My trip yesterday was kind of mind blowing and well, mind blowing. I was gone for 12 hours as I drove up to the border and met with my writing coach for FIVE HOURS.

On my way there, knowing it would be a two hour drive and Mama needs her coffee, I hit a drivethru called Caffe Ladro and got the most amazing orange zest mocha , OMG combined with the Beechers Bacon and chive and cheese scone, oh man my mouth is watering right now, remembering it. I may go back again today.

Once I arrived in Blaine, Sylvia and I chatted about any number of getting to know you kinds of things then got down to the nitty gritty. I had met her last October at the Write on the Sound Conference here and knew I wanted to work with her but this was our real first meeting on this project.

She is coaching me on writing a query letter so we discussed all kinds of publishing options and the one I landed on was to look for an agent. So that’s my quest right now. She has lots of connections and already hooked me up with someone so my task today, once I actually wake up vs. this dreamposting I’m doing right now ;), is to work on that query letter to send them.

We also hashed and rehashed the actual genre for my book and it’s “spine” or the focal story. I had to do some soul searching and letting go of some original “bitten off more than I should be chewing as usual” ideas and find a clear focus. We accomplished that. So now I have that backbone myself moving forward.

I woke up with words spinning around my head so decided to just get out of bed and write them and then go back to bed. The nice thing about being on no one’s schedule but your own.

I’m tempted by other fun things I see out in the world like a Gino Vannelli concert nearby and a play I’d like to see but I do realize I have exactly three more weeks and some serious tasks at hand. And I want to make the best use of my time here. Fun is always around the corner.

After meeting with Sylvia, I made a run for the border, waited for my friend Sue in a parking lot next to a truck full of potatoes then she had me follow her to the water at beautiful White Rock BC. We navigated our way to some lucky parking spots and sat overlooking the gorgeous sunset up on the second floor having a drink and some snacks. It was great to see her yet I still had a two hour drive back and it was getting dark so we left after a nice three hour visit.

Luckily my husband was still awake and he wanted to hear all about my meeting as he,too, is a writer so was very genuinely interested in all that occurred there. He kept me company on the phone most of the way home. I’m so lucky to have that kind of support from him and he is sincerely rooting me on and ecstatic for me.

 

Here’s a snippet of what I just wrote and now since it’s still dark out, I’m gonna catch some more zzzzz’s if I can through my kaleidoscope of thoughts mind.

The Pinal County Courthouse was beautiful and historic. Wide stone steps led up to its tan brick, red roofed impressive stature with oblong windows and a high white-spired clock tower on top. It was something out of another era.

We passed the circular garden surrounded by stone benches and through the red wood double doors in to the large open hallway lined with photographs of Judges, past and present. The building smelled old and well cared for with its shiny hand carved staircase taking center stage. This foyer is where we sat that first day waiting to take our places one by one on the witness stand.

The courtroom was all dark wood; long pews, the imposing tall Judge’s bench and a swinging half door or bar separating the public gallery from the well where the action took place. It felt like church; formal, serious and hushed tones. The jury box was up front toward the right. The jurors sat at a right angle to the gallery facing the well.  

We were seated always in the second row behind the prosecution table. Daily, we were Dad, Marj, Annette and I and occasionally another friend or two would join. There were a couple of regular court observers who attended the trial but didn’t approach us until the very end. Press represented throughout the pews on both sides. There were cameras, both still and video on some peak days, like the first and the last.