holiday romance novella | Mary J. McCoy-Dressel

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Tuesday Inspiration for the Muse ~ Story Tidbits~ Mighty Mac

Posted at 6:38 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on October 8, 2019

In in my new single title holiday romance novella, Secret Santa’s Rundown Sleigh, I mention “Mighty Mac” or “Big Mac” referring to the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan. The Mackinac Bridge spans the Straits of Mackinac connecting the Lower and Upper Peninsulas. It was built in 1957. The bridge is shy of five miles long, so “five” miles. Ha-ha. You can walk across it on Labor Day—the only time pedestrian’s are allowed to stroll, run, walk on the bridge. I’ve done it and plan on doing it again.

The Mackinac Bridge Authority says:

The Mackinac Bridge is currently the fifth longest suspension bridge in the world. In 1998, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan became the longest with a total suspension of 12,826 feet. The Mackinac Bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere.

The height of the roadway at mid-span is approximately 200 feet above water level.

The center section of the bridge is much higher than it looks in the photo. Freighters go beneath it with lots of room to spare. In the book, Terra, my heroine, mentioned waving down at the ship’s captain when she walked across Big Mac. In deed, I did the same thing. It was “awesome to see the captain standing on deck and waving back,” as Terra says, wink wink. Mind you, I have a fear of heights, but I did this walk and stood at the railing to look down. Oddly, I’ve ventured up to many high places that still give me tummy tumbles to remember. Nope, I don’t regret one of them.

I forgot to mention that the two inner lanes of the bridge are a grid. Spooky!

In addition, the bridge closes during high winds. In fact, there was a high-wind warning on their website yesterday when I wrote this. Today it’s all clear. On June 25, 1998, it had its one millionth crossing. Find more Facts and Figures at this LINK.

Here’s a cool website LINK with pictures and live cam links. Plus, a gorgeous sunset picture of the bridge.

I’ve taken numerous pictures from every angle I could think of, but I don’t know where they reside at the moment. Meaning they’re packed away. LOL

I didn’t name the village where my story takes place, but I do mention other “real” places such as Mackinaw City where Terra’s mother lives. St. Ignace, which is right across the bridge, Mackinac Island, Gaylord, and Cheboygan are briefly mentioned. South Haven is where Terra has resided since she graduated from college.

I’ve had trouble with this blog post not separating paragraphs. Hopefully, it’s finally corrected and will look as good as it did in the preview. If not, I apologize for a bad layout.

Thanks for reading this little tidbit from one of my newest releases.

Posted in #AmWriting, #WritersLife, New Release, Tuesday Inspiration for the Muse | 3 Comments | Tagged feel-good holiday romance novella, holiday romance novella, mary j mccoy dressel, Secret Santa's Rundown Sleigh, Short romance read, Story Info ~ Mighty Mac: The Mackinac Bridge in Michigan, Tuesday Inspiration for the Muse, two-hour read

Another New One~ Secret Santa’s Rundown Sleigh: A Holiday Romance Novella

Posted at 9:25 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on October 1, 2019

Mary J McCoy-dressel, featured image blog post Secret Santa's Rundown Sleigh, holiday romance novella

I’m back with another book releasing on the same day as my cowboy. Be sure to check out the bit of information I shared about this novella at the end of the post. Thanks!

Two More Days!

Coming October 3, 2019

Pre-Order Now

Secret Santa’s Rundown Sleigh

Why does a stroke of bad luck happen now while on her way to Mackinaw City, Michigan on a blustery weekend? Two days before Christmas, Terra Westbrook and her young daughter have nowhere to stay. How can she convince her child that Santa will find her while sleeping in their car in a gas station parking lot—if they don’t die from hypothermia first? For her child’s sake, she accepts an invitation of a warm home from a resident in the village, but Terra soon learns, the kind person had no right to offer. However, she never expects the homeowner to be a lonely widower who hides tenderness and a big secret under his hard-hearted exterior.

Jude Overton isn’t interested in a relationship let alone a wife. He tried marriage once. Sometimes his heart still aches. Now, if only his sister would get the message to stop matchmaking him with single women. His life is complete raising his daughter. He’s doing the best he can to make her happy. Jude accepts this as enough until he gazes into a stranger’s melancholy eyes that hold an unspoken yearning. As the big day rolls around, he expects it’ll be just another day like the past five Christmases as a single dad, but maybe this year, he wants his sister to ignore his wishes.

On Pre-order Now.

Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon DE

Kobo | Apple | Nook

Universal Buy Link

I hope you’ll like something a little different from me this time. 💕

Guess what? This one isn’t a western romance. Don’t fret. I gave our hero horses. He needs a horse to pull his “rundown” sleigh! This one is a feel-good holiday romance novella—a two-hour read and a single title. The heat level in this little tale is toned down and not steamy like my other books and exactly what I wanted for this story. However, it does contain kissing, mild cursing, and alcoholic beverages.

Last year while I reminisced with one of my cousins “up north,” I had the idea for this story, and I ran with it until the end. 🙂

Mackinac Bridge

Oh, and it takes place in my home state in a small village where, as a child, I visited my grandma, aunts and uncles, and cousins quite often in the summer and sometimes in the winter. Although, I never met anyone like my hero while there. I remember Christmases up north and staying at my cousins house with five quilts on the bed because the only heat up there floated up through vents in the floor. Seriously, five quilts!

From there, it’s takes less than forty-five minutes to drive to the Mackinac Bridge–“Mighty Mac or Big Mac, if there isn’t a blizzard. Some of my cousins still live in and around the small village in Northern Lower Michigan so I never named the village in the book. Terra tells her little girl a story about her grandma while there. That story is true. Maybe, or likely, it’ll pop up in an excerpt.

Thank you for reading. 😊

Heart cup image credit: Pixabay JillWellington