East Coast & Edits

I’m breaking my weekly writing schedule with a mid-week post… but for good reason.  Sunday afternoon instead of my standing writing appointment, I was ankle deep in the chilly waters off the Carolina coast.  This past weekend was a monumental one for my young family.  We checked many ‘firsts’ off of our collective list… first flights, first low-country boil and the first time my kids were introduced to the Atlantic Ocean. The opportunity to celebrate the wedding of a family member and his beautiful bride was the icing on a beautifully tiered travel cake.  The wedding provided the opportunity, my kids were constant entertainment, and the lovely city of Charleston, a wonderful hostess, and wealth of inspiration.   

It didn’t surprise me that I discovered fertile ground for writing-fantasies here (you know the kind… “if you would just give me that porch overlooking the the water, a cup of coffee and my laptop, all of my writing troubles would disappear”).  What did surprise me was how many ideas my writing-brain was flooded with.  Getting out of the routine of my South Louisiana life, and all of a sudden a world of possibility opened up to me.  (Thanks, Charleston!) 

Maybe it’s because I’m still in my writing infancy.  Or maybe it’s because this is the first big adventure my young family takes (aside from our annual beach trips) but I was surprised by all of the possibilities that came to me, from these situations which don’t occur in my normal life. Airport experiences are routine to some people, but not the Prevost family. I was able to watch my children experience it all for the first time.  Maybe there’s a story brewing about an airplane now.  Or maybe one day I’ll write a book that takes place in the Carolinas (to ensure I have MANY more reasons to visit).  I feel certain that not only wonderful memories, maybe even another book (or two) have been created this weekend.  

On a coincidental but unrelated note… if there is such a thing.  This weekend I also received feedback from a freelance editor on my WIP. I didn’t let myself read it during the trip, but at 6am on my first day home I opened and read her email. In the spirit of full disclosure, it wasn’t brutal… but it was loaded. (That’s what I paid for… right?).  I plan to unpack it a little at a time so I can digest it well, and of course I’ll share it all here.  In a nutshell, I plan to delve deeper into conflict, the rule of three, and the eternal rhyme vs prose dilemma. April is revision month… Stay tuned, see you Sunday.

Thanks for reading, come back anytime!

-JP