Wednesday Evening at Weymouth

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. weymouth house.jpg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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!bedroom weymouth.jpg 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.  
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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.
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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!fish fountain weymouth.jpg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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5 Comments

  1. Margo on November 2, 2006 at 8:52 am

    Oh Diane, IT’S BEAUTIFUL!…all your pics, but I’m partial to the artist’s studio! I would give anything to be able to visit this gorgeous place and paint in that lovely
    cottage…an absolute artists dream! Everything is SO picturesque and inspiring and I can see why it is the perfect place for creative people to come and write. You are definitely in your element and I know this book is going to be awesome. I wonder if you always travel to a secluded place to write the body of your novels?

  2. Kathy Holmes on November 2, 2006 at 10:15 am

    How fabulous! And what an amazing way to write. I admire that but I can’t do that. I have to write about some place I’m longing for, where being there physically seems unobtainable. 🙂

  3. Diane on November 2, 2006 at 3:28 pm

    Drat! I just responded the the comments above at length and then got kicked off. i’ll try to type later from panera–the dial-up at the mansion is dicey.

  4. Amy Smith on November 15, 2006 at 9:41 am

    Diane- Thank you so much for adding our picture tto your blog. I hope your stay in Southern Pines was wonderful and inspiring!

  5. Diane Chamberlain on November 15, 2006 at 11:26 am

    I had a great time, Amy. and it was fun to stumble across your art in the process.

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