Researching a new home.

I've said this before and find it so true that sometimes, the research is more fun that than the writing. In my March 07 book, Fortune's Vengeful Groom, my hero has built this fantastic new home on acres and acres of land. When he brings our heroine to see it, she's floored by it's magnificence.

So, when writing this, I had to find such a home to describe. I could have made it all up, but honestly, I couldn't have even imagined this home in my wildest dreams. Much of what I found was from the 2006 HGTV Dream Home Giveaway. There's a home there, that my daughter has entered to win, every day since the contest started. She kept telling me to check it out online, you'll love it. As it happened, she was right. Not only is it a perfect dream home for me, but it worked so well in my story that I included much of the design in my hero's Montana home.

This is truly a great house with 17 rooms in all, including three levels, a view of the lake and mountains, a wine cellar, an outdoor living area, a gym, recreation room and dynamite touches like attic bedrooms and wrap-around terrace and balconies.

I spent hours perusing magazines and checking out home sites and it was more fun that I'd ever thought. Who would have thunk?