I love to read books about real places. It tickles me when I can say, “I’ve eaten there.” Or “I’ve walked down that street.” Rehoboth Beach, Delaware is a real place. I’ve researched it since 1994 when we took our two young sons to the beach for the first time over my husband’s spring break in March. It was unbelievably cold. We stayed in the Boardwalk Plaza right on the boardwalk so it was a short walk to the beach. We decked the boys out in flannel shirts and sweatpants topped with yellow rain pants and jackets and made them wear yellow dish washing gloves tied on with rubber bands. They looked like miniature hazmat workers, but they had fun. That trip was the start of our life time love affair with Rehoboth.
Browseabout Books is my favorite place. I am much like Katherine – they could pay me in books just for the pleasure of working there. We’ve had many wonderful dinners in the restaurants the Savvy’s frequented – Eden, Back Porch, Blue Moon, Salt Air – and many others. Grotto Pizza is our first night tradition, too. And we’ve consumed more than our fair share of Dolle’s taffy.
We’ve walked the boardwalk many times. In fact, I did part of my training for my first marathon on the boardwalk, doing several two-mile loops at the crack of dawn before the boys woke up.
Besides the hands-on, in-person research, I visited the Chamber of Commerce and learned much about the economy and business environment. Since I started writing, I joined the Rehoboth Beach Writers Guild. My office is piled with stacks of local newspapers and marketing materials.
My husband and I did a quick escape to Rehoboth in late February for a couple of days. The salt air, the waves crashing, the quiet boardwalk were just what we needed.
However, even though many of the places in Rehoboth mentioned in the book are real, Finding Home is a work of fiction. Apart from actual people, events, organizations, and locales that figure in the narrative, all other names, characters, places, and incidents are either a product of my imagination or used factiously. Any resemblance of these fictitious characters to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
If you’re curious about whether a person or place is real, drop me an email – Deborah@atheseus.com.