I have a funny story to tell about Mojave Rescue. My husband was an electronic warfare engineer. So you can see where I got my inspiration for Drina’s occupation. Many years ago he took me on a tour of the air force base where the rocket stands are located. They were in disuse and rusting and very spooky. I thought it would be a great location for a mystery. My husband agreed and said he would be glad to help me with details.
It took me six months to come up with a story I thought would work…about top secret plans for a satellite that would orbit the earth and shoot down any missiles coming into US air space. I even had a great name for it…Star Wars.
I enthusiastically told my idea to my husband and asked his advice. He promptly told me the idea wouldn’t work and he couldn’t help me. In fact, he didn’t think I should write the story. Frustrated and confused, I dropped the idea. Two weeks later the paper announced that the president had signed a bill to fund a new program called Star Wars where a satellite would shoot down missiles.
They had renovated the rocket site test stands and my husband had been videotaping those tests for the previous month. If I had written that story, no one would have believed that I came up with the idea on my own and his job would have been in jeopardy!
My husband is retired now. We sold our home in the Mojave and have moved into a motor home to travel. With his career behind him, I felt safe enough to create a new story set in the Mojave. Many aspects are different but one detail is the same…that eerie place on the hill called the rocket site. It seems appropriate that my first story with Love Inspired Suspense should be set in the place I called home for over thirty years.
Tanya Stowe