Please join me in welcoming June Foster to The Story behind the Story this week. We’re so pleased to have her. Before we get to what inspired her to write The Long Way Home, here’s a little bit about the book itself.

David Maguire’s tour of duty in Germany is over, and he’s returning home to Oak Mountain, Alabama, in search of a job. After a long flight from Frankfort, he shares an Uber with Dallas resident Jada Atwood.

Jada Atwood, a registered nurse midwife, is on her way to a medical conference in Queens. If only she could live up to her father’s legacy at the hospital where she works, she could prove worthy of his reputation. Marriage awaits, yet her fiancé has yet to offer a ring.

When the Uber driver must make a stop to pick up a passenger at a Queens shopping center, two men who robbed a nearby bank commandeer the Ford as a getaway car. But when they discover two passengers, they have to get rid of the extra baggage.

After the kidnappers murder the Uber driver, David and Jada fear for their lives. Will they find their way home or die in a Pennsylvania forest?

Wow, that sounds so suspenseful! Something you don’t want to read in the dark, that’s for sure. What inspired you to write it?

Writing The Long Way Home was so exciting. At times I felt as if I was on the adventure with my hero and heroine. When my editor first sent a call-out for a romance where the couple meets then has an adventure, I scratched my head. Somehow I found myself volunteering to write the book that would be included in a bundle with other books of the same theme.

I love to get inspirations from real life events. About the time I was to start the novel, my husband and I went to Denver, Colorado to visit my brother. He lives quite a distance from the Denver airport and couldn’t pick us up so we took an Uber. I knew nothing about Ubers, but I got brave, downloaded the app, and called one after we picked up our baggage. I had no idea who would come to pick us up or in what kind of vehicle.

Though my tech skills are poor, the Uber system led me through the steps. After about fifteen minutes, a blue Ford with a sign that indicated the vehicle was an Uber showed up. I got a text at the same time from the guy introducing himself. We made it to my brother’s house about thirty minutes later and enjoyed our conversation with him as well.

So, that led my imagination down an interesting path. Our driver was from the middle east and had just become an American citizen. That alone excited me because this guy had gone about things in the right way. He had American flags flying on his Ford sedan. So, I asked, “What if a soldier was returning from overseas and shared an Uber with a nice looking young woman from Texas, but bank robbers commandeered the Uber driven by a new citizen from the Middle East?” That’s how The Long Way Home was born.

That’s amazing, June. You never know what will inspire a book!

June Foster is an award-winning author who began her writing career in an RV roaming around the USA with her husband, Joe. She brags about visiting a location before it becomes the setting in her next contemporary romance or romantic suspense. June’s characters find themselves in precarious circumstances where only God can offer redemption and ultimately freedom. Find June at junefoster.com. You can purchase the book at https://tinyurl.com/y96rzy4w.

June is giving away an ebook copy of The Long Road Home. To enter, follow the directions below.

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Thanks for being with us this week, June.