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 Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 8:12 pm
Alice stretched her hands over her head as she arched her back before settling back against the tree that she was leaning against. It wasn't the most comfortable place to sit. The bark was rough and poked her in the back in several places. But she had a clear view of the ocean surrounding the island. She had found a spot between her guest house and the next, and she could see both houses from where she sat. She had left her laptop back in her room since she worried the battery would run out if she spent too long sitting outside. So she wrote down notes in her notebook as she took in the peacefulness of the island.
She was excited about the workshop, but she had free time to wander around and explore the island before that. Alice still didn't know what exactly to expect from the workshop. She chewed nervously on the end of one pen. The other workshop attendants seemed nice; she decided from the yacht trip to the island. She was even staying in a guest house with one of the other attendants, which made her excited and nervous. She hadn't really lived with anyone outside her family. She hoped she didn't do anything stupid and make the other woman think poorly of her.
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Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 10:23 am
Gloria was very excited about being here. VERY EXCITED! Her life at home wasn't exactly action packed and this sort of trip was something she'd never done before. She'd mentally admonished herself for waiting until so late in life to get adventurous, but she had no regrets.
After getting to the island she found herself nicely placed in the guest house closest to where the activity would be occurring. She found it very thoughtful of the organizers. She was slightly disappointed that she had no roommate but it seemed that the younger women were roomed with one another and the only other participant at this time was a young man (and that just wouldn't be appropriate!)
It came time, with storms having passed, to go out and enjoy the tropical place. Gloria wasn't sure how much 'exploring' she could get around to but she could at least walk around amongst the houses and maybe even run into a few people (maybe she would glimpse Benjamin Baenare himself?!) At least the exotic locale could give her some ideas or influence concerning her novel.
Gloria walked, in the opposite direction of their hosts home, towards the other houses scattered across the shore of the island. The weather was lovely and she had put on a light weight tropical print blouse along with her slacks and sneakers. She stuck with the grass, wary of getting sand into everything. With a glance upwards through her dark and bulky sunglasses, Gloria caught sight of one of the other women reclining against a tree. It wasn't Jackie.. it was the quieter one (at least from her boat ride experience).. Alice?
The elderly woman approached at her own leisurely pace, waving a greeting and giving a warm smile.
"It's a beautiful day out, isn't it?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 8:00 pm
Alice looked up when she heard someone speak, jerking her out of her thoughts and back into reality. When she glanced around, she saw the elderly woman that was attending the workshop approaching her. She smiled as she closed her notebook and stood up.
"Oh, yes," Alice agreed happily. "Much nicer than the weather we had on our way over." She didn't mind the rain, but she didn't particularly like getting soaked either. She liked watching the rain, when she wasn't getting drenched in the downfall. "It's Gloria, right?" She was pretty sure she remembered the names of each of the other attendants. There were only four of them altogether, after all. But sometimes, her memory could get a little fuzzy when she thought too much about her writing.
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Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 6:14 am
"That's me. You are Alice.. I think?" Gloria smiled then clapped her hand to her head as a nice sea breeze whipped by them and she clasped her hat on securely. "I've actually never been anywhere tropical before. I've gone to the beach.. but not quite like this. I hope it'll be inspirational!"
Gloria turned to look at the ocean. She had a very content aura about her, as if anything that could happen would just be water under the bridge.
"Have you been writing very long?" She knew their names and that they were here for a writing workshop, but besides that Gloria knew nothing about her companions. It wasn't a competition, but some may be better or more experienced than others.
"I've never been published and this story of mine has been a long time in the making." The grandmother looked back at Alice again, this time her face only slightly more concerned. "Oh.. I'm sorry. I know artists can be different about their work. If you don't want to talk about it or share .. that is totally fine!"
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Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 7:41 pm
Alice nodded and smiled. "Yup, I'm Alice." She followed Gloria's gaze toward the ocean. "Where I live, there isn't that much in the way of beaches. There's a river that runs through our city, but I've only seen it through the window of the car when we've driven past it."
She took a deep breath, relishing the fresh smell of the forest behind her mixed with the salty air coming off the sea in front of her. "This definitely feels like a great place to get inspired to write." She had spent a good deal of time writing down notes and scenes since they arrived.
"Hm," Alice pondered Gloria's question. "I started in high school, so it's been about five or six years now. I've never had anything published either. I haven't even gotten a story finished yet." She blushed, a little embarrassed to admit that. "I've been busy working and reworking the plots."
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Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 6:17 am
Gloria was rather relieved to find that she wasn't the only inexperienced writer on the island.
"That's a relief!" She gave Alice a smile but corrected her speech, "Well I mean.. I'm relieved to know that I'm not alone in being new to this."
Gloria moved to lean against the tree but not to sit because she was pretty sure she'd have a hard time getting up once her butt h it the ground. When Alice blushed about her incomplete tale, Gloria only chuckled.
"Most of my story is on post it notes and soup can labels!" She realized how strange that sounded. "I've been scribbling it on whatever is handy, little by little, over the years. The closest I have to it being complete is the fact I keep them all in a shoebox together!"
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Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 10:31 am
Alice smiled as she leaned back against the tree that she had been sitting under before Gloria arrived. The island was so quiet and peaceful. It almost felt like she was in another world, being this remote from the rest of civilization.
"I've been keeping a notebook on hand ever since I started working on my story," she said and held up the notebook that she had been writing in. "It really comes in handy when inspiration takes me by surprised. But then I have to sort through it all since all my notes are a jumbled mess in here." She laughed, wondering how she ever managed to understand the chaos that was inside her notebook.
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Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 8:14 am
"Hopefully Mr. Baenare has some advice for organizing." Truth was, Gloria had no idea what sort of writing exercises they would be made to participate in. Would they get that sort of assistance?
"I'm a bit of a fangirl, truth be told." Gloria's cheeks flushed just a bit. "I've read all of his books. I hope I don't embarass myself! I should know better. It's amazing to think he lives right over there.." She glanced in the direction of the main house which was just visible across the island's stretch of trees and beach.
"This seems like a wonderful place to live." It was also good inspiration for her sea-faring novel, "I don't think I could retire here though. Much too far from home. I have 3 grandchildren and I couldn't bear to be away for TOO long!"
Like any proud grandmother, she reached into her bag and pulled out a fat wallet. When it opened, stuffed amongst the coupons was some family photos. She held them out to Alice.
"The first one is my son Jim Jr and his wife.. and his 3 children." She glowed with pride as she pointed them out. Jim was the spitting image of his father, but Alice wouldn't know.
"This second one is my youngest.. Tom. He can't seem to settle down with anyone, but he always was too handsome and too fickle." She laughed a little but the truth was that he was very handsome but you could see a lot of his mother in his face.
"Oh and this is Mary Anne and her.. umm.." Her face turned bright red. "Her friend Jane." She clearly had trouble with some of the more modern concepts of sexuality.
"I'm sorry! I must be gushing! I do love them so.. and I think they worry about what I am doing in my twilight years."
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Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 11:44 pm
"That would be great for me if he did," Alice said with a light chuckle. "I've never been the greatest at organizing information."
Alice took a look over the pictures that Gloria showed her. "Don't worry about it," she said, smiling at the woman. "If I had children too, I would probably be gushing about them too. I have three siblings. They're all older than I am, and they have successful careers."
She frowned, pushing back a strand of her and tucking it behind her ear. Her gaze fell upon the ground. "Sometimes I think my parents, my father mostly, are disappointed that I have followed in their steps to a rewarding job."
Alice laughed and shook off the odd bout of sadness. "But writing has been my only real interest since high school. I can't really imagine doing something other than writing."
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 7:46 am
"Oh deary.." Gloria gave Alice a kind look. "As a parent.. don't worry about what they think. Your parents love you no matter what. I know it sounds really generic, but in the long run as long as you are happy, that will be all that matters. Parents are full of expectations and part of being a parent is knowing that your will won't always be followed. And part of being a child is taking your own path!"
Gloria rested her hand lightly on Alice's head in an affectionate manner, only for a moment.
"You should know very well that even though you aren't a parent you have expectations for things and it never pans out. We just have to try our best to live a fulfilling and happy life. Love keeps on no matter what! It's really good that you have been able to find something that makes you happy."
She closed her wallet and stuffed it back into her bag before she closed her eyes to just feel the sun on her face and smell the sea breeze.
"My first love was my children and husband. Writing came second and had to wait until I had the time.." Gloria chuckled a bit. "But I'll never regret a moment and I finally came back to it!"
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Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 11:09 am
A smile tugged at Alice's mouth as she listened to Gloria. The way the woman gently touched her head, it made Alice thinking of her own grandmother, even for that brief moment before the hand moved away.
"I know they love me," she said but sighed tiredly. "It's just hard not to get upset with my father when he tells me that writing will never accomplish anything. Not everyone can become some famous writer."
She shook her head. "But fame isn't why I want to write. That's the farthest thing from my mind. I just want to write. And I want to improve on my writing. This workshop seemed like the best way to do that."
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 6:48 am
"Well maybe you will become a famous writer!" Gloria gave her a chuckle. "That will show him, huh?" She knew very well that for herself and Alice here, that it wasn't about fame. But it was fun to dream, wasn't it?
Gloria looked down at Alice through her large BluBlockers and got a serious face.
"I have a very serious question.. and I was wondering if you could help me. I... I am not very good with computers. But I know, realistically, that the easiest way to get my thoughts down is to use the new laptop that my son gave me."
The granny scratched her neck lightly, her cheeks blushing only slightly in embarrassment.
"Do you think you could help me? Only if I have problems of course!" At home she hand wrote or used a typewriter but that wasn't something she wanted to pack.
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Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 10:56 am
"Maybe," Alice said with a laugh. "But first I would need to actually complete a novel before I could become a famous writer." She could hardly imagine becoming a famous writer. But she would be happy if she could get at least one book published in her lifetime.
"Computers? Sure, I can help," she answered with a bright smile. "I'm no whiz at the computer, but I'm sure I could help with most problems."
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