Have you always wanted to know how the Mailboat Suspense Series got started?

• • No, I didn’t grow up in Lake Geneva.
  • No, I wasn’t a mail jumper.
  • However, I did start developing the story while I was trapped in a life of emotional abuse and depression that nearly led to suicide… and creating this story helped me survive.

By popular demand of my fans over on Patreon, we’re going back to the very beginning of the Mailboat Suspense Series for the ultimate Story Behind the Story—starting with Mailboat I: The End of the Pier.

If you’ve been thinking about whether or not to give my Patreon a try, this is a once-in-a-lifetime moment to climb aboard. I’ve made the first two posts open to the public just so you can sample what we’re all about.

What Is Patreon?

I created my Patreon page in response to the most frequent complaint I hear from my fans: Waiting for the next book to come out!

My Patrons get some incredibly cool perks:

• • Access to every chapter I write, the minute I’m done writing it
  • Book Club Questions to discuss every chapter together
  • Behind-the-Scenes posts revealing details like my inspiration, writing process, and thoughts and feelings behind every moment in the story

A lot of my current Patrons followed along as I wrote Mailboat V, and they now know the Mailboat Suspense Series on a crazy intimate level. They’re currently waiting, breathless, to repeat the experience with Mailboat VI.

Why Are We Launching This Cruise Into the Past?

Right now, I’m wading into the lengthy but vital planning, research, and outlining phase for both Mailboat VI and Mailboat VII, and it’ll be a while before I have new chapters to release for the Patrons.

We were all sad about letting our community go dormant. In addition to the delights of reading and exploring the story together, we’ve created an incredibly tight-knit community around our passions for reading, Lake Geneva, and creating a safe space to discuss mental health.

Rebecca—both my untiring publicist as well as one of my loyal Patrons—had an idea. (Yes, another one. It’s like a garden spigot that doesn’t turn off.)

She suggested we could go back to Mailboat Book I and explore the very beginning of the Mailboat Suspense Series together.

I put it to a vote for the Patrons—and they approved it unanimously.

Schedule of Activities

Approximately once a week, I’m going to re-release a chapter from Mailboat I, followed by Book Club Questions to help the readers go even deeper into the experience.

My Patrons say they’re looking forward to the excuse to re-read the series, as well as to learn what their fellow readers think of each moment of the story.

With every chapter, I’ll also include a Behind-the-Scenes Post telling the story behind the story. And I’m planning to go deep. 

Way deeper than I’ve ever gone before.

If you’ve been to one of my readings, you may think you know the backstory.

But there’s more.

Patreon has become my safe space to talk about my own experiences with trauma and abuse, and my own mental health journey. And if we’re going to talk about the very beginning of the Mailboat Suspense Series… we’re going to talk about some of the darkest times of my life…

But most importantly, the beauty that grew out of the ashes.

That first behind-the-scenes post is live now, and it’s free.

More Than Complimentary Soaps and Shampoos

The first chapter has already released, and it includes a lot:

• • The Prologue of Mailboat I: The End of the Pier
  • A sample audiobook narration of the prologue, performed by my former Montana employee, the amazingly talented Nathaniel Brown
  • Book Club Questions to launch the discussion with our online book club
  • A Behind-the-Scenes Post talking about how I encountered the idea for the Mailboat Suspense Series in the first place—and what my life was really like at the time. (Spoiler: It was pretty freaking awful.)

All of that is available now—and yes, I made it available to the public  for free as a sample of everything we do over on Patreon. If you’ve been waiting for an excuse to give my Patreon page a try, I can’t think of a more ideal time to come aboard.

We can’t wait to welcome you to this deeper-than-ever Cruise Into the Past. It’s almost summer, and the water is fine. Come join us!

~ Danielle