[Angela Ruth Strong] My Book Voyage

By Angela Ruth Strong

One year ago I attended the Sundance Film Festival to research for Finding Love in Park City, Utah. I like to use real life settings, but this was the first time I actually got to travel to the location before writing the book. In fact, my novel Finding Love in Sun Valley, Idaho was originally set in Sweet Home, Oregon, but the publisher had too many Oregon stories and asked me to move it. I then traveled to Sun Valley with my BFF and rafted the Salmon River to make the changes needed.

I also visited Montana on a motorcycle with my hubby for the first time AFTER writing Finding Love in Big Sky, Montana

Writing Finding Love in Park City, Utah might be the easiest book I’ve ever written, and part of the reason why is because of all the inspiration I found on my vacation. Actually, I volunteered for the festival so I could get a look behind-the-scenes. Here are five fun facts I was able to work into the story.

1. Redstone is the only theater in town where ticketholders don’t have to wait outside in the snow. This is where I “loaded” theaters, and where Sam and C.J. meet in the very first scene of my book. During the festival, actors and directors come in to speak to audiences after each film showing, which was my absolute favorite part of the festival. I usually didn’t recognize any of them until after they were introduced, and I decided to give C.J. the same problem recognizing celebrities. Here’s John Krasinski from The Office speaking about the first film he ever directed. He’s awesome in real life too.

2. Film festival volunteers wear bright orange jackets. The jackets are reversible, though we were encouraged to wear the orange side out. When C.J. goes tubing with Sam and his family, she has to borrow a waterproof jacket from a volunteer, and she feels like a clown in the bright orange.

3. The town is adorable. Main Street looks like it’s lined with storefronts from the Wild West, and behind it, colorful homes line the mountainside like a quaint version of San Francisco. It’s super clean and artsy with a grand piano inside the bus station. And even though Christmas is over, they leave the lights up. C.J. hates it at first because it’s too perfect and happy for her.

4. We ate at Robert Redford’s restaurant in the old train depot. I was told to make reservations in advance since the town is so crowded during the festival, so I did, but Sam didn’t think that far ahead. Thus he has to ask C.J. on a date to McDonald’s. 

5. My friend Sandi Van Lieu-Polizzi offered to let us stay in her vacation home while in Park City. It was just my husband and stepdaughters that went with me, but with six bedrooms the place was big enough for Sam’s whole family, so I wrote them into it. In the story, it’s Sam who jumps out of the hot tub and makes a snow angel in his swimming suit, but in real life, my hubby and stepdaughter did it. We were totally spoiled and had a fabulous time. This was our view.

I’m excited to take you to Park City through my novel, and I hope you enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I also hope to research all future stories for you this thoroughly, which is why I just got a part time job at an airline. Free travel! Up next is Finding Love on the Oregon Coast.

And maybe, just maybe, I’ll be setting a novel in Mexico soon as I’m headed there on a cruise next week. Bon Voyage! And happy reading.

Angela Ruth Strong was first published by a national magazine while still in high school and went on to study journalism at the University of Oregon. She has won both Idaho Top Author and the Cascade Award for her novels, and she started IDAhope Writers to help others pursue their dreams. She is also a member of Team Love on the Run.

Angela Ruth Strong

Besides writing, she teaches group fitness classes, travels with her kids on youth group mission trips, and often gets herself into silly situations like hamster ball races or riding on the shoulders of a unicyclist.

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Don’t miss Angela’s three book Resort to Love series.

Finding Love in Sun Valley, Idaho  HERE

Finding Love in Big Sky, Montana  HERE

Finding Love in Park City, Utah   HERE

Falling in love can feel a lot like tumbling down a mountain

C.J. Lancaster’s job as a tabloid journalist takes her to the Sundance Film Festival to interview an actress. She tries to charm her way past the movie star’s youngest brother-in-law, Sam, and somehow ends up on an “undate” with him. If C.J. were ready to date, the fun-loving veteran would be her first choice, but since she’s still healing from her ex-husband’s affair, she knows it will be safer if she scares her new “friendboy” away.

Sam Lake is intrigued—he’s never had to pursue a woman, and he can’t get C.J. out of his mind. Whether it’s how she likes to eat ice cream in winter or the way she gets his nieces and nephews to gang up on him in a snowball fight, he feels more at home with her than his oversized family. But when his own issues arise, he realizes C.J. might be right about avoiding a relationship with him.

Can the two of them overcome the emotional mountains in their lives to be together, or will they remain a “noncouple” forever?