Long, long ago there were two young girls who lived in a magical place called Topsail Island. The island was such that these two girls, and many of the other children who lived there, had the freedom to spend all day playing in the sun, sand and beautiful ocean that surrounded it.

The parents of the children were all hard working people. They were also a generous people and in months when times were hard, they opened up their hearts to the community and gathered together to feed chicken and fish and oysters to everyone.

This magical place still exists, though mostly in the hearts and minds of those that remember the magic of Topsail and those days long ago. Glimpses of it can be seen in the remnants of tall towers, of wooden pilings standing staunchly in the Atlantic, and in the friendliness of the islands long time residents.

This is what I’m waiting for-what I’m ready for-my favorite flower-the happiest flower. One day of cold weather and I’ve had enough. But alas, I know this-the daffodils-is a couple of months away.

                                                                 IN THE MEAN TIME

I stopped by the college this afternoon and found that a few people have already signed up for my creative writing class-soooo excited and can’t wait to put your pens to paper. We always have lots of fun in class and I’ve been told that a lot of learning goes on as well.

We will be delving more vigorously into character development and as always, I will be working one on one with the students and their personal projects.

Classes start Feb. 15 so sign up as soon as you can. Thanks so much.

Christmas is the time for unconditional love. May your Christmas be filled with the peace of God’s love.

Oh, what a glorious morning. Living on Topsail Island is a blessing-always inspiration for writing.

Now that I’ve gained a thousand pounds (Thanksgiving stuffing and Halloween candy) I could succumb to depression, but instead I’ve chosen to direct my frustration to a character I’m developing. Yes! I’m working on another book-haven’t decided what to call it yet, but as always the setting will be Topsail. Sunrises like this send me searching for words and scenes.

Writing lesson: Close your eyes and imagine who could be viewing this beautiful sunrise and what they could be doing/thinking.  Now, write it down.

This is a photo of the old Sea Gull restaurant in the early 1960s. My mom and dad ran it for a couple of years. By the 1970s it was gone. Now that space is a parking lot.
Following is an excerpt from one of the short stories in my new book PLUM DUFF. Frequently the little Sea Gull will show up in my stories, though it may be at a different location-I just loved the place so much I have to include it in my stories. PLUM DUFF should be out in a couple of weeks.

     The menu was one sheet of laminated paper printed on both sides. Helen grasped it with her fingers, thanking the waitress, then wiped a smudge away with a napkin.
     Focusing her eyes through the no-line bifocal lenses of her glasses, she read the list of foods.     The list was short-mainly burgers, fries, sandwiches and seafood.
     The Sea Gull restaurant, situated next to the island fishing pier, despite its fantastic view, was not on the list of must go places on Topsail Island. Locals were the main clientele.
     It wasn’t like Helen to come to such a greasy spoon, but she’d heard that the grouper was the best. Unlike most of the other restaurants on the beach, the Sea Gull’s seafood was not overcooked nor over breaded.
     She set the menu on the table and looked about the room. It was nearly empty, but then it was late October and most of the tourists were gone for the year. Only a few fishermen hung on, endeavoring to catch fresh seafood of their own.

Now, this is power.

We’ve had lots of erosion this week – several feet. And lots of wood has been floating up on shore. Anybody need a set of stairs?

Who remembers the Scotch Bonnet Fishing Pier? Notice the lack of big houses in the area. Topsail was truly the Fisherman’s Paradise back then.
Our first creative writing class was last night at CFCC. What a great group of people-I think this is going to be a fantastic class. We covered so much material-Continuity, genre, character development-got a lot covered and had fun doing it. Thank you for joining our group!