There I was, sitting at the Irish Cultural Festival in Cleveland, Ohio, autographing copies of what was then my new book, Whiskey Island. "I could tell you stories about Whiskey Island," one man said. "I wish you would," I responded. "Bootlegging," he told me with a wink before he walked away.
"Did you know that during Prohibition there were tunnels connecting some of the bars in Cleveland with the lakefront on Whiskey Island?" another man informed me. "How do you think they got liquor into the speakeasies without being caught?"

"No, I'm not planning a sequel," I told a number of disappointed readers who loved the idea of another go-round with the Donaghue sisters of the Whiskey Island Saloon. They still had questions that needed to be answered. Did Megan marry Nick? Did Peggy have her baby? Did Casey finally realize Jon was more than a best friend? And most of all, was Rooney okay?

But even as I was saying "no," my mind was spinning.

Several years later I autographed the sequel, The Parting Glass, at the Irish Cultural Festival in Cleveland. It only seemed fitting since the book was conceived there. The Donaghue sisters, who have each reached a turning point in her life, find more mystery in their past as they struggle to find happiness in their present.

The Parting Glass took me back to Cleveland, then to Ireland twice for research. I hope it transports you, as well.