Dena Netherton, author of High Country Dilemma, answers five easy questions.

Please tell us about yourself.
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay area and studied to become a professional singer and musician. After performing and teaching for many years, and after I had raised my three children, I retired from the music world and turned my focus to crafting both romance and suspense tales. My years onstage have provided me with wonderful memories to draw upon when I create new stories and new characters. My husband and I are active in our church as worship leaders and teachers. We recently moved to the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
What is your go-to meal when you dine out?…
I love seafood. Especially scallops. Oysters, too. There’s a wonderful seafood restaurant I like to go to that sits on a cliff, overlooking the San Juan Islands. They have their own oyster beds. You oyster lovers know what I’m talking about when I say, “There’s nothing like fresh oysters on the half shell.”
Describe the perfect vacation.
My perfect vacation is only loosely planned. It’s a road trip. We have a few major destinations, but, other than that, we can stop along the way and spend as much time as we want exploring little towns, finding the most memorable road signs, discovering a new ‘favorite’ restaurant, and snapping interesting photos. I also keep a road-trip journal where I record memories of our conversations, how long it took to get from here to there, and things I learned today. Some of my best ideas for stories come to me when I’m zoning out in the passenger seat on I-90.
Tell us about your favorite toy as a child.
The best toy I ever received was—believe it or not—a big box of card stock paper from my uncle who worked at the Post Office. My sister and I spent hours and hours drawing people and animals on the cards, then bending them in half so they’d stand upright. We created a whole ranch, complete with cowboys, dogs, cats, chicken, cows, and fences. I’m so glad I was a kid before computers and cell phones and iPods came along!
What kinds of things do you read when you’re researching a new book?…
For High Country Dilemma, I drove to the area and checked out the real-life mountain town that sits where my fictionalized Pine Ridge is located. I took tons of photos, visited museums and stores, collected and studied local maps, and read historical books about the area. I also purchased quite a few books about the animal and plant life in the Colorado Rockies since that’s such a big part of the back drop for this mountain romance. I recorded my observations about the town and the area in a journal. At the time, I was living in Colorado, in another small town about an hour north, so local research wasn’t a problem. I also did internet research on historic opera houses in the mountains so my pine Ridge Opera House would be authentic. I know a couple of firefighters, so I picked their brains, as well as reading library books on the subject of firefighting. You’ll probably think I’m crazy, but I think research is really fun.
Please tell us about your latest book.
High Country Dilemma is a G-rated, (Christian) contemporary romance that takes place
in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. I started writing it while I was still living in Colorado, but finished it after we moved to Washington. After I attended a couple of Melodramas, performed in small towns in the Rockies, I thought, wouldn’t it be fun to create a character (Fallon) who comes up to the mountains for the summer to direct Pine Ridge’s annual Melodrama and winds up having to play the main character herself? Of course, her life situation had to be just as complicated and fraught with emotion as Miss May’s, the innocent maiden Fallon plays. And the hunky hero (Lucas) who plays her leading man just had to be her off-stage rescuer, as well.
Fallon Hart has landed her dream job—directing the annual Melodrama, Miss May’s Dilemma. But when Fallon arrives in Pine Ridge, Colorado, she finds her new apartment in flames. To make matters worse, her manager wants her to sing an impossible solo. Her family wants her to give up the theater and join the family jewelry business. And her selfish, controlling ex-finance wants her back. The biggest dilemma of all, though, is trying to make everyone happy.
Handsome firefighter, Lucas O’Farrell, is searching for his soul-mate, a lady who’ll share his love of the mountains, small-town living, and kids. He knows exactly what he doesn’t want: a sophisticated city girl like Fallon. But when they are cast as sweethearts in the Melodrama, the attraction is hard to deny. Before he realizes it, he’s falling for her—hard— and it’s possible she’s starting to love him, too. But is love worth the risk if she’s playing to return to Denver at the end of the season?
Publisher Anaiah Press
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072NHYP5V
Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/high-country-dilemma-dena-netherton/1126604872?ean=2940154417812
Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/730789

Dena N Netherton Social Media

Website https://denanetherton.me
Twitter https://twitter.com/DenaNetherton1
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dena.netherton
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/denanetherton
Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Dena-Netherton/e/B01AC7ZVM2