Slow Hiking
There is a post somewhere along this tour about the similarities between the three books I’ve written for the This Time Forever series. It’s called Festivals, Food, and Fun, and you should look out for it! This post is about hiking, or in the case of Building Forever, slow hiking.
I’m in the habit of sharing my hobbies with my characters. They say write what you know, and I do that a lot. Charlie is a writer and a parent. Check and check. He also likes to run. Check. And hike. Double check. Hiking is my sanity check!
Because I spend a good portion of my day in front of the computer, I’m always looking for ways to move my body. I garden (Charlie does projects around the house), go for long walks, and sometimes run (this is how we writers get our thinking done).
There is a scene in the book where Charlie hits a plot snag and so laces up his running shoes and heads to a trail I decided existed alongside Monocacy Creek. You can actually walk along the creek in several sections, including a lovely walk from Union Street to Burnside Farm. I based Charlie’s “trail” on the one we have here in Stroudsburg that runs from the creek where we swim, all the way into town. It’s perfect for a quick break—for walking, jogging, and plotting.
Every couple of weeks, I go hiking. So does Charlie. It’s an easy hobby to indulge and really requires no special equipment other than a decent pair of shoes, and when you’re surrounded by national and state forests, it’s difficult to ignore the lure of a walk in the woods.
What I really enjoy about hiking is the absolute change of location. When I walk or jog, it’s around the neighborhood and it’s more a physical than mental break. When I hike, I choose a location up to an hour away that will deliver a moderate to challenging trail with interesting views. I don’t listen to music, or indulge my audiobook habit while I hike. I just walk and climb and listen for the sounds of nature: the wind in the trees, the call of the birds, and the hundred minute rustlings of woodland creatures. I inhale the scent of leaf mulch and bark. I sometimes dip my toes in a creek. I usually pack a lunch and enjoy it at the end of the trail, hopefully sitting somewhere comfortable with the sun on my face and no one but butterflies and chipmunks for company.
I always feel refreshed on the way home. My sense of inner peace has been restored.
Having grown up in Pennsylvania, Charlie is familiar with many of the same hiking spots as I am and obviously enjoys getting out there, as evidenced by this quick exchange with his daughter, Liv:
“How about Pancake Place for breakfast?” Charlie suggested.
“Are you going to make me go hiking afterward?”
Charlie found a quiet chuckle for that. “Not if you don’t want to. If it’s nice, maybe we could walk somewhere?”
Liv narrowed her eyes. “That’s hiking.”
“Slow hiking, with sitting in between. We can talk about this guy. And your project. And maybe college?”
“I knew there’d be a catch.”
My own daughter is less than enthusiastic about hiking, but now that she’s seventeen (same age as Liv), she makes more of an effort. She’ll actually offer to go with me—not because she enjoys the exercise, though she does appreciate it—but because she knows I enjoy her company and she’s only going to be with me for one more year before college happens. Liv makes the same gesture later in the book, offering to go hiking with her dad, and just her dad, so that they can spend some time together.
Charlie suggests Hickory Run, which is one of my favorite places to hike. Hickory Run State Park has more than forty miles of hiking trails and they’re suited to every level, from a slow hike through the woods, to something more strenuous that will take you past waterfalls and up to Boulder Field. There are lakes and ponds, and lots and lots of forest. The hikes are interesting. I could hike Hickory Run State Park for a year and not get bored.
Charlie and Liv don’t actually get to Hickory Run, but the park is featured again in Renewing Forever, the second book in this series, where you’ll meet another pair of characters who enjoy the outdoors, hiking in particular. Yes, it’s a theme that continues throughout all three books, because when you live near such spectacular and well known trails as the Appalachian, it would be a shame not to take advantage of them!
Building Forever is the first in a series of standalone novels focused on older characters who think love has passed them by. I loved writing these second chance romances, and I hope you enjoy reading about the books—especially this one because Charlie and Simon will forever be the characters who started me on this journey.
Title: Building Forever by Kelly Jensen
This Time Forever Series Book One
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Gay, Romance
Length: 337 pages/Word Count: 80,400
Summary:
A new town, a new neighbor, and a new chance to build a forever.
Charlie King is doing fine. Sure, he’s a widower raising a teenage daughter who just got her first boyfriend, his book series isn’t writing itself, and he has a crush on his new neighbor — the guy next door. But everything’s just fine.
Simon Lynley is doing better. He moved to Bethlehem to fall out of love and rebuild his career. An affair with his neighbor isn’t part of the plan, but the attraction between them is too hard to ignore.
But when Simon’s ex follows him to Pennsylvania seeking reconciliation, and Charlie’s life starts to feel like a video on repeat, everything comes apart. Charlie worries that he’s failing as a father, and Simon is a distraction he can’t afford. Meanwhile Simon doesn’t know if he could survive being left again, and he hasn’t come all this way to make the same mistakes. But despite their fears, it’s only together that they’ll find the strength to slay old foes and build the forever they’ve been waiting for.
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Purchase Links: Publisher * Amazon Kindle * Amazon (Paperback) * B&N * iTunes * Kobo
About the This Time Forever Series
Small towns and second chances.
Simon, Frank, and Brian think love has passed them by. Each is facing down his fiftieth birthday—Simon in a few years, Frank next year, and Brian soon enough. Each has loved and lost. But for these men, everything old really is new again, and it’s only when they return to their roots that they’ll find their second chances and the happily ever after they’ve been waiting their whole lives for.
This time it’s forever.
This series includes:
Building Forever — releasing October 15, available now!
Renewing Forever — releasing November 12, available for preorder!
Chasing Forever — releasing December 10, available soon!
Author Bio
If aliens ever do land on Earth, Kelly will not be prepared, despite having read over a hundred stories about the apocalypse. Still, she will pack her precious books into a box and carry them with her as she strives to survive. It’s what bibliophiles do.
Kelly is the author of a number of novels, novellas, and short stories, including the Chaos Station series, cowritten with Jenn Burke. Some of what she writes is speculative in nature, but mostly it’s just about a guy losing his socks and/or burning dinner. Because life isn’t all conquering aliens and mountain peaks. Sometimes finding a happy ever after is all the adventure we need.
Author Links: Website * Tumblr * Facebook * Twitter * Goodreads * Pinterest * Instagram
Giveaway
To celebrate the release of Building Forever one lucky person will win a $25 Riptide Publishing gift card and a swag pack of stickers, art cards, and bookmarks! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on October 20, 2018. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following along, and don’t forget to leave your contact info! Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!
Check out yesterday’s tour stop at Bayou Book Junkie.
I’m not an outdoorsy person but Charlie’s accounts (your book!) made me want to go some place I could walk and just enjoy being out. Thank youfor this book, Kelly!
puspitorinid AT yahoo DOT com
Thanks for hosting me today!
I’m not a big outdoorsy person, but I could get into “slow hiking”. Thanks for the great post and the giveaway.
iluvthebeach13(at)gmail(dot)com
This resonates with me since I do enjoy walking everyday and being outside brings me great pleasure and lifts my spirits. When I walk in my foothills neighborhood it gives me a boost in my outlook and mood. Thanks for this lovely feature and giveaway.
<3
I can walk for a long time, but I’d quit after a few seconds of running!
jlshannon74 at gmail.com
Thanks for sharing
I’m not much of a hiker, but I do enjoy a good walk around a neighborhood! (Admittedly, I’m more motivated to go long distances if there’s a good coffeehouse or record store at the end…)
vitajex(at)aol(Dot)com
I’m not much of a hiker since I’ll have to get in a car and drive out of the city to somewhere I could hike. I rather do long walks downtown or on walking trails.
Thank you for sharing, it;s cool that you like to share a common interest with your characters.
humhumbum AT yahoo DOT com
I don’t really hike but I like nature if I have the chance to go somewhere.
serena91291@gmail(dot)com
I’m not much for being outdoors. Looking forward to reading your books.