My favorite place to take a writing week is in one of the little cottages at the top of this blog. In the summer that usually includes the extra bonus of getting away from the heat. Not this time.
Temperatures in the high eighties. High humidity. And up here, no air conditioning.
I was so hot on Monday that I actually let an ice cube melt on my neck. It was…uh…too hot to write. Around five I took my computer and left in search of AC and ended up eating for hours just to stay in the AC. Then I bought a fan. And ate some ice cream. I don’t even really like ice cream. All other forms of sugar, yes. But I usually pass on ice cream.
I started a book on the way up here on Saturday and finished it on Sunday. The Light Between Oceans. A book to get lost in about a lighthouse keeper and his wife. It starts with a deciding moment in the life of the couple. Then Part One is their life up to that moment. Part Two is living with the decision made in that moment. And then in Part Three, we have the consequences. A debut novel by M. L. Stedman, who’s also an attorney.
Right now it’s NOT too hot. There’s a breeze and it’s amazing what a difference that makes. I can feel the warmth underneath but before it can land on my skin, there’s another gust. Along with an ocean full of crashing waves in front of me and a lighthouse in the distance.
Writing. All day long. No interruptions not of my own making.
Monday night I woke up in the middle of the night to see a fat orange crescent moon disappearing into the water. Sunday night I stayed up until 1:00 to finish The Light Between Oceans. And last night I went to sleep at ten. This morning I woke up at five. I usually ride my bike into Provincetown around the middle of each day and take a short walk on the beach after the sun goes down. Heaven.
A few photos from this trip…
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- light on the ocean
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- the cottages
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- my cottage
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- my desk
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- sailboat
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- tray and stoop
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- provincetown
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- the hook
Beautiful images! It’s unusually hot in Maine too. The only room that has AC is my office which is conducive for work. I’m still in revisions with my agent but we’re getting closer. I hope you have a happy and productive writing time.
Thanks, Sarah. And sorry to be so long in responding. After I wrote this post, a friend of mine arrived for a mini writing retreat!
How fun!
Even with the heat, I would love an alone week (or two) in one of those cottages to read and write and ride a bike into town. I am taking care of so many people right now, I can’t leave. So thanks for taking me there, C.
Darrelyn, one of these days…maybe we can both be alone at the cottages together.
You write exactly in a way that I can share in your writing get away. I miss the water in a way that my veins ache. Thanks for letting me get a glimpse!
I’m so glad, Elisabeth. And I know what you mean about missing water so much that your veins ache.
What a wonderful location to write in, despite the heat.
I bought a fan once. He comments faithfully on all my stories.
Welcome to Catching Days, mulledvine. And thanks so much for leaving a comment. These cottages are a wonderful place to write in. Right on the water, no TV, no microwave, very little furniture, no “things.” Spare, spare, spare–lots of room for imagination.
Those cottages sound like what every writer’s soul yearns for and sometimes gets to enjoy. And I just love how you weave together the book you read with what you are seeing and feeling there. Going to look up that book now…
Thanks, Willow. And yes, I have some inexplicable connection to these little cottages that include only the necessities–not even a microwave, tv, or coffeemaker… And that’s not usually my kind of lodging : ) But maybe that’s the explanation. No other place is life this simple.
I am now reading The Light Between Oceans. So good!!
I’m so glad you like it too!
I couldn’t put it down in every free moment this weekend and finished it last night. Wish we could discuss in a book group or something! Am fascinated by M.L. Stedman’s biography too…hoping to go see her read when she’s in San Francisco next week.
Hey Willow! I agree, both on not putting it down and on discussing it. Please post back here if you get to go hear M. L. Stedman.
What surprised me the most about the book was how simple the structure was and yet how riveting. After we have the snippet of what’s to come, Stedman doesn’t keep the power plays coming but basically starts at the beginning–Tom getting the lighthouse job, why this particular lighthouse, and then Tom meeting Isabel…
We can continue discussing it here or feel free to email me.