In Teach Me To Forget , I put my heroine in a motor home. When I conceived the book (I carried this baby for a long time, folks) I had a memory of the first time we rented a motor home to go to the dog shows in Lompoc, CA. It was a class “C” which means built on a van base with a compartment over the driver section. We slept in that compartment and the dogs stayed down below (well most of the time anyway!) As we settled in that cozy spot, I thought how good it felt to be snuggled together. It would only need some rain falling on the roof so close above our heads to give it that last nudge toward super romantic. 
Not likely to have rain in Lompoc in July. But very possible to have rain in the remote areas north of San Francisco. And I had a pivotal scene for a future book embedded in my mental files.
After several years of renting, we bought a used Class “C.” When it’s not hauling us to dog shows it makes a great guest room. I’m packing it now for the Saluki National. A lot of good memories were made in this vehicle, and there will be a lot more to come.
And then the question comes up: with my decades of life with Salukis, why does Bethany share her life with an Irish Setter? Hmmm, good point. I could say it’s because I’ve always loved those gorgeous red dogs, even though Salukis 
have been my passion for so long. I could say it was a conscious decision due to name recognition of Irish Setter as opposed to the more rare Saluki. Actually, I liked Bethany too much to subject her to life with a sneaky thieving Saluki. Okay, not really.
The best answer I can come up with is an Irish Setter is the right breed of dog for Bethany. Baron is a beloved clown with no desire to be anything but Bethany’s best friend. He’s not much of a hunter or guard dog, but when it comes to Bethany’s safety, Baron is the hero of the moment.
EXCERPT:
“If you were really worth anything, you’d go for help. Lassie would have had the Marines here by now,”Bethany said sternly to the dog below her. Then again, she reminded herself, Lassie could have called for a stand-in. All Baron could do was look up at her with his head tilted, foolish tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. As first he had barked ferociously, frustrated because he couldn’t get up in the tree with her, angry because she wouldn’t come down and play with him. “It is, after all, your fault.”
In all honesty, she had to admit it was as much her fault as Baron’s. True, she’d slipped when the setter, fast on the heels of a slow rabbit, had tumbled into a ditch, yelping piteously as he lost his footing. But it had been her own idiotic impulse, born of a long denied desire, that encouraged her to climb the tree in the first place. Branches set close together and a convenient vine had aided and abetted in her juvenile whim. The same branches and vine served to trap her foot and score her hands deeply when she attempted to scramble out of the tree with more enthusiasm than thought.
They wouldn’t have wandered to an unknown section of the woods if her mind had been on where she was going rather than what had happened the night before. She’d left early that morning, too embarrassed to face Jonathan. The walk and her thoughts, after a night of too much thinking and not enough sleep, had brought her nothing but the realization that she could not continue to stay in J. Phillip Merritt’s house. Not and maintain control over her emotions and her life. If she started within the next few hours, she could be halfway to San Francisco before the evening.
***
Jonathan does rescue Bethany from the tree, and their relationship is able to grow as they learn to trust enough to reveal themselves to each other. Teach Me To Forget is available as an e-book or paperback.
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Mona Karel Author 