Below, you’ll find the full transcript of today’s episode, in case you prefer to read or want to reference something we talked about.

Silent dreams, seaside hymns, and a daring choice … one Maine tea room offers a purpose far sweeter than fame.

In the waning days of the Roaring 20s, Melody Harper feels out of step with her pastor father’s stern household, where music is frivolous and dreams are foolish. She longs for a place to belong. When a letter arrives from her late mother’s sister inviting her to work at Aunt Delia’s Tea Room in Portland, Maine, Melody dares to dream of a new beginning far different than everything she’s ever known.

At the seaside tea room, Melody discovers the music of God’s love is more beautiful than any hymn or instrument. When she glimpses a handsome boatbuilder, his devotion to his crew and his dog calls to her, making her wonder what else God might have planned for her life.

With each passing day, Melody’s voice grows stronger and her heart more hopeful. She keeps her mother’s favorite hymn tucked inside her locket because it feels like a roadmap for living the kind of life she desires.

Outside of the safe bubble of her upbringing, not everyone is as welcoming as Aunt Delia. Violet Black, a high-society local beauty, has designs on Calder, and she’ll stop at nothing to get him, including offering a young outsider a deal that she surely can’t refuse. Melody has everything she ever wanted within her reach, but at a cost that could silence her very soul.

She followed the song in her heart—but to keep her voice, she’ll have to choose what truly matters.

A touch of fairy tale, a spoonful of history, and a teacup of hope.
Meringue Melody is a stand-alone novel in the Apron Strings Tea Tales multi-author series, and a 1920s historical romance retelling of “The Little Mermaid.”

Lori Soard has a PhD in Journalism and Creative Writing, but she’s hardly the stuffy professor type. She loves nothing better than a good romantic comedy and thinks the good guy should always win and the ending should always be happy.

From an early age, Lori started honing her story telling skills. As a kid she was rarely seen without a book in her hand, even walking and reading at the same time. Her first stories were about the world around her. At twenty she wrote her first novel, which she admits was horrible. At twenty-one, she sold her first article to a local newspaper. Once she got that taste of having others read her work and realizing that she could reach others and touch their hearts, there was no turning back for this natural born writer.

“If I can make someone’s day just a tiny bit better,” Lori says, “if I can make them smile even though they are sad, make them think things could be better, make them understand how much God loves them, then I have accomplished something. I write my stories, articles and books with that one person in mind who really needs the message. If I can change one person’s perspective, then I’ve succeeded.”

Lori is a life-long Hoosier and lives in southern Indiana with her high school sweetheart turned husband. They have two grown daughters and two granddaughters. She always has a her critters surrounding her, including a couple of miniature dachshunds and several rescue cats. “During the extreme low points in life, it has been my animals that have seen me through. There is nothing like the deep devotion of a dog or the unconditional love of a cat.” Lori adores animals and while some of her dear friends have crossed over the Rainbow Bridge she will always stand by her belief that animals make the world a better place.

Welcome to A Spot of Story with Danielle Grandinetti. Cozy up with your favorite beverage as we chat about sweet romance, thrilling suspense, and fascinating history. Perhaps you’ll find your next read in one of these stories.

Danielle Grandinetti: On this episode of A Spot of Story, I’m chatting with Lori Soard about Meringue Melody, the first book in the brand new Apron Strings Tea Tale Series.

What’s fun about this one is that I’m also a fellow author in this multi-author series, so I am excited to talk with Lori today. Lori, welcome.

Lori Soard: Hey, thanks for having me.

Danielle Grandinetti: You’re welcome. So Lori Soard is a lifelong Hoosier and lives in southern Indiana with her high school sweetheart turned [00:01:00] husband. They have two grown daughters and two granddaughters.

She always has her critters surrounding her, including a couple of miniature dachshunds and several rescue cats. During the extreme low points in life, it has been her animals that have seen her through. There is nothing like the deep devotion of a dog or the unconditional love of a cat. Lori adores animals, and while some of her dear friends have crossed over the Rainbow Bridge, she’ll always stand by her belief that animals make the world a better place.

I love that, Lori.

Lori Soard: I love my critters. They just make life better.

Danielle Grandinetti: Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. Well, Lori, we’re gonna be talking about Meringue Melody today. But before we get started, the podcast is all about bringing readers together. So I’d love to know what you’re currently reading.

Lori Soard: So it might kind of surprise you, because I mostly write romance, but I only read a little bit of romance.

I try to support my fellow authors in the [00:02:00] multiple author series and stuff. But I’m actually reading a nonfiction book and I have to look at the title ’cause I keep forgetting what it is. But it’s basically about finding your purpose in life and finding that niche for yourself.

Like why are we here? What is the big—it’s called Nine Steps to Build a Life of Meaning.

Danielle Grandinetti: Oh, I like that.

Lori Soard: Yeah. And it’s by, I think, Rick Walker, but I’m not halfway into it. And it just really digs into everything from the little things you do in life—are you really using your time effectively?

You know, if you’re sitting, scrolling social media all the time, right? I mean, I think we’re all that sometimes. Are you really using your time where our time here is a wisp? I’m enjoying it, but yeah, that’s what I’m reading right now. That’s probably not what you were expecting, but…

Danielle Grandinetti: But that’s why I [00:03:00] like asking the question. Because you never know, and it helps us get to know you better.

All right, so turning to Meringue Melody, tell me a little bit about the story.

Lori Soard: Okay, so I love this story. It is based on—it’s inspired by The Little Mermaid. It’s not The Little Mermaid, there’s not a mermaid in it, but it follows the wanting to be part of a different world, longing for something different than what you have.

It’s set in 1928 in Portland, Maine, and I’ve just had so much fun researching Portland. All about it. But the story follows Melody, and she goes from her little town in Indiana with a pastor father who’s very strict on her. And she goes and stays with her aunt who owns a tea room—which is the thread that ties all the stories together.

The aunt owns a tea room [00:04:00] in Portland.

Danielle Grandinetti: Oh, that’s gonna be so fun. I’m looking forward to reading it.

Lori Soard: Yeah, and I think people will see elements of The Little Mermaid. Some of it comes inspired by the original fairytale, which did not have a happy ending. Mine has a happy ending.

Danielle Grandinetti: Yes, yes, absolutely.

So what was your favorite scene to write in the story so far, and why?

Lori Soard: Oh gosh. I think the one where she first sees the hero. He’s a boat builder, and she sees him on a boat with his dog. He loves animals. And she just sees how he’s interacting with other people, and it lights that spark.

They haven’t even met yet, but it lights that spark in her that she’s interested in what kind of person he is, and she sees something special about him.

Danielle Grandinetti: Oh, I love that. I love that. So you mentioned research into Portland. [00:05:00] What was a bit of the unique research that was required to write the story?

Lori Soard: I think what was so difficult—there’s tons of research out there about what Portland’s like right now, it’s a pretty big city. Tons of stuff. But what was it like in 1928? That’s really different than what it is like in 2025. It’s been almost a hundred years.

I found a book. I was so excited. It has all these old pictures of Portland through the years. A lot of them are fifties, sixties, but there were some gems in there that were from the twenties and even the thirties. So I was able to just pull out details about what buildings looked like.

This book doesn’t release until October 14th. So what I’m doing right now is going back and adding some of these little details. I left it a little general ’cause I wasn’t a hundred percent sure and I didn’t wanna write anything incorrect. And that has been so much fun.

And then the other part was, what was [00:06:00] shipbuilding like in 1928? Because that’s the hero’s profession. It was different. It was a time when the world was really starting to change. They were building more steel ships. So I had to figure out how to factor that in. Was it a smaller boat builder? Was it a larger one? A lot of those companies changed around the time my story was set.

So I worked that in a little bit—how things are changing and where’s the future gonna go with the family company. I liked it. I just found it fascinating.

Danielle Grandinetti: That’s one of my favorite questions to ask—the research that goes into these stories.

Lori Soard: And I’m sure you know what I mean, ’cause you write in the 1930s. You probably do the same thing and just start digging into those tiny little details.

Danielle Grandinetti: They’re fascinating. Which brings me to the next question. What is a piece of research that didn’t get included that you wish you could have?

Lori Soard: [00:07:00] Oh, that is a tough one. I’ve done a lot of research about the Maine coast. I have been to Maine before, but not Portland. So I did a lot of research on what it looks like.

I didn’t include a lot of that. I just kind of gave a general description to set the tone. But I could have gone on and on about how gorgeous the Maine coast is, and it’s just so different than other areas on the east coast.

Danielle Grandinetti: Maine is one of the states I have not been to yet. I’ve been to more than half, but I have not made it to Maine yet. And it is high on my bucket list.

Lori Soard: It’s been many years since I was there. I was a kid. My dad used to take us on three-week road trips every summer, all over the United States. So I have been there, it’s just been a while.

Danielle Grandinetti: Yep. Yes, indeed. So what was the inspiration behind this story?

Lori Soard: [00:08:00] Being part of the series, we each picked a fairytale. I got invited into the series kind of late. There weren’t a lot of fairytales left, and I had choices between The Little Mermaid and—I don’t remember what the other ones were.

But I’ve always loved The Little Mermaid story, so I said, sure, I can do that. That was the initial inspiration. Then I kept thinking: okay, what is the main thing about Ariel other than being a mermaid? What’s her main character trait? It’s that she wants something other than what she has. She longs for a change, something more.

So that led me to: what kind of character in the 1920s would long for something more? And it just kept morphing from there.

Danielle Grandinetti: I love that. I love that—those little seeds of an idea that build into a whole new story.

What encouragement do you hope your readers will take away from this story?

Lori Soard: I’m a [00:09:00] Christian woman, and before I ever start any book, I always say a prayer and ask God, help me reach that one person You want me to reach. Help me give them a message, a line in the book that encourages them, that maybe makes them see God differently.

If they’re not a Christian, or if they’re a Christian and they’re discouraged, may it encourage them. Let it help them take a breath through something they’re going through. So that’s what I hope. Even if just one reader walks away feeling encouraged after reading it, then I’ll feel like my job was done.

Danielle Grandinetti: Yeah. I love that. I love that. It’s that note of hope and being heard in your story.

Lori Soard: Right? I think the world needs that right now. We’re in dark times and people need that encouragement and the knowing that God has a plan. Even when things are hard, [00:10:00] He has the final say in how things turn out.

Danielle Grandinetti: I feel like the twenties and thirties are the perfect backdrop to show that because of how difficult and hard things were, and getting ready to be.

Lori Soard: Heading into the Great Depression, society was changing a lot back then. So it is a really good time period to hone in on God’s love for us. And I hope that’s the message people get from the book.

Danielle Grandinetti: I love that. I love that.

All right. Well, thank you, Lori, for joining me today. If readers want to find this book or find you online, where is the best place for them to go?

Lori Soard: Well, thanks so much for having me. Yeah, I enjoyed this. So my books are on Amazon. They can find me on there. The last name’s spelled S-O-A-R-D. I also have a website, lorisoard.com, where they can learn more about the books and about me.

Danielle Grandinetti: And I will [00:11:00] link to those in the show notes on my blog post page. So if readers don’t want to Google it, they can just go to my website and I’ll link straight to you.

Lori Soard: Awesome. Awesome.

Danielle Grandinetti: Thank you, Lori. This has been such fun to talk about Meringue Melody, and I can’t wait to read it. It’ll be fun.

Lori Soard: I’m looking forward to your book, too, in this series.

Danielle Grandinetti: Thank you. Thank you. I think we’re tag-teaming—I’m number two.

Lori Soard: Oh, are we?

Danielle Grandinetti: So that’ll be fun, kicking off the series.

Well, thank you, Lori.

Lori Soard: Thank you.

Danielle Grandinetti: Thank you for listening to A Spot of Story with Danielle Grandinetti. We hope you enjoyed today’s conversation. Let us know by leaving a comment below and be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. Discover more information about today’s book by visiting A Spot of Story online at daniellegrandinetti.com/podcast.

Happy reading.

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Until next time, may your reading bring both light and encouragement.

Happy reading!
~ Danielle.