I worked off and on for ten years on a novel that took place on a cruise ship. At each port-of-call I introduced the reader to a couple of characters while describing the place they visited. I thought of it as 'The Love Boat meets the Travel Channel".

The friends who read it, as well as a literary agent whose perusal I won in a silent auction, all thought the book was too short. And yet I couldn't figure out how to lengthen it.

Finally I decided that what I do best is write short stories, so I took the four storylines from the novel and turned them into four short stories. I added additional stories, many inspired by my experiences and those of my family and friends.

At the same time I wanted very much to tell as many people as possible about my ability to communicate with those who have passed away. My Aunt Rose, my guardian angel, told me I needed to put it down in a book. However, it was nowhere near long enough for that. My only hope was to combine it with the short stories. But how?  I decided to write a transitional story to bridge the two. That story is "Letter From Hildy".