Wandering Thoughts

 I feel like I'm in one of those old movies that had flipping pages of a calendar to show the passage of time.  It was November 1 and then suddenly it's November 10.  I tend to live in the moment and am always surprised when something in the future becomes now.  It probably sounds silly, but I am always amazed to see the ages of former kid actors as if they would stay young forever.

Fall finally came to Southern California.  The days have stayed sunny and mild, but the nights have turned cold.  We're getting another dose of Santa Ana winds and all the warnings that come with them.  Next week, there is a forecast of several days in a row of rain.  With the time change, the shortness of the days is very apparent.  Where has this year gone?

I was rushing to finish the rewrite of KNOT DEAD, AGAIN and thankfully got a reprieve of more time. It is so much nicer to be leisurely about going through it.  Though I am already thinking of the next book on my list.  The first book in the new series.  For the proposal, I called it CLASSY YARNS AND TEA FOR YOU, but I suspect it's too long and the publisher will want to change it.  That's not an issue now, though.  My trip to the location where it takes place got me all enthused about it again.

I try to include things in my books that I see other writers do.  I like details that make a place feel real.  I like interesting facts about locations that keep a place from feeling like a generic small town in the Midwest.  Even though I have changed the name of the town in the book (because then I can move things around), it is based on a real town.  It was always a backdrop when I was a kid and I never saw what made it special.  

It is located a few miles from Lake  Michigan and the dunes.  It was just called "the beach" when I was a kid.  I vaguely knew the dunes were special, but mostly viewed them as sandy hills that my feet sunk in.  Recently, the area has become a National Park.  I just read something that said Lake Michigan acts more like an ocean than a protected body of water.  The article mentioned that being a boon for body surfers and sailors.  

I want to include some facts about the area instead of just broad strokes of description.  When we were driving through it, I wanted to remember every detail, which was impossible.  I have snapshot pictures in my mind of the way trees bordered a field that had been cleared for planting or maybe left fallow until next spring.  The way the road dipped down between trees with orange and yellow leaves.  The colors of the sand and sky as it began to rain at the beach.

But now it's back to Cadbury by the Sea to get back to the rewrite of KNOT DEAD, AGAIN.