“I wish they would still let us light a fire in the fireplace…. Early summer nights can get cold here.” We’d just finished our tour of Vikingsholm and were talking with the wonderful park ranger who had provided such great information on the beautiful old house. As a child I’d spent my summers at Lake Tahoe, and it was a family tradition to hike down to Vikingsholm and have a picnic there. So I remember the spot fondly and was so glad to finally be able to share it with my own family. But even more, I loved taking our hike because it was the first time I had gone back since using it as the setting for one of the scenes in Betting Jessica. I recently wrote a guest blog post for Romancing the Genres where I describe why I love to write contemporary fiction. I enjoy being able to use things I observe or overhear or past experiences. The scene from Betting Jessica is a perfect example of this. On one of our trips when I was young a terrible storm came up and began raining and then hailing on us as we were half way down the mountain. My mom had us hold towels over our heads to keep the stone sized hail from hurting and we ran down the mountain until we reached the castle. When we arrived there we found all of the visitors huddled inside and they quickly made room for us. As I took the tour my memories of that experience overlapped with the story I had created. I asked the park ranger if the fireplace was ever used, and this led to us talking about that childhood experience so long ago. I explained that I remembered a fire being lit in the fireplace and at some point the ranger pulling out his guitar and leading the storm hostages in song. She told me that although the fireplace was no longer used, she had heard stories about the previous ranger playing his guitar and sometimes having a fire there. Fortunately, Betting Jessica is fictionalized because when they arrive at the castle after encountering a similar hailstorm they are able to have an intimate moment sitting on the hearth in front of the fire… something that couldn’t actually happen at Vikingsholm today. Still… as I stood there, getting ready to shoot a YouTube video for my fans, Erik and Jessica were as real to me as the ghost of my past self. Main room at Vikingsholm with fireplace in the background.
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“Have you noticed the UPS guy’s been using the porta-potty in front of the neighbors’ house?”
Seriously? Yeah, really…. The guy has been doing that. A house on our street has been doing some remodeling and apparently the construction workers toilet has been seeing some extra use. To be fair… driving around all day is kind of a crappy (pun absolutely intended) job. I don’t know about you, but I am always sipping something when I drive; coffee, water, soda. At some point it would have to get to you, right? And then what? I imagine that is why I often see fed-ex and UPS drivers stopping into Starbucks. In a past life I spent a lot of time on the road as a sales rep. (selling checks which is so funny I just had to say it). Anyway… I know what it is like to require a pit stop and I became very good at sussing out the very best spots to, shall we say, take a break. So… just in time for your summer travel, here’s my list of top five places to go to the bathroom when you have to go (please note: porta-potties are nowhere on this list): 5. Hotels (in the olden days it was useful that they also had phones). 4. McDonalds (‘nough said… who hasn’t done this?) 3. Community Colleges (just be careful of the parking) 2. Starbucks (duh! Although not an option long ago when I was on the road) and… 1. Libraries (where next year you should also be able to find a copy of my book, Untangling the Knot) Like how I snuck that in? Yes… it is official! I have finally received my first book contract and will be publishing the digital version of Untangling the Knot by Christmas and the print version sometime next year. Am I excited? Definitely! I love the publisher (Soulmate Publishing LLC); am thrilled to be working with a great editor; and can’t wait to hold a hard copy of this wonderful story in my hands before I turn fifty. (Click over to The World of my Books to see more about Untangling the Knot). As a side benefit… today marks the one year anniversary of my blog. What better way to celebrate than with an announcement of this wonderful milestone. Today in particular I’d love to hear about your own dreams being worked on or already fulfilled; so please leave a comment. And remember… Every journey begins with a single step (even if it is only in the direction of the porta-potty). |
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June 2020
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