On the Olympic Peninsula, which is west of Seattle and borders on the Pacific Ocean, there is a snow-capped mountain range filled with valleys and surrounded by forests and beaches.  The name Rain Forest is quite accurate, at least, I’ve never been there on a dry day.  Moss everywhere.  The peninsula is all national park except around the edges, and kept wild and pristine, with few roads to the interior, limited hiking trails and lots of untouched wilderness.

     True, there’s a town on the coast that makes its living selling vampire souvenirs to tourists.  If you don’t know about it, mention the name Forks to any teenager.  What intrigues me about the peninsula is its interior with its lack of access.  Could be anything hidden in there.  Maybe even a magical country made invisible to outsiders by long-gone gods?  Stumble in and you just might meet a handsome barbarian warrior.

     And if you’re an independent young city woman, disbelief reigns.
 
     Okay, so our city girl, Claire, knows the classic children’s story about the tarbaby, a sticky toy set in the middle of the road by a fox to trap a rabbit.  A tarbaby is a lure.  So is the handsome blond guy who draws her deeper and deeper into his troubles...

     TARBABY TROUBLE is the first book of the Mudflat series.  If you’ll forgive me bragging a little, it won the 2009 Eppie Award for Best Fantasy.  I brag because at the time I wasn’t too confident about my book.  What if the writing was mediocre?  Hard to judge one’s own work.  About the time I was sinking into depression, TARBABY TROUBLE made it through a panel of three judges to be a finalist in this national competition for ebooks.  When I learned that, I felt a little better.  Three months later, three more judges chose it as the winner.   Okay, I get a lot of rain in my world, but this year has brought a lot of sunshine.

     Feel free to read the first chapters of any of my books to see if they are your kind of thing.  They are all posted on my website at http://phoebematthews.com.