Clicking Our Heels - Looking Forward - Seasonal Preferences

Clicking Our Heels – Looking Forward – Seasonal Preferences

As we practice social distancing and are limited in our interactions outdoors, we thought we’d tell you which seasons we love – and are thinking about. We also want to tell you how much we care about you, our readers, and hope you are staying safe and well.

Julie Mulhern – I adore autumn-the colors, the crisp air, the bright blue of an October sky.

Juliana Aragon Fatula – Spring because of gardening and growing plants from seeds gives me a kickstart on life. Seeing baby deer being born on my front yard under my Aspen grove opens my eyes to the mystery of the circle of life. Rain, wet earth, birds singing, the magic of creation.

Debra H. Goldstein – Summer. The warmth of the weather; the fact that people want to get together; the joy of being at the beach or in the water; the fun of seeing children learning to swim; the relaxation everyone feels.

Dru Ann Love – I like Autumn – because it’s not that cold nor too hot and no allergies to deal with.

Robin Hillyer-Miles – Summer! I like it hot. I love to have a dribble of sweat slipping down the center of my back.

Debra Sennefelder – Hands down, autumn is my favorite season. I love the child in the air, cozy sweaters and comfort food. It’s a beautiful time of the year.

A.B. Plum – I love spring because of the rebirth, literally, of the natural world. I don’t mind the rain because it feeds the plants and around here, ensures the racoons and possums and other critters won’t die of thirst or come into my backyard looking for water.

Kathryn Lane – Spring is allergy season for me. Fall, especially in the mountains, is sheer beauty – the golden foliage, wildlife passing through on their way to lower, warmer territory, and the warm days and cool nights. Pure bliss.

T.K. Thorne – I love spring, but it doesn’t love me. One of my favorite writing places is my front porch, and I love when it gets warm enough to do that. Nature things happen there, and I can spend hours in my rocking chair, but I pay the price with allergies.

Back from a Weekend in San Luis Obispo

I love the coast. I'm speaking of California's Central Coast. We lived in a beach community for over twenty years before moving to our present home in the foothills of the Sierra (above the Central Valley of California). Where we live now, we have real seasons--not as extreme as what some of my fellow bloggers experience, but the trees do turn color (in Southern California it's green all year around), it gets cold, rains, and once in awhile it snows and we can see snow all around us on the mountains during the winter. And spring is wonderful, though sometimes we only get two or three days before it's summer--summer is hot and lasts forever.

San Luis Obispo is one of those places near the beach and it stays green all year long. They think it's hot when it turns 80. Most of the time the weather is wonderful there. It was not on Sunday.

We traveled to San Luis Obispo to attend the Central Coast Author and Book Festival.
We stayed at the Apple Farm Inn, a place we'd always wanted to experience. Our room was small, but so darling, with a canopy bed, couch and chair, a desk, an armoire, a fake fireplace and a two fresh carnations in a vase hanging on the mirror in the bathroom. The Apple Farm has beautiful flowers everywhere. The restaurant has wonderful food and most of the wait staff are students at the nearby college.

Our first evening we met friends at an interesting restaurant that is by a creek and most of the tables are outdoors. It was chilly that night and I was afraid I would be too cold--but they had heaters all around and it was quite comfortable. Victoria Heckman Doust and her hubby were there--she's a fellow mystery author and I hadn't seen her since we roomed together in Anchorage AK at Bouchercon. Karen Kavanaugh is also a mystery author and a publisher and she's been a good friend for a long while. Needless to say, besides having a wonderful meal, the conversation was great.

The next morning, we arrived at the Central Coast Book and Author Festival about 8:30and found out our assigned spot. We were situated between the Central Coast Sisters in Crime booth and Madeline Gornell's booth, another mystery writer and friend.

People started wandering by almost immediately. It looked like it would be a great day. Unfortunately, a chilly wind began to blow. It blew so hard it turned some of the umbrellas we all had over our table upside down. Authors' decorations blew away. Picture frames fell over and glass broke. The wind seem to chase some of the interested people away too.

Oh, we all sold some books, but not as many if the weather had been a bit more cooperative. Despite all that, I felt the weekend was a success. A reader who bought a book from me at a book fest a couple of weeks ago, found me to get the next one in the series. I met a lot of people, handed out cards, talked about my books and visited with friends.

I have one more outdoor festival coming up in two weeks, the Springville Apple Festival. It's a two day affair and almost in my back yard. We'll be sleeping at home. I do hope the weather is a bit more cooperative.

For the writers who read this, what book selling venture did you attend that didn't quite go the way you hoped for?

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com