Good morning, all!
I’m just gonna say it.
I can be a complete space cadet sometimes. I’m silly…and don’t mean to be. A few writer friends and I met for a writing retreat this week. I laughed so hard my face hurts.
For the duration, I actually felt normal because there were others like me on the trip. Thankfully, there were a couple sane ones among the bunch who provided adult supervision for the rest. Ha!
Don’t we look like fun? :-)
I’m happy to report that we left Myrtle Beach still standing. It would be a great setting for a romance novel. :-) I’d like to inflict some of the incidents on my characters. :-)
For instance, we somehow got lost going from the airport to the condo. Understandable except it’s nearly a straight shot down one road. Literally, we drove 40 miles out of the way. Still not sure how that happened. We spent another five miles trying to gather courage to call and ask the others already there how to get home (at least our home for the week.)
We arrived at the condo well after dark. People were sleeping. So what do I do? Nearly push the fire alarm rather than the elevator button! Thankfully one of the gals with me intercepted my finger before it woke up everyone in the neighborhood.
One afternoon, one of the gals and I were strolling along the surf and she dropped her glasses. As she swooped down to pick them up…so did a determined sea gull. She barely got to her glasses before the bird did. We laughed so hard and wondered what would’ve become of her glasses had the gull got ’em.
Do you like driving out of town? Or does it cause anxiety? Do you like flying? Would you rather drive or take a train? We were cackling like a bunch of hens upon seeing one another. I think the airport people were glad to be rid of us. Who in your life makes you laugh the most and why? Tell stories! :-)
Adding to the fellowship and fun was a pod of dolphins that came to play in the ocean right in front of us every day! This was very cool research and an unexpected blessing from God since I have a beach-themed series that features a heroine who is a therapy dolphin handler.
Lots of stories will come out of this trip. What a blessing!
I watched a couple, who I imagined were honeymooners, playing Frisbee on the beach. An older man walked by with his Beagle. But…you see…that dog wanted that Frisbee and tried his best to break free and get it.
My mind automatically jumped into a chain reaction of “What ifs…”
What if a romance hero was walking his dog on a beach? What if his dog breaks free and runs down the beach only to come back with the heroine’s business-branded Frisbee?
What if a sea gull swooped in and swiped a sentimental item from a heroine strolling along the beach…only to drop it at the hero’s feet a mile down the beach? What would the item be? What was engraved on it? How would the hero discover who it belonged to? How does he return it?
What if a single dad hero’s daughter pushes the wrong button at a hotel, bringing the firefighter heroine in with her crew? What if the man bakes cookies with his daughter and they take them to the FD in apology? What if the cookies give the heroine an anaphylactic reaction to something she didn’t know she was allergic to right in front of him…and he’s a doctor?
You see how stories are “sparked?”
Thank you for joining me (and the inside of my sometimes-strange brain) today!
Have you experienced anything on vacation that you think would make a cute first meeting for a book hero & heroine? Do share! I’d love to hear all about it!
Bless you,
Cheryl Wyatt
USA Today bestselling author and RN Cheryl Wyatt writes romance with virtue themed with rescue. She’s grateful to be a worshipper of Jesus, a mom, wife, orphan/troop advocate, plus wrangler of words and spoiled Yorkies. She loves readers and cherishes interaction at: https://www.facebook.com/CherylWyattAuthor. Join her newsletter via her website: www.cherylwyatt.com.
Enjoyed your post! We definitely all have our moments!!
Get a group of women together and it’s often a comedy of errors. It sounds like you all had a great time, Cheryl. Several years ago my friend and I traveled to an island off the coast of Venezuela. The entire week could spawn many stories. The first being when we thought the resort was being taken under siege after a loud explosion and complete darkness.
Ha, Cheryl, sounds like a fun retreat. It’s all material for a writer, right? That’s how I console myself when things go terribly, or comically, wrong.
Thank you Linda. It’s good to know I’m not alone. LOL!
Oh my word Jill…I hope you write suspense then. LOL! That had to have been terrifying especially outside of your home country. I hope you had fun in spite of it. An island sounds cool! Comedy of errors…that describes our Myrtle Beach trip perfectly. LOL! Thanks for stopping by!
Yes indeed. :-) Everything is potential book fodder. LOL.
It sounds like you had tons of fun and laughter – the true healer of life’s hurts. And lots of ideas for books. :)
One of our family get-together vacations comes to mind. Most of us were gathered upstairs and some family and their friends they brought along were downstairs. Well, since the house was oceanfront, the house tended to sway just a bit when we had a major wind storm come through. Some of the folks upstairs thought that the people downstairs(where the bedrooms were located) were getting acquainted too quickly, if you know what I mean. The sounds of knocking and pounding gave everyone a surprise. As the new friends came upstairs, everyone looked at them so strange and they didn’t know why. Someone asked, “What were you all doing downstairs?” hahahahaha! The shocked, embarrassed and surprised looks came on everyone’s faces when we all realized it was the storm causing all the “unique” sounds, and it was definitely not the people. hahahahaha!
What a fun trip. I enjoyed hearing your thought process on plot ideas too. =) I prefer flying if I don’t have much time, but if I have time, driving is great because the whole experience is a vacation instead of just the destination. Train travel sounds like a lot of fun. Someday….
Absolutely! :-) So very true. Thank you, Ginger!
Oh my goodness, what a riot! He-he. I’ll bet others at that trip still remember the laughter and fun. Beachhouse trips are the best. And mountain cabin ones too.
Thanks for stopping by!
Cheryl
Hi Katy! Glad you enjoyed the plot thought process. :-) That is such a great point too about driving being part of the vacation experience. I need to look at life more like that as well–that it’s not just about the destination but enjoying the journey along the way. So glad you stopped by!
I’ve heard train trips are really fun and comfortable. I hope you get to go on one someday soon!
Warmly,
Cheryl
I love your story starters here, Cheryl! Can’t wait to read the actual books those go in. Get busy, girl! :D
Our family loves to laugh and our family motto is “It’s always a story with the Henderson’s.” haha!
Your house sounds like mine. I LOVE IT! :-)
Ha-ha! For real. Glad you see potential in them. My mind went nuts and I had to fend those characters off in order to finish another project first. LOL! I’m sure you know how that goes! ;-)
Well I don’t have a cute first meet vacation idea or really anything funny that ever happened to me on vacation. But I know something my husband and I have done on occasion during a vacation! We’d agree to meet at a local restaurant & pretend we don’t know each other, I’d announce very loudly that I found him to be very handsome & would he care to join me not only for dinner but say, oh, for the rest of my life…haha!! And he would agree just as loudly that he would……you should see the funny looks we get, it’s a blast!!
I like the dog running away to fetch a frisbee or whatnot & ending up running into the heroine idea. Reminds me of one of my favorite Disney movies “100 Dalmations” :-) I think our furry friends can play a big role in bringing two people together by their funny antics, don’t you?
Oh, Trixi, that is hilarious! Oh my goodness. That is funny. And I totally agree about the furry friends. They make life so much richer. Thank you for coming by and sharing today!