Page-turning beach reads set in regional locations by local authors
Rehoboth Beach is increasingly becoming a writers’ retreat, and as if to prove it, two more Rehoboth Beach Writers’ Guild members have joined the guild’s ever-growing list of published authors.
Kathy Winfield’s "Haverford House" has just been published by Amazon’s CreateSpace, and Paul Dyer’s "Down on B-Dock" is out from Spy Press. Both are novels; both are fast-paced summer reads steeped in secrets, and both are set in regional locations - Haverford House on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Down on B-Dock in Dewey and Rehoboth Beach.
"Haverford House," inspired by a real-life rumor surrounding a local house, takes place in the sleepy Eastern Shore town of Corsica. The novel centers around Josh and Libby Langston, who, after moving from Baltimore to their dream home in this tiny town, soon discover that the house, its former inhabitants and the town itself are haunted by secrets that perhaps should be left alone - but are not, leading to deadly consequences.
"Down on B-Dock" was also inspired by place - the insular world of Dewey and Rehoboth as seen from the eyes of a local at the end of a summer season. It's Labor Day weekend, and it seems as if Joe Rath’s life is imploding. A bartender in a Rehoboth Beach restaurant, Joe sees his idyllic life aboard his beloved Island Gypsy Trawler has changed overnight in ways he cannot control. At the same time, Sheets, the mysterious stranger who lives on B-Dock and is Joe’s best friend, is also about to have his life upended when his brutal past resurfaces, leading to deadly consequences.
For both Dyer and Winfield, who have been participants in the same RBWG novel workshop, these are first novels, but Winfield is already at work on her third, and Dyer has begun thinking about the sequel to "Down on B-Dock."
Winfield, a seventh-generation Washingtonian who currently resides on a farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, has been writing for more than 30 years and grew up in a large extended family surrounded by artists, world-renowned musicians and writers. Dyer, who like his main character has lived in Dewey and Rehoboth Beach for years, working as a bartender in Rehoboth and residing on a houseboat in Dewey for much of that time, came to writing only a few years ago when he happened into a novel workshop offered by the guild, and found himself immersed in a story that he wouldn’t let go. Despite their different backgrounds, both writers share a passion for the places they are writing about.
"Down on B-Dock" and "Haverford House" are now available at Amazon books and will soon be available in local bookstores. "Down on B Dock" is also available at the Cultured Pearl Liquor Company, where Dyer works, hosting wine tastings and gladly signing copies of his novel.
For more information about Dyer or Winfield, information about their novels, or information the Rehoboth Beach Writers’ Guild, go to www.rehobothbeachwritersguild.com.
