This is a picture I took from a balcony in a condo DH and I stayed in when we went to California last March. We woke up in the morning, walked out onto the condo's balcony and this was the view we had. Breathtaking.
Now, if you came to my house, you would not have such a view. You would see the house across the street. LOL But if travelled just a few blocks away, you would actually be able to see New York City from across the Hudson River. So not as much immediate gratification but still something that people who are not used to it find cool.
Why am I writing about this? When I write, I place a lot of my stories in and around the area I grew up in or in places in which I've spent a lot of time. Westervelt reminds me, for example, of where I went to sleep-away camp for two summers as a kid.
Okay.
I have a novel out there that I haven't sold yet (Truth is I haven't tried to sell it yet because I'm still tweaking it) and at the end of it I pretty much eliminate the possibility of setting the next in its series anywhere near where I live. It's going to have to be somewhere else.
Not wanting to screw anything up, I contacted another writer who I respect and asked her to tell me the answers to some questions I had about living in her area. Her answers weren't at all what I expected. This made me so glad I'd spoken to her first.
I need a view into another world, someone else's world, and I need it to be right.
That's something I'm going to be working on for the next few months.
How are all of you?
RR
