The Courage Tree by Diane Chamberlain A child lost in the wilderness, a mother desperate to find her before time runs out. Eight-year-old Sophie Donohue just wanted to be like every other little girl. Which is why her mother, Janine, reluctantly agreed to let her go on the weekend camping trip with her Brownie troop. But when Janine arrives to pick up Sophie after the trip, her daughter is not with the others. Somehow, along the forested route from West Virginia, Sophie has disappeared. But Sophie is no ordinary eight-year-old. She suffers from a rare disease, and Janine has recently enrolled her in an experimental treatment as a last effort to save her life—despite the vehement objections of her ex-husband, Joe. Without her medication, Sophie cannot survive long. All her mother’s instincts tell Janine that Sophie is alive, but time is running out. Deep in the Virginia forest, another drama unfolds. Sophie finds refuge in a remote cabin inhabited by Zoe, a woman who wants nothing to do with the child. Zoe is struggling to save her own daughter from the law, and Sophie’s presence jeopardizes any chance of that happening. She is as determined to save her daughter as…

In the world of contemporaries, I won’t say it’s easy to write about guys who save lives for a living, but certainly some professions lend themselves to Alpha heroes, like Navy Seals, firemen, cops, and spies to name a few. What woman doesn’t want a guy capable of killing with his bare hands and saving the world, most especially her? But not every book can have that kind of hero, so it’s up to the writer to turn an ordinary guy into a worthy hero. And sometimes that can be a challenge. First, there’s the name. Some of my historical writing friends claim certain names like Robert or Edward are great, but in the contemporary book world, those names usually go to the guy who doesn’t get the girl. Contemporary alpha names are often short and hard like Jake, Max, Nick, Luke, Cole, Zach and then a few syllables, Connor, Logan, Tyler or perhaps an Irish or Italian twist, Patrick, Aidan, Ian, Tony, Michael … You get the picture. The name has to imply this is a man worth taking note of. Then there’s his job. If he can’t be one of the above hero types, then he needs to…