I have never had a job for more than three years. I've never really worked in a chosen profession for much longer than that. I think that if you add up all the time I've spent as a “writer” and/or “editor” at various jobs I've been in my current profession for near four and a half years. I've been in the travel industry for a bit over three years. If you count my time as a freelancer while living in Romania, it's closer to four.
I made becoming a writer a top priority for me. Realizing I was on a path to being a librarian for the rest of my life I purposely took myself off that path and put myself on a path to being a writer, and ultimately a travel writer. It was not easy. It did not happen overnight. There were times when I didn't know how I was going to make it happen. But I did it.
Now after all that work of getting myself to where I am now, I'm considering making another change. And I'm very conflicted about it.
Am I doing the right thing? Is this just part of a pattern of never staying at one job for too long (though not all the jobs ended by my choice!)? Is the risk I’d be taking worth it?
I am thinking about becoming a travel agent.
I believe I could be good at it, or at least parts of the job. I believe I would enjoy doing it, or at least certain pieces of the job. Is the fact that I know already I might not be good at, or enjoy certain parts of the job an indication that I shouldn’t do it.
There are certain parts of being a writer that I don’t like.
But here’s the thing. I don't know if I was born to be a travel agent, while I do know I was born to be a writer.
Of course, just because I'm thinking about becoming a travel agent doesn't mean I plan to give up writing. I want to continue working on my fiction, and continue to work as a travel writer part time. It’s just that I don’t want to do the journalist thing full time anymore.
I also like the ideas of working for myself, and helping people find the right cruise (or land vacation).
What I don’t like is the idea of being a salesperson, and I especially don’t like the thought of having people come to me to complain when they didn’t have a good vacation – which is absolutely a job requirement!
So, I’m conflicted. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if the risk is worth it when there is a definite possibility of failure.
So that’s the question really? Is fear a good enough reason to not take a risk? You tell me!
I heard these words repeated over and over again at a recent travel agency conference. But what was interesting was that the two people repeating these thank you's are 20-something boys... er young men – the sons of two brothers who co-own one of the industry's largest companies. Rich beyond anything I can ever hope to achieve, they have clearly been groomed to be gracious.
From the way they make eye contact when greeting someone to how they shake hands, these guys have been taught everything they need to know to succeed.
Of course, I'd love to see how they act when they're not “on,” especially the really good-looking cousin, who KNOWS he's good-looking!
But I will say their fathers have done a great job preparing these boys for their eventually take over of the company. What I find most impressive is that each cousin is doing an intensive two-year on-boarding program, where they will work in every department of every company their family owns. They're even each going to spend a day at a travel agency seeing what a travel agent does, and more importantly deals with, every day.
I think this is fantastic, and truly says a lot about their dads. Rather than simply hand the reins of a company over to an inexperienced and spoiled son (like an employer I had previously did), these fathers are making their sons work first, and making sure they understand all the different elements of the company, and what their employees do.
I wish more companies would do that, not just if they have heir apparents, but for any executive who is running, or will run the company.
Having to fly for work nowadays means not having any control over what airline I fly. Since some its merger with Northwest, Delta has implemented a lot of anti-flyer policies and fees and for that reason whenever possible I choose not to fly them. However, on my current work trip to Cruise3Sixty in Vancouver, my flight was booked for me on Delta.
The actual flying experience was a mix of good, not so bad, stupid and bad.
I'll start with the good:
* There was very little turbulence -- good job pilots! * The desk staff and flight attendants were nice --- the ones in Minneapolis and from Minneapolis to Vancouver were super nice (guess that's the Northwest contingent). * They gave free cookies, peanuts or pretzels -- hey, at least it's something. * Although the flight was full, I found the seats to be roomy enough for me (I'm only 5'2") and there was plenty of room under the seat in front of me to put my big overnight bad without having to stuff it. * On my first flight no one sat in the middle seat making it even more comfortable -- although good, I can't really give Delta credit for that though.
The Not So Good:
* If you're going to charge people to buy food on board at least offer something worth eating -- it's ridiculous to sell overpriced junk food when people are flying over dinner time! Offer a sandwich for cryin' out loud!
The Stupid:
* Maybe someone can explain the rationale of making people who are on a flight to Vancouver, with a stop in Minneapolis, switch planes and seats even though its the same flight, with the same flight number. I don't get that!
The Bad:
* No entertainment of any kind. Each flight was more than 3 hours but they didn't even have the overhead TVs. Boring!
* Charged to check my suitcase. I know all the airlines do it, but it still doesn't make it right.
I know that if I eventually publish my novel I can look forward to nasty reviews and nasty e-mails from readers -- it's just a part of being a writer. It has nothing to do with me and more with whomever has reviewed the book or written the e-mail.
I always wondered if I'd be able to handle it, and then recently I got an e-mail at my job that gave me a taste of what I can look forward to.
In seeking travel agent comments on the new mega ship, the Norwegian Epic, I sent out several "cold" e-mails to travel agents I don't know.
This was the e-mail I sent (names of people and the publication have been erased):
Hello,
I am an editor with xx xx xx, a online trade publication targeted at travel agents. I'm working on an article about what travel agents are the most excited about re: the Norwegian Epic, and was hoping you could help me out. Are you or your clients looking forward to the July launch of the Epic? What one aspect of the ship are you most excited about and why?
Thanks for any input you can provide.
That evening I got the following response.
Sorry, your English is so poor, I could never believe anything you wrote. Therefore, I have no comment for you. Additionally, I request you remove me from your email list immediately. Larry
I have to say I was so shocked when I first got it. My immediate impulse was to hit reply and let off a string of profanity. My second impulse was to begin a negative media campaign against his travel agency. But eventually I calmed down and decided I could be the professional in this case and take the higher road. I simply deleted the e-mail and will never contact this agent again.
Of course if anyone ever asks me if I've ever heard of his agency, I'll let them know a very rude man named Larry works there, and to avoid him at all costs.
But the point is, I got over my immediate shock. I realized his e-mail had nothing to do with me or my writing and I moved on.
If I ever get my novel published, I believe I'll be able to handle most of the negative comments that come my way.
I'm in several Yahoo groups for all sorts of mystery-related associations and reading groups. All kinds of great information comes through on these lists but every once in awhile members will share some crazy news they've read. I read two items over the past two days that I just felt like I had to share.
One's pretty funny; the other is pretty disturbing.
Shall we start with funny?
This is from The Writer's Forensics Blog (http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/), which is written by D.P. Lyle, MD. For regular readers of my blog, you might remember that Dr. Lyle is the doctor who helped me with the poisoning scenario in my book.
He has a regular category he sometimes posts called Stupid Criminals. In this post, he tells the story of a woman, who at the time of her crime was serving on a jury for a credit card theft case in the Bronx.
During the trial, guess what she did? She stole a credit card from a fellow juror and went on a shopping spree!
Well the credit card noticed the unusual activity and alerted the man from whom the credit card was stolen. He called the police who tracked the activity and found a security camera revealing the woman shopping.
This case hasn't wrapped up yet, because the woman is claiming that the man was hitting on her and gave her his credit card to use. Yeah, right!
Ok, now for the disturbing item.
This originally comes from a Memphis newspaper I think. The body of a woman who has been missing since January was found last week UNDER a MOTEL BED INSIDE a metal frame with a mattress and box spring on top. It appears the body had been there SINCE HER DISAPPEARANCE!
That means her body was inside that bed for almost three months in a hotel room that has been rented out to people since her body was put there!
Her body was eventually found because a fould odor was reported by motel staff. Uh, you think? A body rotting beneath a boxspring and mattress for a few months? I can't believe it took three months to smell that!
According to the police the room has been rented out five times in that three month period and been cleaned "numerous" times as well.
And nobody smelled anything wrong? Noone sleeping on top of a rotting corpse sensed anything amiss? Their nose never wrinkled at a putrid scent rising from beneath them?
It just grosses me out thinking about it.
To make the whole thing just a little bit weirder, or maybe more pathetic, the police knew that the missing women had been living at the hotel and that she'd been staying in that room. While they went to the motel and spoke with some staff members, they never went inside the room to investigate!
OK, maybe I've seen one too many CSI episodes, but that just seems plain remiss.
Anyway, after reading this, I'm thinking maybe I need to start lifting up the boxspring and mattress on hotel beds before I snuggle in for the night. I don't EVER want to find out afterwards that I was sleeping on a corpse!!
Sounds crazy, right! But it's real. Japanese carrier All Nippon Airway is introducing women-only bathrooms on most of its planes, for all international flights. According to the air line, the new loos are in response to passenger requests -- from female passengers.
One women's only bathroom will be designated at the back of the plane. It will display a pink version of the universal symbol for women's bathrooms -- you know what I mean, the stick like figure in a skirt. If this bathroom is in use, women are free to use any other toilet that is open.
However, men may only use the women's only bathroom:
1.) When required for safety reasons -- I've been trying to think of a saftey reason that would require a man to use a bathroom, but haven't been able to come up with one yet...
2.) When a male passenger is not feeling well -- well, doesn't that defeat part of the purpose! Part of the reason to use a women's only bathroom is that when a man is having "stomach" issues, it usually (I said usually) smells worse than when women have the same problem.
3.) When there are very few female passengers and the women-only designation has been lifted for the flight -- can you imagine the overhead announcement. "Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen. As there are actually very few of you ladies onboard today, we'll be lifting our women's only bathroom rule. Gentlemen, please feel free to use the lavatory with the pink women on it."
So what do you think?
Personally, I think it sounds great! I can't tell you how many times I've gone to the bathroom, realized I forgot to put my shoes back on before I left my seat and ended up with sticky socks! I try very hard not to think about what's making my socks sticky!!
And like I said before, we all know guys' crap smells worse than women's, right??
A flight comparison Web site in the UK, Skyscanner, polled its visitors about what they thought of the idea. Interestingly, the concept divided the opinion of respondents almost in half.
The poll asked whether travelers agreed with All Nippon Airway's move? 46% of voters agreed with it, and said all airlines should do the same. 51% isapproved of the idea.
Hmm, you think that division is a divsion by sex. Most women perhaps agreeing and most men disagreeing?
In its press release announcing the results of this study, Skycanner said "With fewer toilets to choose from when flying, men may have to queue for longer on flights that offer women-ony WCs."
Want to go to Spain for two months? Want to go and have someone else pay for your housing? Are you a retired or former teacher and can you do it a month from now?
The Spanish government is seeking retired teachers for an English language education project that gives qualifed applicants the change to teach English for two months in 12 different schools throughout north central Spain.
Done in collaboration with a company called Vaughan Systems, this program follows a succesful pilot program. The program recruits native English speakers to enhance the English-learning process of pre-schoolers and early elementary school students. For anyone who's been to Spain you'll that as a rule they don't speak English very well over there. That's because its never been stressed in their schools and they dub all English-language movies in Spanish. This new program targets the youngest students to get them started early.
Volunteers will help as teaching assistants giving kids the opportunity to practice their English, particularly their speaking skills.
The program runs from April 12 to June 12 and seeks retired school teachers with previous experience. The studen age groups range between 3 and 12 and classroom size between 25 and 35. Spaces are limited.
In exchange for their volunteer work, the project covers housing in a single or shared apartment in the town where the school is located, insurance for the duration of the program and transfers from Madrid.
Positions are available in various locations throughout the Castile-Leon area in Segovia, Zamora, Burgos, Leon, Palencia, Soria, Valladolid and Salamanca.
Vaughan Systems, the partner company, is the largest language training firm in Spain. Every year the company brings some 1,500 volunteers to Spain (not necessarily teachers, just native English speakers of all ages) for a locally-famous adult English-learning program called VaughanTown. The program is a six-day conversation program that pairs native English speakers with Spanish people to help them learn to speak English better.
In 2006 the program was called Englishtown and I did it for a week. You can read an article I wrote about here.
If you're interested in participating in VaughTown go to http://www.vaugantown.com/. If you're a retired teacher and interested in the two-month program send your resume and a cover letter to project coordinator Mayte Ziga at mziga@vaughantown.com.
Sharon won an uncorrected proof of "Holiday Grind" by Cleo Coyle.
A new raffle starts this month. Anyone who leaves a comment during the month of March is entered into the drawing. This prize for March is a paperback copy of "Rotten to the Core" by Sheila Connolly.
As I become more involved in my own writing and as I read about other writers and their processes, one thing I hear again and again is how writers research many aspects of their book by doing them and trying them.
So, if a writer's book includes the main character riding a dune buggy, the writer makes sure he or she has ridden a dune buggy so the experience can be described accurately. I believe this is one of the reasons so many writers write about what they know. The research is already built into their lives.
But at some point ever writer is going to have to write about something unfamiliar. Sometimes book and/or Internet research is enough. In some cases finding an expert to talk to is sufficient. But other times, the writer really does need to get out there and experience whatever it is firsthand.
With that in mind, when I was offered the opportunity to take a gun class -- during which I would get to see guns, touch them, shoot them! -- I decided it was too important to pass up. While my main character is not a cop and for the most part will not be dealing on a daily basis with gun toting people, I am writing a murder mystery series and chances are at some point a gun will appear in the books.
In fact, a gun appears in the book I'm writing now. And quite frankly, I was just going to write the scene(s) with the gun based on what I've seen on TV. And I'd probably get away with it. I don't know how many people are going to read my book who are very familiar with guns. But once the opportunity was in front of me, I would have been remiss as an author if I didn't take it.
And I'm glad I did. I learned a lot. I learned what they really look like, what they really feel like, what it smells like when a gun is shot, what the actual shot looks like, what it feels like to shoot a gun -- all things I can use in my writing.
Of course, those were the things I expected to learn, but I learned more than that. I learned what a bullet wound does (thankfully not first hand!). I learned what gun oil smells like and what tools are needed to clean a gun. These were not things I had thought about before, but both will appear in the book I'm writing.
I found the class both interesting and disturbing. I didn't particular like shooting the guns, though I had my favorites. A few were too powerful for me. Just shooting them at a paper target got my heart pounding in a way I didn't enjoy.
All anecdotal stories aside, I did not find shooting guns to be empowering. I think I realized I have absolutely no desire to have that kind of power over someone -- especially the power that comes from the higher caliber guns.
But I am so glad I took the class, because I believe it was an important experience to have and I believe it will make my writing that much more realistic.
For the past two years I have been a member of an organization called the North American Travel Journalists Association. Each year I have entered their annual writing competition, in the categories for travel trade writing.
In 2008 I submitted two articles and I won First Place for the article I submitted in the Tips & Advice for the Trade category. I won a three-night stay at Mohegan Sun, with food credits. It was great fun!
This year, I again submitted two articles, both in the general Trade category. Two days ago I found out that I "won" a Merit Award (basically honorable) mention for one of the articles.
Of course, I'm conflicted about the win.
In 2008, I truly won. This year (being 2009) I only got honorable mention. Yes, that's still a high honor. There were two First Place winners and two Merit Award winners, and I'm sure there were more entrants than than, so my article was still picked as one of the best out of a larger field. So I should be pleased.
And I am. It's another notch on my travel publishing belt, another bullet point on my resume.
But I'm not going to lie and say I don't care that didn't First Place. Of course I care. I'd much rather have won First Place (and a prize).
I've been taking a super intensive online class about body language, or non-verbal communication (NVC). It's specifically for writer's and is about how to use NVC in my writing.
It's taught by a woman named Mary Buckham (www.MaryBuckham.com), who is an amazing teacher and I can only imagine must be an amazing writer. When she makes suggestions on how to change things, I'm awed by her skill.
NVC when added to writing changes the depth of the writing dramatically. One of my first writing assignments was to try and show disbelief using body language.
This was what I wrote:
"I didn't touch your computer," I said and immediately had to lean away from Bob lest I smack him. Not only because it pissed me off that he didn't believe me but I've never been able to lift just one eyebrow.
What do you think?
As it turns out I missed the mark. And here's why:
[from Mary's feedback] "What you'redoing here is, instead of letting the movement of the eyebrow itself give the non-verbal message or body language you are using her thoughts only. Thoughts can be used in conjunction with a body movement to clarify the message but the brow needs to be in action and not simply referenced. Make sense?"
Totally makes sense. I didn't actually use any body movement (other than her leaning away) in the above passage. Hmm, body language is harder than I thought.
Here's my second attempt:
He cocked one bushy eyebrow in my direction. God, one of these days I was going to pluck the smugness out of those things. "Really, I didn't touch your computer." I tried to keep my eyes wide, lifting my shoulder up for emphasis. I hoped he didn't notice the tell-tale fluttering in my throat's pulse.
Better?
Here was Mary's response: "Major improvement here. See what you've done :-) You've shown the reader his reaction to the subject at hand through his body language then gave her internal reaction to clarify for the reader exactly what the brow movement meant - so you have communication, not only emotion but conflict and tenseness between these two without simply saying 'He was frustrating her'."
Success!
Let me tell you this class has been a real eye-opener!
We had a lovely time in Ireland, some good weather, did some interesting sightseeing, including a side trip to Newgrange, several hours at the Guinness Brewery and a visit to the Dublin Jewish Irish Museum.
However, there were two aspects of our trip that stand out as not so great. One was our hotel -- The Regency Airport hotel, which was perfectly satisfactory for a place to sleep but was definitely what we paid for.
First of all, based on the description on the Air Lingus Vacation Web site, I thought it was closer to central Dublin that it was. We had to take a bus about 15 to 20 minutes each way to get to/from the hotel and central Dublin. It ended up being fine, especially as we noticed two Romanian supermarkets from the bus, which we ended up visiting and my husband got lots of Romanian supplies he can't get in the States.
So I wouldn't even be mentioning the hotel if it weren't for what happened when we first checked in.
We got to the hotel around 9:30 in the morning. After our five hour flight I felt like I needed to wash my face and change my clothes so when given a choice to pay 20 Euros for early check-in, I jumped at the chance.
We were given room keys and went up to the room.
First off, the key cards we were given didn't unlock the door. So I had to go back downstairs and get new cards. Then we get in the room and low and behold its freezing in the room, there's not hot water and to top it off, there's no electricity to any of the outlets.
So again, I go downstairs to the reception desk. The woman is, of course, shocked at my pronouncement of no electricity and promises immediate action. I go back upstairs.
And we wait.
In the meantime, I wash my face with cold water and my husband lies on the couch in the sunlight, which does warm him up, which is good because he's come to Ireland with a head cold.
And we wait.
So I go back downstairs. Excuse me, we still haven't got electricity. Again, I'm promised someone will be up immediately.
Thankfully, a guy knocked on the door shortly after and within five minutes he'd reset the fuse in the hallway and our electricity was back. He also informed us that heat at the hotel is on a timer and would come back on in the late afternoon.
[Can I mention he was very cute, especially with the Irish accent -- my favorite accent in the world!]
So, if you're going to Dublin and you're looking to save a little money, then the Regency Airport hotel is an ok choice, but be prepared for very basic amenities!
However the worst part of our Ireland trip, and this is TOTALLY my fault, was an Irish singing and dancing dinner show we attended. I wanted to do something in Dublin with Irish music. We went to a couple of pubs and they always had on regular radio or sports on the TV, and I really thought it would be a shame to come to Ireland and not get any traditional music in. So I asked at the hotel what a good option was and was referred to a Irish singing and dancing dinner show at The Arlington Hotel in central Dublin. It was very expensive, but I figured it was worth it if we got to hear Irish music and see some dancing.
I should have known better.
It was terrible -- and I do mean terrible! The food was horrible. There was very little selection and what we chose had no taste. I got a plain salmon dish because the sauce had prawns in it (which I don't eat). It tasted only of salt and butter -- and that's because I put salt and butter on it because it had no taste!
The music, which was three old guys singing traditional Irish favorites, was mediocre. The dancing was horrendous. Two young Irish men, two young Irish women, who probably flunked out of step dancing class trying to mix traditional Irish step dancing with something more rock and roll. Ugh!
And this lovely evening's cost? $127. Probably the most I've ever spent on dinner, and probably one of the worst dinners I've ever had.
DO NOT do this if you go to Dublin. Next time we go we'll ask around for which pubs offer good Irish music in the evenings for free, 'cause we were told later that lots of them do good music after dinner with no additional cost.
I haven't been as spot on as I'd like regarding all the resolutions I made this year. I haven't been blogging as much as I'm supposed to or exercising as much. But today I leave for what (according to my resolutions list) will be the first of at least vacations of three nights or longer.
We're off to Ireland!
We'd been thinking about somewhere to go back in December and Aer Lingus had offered this fantastic sale but we waited too long and when we finally decided we'd go for it, it was too late. But who's Aer Lingus trying to kid -- February in Ireland isn't exactly the most happening time to go.
We waited, and Aer Lingus brought the sale back. Roundtrip airfare and four nights in a 3-star hotel. Granted the hotel's more than five minutes away from the center (hoping for no more than a 20-minute walk) and it is going to be cold and rainy, but come one, we're going to be in Ireland!
My husband can't wait for the beer; I can't wait for the music and sexy accents.
I'm also thrilled to finally be able to share my favorite country with my husband. For those of you who know me, you may remember that he wasn't allowed off our our honeymoon cruise at any of the Irish ports. So now he's finally setting foot on the Emerald Isle and I get to share it with him.
We're even gonna spend a day in Belfast, which I haven't seen since I was 21. That's a long time ago...
I'll let you know if my favorite country is still my favorite when we come back.
Sharon won an advance uncorrected proof of the debut mystery novel "For Better, For Murder" by Lisa Bork.
A new raffle starts this month. Anyone who leaves a comment during the month of February is entered into the drawing. This prize for February is an uncorrected proof of "Holiday Grind" by Cleo Coyle.
Today I opened up Word to start working on my novel. I pulled out my outline and began writing. After about three-quarters of the page, I had to flip the page of my outline.
My writing stopped.
I am on the last page of my outline.
I have not only reached the final homestretch, a daunting enough thought by itself, I have reached the most critical moments in the story -- both emotionally and in terms of action.
And suddenly I'm terrified.
It's all well and good to muddle my way through the earlier parts of the book, setting the stage, planting clues, having Abi chase after those same clues, but there's no muddling when it comes to emotional intensity and a high-intensity climax. And suddenly, I'm not sure I'm up to it.
I mean I'm just not sure I know how to do emotional intensity without getting all maudlin. Or without using too many words.
I know, I know. For my first draft I'm not supposed to let these thoughts bother me and just write whatever comes and then fix it later. But come one! This is scary stuff.
This is it. This is the crux of the story. This is the endgame, the money shot, the reason d'etre. If I can't make this part of the story work, the entire story fails!
And yet at the same time, I look at my outline and I see how far I've come and how little I have to go to have completed my first ever full novel. Who cares that its a first draft and could be a piece of crap and may never turn into anything else. I have never before finished an entire novel, never. I've never even managed to finish a short story. And now I'm just 50 pages or less away from a complete novel. How cool is that!
So I'm taking a deep breath, letting all these crazy thoughts go, and going back to my Word doc.
I know not everyone who reads this is in New York City but I received this press release today and I really liked the idea and wanted to spread the word.
Every year, New York City hosts Restaurant Week, where a bunch of high-end restaurants reduce the prices on prix-fixe lunches and dinners giving "regular" people a chance to dine in places they normally wouldn't. It's very hard to get reservations and I've never been able to take advantage of any of the promotions.
This year for the first time ever Restaurant Week is coming to New Yorkers, through the Restaurant Week Truck. The truck, which will park at three locations throughout Restaurant Week (actually two weeks) will be serving gourmet soups provided by 24 different eateries. The soups are priced at $6, which isn't really very much for anybody who normally buys soup in the city.
But while I think the soup truck is a great idea, what I like the best is that $1 from each soup sold will be donated to The Haiti Relief Fund at the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City. So you're not only getting that nice warm feeling from hot soup threading its way through your tummy, but from knowing that you're also helping someone who really needs help.
The NYC Restaurant Truck will feature two to three soups each day from NYC Restaurant Week participants. On top of 19 other soups, the menu will offer such selections as lobster bisque from Blue Water Grill, roaster butternut squash soup from Charlie Palmer's Metrazur, Mexhattan clam chowder from Dos Caminos Park, tomato and fennel soup from Tribeca Grill, and coconut and galangal soup with organic chicken and straw mushrooms from Kittichai. All soup cost $6 and come with bread from Tom Cat Bakery.
Coca-Cola will also offer free sample drinks on select days over the two weeks.
The soup truck begins its schedule on Monday, January 25. The truck will first cater to patrons in Midtown, on Broadway between 50th and 51st Streets. It will be parked there each day from 11 am to 2 pm, Jan. 25 to 29.
From Feb. 1 to 3, the truck will be parked in the Flatiron District, on Fifth Ave. between 18th and 19th Streets. Also, 11 am to 2 pm.
Folks in Tribeca can visit the truck on Feb. 4 and 5. They'll find the truck from 11 am to 2 pm on Greenwich St. between Warren and Murray Streets.
There was one other nice thing that came out of my trip to Anguilla. I took a really great photograph of a tree lizard.
I know that sounds pretty lame, but I felt like I had taken a great nature shot that could rival most any nature photo you've ever seen of a lizard.
I submitted it for critique on some photo Web site, got lots of great comments and the photo was selected for inclusion in the site's annual published photo book. Well, it was selected along with about 1,000 others and really the published photo book is the site trying to make money by selling the books to the photographers whose photos are included -- but I still think it's pretty cool. Come on, tell me this isn't a nice picture!
The second Caribbean island I ever visited was Anguilla. I went as part of a travel agent FAM trip -- I was the only non travel agent in the group (other than the PR folks leading the trip).
The FAM (which is short for familiarization) was billed as the ultimate luxury trip, including a stay at a luxury resort, with fantastic meals and all sorts of high-end experiences. I believe they even valued the trip at $20,000 per person, or something like that. Basically the kind of FAM that sounds like a dream come true. I practically begged my editor to let me go when I received my invitation. I wish I hadn't.
My first impression of Anguilla was... blah. It's not a particularly attractive island from the interior. Lots of scraggly brush areas, kind of brownish, and really not much to see. There are no rolling hills, no stretches of green. But then, no one is coming to Anguilla for the interior of the island. They're coming for the beaches. And the beaches are beautiful. White sand beaches, turquoise water -- very pretty.
We stayed at a well-known resort called Cap Jaluca. It's a luxury property that has attracted the likes of Paris Hilton. Accommodations are spread throughout several villa buildings, each building having two to four "rooms."
The group of us were distributed among the varying room categories. One agent and I were given villa rooms. My villa room included: a full-size kitchen, dining room, living room, bedroom, balcony, small enclosed patio (which I could never get to because the door wouldn't open), bathroom, changing room, and private pool with large patio. It was enormous, well at least for just one person it was pretty big.
I found being in that "room" very lonely. There was too much space for one person to occupy and so it always felt empty in there. I did however take advantage of my private, enclosed pool to go skinny dipping a couple of times as I had not brought a bathing suit with me. I enjoyed that, but wished my husband could've been with me.
The resort was OK in my mind, but doesn't really offer anything to do beyond relaxing on the beach. There are only two restaurants, a small gym and a tiny spa, though to be fair they usually do massages in your room or on the patio's outside the rooms. We were all given a half an hour massage (part of the luxury aspect of the FAM). I traded my massage for a spa pedicure, which was very well done and lasted quite a while. All the agents told me they loved their massages.
My favorite aspect of Cap Jaluca -- the golf carts that all guests are allowed to drive around. I definitely had fun putting pedal to the metal on those things and seeing how fast I could take the curves with them. I don't think they ever went faster than 10 or 15 miles per hour, no matter how hard I pressed the pedals.
There are also two boutiques at the resort, with everything way overpriced. And they had two small library rooms with computers with free Internet.
We only ate at one of the resort's two restaurants. They do have a very nice beach barbecue, which normally costs $75 per person -- a bit pricey for what you get, if you ask me.
Actually, everything on Anguilla is pricey. Even the most moderately priced resorts were still at least $200 a night. In those rooms, you usually get a kitchenette, so I suppose you could save money by doing some light cooking.
There are no all-inclusives on Anguilla. Some of the resort's included breakfast, some did not. Some included Internet, some did not. One of the more moderate resorts offered free laundry.
But really what Anguilla seemed to offer were the four- and five-star resorts. One, CuisinArt Resort & Spa has the nicest spa I have ever seen in my life!!
The other accommodation option on Anguilla are the exclusive villa resorts. each with a small number of extravagant villas that fit four to 12 guests. These villas typically cost $12,000 and up per night.
But these are dream villas -- multiple bedrooms; private theater rooms; activities rooms with billiards, ping pong and more; gyms; meditation areas; gorgeous dining rooms; private pools and private beaches; multiple Jacuzzis; and more. We saw one amazing villa that Beyonce and Jay-Z have vacationed in -- they were that nice!
These places were the only properties I saw that I could imagine coming back to Anguilla for -- not that I'll ever be able to afford them. But if I could, I can imagine that it's very nice to come with a large group of friends or extended family and spend a week or more there.
We saw other nice resort properties, but all are so expensive and include nothing but the room. Somehow it always just seemed so extravagant to me and I could find no value in any of it. But then I don't make a lot of money so maybe someone who is making half a million dollars a year sees it differently. Certainly to the travel agents I was with, these properties represented significant income for them if they could sell them to their affluent clients.
We had some nice meals on Anguilla as well. Most of the restaurants say they offer the best fine dining and some of them did offer very good meals, but my favorite meal was actually at a private restaurant off property. Truly delicious food.
Overall I did not enjoy my stay on Anguilla. The luxury FAM I had been expecting was really mostly time spent going from property to property for tours in the hot sun. The only luxury we experienced were the resort we stayed at, the meals we ate, one half-hour spa treatment and a half-day speed boat tour of the island, which included a stop at a restaurant on a secluded cove. The restaurant is owned by a local character whose name escapes me now. Guests have two choices - crayfish or chicken, there is no vegetarian option. I don't know if the drinks were included in the $75 price tag or not. I guess the food was good -- all of us who had chicken thought the meal was okay, but those who had the crayfish really liked it. The best part of the time there was wading in the light waves on the small beach and talking to the owner who really is a character.
I was also lonely most of the time on this trip. I don't know if it was something going on in my life at that moment, or if it really was the trip or the island itself, but even though I talked to the others and socialized, I felt extremely lonely the whole time.
I think it was partly because the island is sooo expensive and I couldn't even begin to relate to the kind of people who must come there. I probably felt out of place a lot. And it was exhausting going from one resort to another all day long.
I doubt I'll ever go back to Anguilla again. Unless I win mega-millions and decide to rent a villa there someday there is nothing on that island for me. I leave it to Beyonce and Jay-Z, may they enjoy it to their heart's content.
First of all this is not really your normal book review, but more an exploration of my reactions to this book. I will say I liked the book; it kept me interested though I figured out who the "killer" was on about page 100 or so (its a 348 page book).
I'll give you a brief summary. Aurelia Marcella is a Roman citizen living in Roman Britain in 91 A.D. She is an innkeeper. At the start of the book two Romans are found with their heads cut off, having been brutally beaten, with a tablet pinned to their clothes that says "Get Out or Die." These are the first in a string of brutal murders. When one of the targeted victims is found on her inn's doorsteps, having survived the attack on him, Aurelia takes him in and inadvertently gets involved. As it turns out, there is a rebellion brewing. A group of native Britains want to take their country back from the conquering Romans and they're using scare tactics, including almost daily murders, to do it. The leader of the rebellion is someone she knows, but she must figure out who before she becomes the next victim.
Aurelia is an engaging character and its definitely interesting getting a glimpse at life in the early days of Roman Britain. The identity of the leader was fairly obvious early on, but I enjoyed finding proof throughout the novel that I was right.
But what I found particularly interesting while reading this book was my reactions to it. For most of the book, I was rooting for the rebellion. Of course I didn't want Aurelia or her family and friends to be killed, because I did like them, I wanted the rebels to get their land back. At least half the population in this fictional world were British slaves to Romans who had moved in to the area less than 20 years prior to the time the novel was set. There were also free Britains and even a few who had been granted Roman citizienship, but most were slaves.
Almost all of the people who worked at Aurelia's inn were slaves. The author of the novel, Jane Finnis, does not spend any time exploring the lives of these characters. From what I could tell they lived fairly free-ish lives but based on what I read in this book I have no idea if they had their own families, if they were allowed to marry, what kind of living conditions they were given, etc.
But it almost doesn't matter. They were slaves. One minute they were free people, the next the Romans showed up, "captured" them and sold them as slaves. And throughout the books, that's simply taken as a given, as the way the world is. Even Aurelia doesn't question it or care, that's just not part of her character.
Well, it's part of mine. I object fiercely to the idea of slavery and the idea of conquerering. And I want to see the slavers and the conquerers defeated. And in the case of this book, that's the Romans, which includes Aurelia.
So, on the one hand I don't want Aurelia to be killed but on the other I want the rebels to win.
To a certain extend I think Finnis deals with this by giving a slight twist to who the leader of the rebellion is and what that person's motivations are. He's not really looking out for the best interest of the rebels, just using their unhappiness and hatred to his advantage. So of course in the end I do want him to be caught and punished.
But I was definitely not happy that the rebellion was simply broken and that the Romans get to continue their life just as before. Even Aurelia doesn't "learn" anything from her experience with the rebels.
I think its important to note that I read this book shortly after seeing the movie "Avatar," which is about people from Earth invading a planet that has mineral resources that Earth wants/needs. Because the Earth people don't understand the natives, they treat them as "less than human," as vermin who need to be exterminated. Of course there are a few exceptions -- i.e. the scientists who are trying to act as a go between while learning about the planet and the people. But in the end, the way the soldiers want to do it (wipe 'em all out) is the way the mining expedition goes and hundreds of the native people's are killed. In this movie, Earth people are the enemy and the natives are the good guys -- it's a classis nature versus industrial industry story (other examples: Star Wars, Lord of the Rings).
Also, I think its important that I'm American, and the author of this novel is British. American comes from a rebellion, and we have slavery in our past -- something most of us (the better part of us) have been taught is most definitely wrong in every way. As Americans I've always felt we have a tendency to root for the underdog (although as a society we've become invaders now), so its unsurprising that I'd root for the underdog rebels in "Get Out or Die."
It was an interesting experience reading a book during which I was simultaneously rooting for both the protagonist and the rebellion (though not the main antagonist).
I'm curious what kind of reactions people from outside of the U.S. have to this book, other British people especially since it was most likely written with them in mind. I'm curious to know if other Americans had similar reactions to me.
Anybody else out there ever read this book? What did you think?
Two days ago I opened the document containing my work-in-progress novel for the first time in over a month. I was terrified to do it. It's like an old flame you've never quite gotten over and you're going to be seeing again after a long time apart. I missed my novel desperately, but what if after all this time I don't like it anymore? More important, what if it doesn't like me? What if no words come?
I won't lie. My first day, I barely wrote anything new. I re-read the most recently written chapter to catch myself up again, looked over my outline, made some changes and then wrote a whopping half a page!
And it was hard! Getting those ten or eleven sentences out was like pulling teeth. The words were slow to come and felt clumsy. My story seemed unfamiliar.
It took me a half hour to write that half page and so I had to stop and get to work. But in spite of how difficult it had been, I was proud of my few sentences. They were the first of the new year and proof that I can fit writing my novel into my life.
The next day I wasn't so nervous opening the file. Oh maybe there were a couple of butterflies flitting about inside me, but I felt much more prepared to tackle the challenge of my story. The characters felt more familiar to me. The words flowed a little more easily. Of course I didn't do too much more than half a page again, but it felt better.
I couldn't write today because of work (that'll be true every Thursday) but I can't wait for tomorrow morning when I can keep going. My story is back in my mind and I can't wait to get it out on paper.
Two blog entries ago I mentioned that it was in the Bahamas that I first truly realized the possibility of going on Walkabout. And I said I would blog a little more about the concept.
Walkabout is an Aboriginal concept. Most sources say it was a rite of passage for adolescent boys who went out into the desert for a certain period of time. During their time in the desert they follow their tribe's songlines through the desert, seeking their own strengths and weaknesses. I've also read in some places that older men also occassionally went, or go, on Walkabout when they feel an urge to do so.
I first heard about the concept of Walkabout on an episode of Babylon 5 where the station's doctor leaves his job and home and goes on Walkabout in an area of the space station that is considered dangerous. He is seeking himself, literally, and resolves to stay on Walkabout until he meets himself. He walks and walks until eventually he does meet himself, and even fights himself. Afterwards he has had an epiphany about who he is and what he wants out of life. He returns to his daily life, more fulfilled.
Though the Babylon 5 episode takes the Walkabout concept completely literally (the doctor literally meets another version of himself), on a symbolic level, when someone goes on Walkabout they are seeking themselves. Who they are, what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are, what they are capable of during hardship, when they must throw in their cards... and you stay on Walkabout until you meet yourself.
That concept has stayed with me since I first saw the Babylon 5 episode. The idea of leaving everything behind and setting out into the desert, the wild open world, and just walking until I met myself resonated with me.
Then when I first began planning my travel abroad, the idea of going on Walkabout began to insinuate itself into my thoughts. Once I realized that leaving for six or nine or even 12 months wasn't actually that much different than leaving for three months, in terms of job searching when I came back, going on Walkabout began to seem possible.
It wasn't long before I began referring to my upcoming journey as my Walkabout. I was going out into the big, scary world, without my usual support structure, and I was going to meet myself -- whoever that was.
It was terrifying really. Not just the thought of going out into the world alone and facing who knows what, but also the thought of meeting myself. What if I didn't like who I met? What if I was weak and incapable of being on my own? What if I failed altogether and didn't discover anything about myself? What if I came home exactly the same as when I left?
It would take a book to explore what I learned about myself on Walkabout, but learn I did. I believe I learned more about myself in the nine months I spent traveling than in the 30-something years prior. It wasn't an easy process. It wasn't pain-free, but it was totally worth it.
Have you ever thought about picking up and leaving? Would you ever consider going on Walkabout, walking until you met yourself?
Though it's already the third day of the new year I figure the best way to start my new year off, as well as my blogging for this year, with a list of all the things, people and events I'm grateful for from 2009, plus a list of my resolutions for 2010.
Gratitudes
Though I believe that 2009 was a tough year for so many people, including my husband and I, I also believe that many things happened for which all of us can be grateful.
For the year 2009, I am grateful for:
I am grateful my neice being born healthy and beautiful in September of.
I am grateful for getting to go to South Africa (in May) and see zebras, giraffes and other African animals in their home environments.
I am grateful for being freed of my oppressive job environment in July, and getting a new job in November, one that I truly believe has the potential to be a great job.
I am grateful for helping my husband achieve the first part of his Big Dream, seeing AC Milan play against Inter Milan, in July.
I am grateful for building a stronger relationship with my sister throughout 2009.
I am grateful for my husband getting a job in June, after too many months of unemployment, one that gives him the opportunity to make a lot of money -- enough to run off to Romania for just a weekend in August!
I am grateful for all the progress I made on my novel in 2009, going from page 0 to more than 120 pages.
I am grateful for celebrating my grandmother's 90th birthday with her in August.
I am grateful for starting this blog in August.
I am grateful for going to Epcot Center with my husband, sharing a taste of Disney with him, in March.
Resolutions
Awhile back I blogged about all those things we always say we wish we did, all the things we believe would enrich our lives and I vowed to try and add more of them to my life. Well, as usual I didn't. There's always a reason why, time and finances being the main culprits. Well, a new year is a great time to make resolutions about the things we'll do differently in the coming year. I've never really used the opportunity the new year presents, other than to casually say to myself "this year I will do such and such" but not really meaning it, not really taking it seriously. This year I'm doing it differently. Within each part of my life, I want to achieve certain goals. And at the end of the year, I want to look back and see how I did.
Writing Resolutions
I resolve to finish the first draft of my novel in 2010.
I resolve to write at least two short stories of 10,000 words or less in 2010.
I resolve to write at least five flash fiction stories of 500 words or less.
I resolve to blog at least three times a week for the entire year.
Work Resolutions
I resolve to write at least one article a month I am truly proud of and that I will feel totally comfortable entering into competition.
I resolve to continue to build my reputation and my personal relationships with people within the industry.
Life Resolutions
I resolve to continue to build my relationship with my sister.
I resolve to be a better friend -- to stay in touch more often and to see my friends more often.
I resolve to write at least one letter a month to friends who live further away.
I resolve to take at least 4 vacations of 3 nights or more.
Financial Resolutions
I resolve to build all of my vacation funds.
I resolve to get a real start on my retirement savings.
