My special guest today is Sheila Roberts, the author of the Icicle Falls series, including today’s featured review book, The Cottage on Juniper Ridge. Because this series is so lovely, and the town of Icicle Falls seems like such a marvelous place, I wanted to learn more about it, especially since it is based on a town very near my current homebase of Seattle.
Here’s Sheila to tell us all about her Icicle Falls and the real-life version you can visit!
The Real Icicle Falls
by Sheila Roberts
Readers often tell me that they wish my town of Icicle Falls was a real place. Well, here’s the good news. It is! Well, at least it’s based on one.
My imaginary town of Icicle Falls is based on the town of Leavenworth, Washington, one of my favorite places to visit. Granted Leavenworth doesn’t have it’s own chocolate factory like Icicle Falls does (and it probably doesn’t have some of the squirelly characters, either), but it has the wonderful views, the friendly people and the great spirit of determination. And, just like in Icicle Falls, the people of Leavenworth sure know how to celebrate a holiday. One of my favorite times to visit is during Christmas when they have their town tree-lighting ceremony. (And yes, Icicle Falls has one, too!)
Leavenworth is a popular destination town with a healthy economy but it wasn’t always so. In the early sixties, after The Great Northern Railway pulled out, choosing a different route through the mountains, this town nestled in the Cascades was in danger of becoming a ghost town. But the town leaders put their heads together and decided that, with its beautiful mountain setting, Leavenworth could be as charming as any alpine village. And they set about transforming the town from a typical western town into something truly special. Everyone pulled together to make this happen. “And we did it all without any government help,” says one of the older residents. In this day and age that’s really something to brag about.
In addition to changing the look of their shops and stores, the people of Leavenworth came up with a series of festivals designed to draw visitors. Today these festivals bring in over a million visitors a year.
I love the fact that a little imagination coupled with determination and hard work of the townspeople literally transformed this place. It’s a charming town filled with wonderful people, and I try to convey a little of their town spirit in my Icicle Falls books. I hope my characters are people that readers will enjoy and want to spend time with.
And, if you ever visit Washington I hope you’ll stop by Leavnworth, stay in one of its charming B & B’s, enjoy the scenery and the shopping and the great people who live there. I hope you’ll visit Icicle Falls, too!
About Sheila Roberts
Sheila Roberts is married and has three children. She lives on a lake in the Pacific Northwest. Her novels have appeared in Readers Digest Condensed books and have been published in several languages. Her holiday perennial, On Strike for Christmas, was made into a movie for the Lifetime Movie Network and her her novel The Nine Lives of Christmas has been optioned for film. When she’s not writing songs, hanging out with her girlfriends or trying to beat her husband at tennis, she can be found writing about those things dear to women’s hearts: family, friends, and chocolate.
To learn more about Sheila, please visit her website or blog. You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.
~~~~~~TOURWIDE GIVEAWAY~~~~~~
Sheila will be awarding a $25 B & N gift card and an eCopy of The Cottage on Juniper Ridge to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour, and a $25 B & N gift card to a randomly drawn host.
To enter, leave a comment on this post. For more chances to win, follow the other stops on Sheila’s tour.
Thanks for hosting!
It’s good to hear that at least sometimes these amazing and charming villages which are such wonderful settings for quite a few books are indeed real! I have passed my growing years in a biggish town and I now live in a smaller one…still no charming village at all. I pretty much know noone and noone ever bothered about getting to know me…tried to join the local musical band, but while they welcomed me, I didn’t meet anyone even close to my age to bond with…maybe I’m just an intrinsically unsociable person 😛
ellis_dream@hotmail.com
Hi Elisa! You sound pretty social to me. It can be hard to break into a new community. (I went through that myself a few years ago – finally got plugged in and then life was great.) Don’t give up. 🙂 Meanwhile, you’ll always be welcome in Icicle Falls. 🙂
What a wonderful sounding place to live.
congrats to Sheila on the new release!! “Icicle Falls” looks and sounds wonderful 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Thanks!
Thanks so much! Looks Great!
What an interesting post, thank you.
Thanks for the “tour” of Leavenworth~ it looks a lovely little town. My favorite small town/village is Yellow Springs, Ohio. It has one main street which houses almost all it’s commercial venues, a liberal arts college, a bar, a hemp store, a psychic and a tarot reader. It’s an amazing town that has a ton of visitors for it’s local festivals and I visit every chance I get. Places like these serve as reminders of why it’s important to enjoy life.
ilookfamous at yahoo dot com
Great post! I love hearing about towns like Leavenworth. It reminds me of Crescent City, here in California – a beautiful town that was left somewhat crippled after the closing of the sawmills. I feel like it’s a similar sort of story – Crescent City’s also a bit isolated, but a great place to visit. Thanks for posting!
I’ll have to put Crescent City on my list of places to visit!
Sounds good. Thanks.
magic5905 at embarqmail dot com
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR BOOK AND THANKS FOR THE GIVEAWAY!
I have to giggle…Perhaps a writer knows that she/he has “made it” when they become a Readers Digest Condensed Book??? LOL. They are just the bane of almost every library. They’re like the ONLY books that won’t sell at our Friends of the Library book sale.
Sounds like an interesting place
bn100candg at hotmail dot com
Sounds like a great place to visit.
Thanks for the giveaway!