A Little Romance… A Little Love

I am sometimes asked why I have written romance novels. What led me down that path?

That’s a very good question, and one I am not sure I can answer with any certainty.

You see, I love to read, but romance is not one of the genres I read a lot of. I have, in the past, read some great rom-coms (think Bridget Jones and the like), but more often than not you’ll find me with a British or Scottish police procedural. Hand me a Colin Dexter, Ian Rankin, Peter Robinson, or Ruth Rendell, and I’ll read it cover to cover, usually without stopping!

But, as I have mentioned in previous blogs, there is an adage “write what you know.” I know nothing about how a police investigation works, or how a murder case is solved. And I may not be an authority on romance either, but I do live at the beach on Hatteras Island. After coming here for over half a century, and living here for more than a decade, I think I have a finger on its pulse. And to be fair, I am married to a cute guy I met on the beach in 1971 and had a huge crush on at the time, so I suspect I do have some romantic bones in my body!

Beaches, and for me, especially Hatteras beaches, lend themselves to romance. When I worked the front desk at the Cape Hatteras Motel for eight years, I talked to many guests who got married on the beach, honeymooned here, celebrated anniversaries here, and yes, even started their families here! Cape Hatteras, and all seven of our little villages here on the island, can be absolutely magical.

Take a beautiful stretch of isolated sand, a brilliant blue-green ocean, gentle waves (and they can be gentle at times), and a perfectly cerulean sky, and the days are made for hearts skipping a beat. Or, take the nighttime. There are cloudless skies with the Milky Way and a zillion stars all around. Then there are the storms that rumble through, over the ocean, watched at a safe distance. The lightening flashes and claps of thunder require a warm, safe hug.

When people vacation here, it’s often to get away from the crazy routines of life at home. When people are here, they can embrace the wildness that is our island, and appreciate both its energy and its stillness. It’s often a place to reflect, and find where the heart leads.

I like to write romance because I think it’s something this island helps create. All of my books have what is known as the “HEA” or Happily Ever After. With everything we experience these days in real life, I want my words to give the reader a chance to reflect. But more importantly, I want my stories, my characters, and their attempts at love, to be heart-warming and to bring smiles to faces.

Beach reads are an attempt to calm the ups and downs of daily living, to remind readers of a very special place, and to give hope. If I accomplish any of those, I know I will have succeeded. Thank you for letting me know when I have made one, or all, of those things happen for you!

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A Little Bit About “Storm Season”

I am often asked just how much of “Storm Season” – my first novel – is based on real life. It’s an interesting question because I believe most writers include something of their own reality in their books. There’s an old adage, “write what you know” which is why my books are about life on Hatteras Island. It is what I know.

To answer that first question, yes, there is a bit of my own personal experience in the book. Friends and family know that my husband, Dave, and I met as teenagers when we were both vacationing in Buxton. I came from the Pittsburgh area and he came from northern Virginia. Our families happened to choose the same spot over the same timeframe for a number of years. We got to know each other during the summers of 1971 and 1972, and then we went our separate ways.

For me, that was going back home, finishing high school, graduating from college, and getting on with a new life, family, and varied careers that took me to South Carolina, Illinois, Colorado, and around the globe. Dave’s family bought a motel in Hatteras and so he settled in on the island, running the Cape Hatteras Motel for more than 50 years. We reconnected when I came back to take care of my mom in 2015. She and my dad, who passed in 2011, had retired to the island in the early 90s. So, getting back together with a beach boyfriend after forty-some years is similar to what occurred with Susan and Chris in “Storm Season.” But the similarities end there, as the circumstances in their lives after they parted as young people are purely fiction, and not anything that Dave and I experienced.

What is very real are the experiences of preparing for hurricanes, living through a hurricane, and then cleaning up afterwards. In the book I mention Susan and Jo hearing the wind whistle. If anyone asks me to describe a hurricane, that’s the first thing I think of. That sound is ominous and unsettling. During a storm it is relentless.

There are the nerve-wracking days in the run-up to a storm. Today we listen to forecasts from any number of media – tradition and social. But back in the 70s hurricane forecasting was in its infancy, and so Dave shared a lot of his experiences about storm prep in those days to inform what Susan experienced.

I must admit the first time I saw “overwash” at our motel (when the ocean and/or the sound come over Highway 12) I cried. I had no idea how we would ever clean up the mess. Sand gets everywhere and, unlike snow in the north, sand doesn’t melt. But going through storms, as I did the eight years I worked with Dave, I learned a tremendous amount about the resilience of the people on this island. Almost as soon as the winds die down everyone is out and about, surveying damage, and working together to begin the clean-up. It can seem impossible at first, and sometimes damage can mean long-term issues. But, most of the time, it’s simply manual labor with the help of some big trucks that can pick up debris, haul sand, and get it off the highway.

It’s also important to mention that while named hurricanes garner most of the attention, fall and winter nor’easters can do as much, if not more, damage. One only has to witness what occurred in Buxton this past fall, and in Rodanthe in the recent past, to understand how vulnerable our coastline is.

And finally, there is one aspect of the book that is fiction but I wish it would come to pass. We don’t have a winter boat parade on the island. It could be that the weather is way too iffy, maybe many boats are in storage, or just not used during the winter months. We do have a traditional Christmas parade that is well-attended and a highlight of every December. But somehow, I wish we could see the boats all decked out in lights just cruising around the docks for the holidays.

We often turn facts into fiction. Maybe this time, fiction could become fact! We’ll have to wait and see.

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I’ll have the shrimp basket, please!

There’s nothing like a tasty, golden, fried shrimp basket to begin your Hatteras Island vacation. Fresh and local, it is like summer in your mouth! That’s one of the reasons that the shrimp basket at “Marcie’s” has become a feature in all four of my books.

I’ve actually had readers ask me where they can find “Marcie’s” as it doesn’t show up on Google searches or their GPS. There’s a very good reason for that. For while shrimp baskets are very real, “Marcie’s” is not. It’s an amalgam of many of the restaurants we have here on the island. I can see it in my mind’s eye, and maybe that’s why it seems so believable to readers. Make no mistake, you can find a good shrimp basket everywhere here. You just won’t find that restaurant.

One of the unique aspects of writing a novel – writing fiction versus non-fiction – is that you get to name your characters, and sometimes places. There are plenty of descriptions of island life in my books that are absolutely true, but the character names come from my imagination. That can be fun.

When I wrote “Storm Season,” I had come to the point of introducing a local eatery. I wanted a place where my characters could enjoy a meal, share news, and even bring about a major plot point. But I needed a name.

My memory took me back to the 1960s and early 1970s, when my family and my aunt and uncle’s family and cousins vacationed with us. We did this several years running, and we still talk about, and laugh about, our shared experiences during those crazy, sun-soaked weeks together. My Aunt Marcia took on the nickname of “Miss North Carolina” for her fashion statement hats, bathing suits, and her overall embrace of a beach vacation loaded with family adventures, and oftentimes, misadventures. I hit on the name “Marcie’s” as a way to honor those memories and to give her a little nod in my work.

As the Hatteras Island Trilogy took shape over three years, it just seemed natural to keep “Marcie’s” in the books. Restaurants play a huge role in the summer scene, and any book about this area without somehow talking about food, drink, and the accompanying social scene would be missing something.

“Marcie’s” even makes an appearance in “Building a little Love,” as the only piece of my imagination that carried over from the first three books. It has not only become a talking point for readers, but it’s become special to me, just as all my characters hold a special place in my heart.

My real Aunt Marcie will be 89 in a few weeks. Happily, she’s never lost her enthusiasm for life, and she still enjoys it to the fullest. And yes, I still call her “Miss North Carolina!”

So, the next time you are visiting our wonderful island, make sure you allow enough time to enjoy a leisurely meal at a local restaurant. And if the mood strikes you, order a yummy shrimp basket. You won’t regret it!

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It’s Wake Up Time on the Island

When the calendar turns to March 1, it means several things. Personally, it means my birthday month is over! But that’s of no consequence to anyone but me, really. More importantly, it’s the beginning of meteorological spring, and that’s a wake-up call for Hatteras Island. For those of you who visit just during the summer or during the shoulder seasons, you might not think too much about what happens when you’re not here!

It’s amazing to watch the island rouse from its off-season slumber. It occurs gradually, but it definitely happens. It’s in the little things. It’s the extra minutes of daylight, and more days in the 60s rather than the 40s and 50s.

Driving past the high school, the young women are out on the field for softball practice. The marquee at the school suddenly announces baseball, softball and soccer schedules.

There are signs at nearly every place of business announcing help wanted – for servers, for housekeepers, for just about any island seasonal position you can name. And the restaurants are returning – slowly but surely. Some will re-open at the beginning of the month, some around St. Patrick’s Day, and some closer to the end of the month. But with Easter being in early April this year, most want to be open at least a few weeks ahead of time, just to “get the rust off.”

There’s sometimes the sad realization that a few places won’t re-open. The long off-season from the end of October to March brings about changes that aren’t fully understood until it’s time for the new season to begin. Tempus fugit.

Many of the clean-up efforts and projects undertaken during the fall and winter are wrapping up. Storms took out more houses in north Buxton over the past months, and the debris clean-up is on-going. There are still piles to be carted off the island, but they are becoming smaller and fewer. The major project of the electric cooperative is wrapping up as well, and the staging area is now almost completely devoid of pallets, trucks, and pilings. By summer, most, if not all of this, will be gone. Many visitors will be unaware of what occurred just a few months earlier.

Daffodils are beginning to bloom, bringing some welcome color. Azaleas won’t be far behind. And for anyone who has spring allergies, an onset of sneezing, more than anything else, is a harbinger of the change of seasons.

There might be – actually probably will be – a few more unseasonably cool or even cold days. But there is no doubt that the temperature trend is upward. Folks can walk on the beach without cumbersome winter apparel. A few brave folks are already barefooted in the sand. On a very warm day, one might even see a few bathing suits out and about, especially if there’s no wind. And the anglers are reappearing on the hunt for drum, or maybe even big blues.

You can almost feel the island stretching and yawning as it moves out of its slumber.

One important note for this year. Our lighthouse won’t be wearing her stripes again this summer, as repair and renovation work continues. But she’s still standing tall, scaffolding and all, ready to welcome visitors back to their piece of paradise.

For those of us who live here year ‘round, we know there’s two more months until the speed limits change. That’s the real indicator things are about to be in full swing. Until then, we’ll enjoy this gentle wake-up time as we ease into a new season here on Hatteras Island.

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Author Jan Dawson Returns to Hatteras Island with New Romance Novel “Building a Little Love”

HATTERAS ISLAND, N.C. – March 2, 2026 – Acclaimed contemporary fiction author Jan Dawson has announced the release of her highly anticipated novel, Building a Little Love, available today. Set against the picturesque and rugged backdrop of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, this new addition to Dawson’s body of work introduces a fresh cast of characters and a brand-new love story that captures the unique charm and challenges of seaside living.

Building a Little Love continues Dawson’s signature style of blending romantic plotlines with vivid descriptions of coastal environments. Readers can expect a clean, character-driven narrative that explores themes of personal growth, identity, and the tight-knit community ties found in small-town settings. The novel invites readers back to the shores of Hatteras Island, offering a heartwarming narrative designed for those who enjoy feel-good stories with a distinct coastal flair.

In addition to the love story, “Building a Little Love” takes a deeper look at the confluence, and sometimes the collision, of attitudes and feelings about island living, based on the points of view of natives, locals, second home-owners, and visitors. Dawson has built a loyal following through her previous titles, such as Storm Season, Hooked on You, and Tangled Lines. Her work is celebrated for its authenticity and ability to transport readers directly to the Carolina coast.

Critics and local personalities have long praised Dawson’s ability to evoke the true spirit of the Outer Banks in her previous series. The late Gee Gee Rossell, Founder of Buxton Village Books noted regarding Dawson’s work, “Is there anything more satisfying than a string of books by a favorite author? Drop into the stories at any point and you will instantly know you are among Hatteras Island locals. Author Jan Dawson’s stories always offer plenty of local color and a great plot.”

The emotional resonance of Dawson’s storytelling has also been a highlight for reviewers. Speaking on her previous novel Tangled Lines, Dr. Emily Walker of the Sam and Em Podcast stated, “Tangled Lines is a charming, page-turning escape. It swept me back to my twenties – that exhilarating, uncertain stage of life when you’re building a career, discovering who you are, and stumbling into love when you least expect it.”

Jeremy Spearman, a producer at WRAL-TV in Raleigh, described her writing as, “The perfect page-turner for any bookworm with a passion for love stories and the Carolina coast!”

Building a Little Love is available for purchase starting today online via Amazon and at select independent bookstores.

About Jan Dawson
Jan Dawson is an author best known for writing contemporary women’s fiction and sweet romance novels set against the backdrop of coastal life on Hatteras Island and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Her books blend romantic plotlines with vivid descriptions of seaside living, exploring themes like personal growth, relationships, and community. Her style tends toward clean, relatable, character-driven storytelling that evokes place strongly. For more information, visit jandawsonauthor.com.

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