Once again Greg and I are at the beautiful Alderbrook Resort and Spa. He is here for a conference, and I am here as driver and for my wit and charm (not). We have the room for one night but of course the weather was cold and rainy when we arrived yesterday, so I didn’t get out for much of a hike. I did spend a great deal of time in the coffee bar, artfully labeled the Drinkery.
Today, however, I plan a long walk along the beach.
One of the great things about writing in a different environment is how it jumpstarts my creative mind. I find it easy to write in coffee shops.
So, what am I working on?
I’m beta-reading a book of short stories for a friend and enjoying it a lot. These stories are set during the Vietnam War era and are quite interesting to me. I knew many people who were very like the characters in his stories.
Also, I am still trying to plot the final act of a duology that has been in the works for far too long. When that fails, I go back to working on the outline for November’s NaNoWriMo book, and both tasks are oozing along reluctantly.
On the fun side of things, I’m preparing for an in-person book selling event on July 1st at Olympia’s Pride Festival. I haven’t done an in-person event since before the pandemic. The best part of this is I will be with three other authors, Judy Kiehart, Ellen King Rice, and Johanna Flynn.
One of the questions prospective buyers always ask (and I hate) is, “What is your book about?”
My mind goes blank, and my mental response is “I don’t know” but since that won’t sell a book, I struggle to explain the core of my books in only a sentence or two. So, while I’m here at Alderbrook Resort, I’m working on my spiels. My goal is to make them short, concise (and hopefully) interesting.
Identifying the core plot device around which my narrative revolves is important.
Who or what is the book about?
I can sell either the idea of the book or the main character. Once I choose what to sell, main character or idea, I must stick to that. If I choose the character, I will use only the protagonist in the description, and forget the others, because it is that character’s story that I’m trying to sell.
Keep the spiel short. It’s easy to be long-winded and rambling about my work but I’ll only have about 60 seconds to sell that book.
I have no trouble selling my friends’ books – I’ve read them all and love them, and love selling them. Maybe I can sell their books because I’m not emotionally invested in their creation, but I am invested as a reader.
But back to this lovely resort—a place that is conducive to creativity. Greg and I were here at Alderbrook last year, and as a vegan, I found the food was both delightful and unusual. The food this year has been outstanding, created with care and attention. If you’re curious, here’s the link to my post from a year ago, #RoadTrip! The Resort, The Vegan, and June-uary #amwriting.
(June-uary is what we call a normal June around here because it will be cold, overcast, and rainy, like a slightly warmer January without the snow.) We like cold gray and rainy Junes here in the Great Northwest, because July, August, and September tend to be hot and dry. The summer drought normally starts on July 5th, but since today is warm and partly sunny, 74 degrees (23 Celsius), and weather models for the foreseeable future look the same or warmer, the annual dry spell may be starting early this year.
I’ve enjoyed our brief stay here at Alderbrook Inn. The view of Hood Canal is fabulous, the grounds here are beautiful, and the peace of this place is soothing. I’ve gotten some good work done.
We’re still unpacking at our new apartment. I’m not sure where some things are, but gradually our new home is shaping up. I like the ambiance of my new office. I think a lot of new plot twists are just waiting to emerge from my subconscious and complicate things.
Next week on this blog we will talk about the creative process and the importance of mind-wandering. We’ll also talk about why it is important to beta read for your fellow writers, and how to be a good reader, one who gives positive feedback and offers constructive suggestions.
In the meantime, happy writing!
Now, we probably wouldn’t have plumped for such a fancy getaway, but my husband has a conference there, and what with him not driving right now, I am along as chauffeur.
It’s a fjord, not a canal, so why they named it that, I don’t know. But there it is, one more thing our pioneering ancestors have to answer for.
The man and the baby: We arrived on Sunday afternoon. We sat at a romantic table for two for our first dinner, overlooking the beach. It’s the Pacific Northwest, so people come dressed for January in June (or June-uary as June is known here). The lawn chairs were full of guests lounging in their summer finery of Gore-Tex and wool, ignoring the intermittent misty rain and drinking steaming coffees. Off to one side was a young man sitting alone. Beside him was the fanciest baby pram I’ve ever seen.
On Monday, I decided to be adventurous. I thought I would try the spring salad with fresh peas, pea vines, fennel, watermelon radishes, and a champagne vinaigrette. I had never thought of eating pea vines, but I’m not afraid to try new things.
Today we are on our way home, where we will indulge in budget-friendly home-cooked meals and other economies for a few weeks to make up for this splurge.
Life in the Realm of Fantasy 