I don’t even have the Christmas book out and I’m already writing two more in my head. Cripes!
My blog has been quiet lately as I work non-stop on polishing HOME FOR CHRISTMAS. [Launch date November 1 – Yeah!]
This will complete the first series trilogy, how I originally conceived the Fortune Bay series, a book for each of the three friends, Maddie, Frankie and Louise.
Of course I’ve written another one for Colleen already (Lake of Dreams, the prequel novella), and I can see this is not the end! But don’t expect the next book to hit the stores in another two months – the time between the launches of the first four – because they were a backlog, already written when I started this journey a year ago, and I’m slowing down to real-writing- time now for the next one. (To give readers a chance to catch up – Ha Ha!)
I’d love to hear from you! Before I put my metaphorical pen to paper and start the next cycle.
Meanwhile, here are some of my old black and white photographs that inspired the series. I used to live in a town called Honeymoon Bay, and that’s the real geographical location on which I’ve based the story. I have a hard-won fine art degree, slogged out one course at a time when my kids were small, and at one point I spent a lot of time taking and developing black and white photographs in my basement darkroom.
I still have all my darkroom equipment and someday might set it all up again, but the experience of developing my own fueled an appreciation of the art form that I still have today, that magic Maddie feels in the darkroom as the images emerge under the red light. (It’s something she shares with Jake in a steamy darkroom scene, one of my favorites in the book!)
There’s something graphic about Black and white that grabs me. The key is in the contrast of tones that establish the composition of the picture, something that applies to all the graphic arts. And in the old ones, it’s the nostalgic tone.
I dug these photographs out for my garden party launch of Summer of Fortune, and I wanted to share them with everyone who couldn’t be there. 🙂
These are the houses I imagine my characters live in in Fortune Bay. I think you’ll recognize them: the cabin and Jake’s log farmhouse. I’ll add them to my
pinterest board (after I get this next book out!) and dig out more pics of the good old days in Honeymoon Bay.
Thanks for reading the Fortune bay series. It’s your support that keep me going. Until next time,
Love your black ‘n white photos, Judy, especially the log cabin almost buried under the autumn leaves. Are those pumpkins on the porch? I have my mother’s old family album with photos going back to when she was a little girl and she was born in 1913. Old pictures are so evocative.
I have pretty well all of or family’s picture too, including my Mom and Dad’s childhood photos. I am half way through making a Shutterfly (hardcopy) photo book, and will be blogging about the process over the winter. It sees like a great way to preserve the old photos.
Thanks for dropping by.