The Hiding Place (38 page)

Another piece of the plot puzzle fit in place with the help of Dr. Roy Manning, longtime ob-gyn in Chillicothe, Ohio. I appreciate his research and that of his colleagues on pregnancy indicators of women who have given birth and on comatose birth. The online cases of comatose women delivering babies are true.

My third major idea for the novel, tracker and trailer rescue dogs, seemed to fit right in. I first got to know the wonderful work that Labrador retrievers do through my short story, “Find The Way,” for the anthology
More Than Words
(2006 edition), about a blind woman who learns to live a free life again with her companion dog, despite being endangered by a stalker. I was able to meet and observe several of the dogs trained by the excellent Puppies Behind Bars program (so-called because honor prisoners raise the puppies until they are ready to be trained). For information on that program, see www.puppiesbehindbars.com.

I also took two online courses from instructors who trace people for a living. Linnea Sinclair is a private investigator who answered many questions; Frank M. Ahearn is a skip tracer and a master at getting information through pretexting. Also, T. L. Gray’s information in her course on Delta Force was helpful. Any mistakes on these subjects are mine and not theirs.

As for a setting, the days that my husband and I spent in the area of Denver and Conifer, Colorado, with a drive through Black Hawk, were invaluable for creating the settings for the story. We had a lovely visit to the Red Rocks area; the idea that a person can push a boulder off a rock formation there is, I hope, a figment of my imagination. Thanks again to our niece and nephew, Heather and Jason Kurtz, for introducing me to Black Mountain and Shadow Mountain near their home in a beautiful spot at nine thousand feet, where elk and foxes stroll through the yard.

The settings in Washington State were inspired by my earlier trips to the Seattle area, which I also used for my romantic suspense novel,
The Falls.

For background information from a woman’s point of view on majoring in social work and dealing with abusive family situations, I appreciate advice from Karen McGirty, a social worker. Her summary comment—“It was the best job and worst job I ever had”—gave me an important glimpse into my heroine’s psyche. For medical information on coma and drugs, thanks to Nancy Armstrong, R.N. I am also grateful to my author friend Susan Wiggs for her advice on Seattle neighborhoods.

As ever, thanks to my support staff at Mira Books, especially my editor Miranda Stecyk, for her wise guidance. To the Jane Rotrosen Literary Agency staff, especially Annelise Robey and Meg Ruley.

And always, my heartfelt appreciation to Don, travel companion extraordinaire, who even tolerated altitude sickness to research the mountain settings. Please visit my Web site at www.karenharperauthor.com.

ISBN: 978-1-4268-2364-0

THE HIDING PLACE

Copyright © 2008 by Karen Harper.

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