Travel Archives - Marsha Ward

Today a windmill popped up in my Work-in-Progress (WIP). I had no idea the subject would ever be written about, with my characters there in the wilds of New Mexico Territory in 1867, but it seems that my Male Main Character is quite proud of having one of the first such pumping engines in the territory on his rancho.

It so happens that back in 2015, I attended a convention in Lubbock Texas, and made a field trip to the American Windmill Museum. It was a glorious day to view the numerous spectacular windmills in the museum’s inventory, both indoors and out.

Did I take copious notes about windmills, in case I ever needed such knowledge? It appears that I didn’t.

I swear I took pictures, though. I know I took pictures in Palo Duro Canyon on my way home from Texas. Can I find said pictures?

No. They are nowhere to be found.

It appears that I have a gap between 2015 and 2016 in my digital record. What?!?

Instead, by way of illustration for this post, I offer this photo taken by mhamilton456 in 2016 of an outdoor display of some of the windmills at the museum.

I stood, uneasily, beneath that giant white wind turbine shown at center right, my stomach shrinking. The sound was intimidating as the blades whooshed through the air. I moved out from under it as quickly as I could.

The tour of the property was quite fascinating. Notes or accessible photos would have helped my scene, but I have neither. I’ll just have to dredge deep into my memory, or refresh it by way of viewing photos on the Internet so I can write a passable description of the windmill for my scene.

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During the last half of October, I took an epic road trip to attend an 8-day workshop in Lincoln City, Oregon, hosted by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch, two writers I count as mentors in the business of writing. I’ve learned so much over the past four or so years by reading their blogs regularly, but an opportunity came up to attend this workshop on the Oregon Coast and meet them in person, and I had to jump on it.

The venue for the workshop was the Inn at Spanish Head, a ten-story resort hotel on the beach built into a cliff. On the landward side, the reception area is on the ninth floor. The conference room is on the fourth floor. I wasn’t the only one who became confused about whether one went up or down when entering the elevator.

The overall theme of the workshop was Time, since it’s in such short supply for writers, whether indie, hybrid, or traditional. From 7 pm on October 21 to 9:30 pm on October 28, in three sessions a day plus late-night networking, I, and about forty-nine other professional writers, madly took notes on such topics as productivity, tracking output, deadlines, writing process for both linear and non-linear writers, health, separating the businesses of writing and publishing, making short- and long-term business decisions, structures of corporations, estate planning for authors, copyright, trusts, triage as a business plan, branding, virtual assistants, and the true meaning of hybrid.

Faces erased at the request of attendees.

Please note that we covered that extensive list of topics by the end of Monday’s sessions. There were a ton more each day, and I’m still working my way through the incredible amount of knowledge and information. I expect it will be a year-long endeavor.

One thing that was impressed upon us is that we must not make any business decisions and change up our plans for at least the two weeks minimum that it will take for our brains to heal from exploding with the input of all the new facts. Another was that “should do’s” and “supposed to do’s” are deadly, evil beyond imagination. We must choose to do only what works for our style and methods of writing and publishing.

Since I traveled for several days before arriving home, my brain still hasn’t adjusted to all the new knowledge. I have my work cut out for me as the holidays approach. I must not be pressured, though, by my inner panic to DO SOMETHING NOW! I have to study and decide what will work for me.

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