A Peek Into You Life in Florida

A peek into your life, is a segment spotlighting authors, specialists, and friends who brave my countless questions day in and day out. It's the best way I can share with you all, the many people who taught me the bizarre things I know, who satisfy my thirst for knowledge and adventure, and who keep me motivated.

Self portrait in the shadows

So today I am being interviewed over at Writing and Living where Richard asked me some questions about the unique place I call home. Now... we get extreme cold, he sees extreme heat...

He lives in a state I visit often because I have family there who I love dearly, and so when he ran this idea by me... I just had to jump on the chance to find out what he thinks about actually LIVING in Florida, because well... I think it's a righto swell place to visit.

Richard is the author of The Gunman in Black, Battles and Other Stories, and Only the Lonely.  He is also a painter and you can check out some of his work on his site.

But! This isn't about Richard!!! It's about peeking at where he lives and how that inspires him.

Where are you from, and did you always live here?  I was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. I went away to college for four years, coming home off and on, and then lived at home for a year before going on active duty with the US Navy. When I got out of the navy, I lived in Jacksonville another two years before moving to Rhode Island in 1973, where I lived for a year before moving to Massachusetts and married my wife of 40 years in 1974. For a variety of reasons we moved to Jacksonville in 1988, where I’ve lived since.

View from the highest point in Jacksonville

What places or sites would you recommend I visit when in your area? Do you visit these places and what did you think about them? If you visit Jacksonville, the main attractions are its beaches. We have a smooth sandy coast line with usually small to moderate (2-3 foot) waves, although when storms come in those waves can get quite high (easily 6-8 feet).
For northerners, the best time to visit is April or May for wonderful weather. The summers can be brutally hot, and the winters too cold for lying in the sun and swimming. We actually have quite a few visitors from Canada during the spring.

The best nearby place to visit is St. Augustine, Florida, about an hour’s drive from Jax. It’s the oldest continuously occupied city in the U.S.A. It’s quaint and restored to its original buildings and configuration. It has many visitors from around the world every year. It’s a destination for many travelers. I’ve been there many times.

What do your pets think about the climate? I (we) have two cats. One’s an inside cat, the other goes in and out. They almost always want to be inside the house.

A good day drawing by the pool!

What do you like to do in your spare time that is outside? I dislike working outside in the summertime. The heat and humidity floors me within minutes. Unfortunately, I have to maintain the yard. I do have a swimming pool, so I jump in when I get too hot. Pool maintenance is a constant outside activity I’ve been doing since 1988.

What areas/places interest you the most about your town? 
We have a vibrant arts scene; we have some good museums and art galleries; I enjoy our library system a lot. Other than that, I don’t do a whole lot. I do take courses in art at the U of North Florida.

In what ways does where you live filter into your writing?

The lake at the Jacksonville Arboretum

Jacksonville played prominently in my early stories, but not so much now. In fact, after traveling some of the world and living up north, Jacksonville is just a place to live, nothing more. I could easily move someplace else, although I’ll probably be here the rest of my life.

Dang, our peek is already done.
Thank you so much Richard for sharing your world with us! 

Hope you enjoyed it and take the time to visit Richard's site to see what I have to say about living on the prairies. 

The Magic of Details

Writing is an art form that allows us to take a romance and turn it into a paranormal in a quick setting change. By changing the goal of our bad guy, we can turn him into a hero if we want. I like to remake my first drafts. It's fun. But I found inspiration the other day that I wanted to share because it made me look at my RE-writing in a new light.

It didn't come in any form I expected, and to be honest, I've seen it a thousand times without ever actually seeing it.

The Dollhouse 2012

There is this old house we drive by on our way to the city. So for 30 some years, I have seen this abandoned house, falling down on the side of the road. Slowly, it started decaying and I do remember my dad saying a few times that someone should knock it down.

In 2007, artist in resident Heather Benning transformed it into something really cool. See NEWS REPORT and some other PHOTOS and STORIES HERE.

She turned it into THE DOLLHOUSE. Perhaps you've heard of it. If not, let me catch you up. She replaced one side of the house with plexiglass and then redid the interior like a dollhouse from the 60s. Yeah, I know, it's one of those things that makes you go "What? Cool."

It's just off number two highway which means it sees a fair bit of traffic. In fact, there is always a car parked there. Last time we drove by it was raining but I asked hubby to stop. I don't know why, maybe I was looking for inspiration, maybe I just wanted to see if it was still holding up. Or maybe, it's just that cool.

As I said, it was raining, muddy, yet another family was out there just staring at it in awe.

Awe.

I tried to see what they were seeing, because to me, it was still the old house I grew up ignoring, the one no one even cared enough to knock down.

One of my kids said it was cool that Heather saved it.

Saved it? It was still falling down, wasn't it? I took a better look. Yeah. It was. But! People were looking at it in awe. People were pointing to the details. The flowers, the basin, the things left on the floor or dresser.

Details.

Even falling down it was a masterpiece because of fine details she'd added in.

No one lived in the house since the 60's, but it looked like Barbie or Ken might come out any minute to smell the flowers in the kitchen. It had a new life. Yet it was still the old house I wouldn't dare sneeze by for fear it crumble.

It really hadn't changed much on the outside.

And there it was. That's what I was doing wrong. You can change a title, you can change a genre, you can move the plot around so it reads differently. You can cut scenes. You can knock it down and start fresh, but until you crawl into your story and add in details that make people point, you're just hiding a mess. It's the inside that counts sometimes.

 She didn't change the outside, just put up a sign that this was THE DOLLHOUSE. She didn't really change the inside either, just added in details and made the entire thing stronger, but her changes to the structure are hidden amongst the old, so you can't see them, they blend in perfectly.

She left the old and brought in details to finish it. 

Details that left people in awe. That is magic. That is what I want to do with my next MS. I don't want to change a thing from that first draft, just deepen the inside of my story so people turn the pages in awe at how rich and full the inside is.


Ever stop to look at something you thought you knew and finally see what everyone else sees? Do you like to redo your first drafts or just polish them? What is the last thing you saw that made you stand in awe at the details? Because wow. Look at what she did with that dump. *Applause.*

Off The Beaten Path

So I was forced to try a new road the other day because of construction. And much to my surprise, I found this little gem;

A church in a field in the middle of nowhere Saskatchewan.

 I drove this area millions of times, but never took this road, had no idea this magical castle-like church even existed. We had to pull over, take photos and just take it in. The kids even asked to come back this way again so we could see it a second time. We were star struck.

I had to do a little research on it. This is a century old fully restored Bekevar Church made by the Hungarian settlers of the area.
HISTORICAL RESEARCH LINK
COOL PHOTOS LINK

I found a great blog post HERE about it and Perry tells about the magic of this church just beautifully. It was built in 1911 and is a character itself in the heritage of the area. Imagine the social gatherings here. The love affairs that blossomed, the marriages, the deaths, and the hauntings.

Yes hauntings. I was delighted to read about the ghost stories that stem from it. It's rumoured that a male spirit protects it and does some fun things with the bell. You can read about them HERE, HERE, and HERE.
Much to my delight, Perry got a hold of me and shared another story! He wrote a poem about it on his blog, HERE. This one is about a woman who catches a ride and leaves her gloves behind. AH! I love it.

As you can see, I'm not the only one who thought this place was magical. So many have written about it, taken photos, and I'm so glad I found it. Its presence on the open prairies made me think that it was a character all of its own in one of my stories. Hmmm. inspiration never got much easier than that!

Ever get off the beaten path to find out how ignorant you really are?

So Did You Slap Your Tour Guide?

I love Moose Jaw. It's my fav city. So naturally, I set many of my stories there. What a better place than one with tunnels, and old hotels, and a history so magical? Plus, this means, I get to explore it, tear it apart. So this is what I did this summer.

Moose Jaw brings out emotions in me that just make me want to write, get creative, try new things, get in touch with my past, find out things, and tell you about what happened here on the prairies while people pretended the world around them was perfect. There are no secrets in Moose Jaw, yet everything is a secret. They say Al Capone was there, maybe. They say they used Chinese slaves to do the laundry and they hid them underground in opium dens. Weird what we are proud of here on the prairies. And wow, those are just a few of the secrets they reel you in with. Once you start to dig into the history of Moose Jaw, it's endless, it’s powerful.

During my last tour deep in the underground Moose Jaw tunnels I was lead by a very energetic young actor. It was his first day. I love those guys! Always try to get those guys when going on a tour like this!! He moved me to tears, he made me laugh, and... well here’s the image;

We’re deep in the tunnel in a room that serves as both a living and a working room. It smells like lye and sweat. It’s hot and stuffy. Crowded. Dark. Damp. Scary. He’s telling us how we won’t see daylight again for years. How we’ll be giving half our day’s wages to live here, and we’ll sleep when tired. How our food will be locked up and how we’ll piss in a pot in the corner. When I ran my hand over the carving of a Chinese woman on a bed frame, all entranced by the love in the image, the tour guide came beside me, playing his role and screamed in my ear, "Coolie! I told you not to ruin the bed! Bloody inconsiderate!" I just about slapped him. hehehe. I know he was just playing his part, but damn, he played it well. Ever slap your tour guide? lol.

Yeah, Moose Jaw is magical. So much fun. What cities did you visit this summer that inspired you? And did you slap your tour guide?