Sally Tyler Hayes spent seven long years working for a small-town newspaper at Hilton Head Island, S.C., the highlights of which were interviewing Tom Berenger and Charlie Sheen (when they were preparing for their roles in Major League), and being bawled out by Ross Perot (for printing the fact that he’d purchased an oceanfront house on the island).

She spent countless hours covering the most boring of government meetings. During the worst of them, she flipped to the back of her notebook and sketched out scenes for her first novel.