Monday, June 12, 2017

Writing a Novel in an RV is a Novel Idea


Sir Walter Scott crafted “Marmion,” his bestselling epic poem, on horseback,  Gertrude Stein discovered that the driver’s seat of her Model T Ford was a perfect place to write and my personal muse, Agatha Christie created her plots in a large Victorian tub while eating apples.




I  have also written in my car - I find the backseat has more room for my espresso and notebooks, and for years I wrote in the tub. (Pre-computers.) I wrote my first two non-fiction books in an old trailer outside my home in the countryside years ago and I still miss it.

Now, as you might have guessed, I write in my 30-foot, 1984 motor-home which The Husband and I named Walter, not knowing the 'Breaking Bad' reference until our children both informed us. Too late, Walter it is.

For the last two years we have made our home in the RV, the only home we have presently and we love it. Oh please, don't feel sorry for me because I don't have a normal home- I've had one and I'm over it. Next question?

Anyhoo, love the RV, love the life and our travels inspire me. No offense, but living in a gated community just doesn't get the creative juices going.

Most of the time I write in my boudoir- my little bedroom in the back of the RV...only a step away from the bathroom- which is nice.




I wake up early to write before work- which is writing for other people who pay me - and then again late at night if I haven't had too much Chardonnay- you know how that goes.

I started my newest book- 'Vixens of Vanishing Island,' deep in the forest of Northern California one autumn night. I had a dream- not a very nice dream- of former gal pals and when I woke up, Agatha Christie's bestselling novel, "And Then There Were None,' came to me. I began writing on a notepad, making up characters and wove mean things women have said to me or I have heard them say to other women. Seriously, do some women never stop being mean girls?

I found the name 'vixens,' at Northtown Books in Arcata, CA and wrote up and down the coast of California as well as in a cool campground in San Diego. 

I am also self-publishing this time around; not because agents and publishing houses don't want me (actually I don't know if they  do or don't as I don't care) because my first book was published by the largest publisher in the country and I sold 30K books and hardly made enough to buy a pair of Jimmy Choos. (Just because I live in an RV doesn't mean I don't love the good life.) I also want control over what I write, not hand it over to a bunch of 20-something college grads who think they know what's best for my words.

No thanks.

I just sent my final pages and cover (it was a process- trust me) to Amazon and my novel- based on Agatha's Christie's 'And Then There Were None,' should be for sale in 72 hours.

I'm feeling a little sick and anxious, but unlike my character Cookie Armstrong, I don't take Xanax. I am however, parked in my RV in Napa and the tasting rooms are calling my name.




Check Amazon on Friday, order my book, "Vixens of Vanishing Island," and let me know how you like it. 

Until then...