Janna McMahan receives inspiration lying in the hammock in her backyard in Forest Hills. Four members of a family struggling with fear came alive in the mind of Janna McMahan as she jogged her 15 miles each week developing a story line before she tapped out words on her keyboard.

The result was McMahan's

second novel, The

Ocean Inside.

As the book begins, Emmett and Lauren Sullivan appear to have a comfortable marriage, but differences begin to surface. Ainslie, their youngest daughter, is outgoing and enraptured with life and nature, and daughter Sloan is an introverted teenager, who feels power in secrets.

When Emmett finds a lump on Ainslie's stomach, the family falls apart. Lauren obsesses over Ainslie's illness. Emmett copes by withdrawing, and Sloan escapes finding herself involved in reckless dangerous love.

Woven through the story are characters from the so- called rich Wannamakers to the questionable Verulo.

The end is a shocking turn of events that once again changes the lives of the Sullivan family.

Janna McMahan poses in the large tree in her front yard. Her garden was on the Forest Hills Garden Tour May 14, 2009. McMahan understands the struggles of disease as she has had her own to deal with. When she thought she had five years to live, she made a commitment to do what she loved most, write. She says, "I now feel as if I've contributed, that if I died tomorrow would leave something of significance behind. I love that my novels are in libraries and stores across the country. It's now documented I existed. I want my daughter to be able to pick up one of my books when she's an adult and say, "My mother wrote that."

McMahan has her next novel brewing and has begun research necessary to create believable characters. She plans to clear her calendar in July to complete this novel, a difficult task because McMahan also works with Post No Bills, has a 12- year- old daughter, Madison, and a husband, Mark Cotterill. She jogs and belongs to several organizations and travels around the country promoting her books.

McMahan also has a novella, "Decorations," in Fern Michaels' Snow Angels.

Janna McMahan will be at Barnes & Noble June 6,

2009, signing The Ocean

Inside from noon- 2 pm.