Walk into author Cheryl Blaydon's East Boothbay home and you might notice a few things.

You might notice the paintings done of water scenes and still life, painted by Blaydon herself. You might notice the Portuguese “Casa De Blaydon” tile over the fireplace, or the family Bible next to it once owned by her paternal great-grandfather.

But what you'll notice most of all is the warm, inviting atmosphere created by Blaydon herself, as she sits you down with a glass of home-brewed iced tea for a chat.

Blaydon has just finished her most recent book “The Heart of Stone” after two years of hard work. This is her third book; she also wrote “Island Odyssey” and “The Memory Keepers.”

“The main character, Prudence Stone, inherits a seaside cottage in a small village called Oyster Cove, Maine,” Blaydon said. She explains that this is a fictitious location, created from a combination of her personal favorite small towns in Maine.

“In the process of learning about her great-grandmother and the eccentricities of her new home, she falls in love with Maine and maybe more, after all it’s a love story…you’ll have to read it to find out,” Blaydon said.

Blaydon did not set out to write “The Heart of Stone” two years ago. She was instead planning on a sequel to “Island Odyssey,” but it never quite materialized for her.

“It evolved from a few things. I was researching my family genealogy on Ancestry.com, and learning about my great grandparents. I felt this story edging its way into my mind the more I learned the story of three generations of women in Maine,” Blaydon said.

Blaydon said that “hardly a day goes by where she doesn't write.” On days she is stuck with her story, she switches to short stories briefly to recharge her brain.

“I have very vivid dreams,” Blaydon said. “I keep a notebook by the bed to jot down ideas that occur to me in dreams.”

Inspiration for Blaydon comes from many places. Two Christmases ago, she was shopping in Rockland and came upon a framed photo of a woman gazing through binoculars on the shoreline, one hand holding onto her hat. The photo sat on her desk the whole time she wrote, reminding Blaydon of what one of her characters would have looked like in her time.

The book came out in May and is available at Sherman’s Bookstores, online at Amazon.com as well as www.northcountrypress.com. Blaydon will also be signing her novels at the Books in Boothbay event in July and looks forward to greeting new readers.

Blaydon originally came to Maine for a painting workshop on Monhegan Island and fell in love with the area, living first in Edgecomb and then Southport before finally settling in East Boothbay in a house designed with a lot of her input. “When I’m not writing or painting, I love cooking and this time of year, just getting my hands dirty in the garden,” Blaydon said.

Blaydon was raised in New York in the Albany area, and spent 20 years living in the Caribbean on the island of St. Croix before she moved to Maine. For her novels she has taken much of her inspiration from her life experiences and the people she’s met.

Blaydon describes her two passions, painting and writing, as extensions of each other. With painting, she tells stories through pictures, and with writing, she draws with words. She often uses the sea as inspiration, in both her writing and painting.

“I tend to gravitate toward topics that revolve around the sea,” Blaydon said. “Its mystery, its danger and its beauty.”

Blaydon enjoys reading works by other authors as well, including Colin Woodard, Gerry Boyle. Tess Gerritsen and Margaret Drabble. One of her favorite authors, Linda Greenlaw, wrote the blurb for the back of the book. “Blaydon's characters are real, the book enjoyable and believable and skillfully strikes all the right chords in this human drama of romance, redemption and intrigue,” Greenlaw writes.

Blaydon said she hopes the book will intrigue all those who read it, and give everyone something they can relate to, whether they were born here, transplanted here, or visit during the summer months. She has already begun the sequel, and says she hopes to bring the story “full circle.”