The Lap of Luxury.

I come to you from Napa Valley on my honeymoon. God, I could get used to vacationing. Its fantastic. The only annoying part is that I still have fake nails from my wedding and they are getting gross and annoying but I cant bite them off. The end.

The weather has been terrific. It rained a bit in San Diego, which was fine with me because I was still by the water. And as Z and I decided, you can not be angry about anything ever when you are near the ocean. Its so beautiful out here. Every part of California. The ocean, the mountains as well as the valleys. I am plotting our permanent return to San Diego, I just have to get Z to agree :) Also robes. I can't wait to get back home and buy myself a nice robe. I fear it will be the end of my wardrobe and I will be the person who never gets out of their robes, but why would you after trying it?

Yesterday we drove for 14 hours through the mountains. I will post pics soon. But as was our agreement I had to write for at least an hour. I am currently reading this. Its actually a very good and helpful book. So on my ride yesterday I took some of his advise and applied it to my outlining. I don't know if I mentioned that I am outlining this novel. I decided that my current way of working, well isn't, and that I needed a change. This seemed like the most practical way to change. Not only that but my brain needs structure. The more I get into my writing the more I see that. I was so against scheduling and planning. I was a total panster -see previous blogs- but that isn't working for me any more. And to be quite truthful with you it never really worked for me to begin with. So if you are ready to try something new I would say read this book. Its a fairly cheap book and an easy read. Its worth a try if you are stuck.


Being on vacation Z and I have been reading a whole lot. He is on his second book. I am on my third but am balancing between the book above and a fiction novel. Those who are regular readers - all three of you- know that currently I am hooked on Marian Keyes. I just adore her work. I am learning a lot about scenes and story structure by reading and actually paying attention. Her style is a lot like mine and I think to learn how to construct a well rounded novel you need to be reading as much in the field of your style as you can get your hands on- and find the time to. I just finished This Charming Man, and I have to admit, although it was classic Marian Keyes -witty, funny, tragic, sad, good cast of characters-, it was unlike her other books, I didn't hate it, I just wasn't in love with it. A lot of the reviews I read on it said that's why people liked it, but that's precisely why I couldn't get into it. To be fair it is from the prospective of four girls and they all have completely different voices- I thought that must have been very challenging for Marian to do and I think she did it incredibly well- but for me, and maybe not everyone is like me, hopefully not, obviously not, I find that when there are more then two main voices I get bored and lost. Although I didn't really get lost in this book, she kept the flow going very nicely, I just wasn't that into it, which pains me to say because I love Marian so very much. That being said, it is a book on domestic violence mainly. And she writes it very raw and straightforward, and with that I can see that victims of an abusive relationship could really bond with these characters. They are all, well, most, very smart independent women who found themselves second guessing their mental health after being in a relationship with a particular man. I appreciated that they weren't all walking around with the word victim placed on their head, they were strong, and they were fighters, for the most part. I love that Marian gives her characters depth and I strive to do that more, which I feel I am learning through her books. On Goodreads I gave this book a 3. Not because it wasn't well written, because, I mean come on, it is Marian Keyes, and not because the story wasn't well thought out or didn't have a believable ending, simply because I wasn't that into it. But you might be, so give it a try if you feel so inclined.

Welp, I best be off. I have a wine tasting to attend with my love in an hour and I am still laying about in my robe!

"Couldn't understand a single word he said but he sure had some mighty fine wine....and I helped him drink his wine" -- 3 Dog Night