UPDATE
August 18, 2024
Yes, I have let too many Sundays slip away without writing in this blog. However, as always, just because I have not posted anything in here, does not mean I have not been writing. I traveled for several weeks in Italy and then Florida (to visit family) with my three teen daughters, Ella, Nicki, and Abby. I resorted to my old-fashioned journal, random pieces of paper, and sometimes jotted directly into my phone’s note section. Once again, having various experiences certainly contributes to the connections I make when I finally sit and type on my desktop or laptop.
I have finished (for now) my Mesa project. I can’t believe I have been working on Mesa since the San Diego Writer’s Ink event, Blazing Laptops, during the summer of 2015. I was not calling it Mesa yet. I started with Nano as in Nano project. Then, in August 2015, I took my impulsive trip to Mesa Verde National Park, and it was on that trip I knew I had to incorporate Mesa Verde into my fiction. I remember sitting in the overgrown reservoir and getting goosebumps despite the 90-degree heat. At the time, I was not quite sure how I was going to utilize that location, but I instinctively knew I was sitting in an important spot! I have no idea if I will ever publish Mesa, but writing it was worthwhile, nonetheless.
I started Mesa 2. Why? Well, because as I submit Mesa to agents, my mind can’t help but move onto another adventure with my protagonist, Tara. The Botania Relais and Spa on Ischia was a superb setting for my mind to develop ideas. Also, it was within walking distance to the Museo Archeologico Di Pithecusae, and that visit ignited my imagination further into substantive writing material. I just might have to return to Ischia!
However, the material I am most concerned about are the lessons I learned traveling with three teen daughters to Italy. Yes, we were all at odds with each other, and it shattered each of us differently as our own notions of the ideal trip were not met. We have settled back into our San Diego routine. Nicki and Abby are back in school. Ella leaves later this week for her much-anticipated return to college life. We have discussed and drafted a plan for future vacations. I remain bewildered deciding if I should address these experiences through comedy or tragedy! I am certainly aware that there are more dire situations occurring in the world than mother/daughter quarrels on a southern Italian vacation.