Update from Down the Cape

Well I’m blogging once a week so far, so that’s better than my previous blog. Let’s see if I can keep it going.

This week we’re “down the Cape” on vacation. I have to admit, relaxing has been a lot harder than I thought it would be. There are so many tempting things to do, we have to make a real effort to NOT do. So far we’ve done a lot of driving, book shopping, and ice cream eating, but we have managed to spend a few hours reading or writing each day as well.

Like a lot of writers, I often fantasize about quitting my job, moving off into the woods and spending every day writing. Vacation is a good test of that ambition. Do I really want to spend my time writing books, or do I just want to buy books and eat ice cream? So far this week I’m all caught up on reading/commenting on classmate’s stories and just need to work on putting together something to send my writing group on Tuesday. I started a new story yesterday with a first line that I’d been carrying around in my head for a while – about a rich small town man obsessed with Weimeraner dogs. I plan to work on that more later today and to take another stab at the murderer love letter story I’ve been workshopping.

Next month the applications for schools will be available, so I had originally identified August for revising the stories in my writing sample. I actually feel pretty good about where my portfolio stands. The last few months of Grub Street classes have given me plenty of material to work with, and I have a much stronger understanding of the process of writing and revising than I did when I started out. For once in my life I’m not procrastinating, and it feels good.

Anyway, status update out of the way, here are a few of my favorite coffee shops and book stores on Cape Cod:

Coffee Shops:
The Daily Brew, Cataumet
http://www.thedailybrewcoffeehouse.com/

Coffee Obsession, Falmouth
http://www.coffeeobsession.com/

Bookstores:
Titcomb's Bookstore, Sandwich
http://site.booksite.com/7327/

The Inkwell Bookstore, Falmouth
http://www.inkwellbookstore.com/

Yellow Umbrella Books, Chatham
http://yellowumbrellabooks.net/index.htm

Where the Sidewalk Ends, Chatham
http://www.booksonthecape.com/