Readers may recall meeting “the master of the Northern Michigan beach read,” Wade Rouse — who writes under his grandmother’s name, Viola Shipman — when The Clover Girls debuted last summer. That novel, set in Glen Arbor, follows the lives of four women who met at a fictional summer camp near the dunes in the 80’s.

Viola Shipman’s new book, The Secret of Snow, which is part of a multi-book deal with HarperCollins/Graydon House, is out October 26. For the first time the author — known for his heartfelt fiction set in Michigan resort towns — is setting a book in winter.

He tells the Leelanau Ticker, “I want the setting to be as big a character as my protagonists. The Secret of Snow is set primarily in Traverse City and Palm Springs but I also wanted to include a quirky little resort town filled with history and beauty.”

That town is Omena.

“I was introduced to Omena by dear friends via boat. Nearly every summer, we tie up at Knot Just a Bar, have lunch and a few drinks and then stroll through the amazing Tamarack Gallery. But I really fell in love with Omena when I learned of its animal mayoral election. Over the years, I’ve voted for dogs, cats and chickens.”

He says the main character, meteorologist Sonny Dunes (who, after being replaced by an AI meteorologist, is given another shot at a station in her hometown of Traverse City) “has to jump into all things winter to woo viewers, so I write about all the beloved northern Michigan winter festivals and traditions: Ice sculptures, ice fishing, the Suttons Bay Yeti Fest.” Omena is the home of the protagonist's love interest.

He notes, “TC is also front and center: Front Street, The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, the restaurants, wineries and breweries,” as is “lotsa lake effect.”

That includes a nod to the Great Blizzard of 1978, and the 2014 polar vortex that “wrapped its icy arms around Michigan.” Rouse told his followers on Facebook, “the incredible ice caves [that] formed along Lake Michigan in Leelanau County were otherworldly, mystical and beyond breathtaking.”

Leelanau landmarks, nature shows and town cameos aside, “Really, the novel is about overcoming grief and what it means to stop running and come home again,” Rouse says. “It’s also about the beauty of Michigan in the winter, and how we can find ourselves again when it’s quiet and everything is stripped clean.”

The novel is now available for preorder or find it starting October 26 at local booksellers. The author will be at Saturn Booksellers on Oct. 26 for the book launch and McLean & Eakin on Oct. 27.