During one cruise through the Travel Channel, we came across a show on super yachts. Never heard of them? They’re what they sound like: yachts, but super-sized and super-fancy. This things are awe-inspiring. The woods . . . the art . . . the design . . . the amenities! Amazing, I’m telling you. So luxurious you sigh in pleasure just watching about them. I’d love to just take a tour through one someday so that I can gawk for an hour.

The first time we saw this special, I started thinking, “How can I someday use one of these in a plot?” Having a main character own one seemed a little over the top. I mean, I don’t usually do the whole gazillionaire thing. But maybe I could have a character who worked on one? Maybe? But that just seemed way too . . . simple. Still, it had possibilities. The owners of these beasts are notoriously picky, so if someone worked on one as the chief stew, they’d be in charge of all these details–from pillow placement to the flowers in particular vases to making sure the guests had their every whim met.

We caught another part of the same show a couple months later, when I was thinking up a series that would be a spin off of my Outer Banks Trilogy. Suddenly it clicked. I could have my heroine working there, yes, but she isn’t what she seems. Throughout it, we’d see her doing furtive things, and given the series she’s in, we’d know who she should be, but it’s a few chapters before we’re absolutely sure. And of course she totally falls for the yacht owner’s little brother, who can’t quite believe he’s falling for her, the Plain Jane chief stew who should just be another employee . . .

I’m now really excited every time I think about this story, even though it’ll be years before I get to write it. It’s one of those things that popped into my head so perfectly that I know the story will work well. And it’s cool enough an idea that it’ll make a great finale to this second trilogy I have in mind.

And maybe by then I’ll be able to afford a little tour on one of these fantabulous ships. Be still, my heart!