Janice L. Dick ~ The Road to Happenstance

Janice L. Dick is the award-winning author of The Road to Happenstance, the first novel in the Happenstance Chronicles. Janice shares the story behind her story–how she and a friend brainstormed the characters and what would happen to them. They even drew diagrams of the charming town of Happenstance and of the hotel that plays such a large part in the story.

Janice says that Happenstance is also a character in the story–and I agree with her! The people who “just happen” to go through the covered bridge and enter this town seldom want to leave.

We also talk about how Janice chose the name for her publishing company, Tansy & Thistle Press, and life on a Saskatchewan farm.

Connect with Janice on her website and on Facebook.

Purchase Links: The Road to Happenstance and Far Side of the Sea

The Road to Happenstance

One man running from his past, two women he’s attracted to, and a peculiar town that won’t let him go.
Matthew Sadler rides his ’77 Harley into Happenstance, intent on passing through, but people and events conspire to prevent his leaving.

The elderly Barlow sisters consider Matt their knight on a motorcycle. Matt is entranced by Roni, the other lodger at the Happenstance Hotel who bears an uncanny resemblance to Matt’s beloved, deceased wife. The young doctor in town, Paula Percy, adores Matt’s motorcycle. However, she is suspicious of the woman from the hotel.

As the days pass, the quaint little town, with its unique residents, begins to show its sinister side. When evidence of multiple thefts leads to Matt’s door, he must deal with a mystery and yet more false accusations.

Do the old diaries of Amanda Rutherford Barlow hold the answers Matt so desperately seeks? Will Happenstance finally let him go, or does he have a reason to stay?

Far Side of the Sea

Bound by a secret and a promise, Danny and Rachel Martens immigrate to America from China via Germany in 1952. They settle into life in Oregon, and Danny’s business flourishes. But memories and flashbacks from the Korean War plague his dreams.

Their daughter, Diana, grows up restless and willful. The undeniable love of family and friends eases her troubles, but she is unwilling to give in to God’s persistent tug on her life. Diana’s unquenchable curiosity aggravates an already challenging journey. She travels to Austria for Bible college in 1970 and searches for her roots in her birth city of Berlin, where she discovers more than she bargained for.

Why have her parents lied about her true identity all these years? Will this new revelation change the course of her life and alienate her from those she loves? And when does a promise become a curse?