Amethyst Dreams - Couverture souple

Foreword
 
I HAVE SOMETIMES THOUGHT THAT IF I SPREAD OUT A map of the United States, blindfolded myself, and took a pin to pick out any spot on the map, I would find a wonderful place to write about. Every location has its special history and treasures that belong nowhere else. Topsail Island was just such a pinprick on a map, discovered because I was led there by chance.
 
When I was collecting the background material for Daughter of the Stars, the last person I met in Harpers Ferry (and almost didn't meet at all) was Kate Richie. She and her husband were about to move to Hampstead, North Carolina, and I said in parting, "Tell me if you find an interesting locality I might write about." Later, when they'd settled in, she suggested nearby Topsail Island as a possibility. My daughter and sonin-law drove me down from Virginia, and I could hardly have found a richer speck of earth to use as a story background.
 
Something that often surprises me is how little people know about the history of the place in which they live. The first thing on the island to catch my interest on arrival was a square cement tower. There were seven of these marching down the narrow strip of land that was Topsail. Inquiring about them, I was told by one resident that they had something to do with the Coast Guard. You'll find out how wrong that was!
 
Fortunately, I found more knowledgeable people to help me. Kate and David Richie had purchased a home on the mainland and bought a boat in which they traveled the Topsail Sound. The sound is part of the intracoastal waterway that offers boats clear passage all the way to Florida. They had become fascinated by the beauties of these waters, so rich with wildlife. I thank them both for becoming my eyes and ears for places I could visit only in my imagination.
 
Jeanne Nociti, executive director of the Greater Topsail Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, met my request for help with enthusiasm. She phoned Betty Polzer and we were able to visit Betty in her charming pink house on the oceanside. Betty became my friendby-mail. Her lively mind and vital spirit were helpful to me through her many letters. Her extensive research into the history of the island, her published writings, and the many clippings she sent me enriched my knowledge. Dear Betty, I miss you and I am sad because I couldn't show you this finished book, into which you put so much before you went on to another dimension.
 
Jeanne also introduced me to Evelyn Bradshaw, president of the Topsail Island Historical Society, who has been a great supporter and source of information. Evelyn took us to visit the Assembly Building, which had been used to store and assemble rockets before launching. The Historical Society had saved the building from commercial uses and was planning to house a museum there that would preserve island history. The museum, Missiles and More, is now a reality and there are exhibits and displays that show early Indian life, the history of Operation Bumblebee, the Gold Hole, and much more.
 
Evelyn Bradshaw also gave a great boost to my story by introducing me to the island's famous Gold Hole. Here I have tampered with fact. The Gold Hole exists on private property, so I have changed its name to the Pirate's Pit and moved its location to where it serves my story. The booster rocket did wash ashore on Topsail, but my characters were not present at the time. There really was a Cabbage Island, but I borrowed the name for the imaginary speck of land that my characters visit. Don't look for Susan's "secret room" under the Assembly Building—though that hollow sound in the floor near the door is real. Thank you, Bill Morrison, for thumping it and inviting my imagination to take off.
 
Ken and Evelyn Ottoway were warmly hospitable when we visited Spyglass, their tower house home. Thank you for loaning it to me for my story. Ken gave me a shark's tooth he found on the beach, and that, too, took its place in a scene.
 
Sloop Point Plantation, across on the mainland, was a delight to visit. James and Mae Graves had restored it with love and meticulous respect for the original house. It has been designated as the oldest plantation house in the state. In my novel it has become Gulls Cove, and the people who live there bear no resemblance to the far more gracious hosts at Sloop Point. When I am doing research for a book, I always take a great many pictures, both still and video, so I was able to re-create bits of Sloop Point for several scenes
 
I want to thank Ralph and Bettie Shipton, whose beautiful modern house, across the sound from Topsail, we were able to visit. I am especially grateful for the use of the Shiptons' elevator. I don't know what Captain Nick would have done without it!
 
The manager and staff of the handsome Soundside restaurant were especially helpful, inviting us in during off-hours to take pictures. Thus my characters could dine in accurate surroundings.
 
Strangely, I feel closer to Topsail now than I did when we were there. After all, I have spent many months on the island watching my characters work out their various destinies. It will remain forever real in my memory and as it existed in this story.

Shining with intrigue, allure, and passionate suspense, Amethyst Dreams is Phyllis Whitney at her most spectacular--a story bejeweled with hypnotic prose and spellbinding secrets. . . .

Seeking shelter from her own broken dreams, Hallie Knight answers a cryptic plea for help from Nicholas Trench, the grandfather of her dearest friend. Susan mysteriously disappeared from home one night off North Carolina's historical Topsail Island--and Hallie is Nick's last hope of finding her.

But surrounding Nick is a family as headstrong as they are suspicious--for at the heart of the matter is a vast inheritance. And as Hallie is lured deeper into a mystery nestled in a quagmire of bitterness, dark betrayal, and subtle menace, she becomes certain of one thing: this sunny, seaside paradise harbors dangerous and profoundly shattering secrets. . . .