An Origin Story—Lucy’s Shop

Wicks & Balms

For the last decade, I’ve been working on becoming a published author. It’s been a road full of Milwaukee-sized pot holes. Finally in September of 2023, the first book in the Brit Brothers series, The Artful Bargain came out. This month, May of 2024, I launched book two, To Sense a Passion. It seems like a dream to have finally birthed the first two books in the trilogy and I’m over the moon.

To Sense a Passion is most definitely a work of passion. It started years ago when I stepped into the Eco Candle Company in Appleton, Wisconsin. The heavenly scent was heady and the atmosphere in the shop calmed me. I knew right away that I had to write this shop into something I was working on. It took a bit, there were changes, but this candle shop eventually became Wicks & Balms in the book. Even the shop centerpiece, a claw foot tub filled with rubber ducks, found its way into Lucy Maxwell’s story.  

I really wanted to translate or communicate the sense of calm I experienced when I went into Eco Candle and make sure it was planted within the pages of my story. As writers, we’re taught to use all our senses, and often, the sense of smell is regularly forgotten. Once I had the shop clear in my mind, the next piece that fell into place was the scent, lavender.

Next stop, Washington Island in Door County, Wisconsin.