The Sunrise Inspiration Behind My Novel ‘Waiting for Sunrise’
What is your favorite time of day? For me… It’s early morning. I rise, feed the pets, and then sit on the sofa to stare out the wall of windows that face one of the many inlets of the Chesapeake Bay on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
The view is toward the east, so depending on the time of day, I can watch the sun rise. The golden light paints the world with bright greens and sparkling blues. As it filters through the pine trees, long shadows cast across the grass as the sun ascends.
I have watched sunrises in many places over the years. My childhood home in Kingsport, Tennessee. The multiple places in Virginia that I have moved with my husband and children. We lived in El Paso, Texas, and Leominster, Massachusetts, when my husband was in the Army. We moved overseas to Okinawa for several years. We also lived in Cairo, Egypt, for two years.
So, I have turned my face to the rising sun all over the world.
Perhaps that’s why sunrise became such an important theme in my romantic suspense novel Waiting for Sunrise, part of my Baytown Boys series set on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
Baytown is my fictional small town on Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay, the setting for many of my romantic suspense novels. Like the real Eastern Shore communities that inspired it, Baytown is filled with family ties, enduring friendships, and the hope of finding love when it’s least expected.
I had written numerous sunset scenes, but wanted something different for Belle, my heroine. She thought she’d finally found love in the hero, Hunter.
After a night with him, she moved to look out the east-facing window. She didn’t want to just look back on a day, which may or may not have given her what she needed. But she chose to take a moment to bask in the beauty of a sunrise and think of the day’s possibilities.
“Whatcha doing over there?”
“I always watch the dawn… at least every chance I get.”
Belle turned toward the window again, and Hunter swore her profile was as perfect as the frontal view of her face. “Sunrise?” he asked.
“My grandma taught me to rise early and wait for the sunrise. She said that no matter how bad life got, the sun rose each morning to teach us that every new day dawning had the potential to be the best day we’ve ever had.”
I wrote those words from the heart.
I used to get up early when we visited my grandparents’ small farm in Alabama. My grandfather was up before dawn, out with the cows, but my grandmother was in the kitchen, making biscuits from scratch. I would hurry in, sit on a stool next to the old stove, and watch with fascination as she mixed the dough with her hands, never measuring anything. And every time, they rose, full and fluffy. I have never been able to replicate her biscuits.
My grandmother may have gotten up early out of habit and what needed to be done on the farm, but for those visits, it was to sit and watch, listen, and learn. And think of what the day might bring. Fishing in the creek. Races with my brother through the fields. Climbing in the barn, pretending it was a Viking ship. Scratching the pigs, collecting eggs, and picking the wild blackberries that grew near the corn crib.
My grandparents have long since passed, and the family farm was sold off years ago. My parents are also gone, but the wisdom of the past generations stays in my heart.
As adults, we face so many challenges… jobs, family, a changing world. But as I rise each morning, I drift to a window facing east. I believe the words that I created for Belle to remember.
This is the time before most people stir, giving me a glimpse into what the day might bring. Every day starts with a promise of being a great day. I sometimes joke that the day might go downhill very quickly, but at the particular moment when the sunrise touches my face, I still have the hope that the day will fill me with joy.
Each day has the potential of being the best day.
Have you ever had a place or a person who taught you to appreciate the sunrise? I’d love to hear your memories in the comments below.
If you’d like to read Belle and Hunter’s story, Waiting for Sunrise is part of my Baytown Boys romantic suspense series set on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
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