Where did you get the idea for Quiet Hearts?

Characters who show up in my mind and insist on telling their story seem to be the seeds for my books. In this case, I was visiting Jekyll Island and St. Simons Island, Georgia. We were walking around the du Bignon Cemetery when a Chinese lady holding a cane with a dog’s head carved on it stepped out of the shadows—or she stepped into my mind, depending on your view of how the universe works. She said, ”You think everybody on this beautiful island had good times? Ha. You listen to what I tell you.“ I listened to her story and Betty Wu became the pivot for Quiet Hearts, the third Promise McNeal Mystery.