SEAN CAMPBELL: CARPENTER EXTRAORDINAIRE (in more ways than one)

It would appear that, out of my two romance novels, Sean Campbell -- hero of MY PACE OR YOURS? -- is the most loved by readers. I love Sean, too, actually, and thought you might like to know him a bit better (whether you've read "MY PACE" yet or not!) ...

According to the story, Sean Campbell hails from the bucolic little town of Windsor, Nova Scotia. After receiving his architectural engineering degree from Dalhousie (in Halifax), he hit the road to begin his life.

And he hit it in a big way. Crisscrossing the North American continent for years on end, following his own whims as well as the calling of the highway as to where to go next. Just wandering ... wandering ... searching ... seeking. He did settle for a time in LA, doing carpentry for TV studios and Hollywood celebrities, all the while perfecting (and I mean perfecting!) his carpentry skills and building up a reputation as a craftsman of legendary renown. (No offense, Sean, but how much y'wanna bet that your looks, charm, and masculinity didn't have at least a wee bit to do with it?)

Finally, for reasons I won't disclose (out of respect for those who've not yet read the tale), he hit the road once again and soon found himself in my own Rhode Island ... ambling right into the heart of heroine Beth Martin.

But ...

Where did Sean Campbell really come from? Was he simply conjured up out of my overactive and decadent imagination? Not really. For that I have to thank a true love of my life ... my Dad, David Maloney.

My father was, like Sean, a carpenter. Perhaps not of the same "legendary renown" as Sean, but every bit as much a hero in my eyes ... and every bit as much a perfectionist. He was a true genius at his craft. As I grew up and matured I came to see that, in the world of carpenters, Dad was weird.

A good kind of weird, thought. Actually, an incredible kind of weird. Like Olympic skaters for whom artistic impression is half the battle, my Dad was ever-concerned with the beauty of the finished product and the happiness it would provide its user ... every bit as much as its technical merits of function and durability.

And it all came so naturally to him! He just had that gift and then polished it with forty-something years of hard-labor while loving every minute (even when he wasn't loving every minute!)

Another one of Sean's traits -- his most outstanding trait -- that arose directly from memories of my Dad is Sean's propensity to take things nice and slow -- in work, in life, everywhere. Some of the things Beth notices very early on are:

• Sean taking, like, five minutes to swallow a mouthful of coffee (think: wine taster).
• His habit of moving through life with all the vigor of a "Vermont milkman.
• How Sean drives warp-speed Beth up a wall by sawing lumber like he's "cutting a diamond."
• How, in bed, Sean drives Beth over the edge with his very welcome (and rare) ability to stretch a moment into eternity ... (I'm left wondering if there are, in fact, any Vermont milkmen with that particular life-skill!)

Well, the bottom line is that exasperatingly slow or not, Sean is a loving, caring, and devoted man who will do just about anything for the people he cares about. Especially Beth Martin.

And, you know, with his looks, and lean work-hardened build sometimes ... y'know ... you don't want him to move fast anywayt. Just let him ease ... ease ... through his work and life ... ah, nice and slow ... nice and slow ... so you can just drink him in one ... sip ... at a time ... mm, mm, good.

And that's really what Campbell the man is: mm, mm, good.