THE MAN WITH THE WHEELBARROW

How a Fleeting Moment at a Writing Retreat Inspired My Ex-Cop Protagonist, Sean McPherson

Years before I ever typed the first words of the Sean McPherson series, I was at Hedgebrook, a beautiful writing retreat on Whidbey Island. At the time, I wasn't even thinking about fiction; I was working on my very first nonfiction book.

Writing nonfiction can be heavy, and I needed a break. I stepped outside of my little cabin to breathe in the crisp island air and clear my head before diving back into the manuscript.

That was when I saw him.

In the distance, a landscaper was moving across the grounds. He was a man with a pronounced limp, pushing a heavy wheelbarrow with determination.

I didn't speak to him, and he didn't see me, but that fleeting image stuck. In that quiet moment, the seed for Sean "Mick" McPherson was planted. My mind began to wonder about his story, eventually transforming that real-life stranger into a police officer medically discharged after surviving a horrific accident—the very same accident that his partner, Sam, didn't survive.

It’s amazing how a single, ordinary moment can quietly spark an entire fictional world.