Author Spotlight: Welcome to New Tule Author Lindsay Gibson

I am so pleased and honored to welcome talented writer Lindsay Gibson to the Spotlight this week. The Year You Came Back, Book 1 in the Secrets of Herring Point series and her first book with Tule Publishing releases on November 18 and is currently available for pre-order.

Lindsay Gibson is the bestselling author of emotional New England romance and mystery, as well as the children’s series Obi the Dobi. Her debut novel, The Christmas Promise, became a #1 Christmas bestseller on Amazon and was featured on Everyday Eyecandy’s list of “Over 50 Most Read Kindle Unlimited Christmas Romance Books.” Her novels have continued to reach wide audiences, with Fly Away Summer landing in the Top 50 for Feel-Good Fiction and The Christmas Coin breaking into the Top 5 eBooks in the Christmas category.

Her writing career began with her award-winning memoir, Just Be: How My Stillborn Son Taught Me to Surrender, a 2018 Book Excellence Award finalist. Since then, her stories of love, mystery, healing, and family legacy have been featured in Elephant Journal, Green Child Magazine, and Self Magazine.

A native New Englander, Lindsay now splits her time between Connecticut and coastal South Carolina, where she juggles storytelling with raising three daughters and laughing alongside her Irish husband, whose brogue still makes her blush. She also shares reflections on wellness, character connection, recipes, and everyday life through her blog, Well Plotted.

Website | Facebook |Instagram | TikTok

~*~*~*~

How a Little Eavesdropping Led to a Trilogy

Three Words, a Few Ghost Stories, and One Very Long Rabbit Hole

Two complete strangers are responsible for my entire Secrets in Herring Point trilogy, and neither of them has the slightest idea. All it took was one overheard conversation, three little words, and a writer who doesn’t always know how to mind her own business.

It all started during an ordinary afternoon at the park, when something I happened to overhear gave me an idea I couldn’t get out of my head. My girls and I were at Gardens by the Sea, one of their favorite parks, thanks to a pirate ship playground that could keep them entertained for hours. While they were off having their adventures, I was enjoying a little downtime when a conversation between two people nearby caught my attention. One of them said, “Everyone has secrets.” I have no idea what led to that statement, but naturally, I wanted to know more.

Was someone having an affair? Had a long-buried family secret finally come out? Or were they talking about something completely innocent that my imagination had already turned into a scandal?

I never found out, and obviously, I couldn’t just ask, although looking back, it might have saved me a considerable amount of research. But the more I thought about those three words, the more I wondered what people might be hiding and what would happen if the truth finally came out. By the time we left the park, I had the beginnings of an idea for a novel. Or, as it turned out, three novels. And enough possibilities to make those two strangers regret sitting anywhere near a novelist.

From Ghost Stories to the Gilded Age

Around that same time, I listened to a podcast about supernatural stories in Bar Harbor, Maine. I’ve always loved a good mystery, especially one involving old houses, questionable family histories, and people who probably took a few secrets to the grave. The podcast covered ghost stories, shipwrecks, and maritime legends, but what really caught my attention was Bar Harbor’s history, particularly during the Gilded Age. Naturally, I decided to do a little research, which sent me straight down a historical rabbit hole. Several hours and approximately a hundred browser tabs later, I knew far more about millionaires who’d been dead for a century than I’d ever intended.

But I became fascinated with those wealthy families who spent their summers along Maine’s coast, building enormous estates they called “cottages.” I’m not sure who decided a twenty-bedroom mansion qualified as a quaint summer getaway, but clearly, we have very different definitions of a cottage. I read about the families who lived there, the people who worked for them, and the devastating fire of 1947 that destroyed dozens of those grand estates, along with homes and hotels. I couldn’t help wondering how many personal stories and family secrets had disappeared with them. I even came across the legend of the Mary Jane, a missing ship whose crew supposedly still haunts the coast. As if my imagination needed any more encouragement.

What fascinated me most was wondering how many secrets had been lost to history, and how many might still be waiting to be uncovered. I started imagining what might happen if a secret from that world resurfaced decades later, affecting people who had no idea they were connected to it. That became the foundation for Herring Point’s historical mystery, including the story of John Ferguson and Iris Sanford, whose lives in the 1940s would eventually have consequences for the characters living there today.

And if you’re already curious about those two, you can get a free copy of Behind the Rose Wall, the prequel that tells the beginning of their story, when you sign up for my newsletter. Consider it a little head start on Herring Point’s secrets!

A Love of New England and a Town of My Own

One of the perks of being a fiction writer is that you can make up an entire town and give it everything you love. A beautiful Maine coastline? Absolutely. A cozy café where everyone knows your coffee order? You bet. Charming old houses, interesting neighbors, and gorgeous views of the Atlantic? Sign me up. But a pretty little coastal town wasn’t nearly as interesting to me as the secrets its residents might be keeping.

I lived forty years in Connecticut, and although I’ve traded New England winters for the warmer shores of South Carolina, I’ve never quite lost my attachment to that part of the country. I miss the old houses, the changing seasons, and the little coastal towns where you can wander into an antique shop and wonder about the people who owned everything inside. Creating Herring Point gave me an excuse to revisit all those things I love, while imagining the lives of people who might have called a place like that home for generations. And before long, Herring Point began to feel like a real town, with its own history, complicated families, and plenty of unfinished business.

But First, There Was Kateri and Aaron

As much as I love weaving history and mystery into my books, romance will always have a special place in my heart. And in The Year You Came Back, that romance belongs to Kateri Grey and Aaron Brogan, two people whose pasts are far more connected than either realizes.

Kateri is a drama therapist searching for answers about a tragedy that changed her life. Aaron is a detective on leave who’s observant, protective, and much better at reading other people than discussing his own feelings. When their paths cross in Herring Point, old questions resurface, and the closer they become, the harder it is to ignore what happened years ago. There’s attraction, a little stubbornness on both sides, and a past that refuses to leave them alone.

Before becoming a novelist, I spent ten years working in mental health and nutrition, particularly supporting women and new mothers. I’m also a PTSD survivor, so writing Kateri and Aaron’s struggles with trust, safety, and difficult memories was personal for me. I wanted to show how love and healing can happen alongside the messy, complicated parts of life, without pretending that falling in love magically fixes everything. Of course, giving them a mystery to unravel while figuring out their feelings probably didn’t make things any easier.

And That Was Only the Beginning

Looking back, I never imagined that a few words overheard at the park and a podcast about Bar Harbor would turn into three interconnected romances and a historical mystery spanning generations. But that’s one of my favorite things about writing. You never quite know where an idea will take you, and sometimes the smallest things end up becoming the biggest stories.

The Year You Came Back is your first visit to Herring Point, and I hope you’ll enjoy getting to know Kateri, Aaron, and the people who make this little Maine town feel like home. Just don’t expect everyone to be completely honest about their past.

So, if you ever happen to sit next to me at a coffee shop or park, I promise I’m not trying to eavesdrop. But if you start talking about a family secret, I might have a few follow-up questions. And I can’t promise my imagination won’t run wild with it.

Giveaway: Lindsay has a signed print copy of The Year You Came Back for one lucky commenter. Just tell her if you’ve ever learned something interesting when you’ve accidentally eavesdropped in a public? (Continental US only, please)

The Year You Came Back

She’s chasing answers. He’s searching for peace. Love may be the only thing they find.

Drama therapist Kateri Grey never meant to return to the small coastal town of Herring Point. But when her company is chosen to launch a new creative program on the Maine coast—twenty years after the crash that took her father’s life and nearly her own—she drags her feet. The town still whispers about that night: the lost World War II heirloom her father died chasing, the secrets that fractured her family. After years of helping others heal, Kateri must finally confront her own story.

Detective Aaron Brogan is back in town too—on mandatory leave after a case in Portland shattered his confidence and left him questioning everything. Helping Kateri wasn’t in his plans, but the girl he once admired has become a woman he can’t walk away from. Yet the deeper they dig, the more Aaron fears the truth. Because for twenty years, he has carried his own piece of that night, one that could change everything for both of them.

Drawn together by unanswered questions and a connection neither expected, Kateri and Aaron must confront their pasts, trust each other with their scars, and decide whether healing means letting go—or holding on.

Amazon | B&B Nook | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play