Corinne Bowen

This is yet another reason why I love my neighborhood. How could I resist taking a picture of this lovely Hampden front yard? These are the kinds of scenes that spark my imagination for future characters and settings. I snapped this picture while walking to the post office last week. I’ve stayed true to my daily strolls and sun salutations and it makes a world of difference!

I’m back in Charm City, but I’ve been on the road for the past five days. First stop was dinner at Candle 79 with the CSL crew. Next stop was Jersey City for a weekend filled with friends and Indian food. Next month I’ll be part of an Indian wedding and to get us in the spirit of this joyous occasion, we watched Bride and Prejudice. Twice. You’ve probably already guessed that this is the Bollywood adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel. My dear Jersey City friend had these guys (below) on her shelf and they made me smile.

On Sunday, I headed to CSL headquarters in Woodstock, NY and I was back on the road by Tuesday night! I’m happy to be home and looking forward to a relaxing weekend of reading, writing, and seeing friends and family. I finished Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (AMAZING) and started Nicole Peeler’s novel, Tempest Rising. It’s a fun and adventerous read and I’m excited to dig in more this weekend, rather than reading a few pages a night. Speaking of which, it’s time to do a few more manuscript edits and jump in bed!

Steve and I trekked through the snowy streets of Hampden on Saturday. It was quite the mini-adventure. Neighbors are much more friendly while shoveling the side walks. I loved knowing that everyone on the street was a local, although I felt bad for the shop owners who probably rely heavily on sales the weekend before Christmas.

We visited some lonely merchants to finish up our Christmas shopping, chowed down on veggie burgers at Common Ground, and made it to The Rotunda in time to catch a matinee! Avatar was amazing by the way and must be seen in theaters. I kind of want to go again…After a quick stop at Superfresh for more grub, we walked home and I took the picture above on the way.

Many hours was spent under the covers with my laptop. Editing, editing, and more editing. The comments from my beta readers keep coming in and they are so helpful! If you’re out there readers, THANK YOU. I know I’ve already told you a million times, but you rock.

I took a stab at a query letter for the first time too! It was fun to dip my toe in the water and take a stab at the synopsis. After working on it for a night, I saved it, closed it, and now I will let it rest.

On another note, I’m excited to start reading Hunger Games soon. I’ve heard amazing reviews and I want to find a series of books that I cannot put down. It’s been a while since I’ve found that magical connection. Last Christmas I discovered Charlaine Harris, will it be Suzanne Collins this year? I hope.

Happy Holidays!

Papermoon Diner (Charm City)

My quick trip to Woodstock was energizing and inspiring, as always. I drove up on Wednesday night and headed back to Charm City on Saturday morning. Woodstock’s tourist season is winding down, which for me is a relief. As I packed up the car on Saturday morning to head back to Baltimore, I was thankful for the opportunity to visit such a peaceful and magical place so often (not to mention the creative souls who live here).

On Friday, Kris and I indulged in one of our guilty pleasures, New Moon. No, it wasn’t a great movie. But it was a heck of a lot of fun. Although it was difficult to take the movie seriously while surrounded by the screams and laughter of teenage girls, I did my share of giggling too. It’s nice to stop taking myself so seriously all the time. Side note: I saw 2012 with Steve on Saturday and it was AMAZING. You won’t be disappointed.

Since arriving back in Baltimore, Steve and I have been doing some major brainstorming for the next book. We got started at The Papermoon Diner, which has many tasty vegan options, I might add. It’s exciting to think about this new project and I may take a stab at the first chapter tonight. I was so afraid that I’d used up all my good ideas in the first book. I’m learning that’s not the case (I hope!) and it feels like such a gift to have all these new characters swimming around in my brain.

During the drive to and from Woodstock, I listened to Stephen King’s On Writing. It is easily one of the best books on writing that I’ve ever read. Thank you, Stephanie! I have always shied away from King because I’m a wimp when it comes to horror films and books, but after reading On Writing, I had to see what he’s all about. We stopped at Salamander Books on Saturday (by the way they are moving to Mt. Vernon- this will be a sad day in Hampden) and I picked up The Bachman Books, which is a collection of his first four novels. He published these books under a pen name, Richard Bachman.

Did you know that King’s first published novel, Carrie, was almost lost forever when he threw out the first few chapters? His wife found the pages in the garbage and convinced him to keep going. I teared up when King talked about the integral role his wife has played in his success. If I ever make it, I know I’ll feel the same about Steve (and a few other amazing friends and family members!).

I pulled Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style off the shelf today. Actually, Steve dug it out of a box in the basement. I wasn’t keen on the idea of wrestling with spiders to find the book. I’ve attempted to read this several times, but I think it might resonate more this time, since I’ve written the first complete draft of my novel. Off to read and write…

I’m feeling pretty lucky right now. Even though life isn’t tied up in a nice little bow (and that can seem enticing at times), I’m grateful. Mostly because I feel alive. This blog started when I decided to choose a path that I never thought I would take. I threw twenty five years of planning in the garbage and decided to follow my gut.

If you had asked me a year ago if I ever, ever, thought I would be where I am today, I would have flat out said N-O. In the moment, when you’re dealing with the day-to-day stuff, it’s easy to forget that you always dreamed of being exactly where you are. Dreams don’t usually include taking the garbage out. I’m so happy to be writing this because it really puts me in the moment. It makes me look around and think, wow, I’m really here. This is my life and I love it.

In other news (that is my own microcosm of news) I’m 100 pages into the second draft of my novel. Suddenly, a new character has popped up! I don’t know where he came from, but I am so glad to meet him. It’s funny how I set out to write something, it went in an entirely different direction, and now I’m discovering that some of the elements that I hoped for are finding their way into my story.

Tomorrow, it’s back to Charm City and I’m so happy and excited for this weekend. I’ll be reuniting with three of my most treasured ladies on the planet. It’s exactly what the doc ordered. Plus, it’s a long weekend! Hooray!

So much of my life has been filled with goodbyes and missing people. I’m not sorry that it’s been that way. It has made me value people more and created memories that are more permenant and vivid. I don’t think you can truly know how much you love someone until they’re far away from you.  It’s time to go back home and then move on to the next adventure. Can’t wait to see what it may be…

A lot of my time recently has been spent sitting in a car (more than usual). Last weekend, Steve and I drove from Baltimore to Lakeside, MI and back within 72 hours. Luckily, Steve prefers to drive (or so I like to think), so I used almost every spare moment (of which there were many) to edit my novel. This trip definitely reinforced our desire to drive cross country.

I jumped back in the car the day after we arrived back in Baltimore for the trip to Woodstock. So here I am and will be for another week. The office is buzzing, the weather is perfect, and the town is still packed with tourists during the day (this town shuts down early). Even better news is that my hubs is coming into town tomorrow. I’m looking forward to introducing him to Garden Cafe’s vegan strawberry shortcake.

Lately, I’ve been reading my novel out loud. I was lucky enough to get this tip from one of my favorite people, Miss Incidents and Accidents (her novel, Stay, comes out in 2010!). It’s also amazing how long it takes to read thirty pages out loud, which hopefully I’ll get to doing tonight, tick tock. While in the car last weekend, Steve had to endure a lot of me turning down the music so that I could read him just one more paragraph. This exercises makes the weak spots, repetition, holes in the plot, etc. jump off the page. For the first time, I heard the story outside my head. It’s a reality check. I highly recommend it. Thanks, Al!

Please excuse my dusty dashboard by the way. Off to write!