dream home

May I indulge myself here and post photos of my dream home? It actually was on the market a few months ago but appears to have sold.



Note the pony barn. Also note that the entire exterior fencing is backed with no-climb mesh so the corgyn could run free over the entire property.



And, note the main barn to the left/rear of the pony barn. The gate in the foreground is at the very back of the property and opens onto 3000+ acres of public riding/driving trails.

What a great place.

the jefferson

Today I was walking around Southern Pines, after stopping at the bookstore to buy my children a gift before heading home.

I knew the Jefferson Inn was being renovated, but it's been a long, long time since that process started, and I've come to just assume it's "not finished."

The Jefferson, by the way, played a big part in the writing of my first novel, the one I'm down here revising right now. I rented a little office in Aberdeen for nearly a year, and came down on Thursdays to write. I always ended the day with a stop at the Jefferson for dinner and a drink and the weekly open mike that featured wonderful local music.

When the Jefferson closed its doors I was heartbroken. It had been running continuously since 1902 and had every bit of the history and charm it must have had early on.

Today I decided to peer in the windows and see what was up in there.

Imagine my surprise (and glee) to see someone sitting behind a computer in the reservation/innkeeper area! I went in and discovered that it is up and running, with 15 gorgeous rooms (I saw 8 of them) and the restaurant/bar opening sometime in April.

The Jefferson is in my first book. Now it can go in my third one too!

If you feel like a weekend, or a week, in Southern Pines, look them up and give them your business. I don't ever want the Jefferson to be closed again.

too many dreams to count

BIG breakthrough yesterday with the revision... something that only now seems obvious, after I've taken the leap and done it.

I was up very late following the ripples of dropping the big stone into the pond of my book, and when I finally did go to bed, I dreamed ALL NIGHT LONG.

I woke up after each dream, so I remember them all. They were all over the place, as if unleashing that stone opened the gates to the unconscious, wide.

Great night, lots of work to do today.

The magic mansion comes through again. :)

a writer's dream

Last night I dreamed that some unseen force tied helium balloons to my legs so I could not stand solid on the earth. I kept removing the balloons, which were long like femurs, and pale blue, and the mysterious force kept putting them back.

In the meantime, the electricity had been turned off and I wanted it back on.

In the end I won, but I was exhausted from my persistence.

Given the previous post and my being down here to "wire" my first novel, I had to smile this morning when I woke up. I probably need the power off while wiring, don't you think?

The photo here is the view out my window. I took it yesterday, moved by the pattern of the bricks, the darkness in that window, the pile of unused shutters, and the two solid pines standing like sentinels on either side.

Today the pine on the left is being cut down as I type. It's rotting from the base and leaning slightly toward the upstairs veranda. They have chosen to take it out before it takes out a chunk of the house.

Somehow all this is swirling around, filtering into my work in not quite conscious ways. It's going well.

interesting slip of the keyboard

I had emailed someone a "regret" about a dinner coming up that I won't be able to attend because of a writing residency I'm doing.

The purpose of the time is to rewrite my first book and get it back out there to publishers early this year.

When the recipient of my "regret" emailed me back, she wrote:

"Wiring is much more important. We will see you next month."

She meant, of course, to type "writing."

But what a wonderful slip! Essentially, what I need to do is indeed to "wire" this novel. Give it the underlying current to electrify.

I had already made notes to this effect, but now I will go with such a vivid idea of what it is I want to accomplish.

:)

billie