Rhonda D. Herb

The Jewel of Paradise, Dorrance Publishing, 2022
Deadly Relations, 2023
The Healer’s Secrets, Seacoast Press, 2025

Setting is almost another character in a novel, so the right setting is essential to the story. Every book demands a different atmosphere. One story may need a windswept medieval coastline; another may need a contemporary cruise through turquoise islands.

Personally, I’m drawn to stormy weather and moody landscapes. Maybe that comes from growing up in sunny California! My upcoming romantic suspense novel, Shadow on the Vines, is set in rainswept Oregon wine country because it felt far more atmospheric and mysterious than placing the story in bright California vineyards.

Every author brings a different voice, perspective, and emotional experience to the page. My stories blend romance, suspense, mystery, and medicine, often with atmospheric settings and characters facing both emotional and physical danger.

I think readers ultimately pick books because they want to feel transported to another world for a few hours and to care deeply about the people in it. That’s always my goal as a writer and as a reader.

I’m fairly certain I’m the only novelist who ever built a murder mystery around California’s Williamson Act! Most people think of it simply as a land-preservation program, but in Deadly Relations I connected the idea to zoos, endangered species, and wildlife preserves to explore the importance of protecting open land in California.

I try not to over-research. If I spend months gathering historical information, I’m tempted to cram every fascinating detail into the story—and that can become exhausting for readers.

So now I tend to go looking only when I need specific facts. When I needed my character Catherine in The Healer’s Secrets to use a handkerchief, I researched to determine if handkerchiefs were commonly used in 1347. And I discovered that yes, they were often little works of art and the more elaborate ones were even listed in marriage settlements. I liked that fact so much, I included it in the book.

I’m especially excited about my upcoming novel, Shadow on the Vines, because it blends so many things I love as a writer: romance, murder, mystery, medical suspense, and the eerie beauty of Oregon wine country. The story revolves around a suspicious death at a winery, and beneath the mystery is a deeper exploration of obsession, ambition, and appearances.

I’ve secretly always wanted to own a winery, so writing this book became my chance to step into that world.

Joseph Campbell was probably right that most stories follow some version of the hero’s journey. But no two emotional journeys are exactly alike because no two people are alike.

Readers may recognize familiar elements in romance novels—love, conflict, hope, transformation—but it’s the unique characters, settings, and emotional choices that make each story feel new.

I love Louise Penny because her stories are ultimately about human goodness. Despite their cold Canadian settings and murder mysteries, they leave me feeling warm and comforted.

Jodi Picoult amazes me because she can take almost any topic and transform it into a compelling page-turner. If I were stranded on a desert island, I might take her novel The Book of Two Ways because there’s so much to unpack in it.

And Nora Roberts never disappoints when it comes to deeply developed characters. Even when her characters live glamorous lives, they still struggle with the same emotional challenges the rest of us face.

I grew up in a small town, and I think that background shaped all my stories. Books became my way of exploring worlds far beyond the one I knew.

Later, I spent forty years working in health care, where I learned how deeply connected our bodies, minds, and spirits really are. I believe stories matter there, too. Sometimes reading can be its own form of healing—for broken hearts, broken spirits, even broken lives.

Daisy Edgar-Jones, who was mesmerizing in “Where the Crawdads Sing,” would be an excellent Catherine in The Healer’s Secrets. And Paul Mescal would deliver exactly the right blend of authority, intelligence, and emotional restraint to Dr. Thomas Melwynn.

I think we read partly to understand the experiences and perspectives of other people, and to compare those experiences to our own lives. Reading is far more than entertainment; it’s one of the ways we make sense of the world.

Seeing how fictional characters endure loss, fear, love, or uncertainty can help prepare us to face those same challenges ourselves.

I’m currently revisiting a novel I first drafted in the early 1908s called Appearances, about a young woman who dreams of becoming an astronomer. When I first wrote it, we didn’t even know whether planets existed beyond our solar system.

The explosion of discoveries in astrophysics over the past 40 years has been astonishing, so part of the challenge now is bringing the science up to date while preserving the emotional heart of the original story.

My books are available through Amazon, Kindle Store, and Barnes & Noble.

Write because you genuinely love storytelling—because creating characters and finding exactly the right words brings you joy. Don’t write because you hope to become famous or wealthy.

Write because stories are the place you most want to spend your time when the noise of everyday life falls away.