Book Talk

I was confiding to a friend this morning that I thought it was too boring to blog about what I did on the book so far this week.

After describing a typical day to her, she said, “You may think what you are doing is mundane but it sounds glamorous to those of us who only dream of getting a book contract.”

So here goes…

I spent the morning re-reading what I had already written for three chapters and made edits. Each chapter features one cottage.

One of the things I was looking for was words that I repeated too often, like “inviting” or “cozy”. I hate it when I am reading a decorating book and start to count how many times the author has repeated the same words over, and over and over again. In one extreme case the offending book used “charming” over 40 times.

My conversation with myself sounded something like, “All of the cottages are cozy or they wouldn’t have been included in the book. Come on Barbara, think of a few new adjectives!”

In the afternoon, I chatted with several of the homeowners whose homes are being featured in the book. We caught up on what had been happening in our lives in the past few months, as well as discussing paint colors and inspirations.

One watched her primary residence burn down courtesy of a lightning strike. She barely escaped with her pets. Another lost both of her parents. But the news wasn’t all bad. There were weddings and new babies, too.

We compared garden notes and discussed the progress of my husband’s broken leg. I shared news of my four new baby chicks (see photo above).

I also took notes on when one homeowner confessed that she had fallen in love with a man 40 years her senior (because he’s the most talented woodworker she ever met) and noted that another had discovered a way to make his windows invisible --or at least less intrusive.

I also received invitations to spend the weekend in Key West, a private island off the coast of Maine and a historic beach resort in Georgia.

Not a bad day’s work!