December 2008 Archives

Mapping a Novel

By Susan on December 30, 2008 6:55 PM | No Comments

I've been spending quite a bit of time expanding the middle portion of my novel-in-progress, and this week I'm taking a break to re-map the thing.

I've mapped this novel, which takes place in a fictional version of my hometown on the Northern California Redwood Coast, twice already. Once after writing the first 50 pages, and then again after the first 150. I like to write stories that connect and interconnect in many ways, and as I write more, the novel becomes more complex. In addition, as the story changes over time, I find a map helps me go back to earlier portions that now need to be revised due to revelations later on.

Mapping a long work is different for every writer; it is my belief that most writers of long works do this in some way. I did attend a lecture by Carol Muske-Dukes once in which she claimed, to the surprise of others in the room, to do no such organizing - in fact, she didn't seem to know what that was even about - but then again, she's a poet, and writing novels is not her strong suit.

Some writers use a box of index cards to organize. Others draw elaborate maps on large sheets of paper. I prefer to create a written outline that reads like a detailed synopsis, mapping out, outline style, the entire book. The first time I did it for this book, which I'll nickname HH, the latter half of the outline was thin and speculative.

Now I know very much how this book is going to go up until the last couple of chapters. So, with a lot more work done, it's time to take the old outline and rewrite. I'll take two Word documents and put them side by side, the old outline on the left, and retype the whole thing. I find that exercise forces me to examine every element in the pre-existing outline. I then save the outline with a new name, and that way I have a copy of my old versions of the map.

Enough procrastinating...a-mapping I will go...

monterey bay view from aquarium.jpg

Random pic: view from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Pretty Flower from the Summer Garden

By Susan on December 29, 2008 10:59 PM | No Comments

California Redwoods Travel Guide: Part 1: Getting There

By Susan on December 29, 2008 10:58 PM | 1 Comment

Welcome to the California Redwoods Travel Guide. For additional installments, see the travel guide main page. As each entry in the travelogue is added, a link will be activated.

So you decide to go see the redwoods, and figure you'll just hop on a big jet and be there in no time. Not quite so simple! If you want to see the Redwood Empire, home of the grandest of the tall trees and the most remote, natural expanses of redwoods left on earth, you'll need to put in a little effort.

Flying in: The Eureka-Arcata Airport (code ACV) is located in neither Eureka, nor Arcata. It is in McKinleyville, several miles north of my delightful home town of Arcata on Highway 101, 300 miles north of San Francisco, and 400 miles south of Portland. Flying into this location can be expensive, so plan ahead. Reserve your rental car in advance to be sure it will be available. Though buses do stop at the airport, the itinerary in this guide (and any decent travel itinerary for this region) requires a car. You may want to know that the airport was built for the purpose of testing defogging systems on military aircraft; or, then again, you may not. A fun way to take off at the airport is for the plane - preferably one of the turboprops - to shoot off the runway and over the nearby seacliff. You feel as if the world dropped out from underneath you. If the fog is out, you may see spectacular views of the deep green forests of the coast, stepping up in into higher mountains further inland. If you are driving, check the final installments in this series - I'll have tips for Bay Areans or Portlanders making the drive.

Airlines: Horizon Air flies out of Portland, Oregon, and Los Angeles on small jets. United Airlines flies out of San Francisco (primary) and Sacramento (secondary) on small turboprops. See the Convention & Visitor's Bureau site for the latest list of airlines; airlines do come and go here due to the low volume.

Rental Car: You will be going on one potentially muddy dirt road. Compacts are generally fine, though, but rent to your comfort level. The Convention & Visitor's Bureau has the scoop on all the companies that do business at ACV, including rental cars and airlines.

Your journey here by air will take an entire day from anywhere except San Francisco. When you transfer to your final leg at SFO or SMF (Sacramento) you'll most likely get on a small turboprop, a 31-seater with 3 seats across and no usable toilet. The flight is mercifully short.

Arriving from the south you may ride up the California coast, increasingly remote with each mile. You are flying into a tectonic red zone, the conjunction of three tectonic plates near the tiny settlement of Petrolia, and you may swoop over the bald hills sprinkled within the vast forests. On approach, you'll see remote houses on ridgetops, where some Humboldters make their homesteads with extreme privacy and plenty of natural beauty.

Hotel: You're staying in my hometown, Arcata, about 10 miles south of the Airport on HIghway 101. When staying in Arcata, the Victorian village I claim as my hometown, it's best to immerse yourself in the place rather than stay at some chain hotel. These choices are all in the historic part of town and are walking distance from most of the shopping and the old Minor Theatre (see next installment for details about Arcata and its culture). If you must do the chain hotel routine, all of them are located in an area north of town called "Valley West" - you'll drive right by it as you come into Arcata from the Airport. Look for hotels with addresses on "Valley West Boulevard".

The Hotel Arcata

A nice little hotel, the Hotel Arcata isn't opulent, but it's above average. It's location is my primary reason for recommending it - it's on the Plaza. While the stodgier residents of Humboldt sometimes fear the Plaza, it's quite safe - safer than the more conservative towns to the north and south, in fact - and full of interesting characters, and not in the "big city" sense of the word. The architecture is delightful Victorian and the shops are excellent. A restored movie house beckons down the street. Outdoor outfitters are just a step away. In any case, this is where you'll get a real sense of the culture of the town. More on that in the next installment. Ask for a room that looks out onto the plaza side, if possible. Bring earplugs. You never know what's going to go on out on the Plaza.

The Lady Anne Inn

Victorian B&B in Arcata. Walking distance to Plaza, but it is a few blocks and you'll walk back up a hill on the way back. No matter. You need the exercise, and it'll help you see the town.

Flashback to Summer

By Susan on December 27, 2008 9:19 PM | No Comments

Winter roars on in the colder climes of the world, and so a reminder of summer is in order. The holidays have been unbelievably hectic here in the Northern Word House, so consider this our belated holiday card, with seasonally inappropriate imagery. From the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, summer 2008.

Writing prompts: dams

By Susan on December 23, 2008 9:13 PM | No Comments

An ongoing series here at Northern Word will be Writing Prompts, which are designed to help unstick you from whatever stickiness is interfering with your craft. Let's try a dam writing prompt, shall we?

Fiction: add a dam scene to your story, for godsakes. And don't go all "Fugitive" on us. Your main character is lost and detours near a dam, and meets someone unexpectedly. Or a dam is being built, and one of your secondary characters is a construction worker who gets injured. Or a dam is destroyed and the havoc sweeps your characters downstream. Somehow, a dam gets into your damn story. Four paragraphs before you stop. Keep going if you can.

Nonfiction: find a dam somewhere near what you're writing about. It probably won't help, but it'll give you something to do and by the time you're done you'll have thought of something to get you through your stickiness. If you're looking for a new topic, find your local dam, and there will be something there, trust me. Write four paragraphs.

Science Fiction/Fantasy: There is something in a nearby dam that shouldn't be, and your character just found out about it. Does he or she go there to find out more? Does what is in the dam come to him or her? Four paragraphs, soldier! What, you don't think they have dams in fantasy stories? Where do you think the damn elves get all their water?

Romance: I really don't read romance, but if I did, I suppose a dam would be a decent place for some sort of clandestine meeting with the right sort of fellow. Four paragraphs. As naughty as you like.

Poetry: Write ten lines about this picture, and then write ten more lines about what the picture would look like without the dam. Then put it all into a villanelle. Just kidding. About the villanelle.

Photo above: hydroelectric dam at St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, on the St. Croix River.

A Week in Rome: Intro and Table of Contents

By Susan on December 22, 2008 10:26 PM | No Comments

The most popular section of my blog has been, for some time, my travelogue of a week in Rome. Lots of great pictures, and plenty of info about the sites from the perspective of an actual traveler to the city. By all means buy the guidebooks before you go, but take a stop here and see how staying in one city for an entire week makes perfect sense.

Table of Contents

The Colosseum
Palatine Hill
The Pantheon
The Vatican
St. Peter in Chains
Imperial Lion
St. Peter's Square and Basilica
Atop St. Peter's Dome
Castel Sant' Angelo (Pope hideaway on the Tiber River)
Day Trip to Florence
Castel Sant' Angelo, Continued
St. Paul's Outside the Walls (Vatican church in Rome's Suburbs)
Great Fountains of Rome
Musei Capitolini (Capitoline Museum): Romulus and Remus and Random Body Parts
Victor Emmanuel Monument (VE Monument)
National Museum of Rome: A Treasure Vault and Lots of Heads
Wrap-Up-The-First - Summary of the Trip
Wrap-Up-The-Last - Final Summary of the Trip

Well, we did it. My dad and I managed to fly 6,000 miles to Rome, have a great time, and lose only a fancy umbrella. Bitterness about the umbrella notwithstanding, the trip was a great success. Over the next three weeks I'll be posting pictures from the trip, so you can follow along as we weaved through the delightful narrow cobblestoned streets, slurped up extraordinary Italian cuisine, and stood in awe before 2,000 years of history in a city that ruled most of Europe and the Middle East for a millennia. At one time my own western European ancestors were ruled by these people, whose descendents have now found a more humble, but happy, place in the world in the nation of Italy.

Italy is a culturally dense--and rich--country. Layer upon layer of civilization literally stacks up on every street corner. Economically it is thoroughly first-world, a remarkable achievement after the Second World War. Despite problems with unemployment among the young, the country appears remarkably prosperous, and small family-owned businesses thrive in a way nearly unimaginable in the United States today. Every restaurant had an attentive proprietor, minding his guests and attending to their every need. Gelato shops beckoned on every corner with candy colored temptations, such as our favorite ice cream shop of all time, in Florence, just a block from Il Duomo.

The Italian people were quite patient with my elementary attempts at their language. After 7 years of Spanish, Italian was both easy, and particularly hard, to pick up . The vocabulary is often shared, but sometimes, the subtle differences can be easily forgotten. I made a particular error in the Vatican cafeteria, when I asked for "Bad Juice" instead of "Apple Juice". I don't think you go to hell for that, but I'm not entirely sure.

The Catholic Church still has a very important place in Rome. Though most Italians aren't, shall we say, following the instructions of the Pope (the birth rate here is remarkably low, and the population is actually shrinking, probably not due to the rythmn method), the churches still sway the seasonal tides.

So join me over the next three weeks as we peek into the sights of Rome and Florence, two of the most influential cities in western culture, and search for an answer to the eternal question: how many different uniforms DO the Italian police have, anyway? A hundred?

The Jelly Hordes

By Susan on December 21, 2008 10:18 PM | No Comments

I've noticed an uptick in the number of articles related to swarming jellyfish. With the very real problem of overfishing taking its toll on global fish stocks, the possibility of a jellified planet lurks darkly in the back of my head. This interview with a jellyfish expert gives some context to the situation. Digging through my photo collection, I found this one of jellies at the Monterey Bay Aquarium back in the early 2000's.

As subzero settles, remembering fall

By Susan on December 17, 2008 9:45 PM | No Comments

I was playing with my photographs today and ran across this one. It's amazing how rich and warm dying leaves feel right before nature slams your head against a block of ice. Minnesota has such extremes that at any given time, you can barely remember the season that came before - it's like another lifetime.

California Redwoods Travel Guide: Your Itinerary

By Susan on December 4, 2008 7:20 PM | 2 Comments

We're going on a trip, you and I, through the coastal regions of California which feature the world's tallest trees, the Coastal Redwoods. Cousins of the squatter Sequoias inland (eg Yosemite), the Coastal Redwoods are their own species, and live in a much different climate. The Coastal Redwoods come with their own people, too, and we'll spend plenty of times exploring small artsy towns. Here's your itinerary. As each of these destinations gets it's own page here at Northern Word, they'll all be linked here and contain links and references to help you plan your trip. All points in this itinerary are in the State of California. For best results, take this trip in July, August or early September. Take as many or as few of these stops as you like - and in the extended entries for each stop, plenty of alternatives will be offered.

This is part of an ongoing series at Northern Word that will assemble a travel guide to my homeland, if you will, the Redwood Empire of Northern California and my "hometown" of Humboldt County. You'll get travel specifics, links and tips, as well as some personal stories from my days in Humboldt.

Day 1: Fly into Eureka-Arcata Airport, now new and improved with an elk-proof fence! Flying into this remote airstrip located on a threatening sea cliff will take you most of a day from anywhere except the San Francisco Bay Area, so no time for sightseeing. After you arrive in your turboprop (hopefully on a clear day so you can see the endless green mountains below) pick up your pre-arranged rental car and toodle down to Arcata to stay the night in the Arcata Inn. Your hotel is located right on a Victorian shopping plaza full of fun shops and colorful characters, and the epicenter of the northcoast's environmental movement.

Day 2: Arcata & Trinidad: Keeping Arcata (best hippie town EVER) as your base, get your first taste of the big trees in one of the nation's most glorious city parks, Redwood Park in Arcata. Afterwords, stop by the small but fascinating Natural History Museum, sponsored by Humboldt State University. Spend some time shopping Arcata's quaint Victorian shops. Drive a few minutes north to Trinidad, and take a long walk on a gorgeous beach. Have lunch at a nearby seafood stop or the Indian casino (both with ocean view). Feeling energetic? I'll have some extra options for you. Return to Arcata and see if anything interesting is going on at Humboldt State that evening, or catch a movie at the fully restored Arcata Minor theater, a hundred years old with a stunning interior and a balcony. Only one block from your Inn.

Day 3: Lady Bird Johnson Grove: Check out of the Inn. Rent a tent and gear at the outdoor store on the Arcata Plaza. Head north to Orick, about 45 minutes from Arcata on the Redwood Highway. Stop at the beautiful Redwood National Park Visitor's Center on the beach. Get maps & permits for the days ahead. Zip a couple of minutes north and head up Bald Hills Road to the Lady Bird Johnson Grove. Spend about two hours here, hiking around one of the most spectacular groves of old-growth redwoods in existence. Then head over to your (already reserved) overnight location, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, and drive several miles on a dirt road to Gold Bluffs Beach where you will camp on a remote strip of sand next to high sandstone cliffs.

Day 4: Fern Canyon and Prairie Creek Redwoods: Wake up and discover you're camping right next to an amazing canyon covered in ferns. The location is so unique it was featured in Jurassic Park 2 as if it was part of a tropical island. Explore the canyon and the beautiful beach and bluffs (no swimming here), catch sight of the world's largest living Elk, the Roosevelt, who often wander right through the campground. Then pack the tent and head back up to the main park headquarters, where you'll check into the campground there. Spend the rest of the day exploring the giant trees and viewing the elk herds of this jewel of a state park. Watch out for cougars.

Day 5: Redwood National Park Tall Trees Grove: Leave your tent at Prairie Creek (and any food in the bear locker) and head back up Bald Hills Road, well past Lady Bird Johnson. With permit in hand (you got it at the visitor's center a couple of days ago) hike the Tall Trees Trail, an all-day effort that can be strenuous. The trail takes you down to a grove with several of the world's tallest trees. In the summer, you can cross the pleasantly named monster Redwood Creek to get a better view. Bring plenty of water, good shoes, and enjoy this ten mile hike. Return, exhausted, to Prairie Creek for the night.

Day 6-7. Jedediah Smith State Park & Del Norte County: Head north on a stunning drive from Prairie Creek. Stop for plenty of photo ops along the way. Don't miss "Trees of Mystery" which has an excellent Native American museum and - believe it or not - a sky tram that takes you through the canopy of an old growth redwood grove. Very much worth a stop. Head north to Crescent City, which was wiped out by a tsunamai after the '69 Alaska quake and is now a small supply point for a very small population here. Gas up and replenish camping supplies at the local stores. Check out a short walk to the sculpted beauty of Enderts Beach. Sometime after lunch, head inland on Highway 199 to Jedediah Smith State Park, where you'll camp right by the Smith River, a National Wild and Scenic River. You'll be sleeping across the river from a grove of redwoods thought to be the greatest concentration of biomass on the planet earth. They don't get much bigger than this. The next morning hike through the park and see the sights.

Day 8: Drive to Eureka. Drive back down Hwy 101 and pick up sights you missed on the way: When you find a bridge with Golden Bears, take a sharp right onto a small highway and find a fake farmhouse with a stunning view that used to be a submarine watching station in WW2. See the Klamath River overlook as well. Good whale watching area at the right time of year. On your way south, stop in Arcata and turn in the tent and gear your rented at the Outdoor Store on the Arcata Plaza. Drive a few miles further south to Eureka, and check into the Best Western Eureka Inn, a modern motel with a Victorian motif. Spend the remainder of the day checking out Eureka's exquisite victorian district, called "Old town" Don't miss the famous Carson Mansion and the many art galleries, which feature the work of America's premier landscape painting artist community. For a good overview of local work, see the Morris Graves museum nearby.

Day 9: Drive to Scotia. The Scotia Inn is your stop for the night, in a timber town that up until recently was owned by the Most Evil Company on Earth. But not anymore. With the effective end of the redwood wars with the purchase of Pacific Lumber by the family that founded the Gap Clothing Stores, it's safe for an environmentally conscious person to sleep in Scotia again. Timber harvesting goes on, but in a sustainable manner. And it's a nice inn very close to some great parks to see.

Day 10-11: Humboldt Redwoods State Park & vicinity: Explore the redwood park most likely to make you feel like a Hobbit. Humboldt Redwoods has the biggest fallen trees you will EVER see - the log to end all logs is right here. Truly, a visitor feels like a lilliputian in this forest.

Day 12: Travel home. Check out of the Scotia Inn early and head back to the airport. Engage in meditation exercises to prepare you for the moment your rickety turboprop drops off the edge of the sea cliff and sends you on your way home, with or without the contents of your stomach.

Alternate itinerary - follow these stops if you want to drive to the Redwood Empire from the San Francisco Bay Area. A popular option for out of staters who can fly in to this area more cheaply than points north.

Day 1: Santa Cruz - Beach town, counterculture fun, butterflies, funky shops, sweeping views, big waves, and a steam train.

Day 2: The Santa Cruz mountains - the ancient, low mountain range up the river from Santa Cruz. California's first state park - Big Basin - introduces you to the really big trees and some super-squiggly redwood bark. Boulder Creek, a formerly rough n' ready logging town, now all gussied up. Long drives on twisty roads in the dense redwoods. This is the darker, narrower, more compact version of redwood country.

Day 3: Head up to San Francisco via Highway 1. Enjoy the scenery, and end your day in a city whose thousands of Victorians are built out of old growth redwood. See the sights. We won't spend much time on this stop as guidebooks aplenty exist to help you. On to the north.

Day 6 - 7: After a day or so in San Francisco, start the drive into California's northern territories. Take a quick stop in Marin county to see the relatively modest Muir Woods - a precious grove, to be sure, but outdone by everything north (and Big Basin, too, for that matter). Then step over to the Marin Headlands and see an amazing lighthouse with a swinging bridge, because you can. Need more lighthouse? Head to the coast to see Point Reyes National Seashore. Why, you ask? There are no redwoods at the very end of the point, are there. Well, you go there because it's beautiful. And though it is most beautiful on a rare clear day, if the fog is low enough you'll see something amazing too. Stay tuned for important tips on seeing the lighthouse in this episode.

Day 8: Drive north into the Mendocino Coast. Stay at one of the B&B's along the way. Wander north to Ft. Bragg. See gorgeous views and a new patch of land just preserved for the public.

Day 9: On to the Redwood Empire - see main itinerary above.

« November 2008 | Main Index | Archives | January 2009 »

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Welcome to Northern Word, the online home of writer/photographer Susan McNerney. Here you'll find nature and travel photography, thoughts on writing, travelogues and other snippets. Susan is originally from California's Redwood Empire and now lives and writes in Minnesota.

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Don't miss Susan's travelogues - A Week in Rome and A Great Southwest Road Trip, both chock full of pics and travel details to Italy and the American Southwest.

Want to use a photograph from this site for your publication? All photos are under a Creative Commons License and permission must be granted by the author before use. For most non-profit purposes there is no charge and higher quality versions are available for print use. To contact Susan email mackerelstreet (at) gmail (dot) com.