Plum Duff–an English dessert–so I like to think of my short stories as fun stuff. The gal on the book is my sister back in the day–and this is our beach, Topsail, Surf City–or at least that is how we used to think of it–ours, because we loved it.

My sister is visiting me this week. My, how things have changed. Nevertheless, we will enjoy our beach, reminiscing and making new memories.

THE MERMAID DID IT is at the editor’s–and I have the cover ready. Stay tuned to this channel to see it–any day now.

QUOTE: “The sunrise, of course, does not care if we watch it or not. It will keep on being beautiful even if no one looks at it.” Gene Amole

WRITING TIP: I get ideas for stories everywhere. It is just a matter of not being afraid to write the idea down–not afraid of being judged or that it might be a complete mess. Face the fear you are most afraid of, writer–

Blue Fish, huge schools of them can be seen just off shore as they migrate north or south in the spring and fall. Those dark clouds in the water–those are schools of fish–menhaden, blues, mullet and several others can be caught from our shores. The bigger fish follow the smaller fish, ah, the circle of life–eat and be eaten.  Personally I’ve never enjoyed eating Blues. They are a fishy fish and a bloody one at that. They do however, make good bait and cat food.

Why the lesson? Well, I’ve finished THE MERMAID DID IT.  the book is at the editor’s, and so I’ve begun another story. Blue fish will figure in this one. It’s always fun to incorporate little known facts in books so my readers can learn something as they are being entertained.

QUOTE: “I only make movies to finance my fishing.” Lee Marvin

Writing Tip: In writing you are always “fishing” for the right words.

beautiful morning, barely a ripple. so inviting I rsvp’d with a dip. cool on so many levels. Found a whelk and sea fan and thought about THE MERMAID DID IT–geez, wrapping it up–re-reading — to tell the truth, I’ve had more fun with this book than any other so far–a little out there–bits of mythology–moving ahead with E.J. and Fate, and the others (who haven’t met some shady demise). The book will be out in July, hopefully by the 4th. Happy shell hunting to you all, God Bless.

An early morning walk on the beach and things just come to me. Conversations with my characters, how they behave, react, respond-each character has a unique personality. Or at least that’s what I shoot for. Almost done with THE MERMAID DID IT-if I’m lucky it will be out in July. If you remember  the character Fate from the previous books, here’s a little exerpt from him:

–    “The ocean, how it takes away the pretense, leaves your soul naked so that the only thing you have to face is yourself. After that, what kind of house you live in, what kind of car you drive, what style of hair, clothes, stuff–things–they just don’t have the same relevance, the same stature. All that becomes superficial.

He chuckled, studying Don as he drank his coffee, “feeling that way, it’s kinda liberating–because without all the stuff, well, it frees you to truly enjoy what is important – and what is important has nothing to do with the superficial.

Don watched the old man, his eyes tired with age, though sparkling with the vitality of hope and love.

“Makes me sad, in a way, when I see how much importance people place on all the stuff and things—especially here—on Topsail. I used to do that, when I was younger. Guess I had to learn the hard way. You’d think others my age would know by now too–the difference–what is important.”

“I see it every day Fate, people are greedy, everybody’s concerned with what they can get for themselves.”

Fate nodded agreement, “Yep, they’ve replaced the dunes  with houses that nobody lives in except during tourist season and I never understood how someone with a conscience could tear down the dunes to build a house, or tear down our windswept scrub oaks to plant palm trees—they don’t even grow here naturally. He shook his head, it all breaks my heart—even more—what pisses me off the most, is that the people who have done this to our little island,  sleep just fine at night. They don’t even recognize that they are destroying paradise. They don’t give a damn that their house with a view has destroyed the view for thousands of others. They can all suck– bilge water.

QUOTE: “The sea, once it casts its spell, holds me in its net of wonder forever.” Vladimer Nabokov

Writing tip: writing asks the writer to question everything–answer it on paper.

Some years are better than others, They are no  longer, no shorter, but because special events happened in that space of time, they hold more. There is that one year, a good year, that will always live in me and be an integral part of my life. I keep it alive in what I write. Could I say thank you, I would rather say to God, let me have it back.

Quote: “You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation” -Plato

Writing tip: Of all the arts, writing asks the most of the artist.

OMG! Estelle, Estelle! Whatever are we going to do with Estelle? She has really gone too far this time!

She’s on the rampage again and if the good guys don’t catch her soon all hell is going to break loose!

Here is a little excerpt from THE MERMAID DID IT:

What’s he doing there?” Estelle sat on the stairs, watching. Barely making out his shadow as he walked through the living room, Estelle dug her fingernails into the wood of the steps. Tiny pricks of blood rose, she sucked her fingers and, smoothing the sand on the stairs, she drew a figure, defining it with shoes and a gun. “What a dick, she tittered. Detective—dick,” Her mouth opened to a soundless laugh as she watched Lev, waiting for his exit from the house. It came a few minutes later as he descended the stairs and drove away. Estelle rose, stepping on the drawing, crushing it away and moved toward the house she once shared with Hank.

It’s May already and the sun is coming up earlier and earlier. Love being on the beach to watch it crest the horizon. Other things are on the horizon as well–Coastal Arts and Crafts Emporium will open for the first time ever in Holly Ridge on the 23rd of this month and it promises to be a whole lot of fun with all kinds of vendors. There will be musicians as well, strumming their guitars, fresh garden produce, metal art, pottery, candles, jewelry, food, cold drinks, and so very much more. Please come and support your local crafters and artists!

Horizon wise–and stuff happening, from what I hear, this will be the last summer of our little swing bridge–the massive cement snake is to be opened for  business by Christmas. Don’t know how y’all feel about that but I have no desire to watch the dismantling of our sweet little bridge. But the difference will be  NO ONE will have to wait, they can get to where ever it is they are going, rapidly. Now, don’t you just love it when people are in a hurry? Makes me feel all safe and loved.

Alas, this is progress and the “suits” say it is the perfect remedy for the islands congestion problem.  (have you heard the one about—) Best thing about this new bridge,  Topsail will be modernized and look just like every other coastal town. Just want I always wanted to be known for, the ability to look like everybody else. Geez, I’ve never understood why one would want to look like someone or something else. But then that’s just me. Go figure.

QUOTE: “When you grow up by the sea, you spend a good deal of time looking at the horizon. You wonder what on earth the waves might bring-and where the sea might deposit you-until one day you  know you have lived between two places, the scene of arrival and the point of departure.” Andrew O’Hagan

WRITING TIP: Writers are horizon people, we’re always looking ahead to the next maybe.

Since this is my first post on my new site, I wanted to present a younger version of myself. “Somethings change,  somethings never do.”  Obviously I have changed since the 30 years since this photo was taken, but I still love Topsaiil and still love the Atlantic, and will always incorporate that love into my novels.

Recently I had the chance to introduce the ocean to someone who never thought about it.
Sure, they had seen it a few times, played on it’s beaches, but getting to know it–well, that’s a different story. I have no more power to make someone know the ocean than I do having a rock talk, but the introduction, the quiet, the little snippets about swells, tides, the critters that come out of it-as we walked. After a time I noticed a different demeanor, a calm, and found myself invading a space they had  found–even without looking for it, it had happened. I saw it in their face-because there are no words. 
 I am a thalassophile. My journey is to bring as many as I can to know the ocean–through words, or just being–to share its power, its calm and that sense that we are one with this grand entity.

QUOTE: “The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
the furrow followed free:
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.”  from THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER, Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The last couple of days have been quite blustery and overcast, but that’s no excuse for not walking on the beach. A real mermaid is sea bound in all types of weather. And if you missed the storm last night, it was a doozy-Amphitrite had the ocean whipped up into a frenzy. If you don’t know who Amphitrite is, she was Poseidon’s wife. Like I said– learning all kinds of stuff with THE MERMAID DID IT. And yes, Amphitrite was a mermaid.
     Searching for ways to express myself can be a bug-a-boo, so I search for vehicles. This time I’m using mythology…..somewhat.

QUOTE:”I have moments of huge frustration because of my inability to express myself linguistically as clearly as I would like to.” David Gilmour

WRITING TIP: There are oodles of things that can be your inspiration–nothing is stupid or trite.