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An early morning walk on the beach and things just come to me. Conversations with my characters, how they behave, react, respond-each character has a unique personality. Or at least that's what I shoot for. Almost done with THE MERMAID DID IT-if I'm lucky it will be out in July. If you remember  the character Fate from the previous books, here's a little exerpt from him:

-    "The ocean, how it takes away the pretense, leaves your soul naked so that the only thing you have to face is yourself. After that, what kind of house you live in, what kind of car you drive, what style of hair, clothes, stuff--things--they just don't have the same relevance, the same stature. All that becomes superficial.

     He chuckled, studying Don as he drank his coffee, "feeling that way, it’s kinda liberating--because without all the stuff, well, it frees you to truly enjoy what is important – and what is important has nothing to do with the superficial.

     Don watched the old man, his eyes tired with age, though sparkling with the vitality of hope and love.

     "Makes me sad, in a way, when I see how much importance people place on all the stuff and things—especially here—on Topsail. I used to do that, when I was younger. Guess I had to learn the hard way. You'd think others my age would know by now too--the difference--what is important." 

     "I see it every day Fate, people are greedy, everybody's concerned with what they can get for themselves."

     Fate nodded agreement, "Yep, they’ve replaced the dunes  with houses that nobody lives in except during tourist season and I never understood how someone with a conscience could tear down the dunes to build a house, or tear down our windswept scrub oaks to plant palm trees—they don’t even grow here naturally. He shook his head, it all breaks my heart—even more—what pisses me off the most, is that the people who have done this to our little island,  sleep just fine at night. They don’t even recognize that they are destroying paradise. They don’t give a damn that their house with a view has destroyed the view for thousands of others. They can all suck-- bilge water.

QUOTE: "The sea, once it casts its spell, holds me in its net of wonder forever." Vladimer Nabokov

Writing tip: writing asks the writer to question everything--answer it on paper.

Some years are better than others, They are no  longer, no shorter, but because special events happened in that space of time, they hold more. There is that one year, a good year, that will always live in me and be an integral part of my life. I keep it alive in what I write. Could I say thank you, I would rather say to God, let me have it back.

Quote: "You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation" -Plato

Writing tip: Of all the arts, writing asks the most of the artist.

Hey y'all--I am going to be moving my blog to carolannross.com. It's certainly easier to find and hopefully more pleasing to the eye with the new format.
 In fact, lots of things are changing with the blog and my author page. Please continue to follow and comment if you will. I always enjoy the comments. Thank you, Carol Ann Ross

Recently I had the chance to introduce the ocean to someone who never thought about it.
Sure, they had seen it a few times, played on it's beaches, but getting to know it--well, that's a different story. I have no more power to make someone know the ocean than I do having a rock talk, but the introduction, the quiet, the little snippets about swells, tides, the critters that come out of it-as we walked. After a time I noticed a different demeanor, a calm, and found myself invading a space they had  found--even without looking for it, it had happened. I saw it in their face-because there are no words. 
 I am a thalassophile. My journey is to bring as many as I can to know the ocean--through words, or just being--to share its power, its calm and that sense that we are one with this grand entity.


QUOTE: "The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
the furrow followed free:
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea."  from THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER, Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The last couple of days have been quite blustery and overcast, but that's no excuse for not walking on the beach. A real mermaid is sea bound in all types of weather. And if you missed the storm last night, it was a doozy-Amphitrite had the ocean whipped up into a frenzy. If you don't know who Amphitrite is, she was Poseidon's wife. Like I said-- learning all kinds of stuff with THE MERMAID DID IT. And yes, Amphitrite was a mermaid.
     Searching for ways to express myself can be a bug-a-boo, so I search for vehicles. This time I'm using mythology.....somewhat.

QUOTE:"I have moments of huge frustration because of my inability to express myself linguistically as clearly as I would like to." David Gilmour

WRITING TIP: There are oodles of things that can be your inspiration--nothing is stupid or trite.

Poseidon plays a significant role in my next book THE MERMAID DID IT. I've been learning a lot about this Greek god while working on the new project--he is the brother of Zeus, he's the god of the sea and other waters, of earthquakes and horses.  Not surprisingly, and like most of the gods of Olympus, Poseidon was a great lover. His most noted lover, and wife was a mermaid named Amphitrite--this itself, is an interesting tale. If you have the time,  check out this love story.

As for THE MERMAID DID IT, The book is moving along swimmingly, (lol)
I'm a little over a third of the way through, so I thought I might share a bit--here is a small excerpt:

   I thought it could be her—not a lot of gals built that high and with freckles.” .......

now, she’s a looker. Hot stuff, and the way she stands—there’s something about her—man-eater.

     “You got that too?”

     “Yep, I’ve seen enough of them to know—kinda a sixth sense.”

QUOTE: "When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew." William Shakespeare

WRITING TIP: Writing is an opportunity to learn about all kinds of things, especially yourself.