It’s summer.
For most people, summer = vacation time.
The beach, usually.
But I’m not really a beach person. In fact, I can only tolerate so many hours of sand in places it shouldn’t be and hair made frizzy & wild by salty sea air.
The beach is not necessarily my dream vaycay.
But what about you?
Share with me: If money wasn’t an issue, what would your dream vacation be?
Filed under Just For Fun
Announcing the winner of the Wildflowers from Winter giveaway! The lucky person to receive a copy of Katie Ganshert’s debut novel is (drum roll please) LORI DILWORTH!!
Congrats, Lori! Email me your address and we’ll get that right out to you! I know you’re going to love it!
And now on to today’s topic…
Four Things to Inspire Your Writing Today:
1. Chocolate. Lots of it. In all kinds, shapes, sizes, and *flavors. *dark, white, milk, etc. Get some. Now. Chocolate produces a special endorphin that speeds up the brain synapses and helps you up your daily word count. Okay, I totally made that up, but it does do something to help me out when I write. Maybe it has magical plot-producing properties.
2. This place. Because when you publish lots and lots of books, you’ll have enough money to buy a house with an outdoor writing room that has this view.
3. This song. Because it’s a reminder of just who should be glorified with your writing.
4. These four guys. They are now the wallpaper on my desktop and they make me feel a little bit guilty when I sit down to the computer and I’m not writing. And plus, these dudes are not bad eye-candy. That’s also inspirational. (bonus!) 🙂 (No, I haven’t seen the Avengers movie yet, but I plan to this coming weekend.)
Share with me: What’s inspiring your writing today?
Filed under Writing
The rolling waves, the clean, soft sand, the briny wind and lazy, drifting clouds–it all presents the perfect locale for a romantic scene.
Like Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster in From Here to Eternity, or Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum in Dear John, the romanticism of the beach can wash over one like waves on the shore (cliched pun intended.)
So, my hubby and I decided to take a nice stroll along the beach in the moonlight. Hand in hand, we wandered along the water’s edge as the gentle waves lapped at our feet.
And sand birds swooped in after the tiny creatures washing ashore in the water.
And shells scraped against the skin of my feet.
And I held in shrieks every time seaweed touched me.
And the water made my skin sticky.
And the drunk people on the beach celebrated too loudly.
And I got paranoid about sting-rays and crabs in the shallows because we had seen some earlier in the day.
And sand blew in my face.
And I watched for jelly-fish washing up on shore.
So much for the moment.
I can appreciate the beauty and majesty of God’s creation when looking out over the rolling ocean or the moon reflecting upon the water. I’m not inhuman, but…
All my life, I’ve been a fair-weather friend of the beach. (I know that there are some of you who don’t want to be my friend anymore.)
I like the atmosphere of being at the beach, but I only actually like being on the beach for a few minutes, and then I’m done.
There are creatures in the water. Don’t tell me there aren’t–I’ve seen them. And I’m not a fan of creatures.
The waves can get really strong and it freaks me out–I don’t want my kids getting sucked out.
Sand is the most annoying substance on earth. It gets EVERYWHERE. Eating on the beach inevitably means ingesting at least a pound of sand, so a picnic is kind of out. And sand has a habit of traveling home with you. I’m still finding it in our house.
And since it’s a true fact that my nickname is Pale Hale, the sun and I aren’t exactly buddies. SPF 900 has to be reapplied about every 10 minutes for me to avoid looking like a lobster.
“Now I know why you like those vampire books,” my husband said to me as I sat on a blanket and watched my boys frolic in the water. “You look like you’re about to burst into flames.”
I ignored his snarky comments because I was measuring the water around my boys’ ankles. Is it deep enough for a shark?
So the whole idea of the beach being a place for a romantic rendezvous is kinda out for me.
When I look at the picture of Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster above, all I can think is, “they’re gonna get sand in some awkward places.”
Share with me: Is there a location that most people consider romantic that you don’t find romantic at all?
Filed under Just For Fun, Romance
Represented by Rachel Kent of Books & Such Literary Agency.
Hale and Hearty Words 