Headwaters

Island Escapes

Mackinac inspires a women’s fiction writer to pen books with northern Michigan vibes

By Megan Swoyer

If you’re looking for a novel to take you away to an idyllic and familiar spot, consider Olivia Miles’ “Meet Me at Sunset” (2020 ) or her “Summer’s End,” coming out this July. Both books, part of her Evening Island series, are based on three sisters who spend time on historic Mackinac Island.

“When we visited Mackinac Island the first time, I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was,” says Miles, right, who lives in Illinois, just north of Chicago. “I don’t think people realize how beautiful the Great Lakes are. We make it a point to return to the island every July.” She and her husband and 11-year-old daughter like to stay at the Grand Hotel for five days. “The island is such an escape. That’s why my readers like it; they feel like they’re being transported to an idyllic small community.”

Miles doesn’t actually name the town in her books Mackinac (for creative liberty), but the location is heavily based on the island. She gets her inspiration from the things she and her family do on their summer visits. “I love to see how the locals live,” says Miles, known as an expert in women’s fiction and small-town contemporary romance. “We avoid the tourist areas pretty much,” she explains. The family enjoys horseback riding, dining at The Woods restaurant, morning bike rides, exploring the British Landing area, and looking at all the pretty homes.

Readers of “Meet Me at Sunset” will, in fact, discover how one of the homes was passed on to three sisters after their grandmother died. The three sisters, each with their own life challenges, decide to visit the island and stay at the house. “Of course, I had to tweak it,” Miles says. “The characters can walk across the street from their home to the beach, which isn’t the case based on the homes I was inspired by.” Although they’re part of a series, the books are stand-alone novels and don’t need to be read in order. Miles wanted to be a novelist from the time she was a young girl growing up in a small town in Connecticut. “I asked for books for Christmas, not toys,” she laughs. In 2011 (after she left a corporate career in the real estate arena), she decided to enter a Harlequin Romance Christmas story competition. “I had to (send in) one chapter, and I won!” she exclaims. Harlequin then asked for the full manuscript, which she quickly polished and submitted two weeks later. A few months after that, she got “The Call.” That first book was published in 2013.

“I published two books with Harlequin before moving to Grand Central, which is an imprint of Hachette,” she says. She now publishes her books independently (Rosewood Press) and writes about five novels per year. “Summer’s End” is her 30th novel. The full-time writer even finds time to read a book a week.

When she and her family visit the island again, who knows what she’ll write? Perhaps a third Mackinac-inspired book will come to life. “The plan has always been to have at least three,” she says.

If you’re craving reading about other Michigan locales, be sure to check out Miles’ companion series to Evening Island: the Blue Harbor series. “The completely fictional town of Blue Harbor is just a ferry ride across the water from the island,” Miles shares. “The setting for this Michigan-based series was inspired by a compilation of small towns I’ve visited in the Great Lakes area. The seventh book (in this series) will release in May.”

READ IT! Learn more: oliviamilesbooks.com. Her books are available in e-book or paperback formats from retailers such as amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and apple.com (Apple Books).

Paging Book Lovers

A quirky neighborhood comes to life in a novel by former Boyne City resident

By Megan Swoyer

Katherine Heiny’s “Early Morning Riser” (Knopf, April 2021) has been described by Kirkus, a book review magazine, as “a heartwarming novel with a small-town vibe that sparkles like wine sipped with friends under backyard fairy lights.” Why do we care? Because Heiny, right, was inspired by her experiences in Boyne City. Kind and funny, the characters and scenes are reminiscent of your favorite quirky neighbor.

Adds well-known and bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand: “Early Morning Riser’ is a charming, witty, and heartwarming novel about life and love in a small town that is destined to improve your mood and restore your faith in humankind. Katherine Heiny — who has long been a personal favorite writer of mine — is at the height of her storytelling powers. Every sentence is a treat!” A bit about the plot: Jane moves to Boyne City to teach second grade and soon falls head over heels for the local lothario, Duncan, who has seemingly been involved with every woman in town. Somehow, he’s remained friendly with all of them — doing housework, fixing furniture, or mowing lawns long after any fling has ended. Because of this, everyone in Boyne City seems to have an opinion about Jane’s relationship and isn’t shy about voicing it. Duncan comes with his own cast of characters: There’s his exwife, Aggie, and her eccentric husband, Gary; and his co-dependent co-worker, Jimmy, who seems to drop by at the most inopportune times. Jane’s mother, meanwhile, is the kind who always knows best. As Jane begins to wonder whether this is the life she really wants, a terrible accident leaves her inextricably tied to Duncan, Jimmy, Aggie, and Gary. The plot thickens and we see Jane with an unconventional family — and maybe the best family she could ask for. Heiny, who grew up in Midland and now lives in Maryland, owned a house with her husband in Boyne City for 15 years, and says she always hoped to set a book there. Last year, she and her husband sold the house; the movers were packing up around her as she wrote the last pages of “Early Morning Riser.” “It will forever be one of my favorite places,” Heiny says, “and I like to think Jane is still there.”

In the book, Heiny references places around the Boyne area including the Boyne River Inn, Avalanche Mountain in the Avalanche Mountain Preserve, Boyne Mountain Resort, Kilwins, and Robert’s Restaurant. There are several beach scenes, too (Peninsula Beach is specifically referenced).

Some of the author’s favorite memories of the area include ski picnics at Boyne Highlands. “My father used to lug a huge picnic basket filled with a fondue pot with Sterno, cheese, French bread, white wine, and wine glasses to the warming hut at the top so we could have lunch in style,” she says. “I loved that, even though I didn’t like fondue and was too young to drink wine.” Other favorite traditions include going out for ice cream at Kilwins and hiking the trails at Avalanche Mountain Preserve. When she was finishing “Early Morning Riser,” she would write all day and then she and her family would head to a little beach on Lower Lake Drive. “It’s a small beach with one picnic table, and often we were the only people there. We’d sit at the picnic table and watch the sunset. It may be my favorite place in all the world.”

READ IT! Learn more: katherineheiny.com. “Early Morning Riser” can be purchased through penguinrandomhouse.com and wherever books are sold, including indiebound.org, bookshop.org, and amazon.com.

Tuning In

Native Michigander and renowned pianist George Winston recalls Lake Michigan beauty — and lots of sand

By Megan Swoyer

If you’re a Michigan musician or a composer, you may want to take a cue from renowned pianist George Winston, whose most celebrated music and arrangements were influenced by winter, spring, summer, fall, and the great outdoors. After all, there’s no place like Michigan to experience a variety of seasons.

“I’m influenced by the seasons and topography,” Winston shared recently, before performing live online at the 44th Ann Arbor Folk Festival. It may very well be that some of the works played by the pianist feature arrangements and melodies that hearken to his childhood in Michigan, at least subconsciously.

Winston, right, who was born in 1949 in Hart, Mich., says he lived mainly in Grand Rapids when he was very young. “I remember white sand to the west around there and infinite water,” he says. “Blue skies, blue water, and infinite white sand.”

Whether he’s playing his own songs or those written by other composers, Winston gives them all a certain je ne sais quoi, or pleasing quality — whether it’s his distinct minimalist-acoustic rural folk feel with its soulful echoes in different keys, or his lively take on upbeat Vince Guaraldi pieces. When you hear George Winston, there’s no doubt it’s him. His sounds stand apart from the world of pianists the way Godiva rules in the chocolate kingdom.

“I think in terms of seasons,” he explains, “and something emerges every so often, coming with a season or a place. I write down the chords and say, OK, let’s see what that is. And maybe it’s something.”

Winston’s father, who played the piano and guitar by ear, was a geologist who worked for oil companies. His mother also played the piano, Winston says, and used sheet music.

Besides being impressed with Michigan’s sandy shores, he also recalls the west coast’s swathes of floral abundance. “I remember seemingly infinitely long fields of tulips,” says Winston, who released his 15th solo piano album, Restless Wind, in 2019. As for where he lived, the musician says he thought his childhood home had big hills in the backyard that were like “10 feet high,” but today admits he was a bit off on that guesstimate. “I went back and they were like 2 feet tall,” he laughs. “Everything looks bigger when you’re young. Anything you remember when you’re young, you have to shrink it in half.”

Once his father was transferred to Montana, Winston only returned to his home state for concert tours. “I’ve been to Marquette, Ann Arbor, Cheboygan, St. Joe-Benton Harbor, Detroit, Calumet, Interlochen, Kalamazoo — probably 15 or 20 cities in Michigan,” he shares. He says he may be back in his home state sometime in the future. And, who knows — maybe there will be an emergence of his quintessential, uncluttered melodies evoking Michigan’s beautiful west coast or fields upon fields of colorful tulips, both of which would undoubtedly inspire any musician. Regarding the creative process, Winston says, “I’m really part of it (composing); but it has to work out on its own and I can only do so much with discipline and mental focus. It will take its own sweet time.”

HEAR IT! Stay updated on George Winston’s concerts at https://tourlink.to/gwconcerts or georgewinston.com.

DESIGN CURRENTS

28

Find out about R. Youngblood & Co.’s inviting patio design in this section.

26 Designers’ Notebook

A great exterior paint color, furniture-industry market dates, a sweet baby firepit, and more. 26 Studio Visit

A Grand Rapids-area artist expresses Lake Michigan’s beauty. 28 Design Stars

Meet two talented landscape designers who make the most of waterfront views. 34 The Elements

A guide to spring cleaning, floral cottage accents, and the latest décor for outdoor living.