What's it about?

19 year old Kelly Ray and 20 year old Prince Tomas Teronovich and the night they spend together. It’s all quite innocent, don’t worry about that. Of course, Kelly is a recovering heroin addict, but it’s not a drug story. It’s a story about the difference one night can make in a person’s life. Here’s what happens: Kelly’s running an errand for her aunt, who is a famous radio host, when she encounters Tomas, the future king of Lakveria, a war-troubled country. Tomas is in town—Dakota City, Minnesota—for a peace forum. When the opportunity presents itself to sneak away from the forum and see the city with Kelly, Tomas grabs it. What he doesn’t know is that she works for a journalist. What she doesn’t know is that her desire to somehow get him on her aunt’s show will turn her world upside down.

Where did you get the idea?

I’m not sure! Okay—I do remember this: my regular walking path takes me near the young adult campus of a well known drug treatment center. Sometimes I see the center residents on the balconies of their dorms. During one of those walks I know I began to think about the challenge of trying to stay sober. The story snowballed from there.

Is this one your favorite?

Well, now that you mention it, I guess it might be. I had fun writing it. I’d been thinking about the story for a long, long time, and when I finally turned to it, the writing flowed. And of course, I like Kelly a lot.