When we last saw Bunny at the end of Book 1, she was picking up the pieces of her life.  In Book 2 we discover what happens when she accepts her sister’s invitation to come and stay on her Idaho potato ranch.

I served with my pastor husband in a small church in south-central Idaho, not too far from Bunny’s sister’s place. As I wrote about the women’s time on the ranch I was able to look out across the arid fields in my imagination and picture antelope skidding under the fences .

Vain Pursuits opens with the sisters flying across the Atlantic headed for Italy.

Much of this scene came from my own first trip overseas to visit my oldest son in Italy. Many of my impressions of the various locations in the book are reflected in Bunny’s and her sister’s reactions.

Although I never got involved with smugglers or mafiosi in my visits to Italy, I believe my time there added a bit of color to Bunny’s adventures.

Many of my reviewers appreciated seeing a bit of the real Italy through Bunny’s eyes.

When I decided to make a series from the original book which takes place around Halloween, I thought I might highlight a different holiday in each book.

In Vain Pursuits the holiday was Christmas, as the sisters were shopping for an authentic Italian nativity set.