Winter Solstice (Winter #4)(76)

I will confide here that my favorite character has always been Margaret Quinn and that my inspiration for her is/was the guilt that I myself feel because my career requires me to spend so much time away from my children. I, like Margaret, have two boys and a girl. It is the plight of working mothers everywhere, I suppose, to try and do two jobs at once. I decided that one way to make myself feel better was to make Margaret a hero; in the first novel, Winter Street, she saves the day. Hopefully, I have also conveyed her humanity so that every working mother can see a bit of herself in Margaret.

As always, I want to thank my family and my friends-who-are-like-family: you know who you are (after so many books, everyone else knows who you are, too!). Of special note is my darling pal Elizabeth Almodobar, who shared the Nantucket real estate stories that got my imagination fired up.

I wrote two thirds of this novel on the island of St. John USVI, a second island which has become not only home to me but also a sanctuary. For those of you who are lamenting the end of the Winter Street series, I have (possibly) happy news. I will write a new trilogy set on the island of St. John coming to you in the fall/winter of 2018. I only hope I can do justice to that breathtaking island and all of the fascinating people who live there.

Thank you to all of my fans and devoted readers who have followed along with the Quinns the past few years. Some of you have said you love these novels best of all my work, and in some sense, I do as well. The Quinns will always be dear to me, and they will live on in my mind and in my heart.

In closing, I would like to thank my children: Maxwell, Dawson, and Shelby. The older you get, the more you amaze me with your talents, your gifts, and your innate kindness. How did I get so lucky? Being your mother is an honor. You make every day feel like Christmas. (Okay, nearly every day.) I love you.