I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside

Yes, indeed. Imagine that tune playing as you read along. We spent a glorious, and not too rainy week, on the Oregon Coast, courtesy of my in-laws who built their beach house a couple of decades ago.

And what a week it was. (If you are interested in me as a person and not only as a mere dangerous writer who looks like a typewriter, you can check up on our goings-on on my wife's blog, Every Day is a Miracle.)

First, I got to take a siesta on my birthday. It made me want to be Spanish. Then, there were the myriad celebrations of me. There was also lots of reading, and the writing came pouring out.

Is it just me, or does sea air do something to the writing brain? As well as increasing the word count on my WIP, I wrote two new short stories!!

Here's my question for you, dear readers: Do you write more freely when away from home? And where do you find your muse is most frisky: the beach, the mountains, Las Vegas?

Postscript of joy: When I got home I found I'd won two blog contests. One, at Shannon Messenger's, for a

copy of Brandon Mull's and the other at Chuck Sambuchino's Guide to Literary Agents' blog for a copy of Lisa and Laura Roecker's

Now, in honor of the pink-wigged girl, I have to change my typewriter avatar to this:

Spring Break

I mentioned at the beginning of March that this was not going to be a frenetic blogging month. One of the major reasons is that Spring Break happens this week. The kids are out of school and we are packing up to spend a week at the beach.

My wife's parents have a beach house just a wee bit north of Tillamook. (You may have come across the cheese or the ice cream; it's big-time dairy country.) Usually we go there three or four times during the year and stay for a couple of days. But this year we decided to husband our pennies and spend the whole week there instead of Canada (two years ago) or Seattle (last year.)

The house is two blocks from the ocean. It doesn't have a phone, or computer connections. So it's off the grid, as far as blogging is concerned. Of course, I will take my laptop, and I hope to get some writing done. The sea breeze always seems to bring out the best from my inner writer (and I am constantly gifted with story ideas while there.)

The only hurdle to productivity may be the old birthday celebration on March 21st. I don't have birthdays, I have birthmonths. So turning 48 will be quite a production (I hope!!)

I'll be back in town on the 28th, ready to wade into blogland once more. Till then, Welcome Spring!