Taryn Raye's Writerly Wednesday~ Surfing & NaNo

Yesterday I avoided the computer altogether while I tackled Mt. Dirty Laundry, hemmed a raveled seam on one of my daughter's shirts by hand and read a couple of books about surfing on my my Kindle. Honestly, I think I need the time away from the computer every once in a while to clear my head and find inner balance.

 (image from morguefile.com)

In regard to my research, I know reading about surfing is far from having experience with it, but as a writer who lives no where near the coast, I'm making do with the sources I have and honestly think I've gathered several great ideas for scenes for Mark and Alexa in my upcoming WIP that I'll be writing next month.

As of today, we're a mere week and a day away from NaNoWriMo. Am I excited? HECK YEAH! The closer we get and the more I read, the more exhilarated I feel.

Of course, that means, I'm stepping back from prepping Love by Design for publication, so I can concentrate on writing Heart of the Surf and putting a finish on this 2nd book series. I have plot lines and tweaking for LBD, that I'll work on after I come through NaNo on the other side.

Reading the books on surfing is really fueling my excitement for NaNo to begin for sure, though now that I'm researching and learning more about it, I'm also seeing more on television, especially the sad news of the surfer who was killed by a shark off the coast of California. That caught my attention last night on the news because my story is set on the California coastline and that could be a real issue, but I don't think I'm going to be writing a shark into the story.

Normally surfing is not my normal fare of interest, but I'm eager to see the new Chasing Mavericks movie, starring Gerard Butler. Of course, Mr. Butler is a mighty fine reason to watch ANY movie, but I'm finding myself interested in learning more about surfing, too, though I might never step a foot in the ocean.

Mind you, I love Gidget, but this has gotten me to thinking about other movies that might help give me a clearer, more modern idea visually— Point Break & Soul Surfer are a couple I need to get so I can watch them. Even Surf's Up is recommended viewing by one of the authors of one of the books I read about surfing.

Over the next few weeks I'm also intent on checking out the vast amount of surfing videos on Youtube, such as this one-

I find it's often easy for me to plunk myself down in another world and experience other things vicariously through words and visuals. Such is the blessings of being a writer and an avid reader.

Hope you have a great and wonderful Hump Day!

I can see the weekend from here!