beaches

Visiting the beach is so nice. I'm back from a week on Anna Maria Island, which sounds so glamorous, but it was just the beaching I needed. I caught up on a ton of reading and started a new book that is actually out-of-genre--the first I've read in what feels like a long while. The Teahouse Fire, by Ellis Avery, is one I heard a KQED podcast reading of (by Avery) and picked up for the trip. It's perfect for transporting you to 19th century Japan, inspired by Avery's five years of weekly tea ceremony study in New York and five weeks of daily tea study in Kyoto.

After spending time on Anna Maria, I think I might just have to step up the beach scenes in my novel. It already has a bit of beach in it, but it happens to be around a lake. I may make it an oceanfront beach instead--there's nothing the ocean waves can't do for the soul. And now I'm refreshed, ready to start back on novel revisions for the WISCON workshop.

Here's a drawing on did my first day on the island: