Tuesday
A few bits of good news.
First, this website is still working! After a scare last week, I’m relieved that the site seems to be back to normal. I’m being proactive, however, and creating a backup site that I can use if this one ends up crashing.
Good news x 2: Our household goods are supposed to be delivered to the condo TOMORROW! That means our own bed, cookware, towels, books, clothes, jewelry, pictures, patio chairs, lamps. Hooray!
Weekend Exploration
C and I did some more exploring on Saturday, ending up at Asan Beach and the War in the Pacific National Historical Park. This area is flat and grassy with some ragged palm trees lining the rocky beach. Here in 1944, a USA amphibious landing took place to free Guam from Japanese Imperial occupation.
I liked the color contrast on this cement post at the park (right). The block-top design–I believe–is a more rectangular variation on the traditional latte (pronounced lahddy) stones that were the building supports of ancient Chamorro homes.
Another example, the Governor’s Complex at Adelup Point (left) has a tower called the Latte of Freedom. The tower was built in 2010 and is one of the many places we have yet to visit. The symbol of a latte stone is found all over the island, and I spotted what looked like original stones near the Tsubaki Hotel, so we need to go back to that area to take a closer look. We have so much to explore!
The climate here is so tropical. Warm and humid with a breeze most of the time to keep things a bit cooler than you’d imagine. I enjoy the beautiful orchids growing on the palm tree trunks. This beauty grows outside the Fisheye Marine Park Visitor’s Center. Traditional wooden carvings tower in the lobby. We just stopped in to grab some brochures and talk to the nice young lady at the welcome desk. They offer sunset cruises, lunch and dinner, dinner shows, snorkeling, underwater marine life viewing, and more.
The waves at Asan Beach rolled and crashed as we walked around the park. The wind really whipped those palm fronds! I could have spent hours examining stones, shells, and pieces of dried coral reef along the shoreline. As humans do in so many places, there was a section of cairns constructed of these materials along the shore.
Writing Update
So many excuses for not writing. The website issue. The lack of a table or desk. Feeling grumpy about not having my things. The air conditioner developing a drip. An ice dam forming beneath the crisper drawers in the refrigerator. These are all excuses. Basically, I need to get back on track next week. These stories (three? four? how many do I have going now?) are not going to write themselves.
My Works in Progress (WIPs)
Rosalie – Contemporary book club fiction.
The Peony Hotel – Contemporary book club fiction
Strawberry Moon Mystery – Olivia Lively Mystery novelette
Love & East Mercy – Small Town Romance
Always the Bride – Small Town Romance
It’s worse than I thought! Sigh. Those last two I haven’t touched in awhile. For the Liv novelette, I’m waiting to see if my handwritten draft is in my household goods arriving tomorrow. I’ve been working on both Rosalie and The Peony Hotel even though I have no earthly idea what I’m going to actually DO with them once they are finished.
It’s getting to the point where I’m gonna have to decide if I want to try being a hybrid author – indie publishing some books, traditionally publishing others – or if I want to continue with the traditional small press path I’m on at the moment. I’d love to see all the Liv books published by my current small press publisher, but things change so fast in the publishing world. Nothing is guaranteed.
I suppose the best thing would be to take a “build it and they will come” approach. No sense wasting time worrying about the future when I could be finishing manuscripts. I keep thinking about my readers. I don’t want to let everyone down. So many lovely people have buoyed me and my books, have spread the word, have attended my author talks, have written encouraging reviews, and basically made my author dreams come true. I appreciate it so much!
Even this week, many months after the publication of NIGHT MOVES, a reader posted on social media a photo of a quilt square she sewed with the cover colors.
This really made my day/week. Thank you Jen Morrell! I just love it.
What are you working on?
Drop a comment about your current WIP or craft project or home project. I’d love to hear what you are doing these days.
Last Friday I sent out my February PINK DANDELIONS newsletter and also posted an excerpt of the essay from the newsletter on the Type M for Murder blog.
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Oh, how exciting to have news of your things. That’s wonderful news. Enjoy familiarizing yourself with your own things – it’ll be a treat.
You’ve got a lot going on, and a ton of exploring to do, so putting the writing on the back burner seems reasonable to me.
We have SO MANY things! I will have much organizing to do this week.