If You Want To Do Your Own Bottom Job…

…perhaps you should check out Provincetown. Here’s a boat hauled out on a frame meant just for that purpose. Pretty cool, and a very thoughtful nod to sailors who have been coasting along these waters for hundreds of years.

Shelling Has Nothing On Stoning

One thing that New England beaches have in abundance is beautiful and interesting stones. Here are a few that we found on Long Point, at the tip of Cape Cod across the harbor from Provincetown.

Provincetown, Massachusetts

Our first stop on our way south was Provincetown, which is on the very tip of Cape Cod. Although it’s about a 100-mile drive from Scituate, it’s less than 30 miles by boat. You can usually see P-town for most of the trip, but we had fog and ¼- to ½-mile visibility. Have I told you that we love our radar? Visibility cleared as we got into the harbor, which is broad and deep and protected from all directions. Moorings fill the area behind the breakwater (immediately in front of town) and beyond the Coast Guard station, but we found a site just outside the mooring field in about 20 feet of water. And what water – perfectly clear and slightly green (it’s a nutrient-rich green, not pollution green)! We haven’t seen water this clear since the Keys, although Chris thought it a bit chilly (that’s an understatement) when he went in in a shorty to clean off the prop.

This is a great stop. Great protection, long beaches to walk on, and an interesting town. Provincetown was the area where the Pilgrims first landed, before they headed across the bay to Plymouth. The Pilgrim Monument is a tower that can be seen from far offshore (see in the picture above). We recommend the museum at its base, as admission ($7) includes access to the tower. It’s built entirely of granite, and along the interior walls are polished blocks with the names of Massachusetts towns and cities and their dates of incorporation (Quincy, 1625). Eat your Wheaties for breakfast, though, as it’s a long climb up lots of stairs and ramps (here’s the view from the bottom of the stairs, but don’t look up before you climb), but the views are so worth it. You can actually see Boston in the distance to the northwest!




Provincetown also has some amazing architecture, like this house that to me resembles a bride, and artwork. How cool is this wharf house, adorned with lovely pictures of old women!

Fall Is Coming, And We’re Migrating South With The Birds

Summer in New England can’t be beat. Although they had lots and lots of rain early in the summer, since mid-July, when we arrived, it’s been warm and sunny most of the time. A far cry from the sweaty heat and humidity of a Florida summer! Chris groused about the cold water as we traveled north, but we’ve gotten in some swimming up here. Also, lots of gardening at Anne’s mother’s house (with no poison ivy!), ball games, and lounging in the sun on the boat and at the beach. We didn’t get to sail around New England as much as we would have liked, but perhaps next summer we can. But now it’s starting to cool down and our nieces and nephews have gone back to school (sorry, kids!), so we’ll head south. We’ve got our camera back now, so we’ll be able to include more pictures.

And Now For Something Completely Different

My apologies to Monty Python for borrowing their phrase, but it's perfect for describing DragonCon. (Actually, Terry Gilliam and another writer for Monty Python were at the con, but we didn't get to see them.) This is one of largest science-fiction/fantasy conventions in the country, and it's always a ball. For those of you who don't know, Chris is an avid writer of fantasy and science fiction, with four fantasy novels in print and a three-part science-fiction/satire serial in audio-book format (see the previous blog for info on his new book from Dragon Moon Press, Scimitar Moon). Also, Anne is getting in on the action as co-author with Chris on The Cornerstone Trilogy: Book 1 (Zellohar) came out earlier this summer. We've attended lots of conventions to sell the books (here's Chris at his booth), and DragonCon is one of our favorites. It's held in Atlanta, Georgia, every Labor Day weekend, with venues filling the downtown Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and Sheraton hotels.

One of the great things about DragonCon is the energy...and the views. Tens of thousands of people attend, and probably half of them are in costume. Some are simple, some elaborate; if you have a Facebook page, you can see pictures of some of the great costumes at this link. On Saturday morning, they shut down several blocks of streets in downtown Atlanta for a costume parade, always well-attended, with just about every science-fiction, fantasy, and anime character represented. For example, they have whole squadrons of Star Wars storm troopers, as well as Darth Vaders and Jedi knights. All weekend, people wear their costumes around, and there are areas in each hotel specifically for photographing those in costume. For Lord of the Rings fans, there was a totally awesome Sauron, shown here with Anne. He really was that tall.

Chris participated in several panels at the con, which he really enjoys doing for the interaction with other writers and publishers, as well as guests and fans. Book sales went well, and lots of previous customers returned to find out what new books had had. It's so gratifying when someone comes up and says that they love your work! We met up with our friends, Joe and Kim, from Tampa, whom we miss greatly, and Chris got to meet his Dragon Moon Press editor and cover artist. All in all, a great time!

New Book Release!

We're soooo excited, because Dragon Moon Press just published Chris' new book, Scimitar Moon! This is the cover above. The book debuted Labor Day weekend at DragonCon, which I'll write more about later. Scimitar Moon is a fantasy-pirate story, but as Chris liked to say, these are not "Pirates of the Caribbean" pirates. He got to work into the story both his love of fantasy and his love of sailing on the ocean. What more can you ask for! Sales of the book at the con were great, and we're now working on marketing it to a wider audience. Marketing comes naturally to neither of us, but Chris has come great mentors in Gail Z. Martin (The Chronicles of the Necromancer series) and Jana Oliver (Time Rovers series), both popular fantasy authors, so we've got a good head start! For more information on the book, click here to view Chris' blog.

Back to Blogging

I hadn't realized how much I'd come to rely on my camera and computer. Both crapped out recently, and we've only just gotten them both back into working order, so I can blog again! Now you might say that I could have used Chris' computer to blog, but the screen on my computer bit the big one, so I couldn't even access the blogs I had already written, much less the pictures. Also, it's probably less dangerous to try to take a bone from a rabid dog than to get between Chris and his computer. Anyway, I've got them both back now (cross your fingers that they'll stay fixed), so I'm back (take that as a warning or a threat, your choice)!