and vows to have a great time. The story placed in the top ten and I'd liked it so much that I decided to elaborate it and make it into a short story/novelette. After her week at the resort, she offers to buy the resort. And, of course, I threw in some romance! Can't have paradise without some love!

Here is a blurb!!

Paradise is nothing if you choose to enjoy it alone.

When Shelby Saunders jetted off for a relaxing week in Cancun, she never expected to fall

in love with the quaint piece of Mexican heaven. Or make on offer to buy it.

The Paradise Cove, a run-down Cancun resort, is in desperate need of TLC. Shelby can easily envision the resort as it was in its heyday and sees its potential. She vows to do everything in her power to return it to its former glory.

Though the previous owners’ grandson, Gabriel, insists that she will destroy his family’s

resort, and a neighboring resort owner doubts in her ability, Shelby’s resolve strengthens.

But when she finds her lists of repairs and the stack of bills piling up around her, hope begins to fade. Will she swallow her pride and accept Gabriel’s love and financial help, or be forced to give up her dream of Paradise Cove?

The premise for your new story sounds great, Stephanie! Who doesn't want to think or create their own little piece of paradise? I know I do! My paradise can vary from day to day, sometimes I dream of escaping to the Maldives, other days the sofa with a chilled glass of wine and no kids comes in close second, lol!

Stephanie and I are waiting for your ideas of paradise?!

Rachel x