Last week’s blog talked about which character in this book is my favorite, but I have other favorites here.  Since Sweet Salt Air is a highly sensual book, I’m thinking see, smell, feel, hear, and taste.  I’m calling them snapshots, because they’re just quick little moments from the book.  I guess that makes this blog an album.

Favorite sight?     A ghost ship on the ocean in the early morning mist, as seen from Charlotte’s bedroom window.

Favorite smell?     Lavender.  Sooooothing.

Favorite touch?     Sand.  Around and about the toes.

Favorite sound?     The blend of soft rock, conversation, and surf that you hear when you lie on the beach.

Favorite taste?     Fiddlehead ferns.  Mind you, my characters aren’t eating a big feathery frond, but rather the tiny swirls of newly sprouted ferns that are harvested before they begin to unfurl.  The season is very short.  My supermarket has fiddleheads for maybe, maybe a week each spring.  Sautéed in a little olive oil and sprinkled with a dash of salt, they’re lusciously nutty.

So there are the five senses.  But there are five other things I love in this book.

Favorite flower?    Red clover.  Well, clover isn’t really a flower, it’s a weed.  But the red clover in Sweet Salt Air only grows in hidden forest places, and it has mystical qualities.  Or so Quinnipeague lore says.  Me, I love the fantasy that Leo’s red clover offers.  I’m such a sucker for magic.

Favorite animal?    Bear.  He’s scary.  Or is he?

Favorite scene?     Leo and Charlotte on the beach.  I can’t say more, or I’ll give it away.

Favorite book?     Salt.  (Sorry, guys, but you won’t find this on Amazon.  You’ll have to read the book to learn more.)

Favorite candy?    Chocolate almond ones the likes of which Isabel Skane keeps in a bowl on the big table in her yarn store.  We used to make these at home when I was little, but I can’t seem to find a recipe that’s exactly right.  The ones I remember have the texture of caramel but are chocolate, with an almond in the center.  We used to wrap them in  little squares of wax paper and twist the ends.  Am I ringing any bells here?  If so, send those recipes along.

Have you marked your calendar for June 18?  That’s when Sweet Salt Air goes on sale.  Yikes, that’s next week!  Check back here before then, and I’ll tell you what happens when pub date arrives.