Nearly three years after The Perfect Hope hit stores, a week still doesn’t go by in which a reader realizes that Inn BoonsBoro is a real place (Turn the Page and Vesta too).  A good many readers followed Nora and BW’s rehab of love that restored a broken down, tree-growing, pigeon-hosting old building to its current glory.  But there are plenty of others who read the Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy and thought they were fabulous works of fiction, only to be stunned when they saw the Inn on CBS Sunday Morning or read about it in a newspaper.

One of the best emails that ever came to my inbox was from a reader congratulating Nora on the fabulous marketing campaign for the trilogy that went the extra mile by creating a realistic website for the fictional Inn BoonsBoro.  I had a great laugh, then corrected the assumption.

Boonsboro is not the first place to feel what I call the NR Effect.  The Born In and the Gallaghers of Ardmore trilogies still draw readers to both County Clare and Ardmore.  In fact, I just heard from my Ardmore contact John Supple who wrote “we still have a number of people calling on a regular basis to Ardmore all because of Nora and some often find they would like to stay over in this beautiful village but would move on due to lack of accommodation.

“We now have a number of people within Ardmore who have accommodation — from houses to lovely cottages to Bed and Breakfasts and Hotels — to rent for people who want to spend an extra few days.” He said if any readers are planning a trip to Ardmore, to contact John at cottageardmore@gmail.com to arrange quality accommodation to suit any budget.

Ashford Castle and the town of Cong still see many Cousins O’Dwyer readers and we hear often from people who have gone on the falcon walks there.

There is a very clever In Death reader who has created her own personal tours of NYC that visit landmarks still standing in 2058.  And we get requests all the time for suggestions for places to travel.

A couple of weeks ago, Buddy MacLean, the owner of The Lodge at Buckberry Creek in Gaitlinburg TN called Inn BoonsBoro.   A guest that week visited because she’d read about the resort in The Liar.  Buddy was astonished when the guest showed him her copy of the book and went off to purchase one.  That same week a bus tour group stayed on the property and when Buddy mentioned The Liar, the women on the tour said they’d all purchase a copy before they headed home.

After looking it up on the internet, I asked Nora about choosing The Lodge (POTENTIAL SPOILER AHEAD:  this is the hotel where the woman who confronts Shelby about Richard stays when she comes to Rendezvous Ridge).  Nora said she was looking for a pretty, sort of out-of-the-way place. She used The Google, looked at a few and liked the look of The Lodge, and the name. It just worked.

Well, the team at The Lodge at Buckberry Creek is so pleased by their ties to The Liar, they wrote back and said they created a discount code for Nora’s readers.  Readers who wish to stay at The Lodge at Buckberry Creek can mention the promo code NORA2015 when booking and they will receive a 10% discount on their room rate and will receive a $50 voucher towards dinner.  The promo applies to guests who book prior to 10/2/15 and only valid on stays prior to 7/2/16.  Cannot be combined with other discounts.

If my husband and I weren’t building a home this summer I think we would be heading to the Smokies.

Laura