As promised, here are some pictures of the Weymouth House, the mansion where I’m staying. It’s in Southern Pines, which is another adorable little town less than two hours from where I live.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Here’s the house itself, taken from some of the gardens. The writer residency program was started decades ago by North Carolina’s late poet laureate, Sam Ragan, and the Friends of Weymouth have done their level best to stay true to his vision of a place where writers can come–gratis–to focus on their craft. What a gift! I’m still pinching myself that I have this opportunity. Here’s my room. You can see I’m suffering for my art! Yesterday morning, I woke up to voices outside my window and looked outside to see the volunteer gardeners hard at work. The roses–and many other flowers, are still in bloom and the scent outdoors is intoxicating. Below that picture is the view from another window. Today I took a walk through the acres and acres of pines and ponds and gardens. Below is my favorite of the garden sculptures I found in one of the fountains.  

The final picture is for you, Margo! The little house on the property that’s been turned into an artists’ studio. Can you imagine painting in that setting?
Today I worked on a chapter of backstory. I love backstory–sometimes I have to be careful it doesn’t overshadow the current story. Our backstories make us who we are, and it’s no different for our characters. To my surprise, I find myself really adoring a character who is dead in the current story. I seem to do that a lot: Annie in KEEPER OF THE LIGHT, Kate in SECRET LIVES. This time it’s a man who’s capturing my heart. I look forward to getting to know him better tomorrow.

I’m typing this at Panera, where I can get good Internet access, and they’re about to close, so I’d better skedaddle.
Adding one more picture: artist Amy Smith and Flynn, two women I met at Flynn’s coffee shop (of the same name), where they were hanging Amy’s wonderful artwork. Love it!