Happy New Year!
I’ve mentioned before that I get my best story ideas while traveling and just such an opportunity came about three months ago. My husband, his aunt and uncle, and I drove from Boston up the East coast to Acadia Island, stopping along the way at points of interest to each of us. I will admit that food, lobster in particular, played a very important role (or roll) in this journey. In Salem, Massachusetts, we visited Nathaniel Hawthorne’s inspiration for The House of the Seven Gables (a very interesting tour, if you’re ever up that way). In Concord, we saw Henry David Thoreau’s cabin on Walden Pond, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s home, and Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House, the setting for Little Women.
I love lighthouses and we saw several, but the true highlight of the vacation and my inspiration for this year’s blog was the few days we spent with friends of my husband’s uncle in Camden, Maine. They were delightful people who didn’t seem to mind when we invaded their home, but treated us (my husband and I) as if we were old friends. They were very informative about Camden and the surrounding area.
Our second day in town, we packed lunches and the six of us took a ferry from Rockland, just south of Camden, to Vinalhaven, one of the Fox Islands just off the coast. Once the ferry landed, we headed East, through town. We walked to a peninsula on the West side of Clam Cove and took a very slim trail out around the perimeter. It was a beautiful day for the beginning of October, with the sun shining and a cool breeze coming off the ocean. We sat on an outcropping of rocks to eat lunch and enjoy the view.
It wasn’t until the ferry ride home that inspiration hit. My new acquaintance and I were discussing That Camden Summer by one of my all time favorite authors, LaVyrle Spencer. I took a long look around–the lobster traps bobbing in the wake of the ferry, the beautiful island we’d just left–suddenly, the idea’s started flowing. I pulled a small notebook out and started scribbling. Next out of my pocket was my iPhone (I love the convenience of that camera). I began taking pictures to help my feeble mind remember details. I was mad at myself for not taking the time to talk to anyone in town as questions started running through my mind. Does everyone on the island know each other? Is there a Mayor? What happens during a bad storm?
After minimal research of the island’s history, my two main characters started taking shape. Seth Carver is going to start off telling the story when he sees Gretchen O’Shea (an old high school crush) coming back to the island after a very long absence. She’s an islander by birth, but a stranger now, even though almost everyone knows her name, remembers her face, and they all certainly recall the incident that took place between the two older O’Shea sisters…
Please, follow me as I name characters and research details. There will be a murder (a first for me). I’ll be open to comments and criticism (yes, I take them pretty well). Hopefully, by the end of 2013, we’ll have a finished manuscript.