Greetings from Eugene

I’m in Eugene for a few days, soaking up the ambiance of the Holy Land. Goal number one: make some progress on Getting Sideways. Goal number two: figure out how to relax for the first time since January. Goal number three: eat plenty of Track Town pizza and Euphoria truffles. (You guys knew it was going to come down to pizza, didn’t you?)

The relaxation part has been going pretty well.  I spent some time working on chapter 11 yesterday in Hendricks Park and took a two-mile walk along the river at sunset.

My “office” in Hendricks Park.

The entire length of the river’s path through the city has paved trails along both banks.

The middle third of the Willamette River trials through Eugene

My hotel room has a balcony overlooking the Mill Race, which, because this is Eugene, is filled with ducks. Occasionally you get some other local aquatic life, like this kayaker. If you think he’s unique, you should’ve seen some of the characters I came across on my walk last night. I love this town.

Dude picking blackberries from a kayak

The writing has been brutally painful lately, to the point where I’ve been wondering if my brain is broke. Then today Race came up with a zinger that told me the magic’s still lurking in there somewhere. Here’s a snippet of the scene. I don’t mind posting it online because I’m an indie author, so I don’t have to worry about some agent or editor getting in my face about copyright crap. Gotta love being in the driver’s seat. So here we go:

I went home to find the staircase leading to the front deck strewn with spider webs, fake bats, and an army of jack o’ lanterns. Dracula and a skeleton sat on the Adirondack chairs drinking Guinness, and Frankenstein’s monster leered over the railing. When I opened the front door, Race jumped out at me wearing a pirate costume.

“Holy shit!” I yelled, stepping backward and nearly tripping over the door jamb.

“I believe the proper term is ‘trick or treat.’”

“What are you doing? Where did all this stuff come from?”

“The basement. I always used to deck out my trailer for Halloween. The kids loved it.” He brandished his cutlass at me.

Okay, that’s all for now. I need to get back to work so I can make some progress before I go to meet my old racing buddy Shirley at the High Street Café, a place that makes more than one appearance in Getting Sideways. If you have a few minutes, check out this awesome review Tara at Book Babe left me. I love what she said about the testosterone. It’s great when criticism does double duty as a compliment. 🙂

And now I leave you with a picture of ducks. It’s a lousy one because it was getting dark, but I loved their synchronized dunking.

Do you suppose they’re bobbing for Track Town pizza?