We were out and about so much this week, it was almost like being regular people, instead of what we know ourselves to be—boat hermits whose only connection to the real world is virtual.
As is normal, the week started with a virtual networking event, in this case a Happy Hour with a few members of the SCWA (Southern California Writers Association), held via Zoom. It was fun to hear about people’s latest publishing news—and share mine—as well as hearing about what they are working on. Cheers to virtual partying!
I wasn’t invited to any Halloween parties, IRL or online, but we did have a fun day in our own weird way, by renting a car to go shopping. Neither of us are big Halloween fans, but it was fun to see all the holiday decorations all around Silverdale while we gathered up the items on our list from Costco, Trader Joe’s, and Target. We even got our Covid booster and a flu shot (one in each arm!) at the local Kaiser pharmacy.
The day after Halloween I was feeling a bit punky and sore but I managed to log on by noon for a talk with the Torrey Pines Rotary Club which was set up by my friends at Sunbelt Publications. I got to talk about HatS, what I did and still do for Sunbelt, and what kinds of books and maps and all the rest they carry. I always enjoy turning new people on to Sunbelt’s catalog of titles about California, the Southwest U.S., and Mexico. Whenever I visit the site, I find something new—this time it was a guidebook to finding and harvesting Wild Edible Salads! See what I mean about the diversity of their titles? And, just for a cool image, I’ll put the cover of this gorgeous coffee-table book about Baja, with text by my dear friend Bruce Berger, which they also carry.
Yeah, no matter what the subject, I can always bring things back to Baja California, somehow. Or movies…We don’t go in for scary movies at all, but we watched Renfield because it was free with on Prime Video and of course, it is Nicolas Cage. He is good at being over-the-top so his Count Dracula was a lot of fun, but it was the other Nicholas, Nicholas Hoult, who continues to amaze and astound me. Is there anything he can’t do? We loved him in “The Great,” a Hulu series about Catherine the Great, in which he plays her husband, the not so much great, but very very funny Peter. I would not exactly recommend the ludicrously bloody-gory Renfield, but it was funny at times.
Speaking of movies, we went out to an enlightening film talk about how apocalyptic films prepared us for the pandemic, presented at the wonderful Port Townsend library that night. The presenter, Robert Horton, is also host of a very cool radio show we’ve been enjoying lately, broadcast from Vashon Island, called “Music and the Movies.” The show is on hiatus now, but a few of the more recent recorded shows can be heard here. It was quite thrilling to be dressed up and out strolling the streets after dark—and no doubt better for us than trick or treating would have been. Plus the local trolley-style PT shuttle bus to downtown and uptown is free. PT Trolley image taken from the IG account @enjoyporttownsend.
My latest “Why I love Substack” story happened yesterday when I went onto the site to contribute to a Shout-out Thread, which is basically an opportunity to share about another Substack author whose writing you particularly love, or who has been a great mentor for you here on the platform (mine was
of ). Of course, I started reading and commenting on the thread, which led me to writing a few comments on a recent new subscription, We expressed some mutual admiration and I returned to my emails to find a note from Heidi asking if I’d like to be interviewed by her for Happy Freelancing. Of course I would and I will and I’ll keep you all posted on that…And finally, today’s email from Substack had my stats from last month which had my new subscribers, plus a breakdown that showed that almost half of new subscriptions were coming directly from this platform, which to me is a huge benefit. For those of you who aren’t on Substack, their email includes this handy, easy-to-read breakdown.
Anyway, that’s the latest from the good ship Watchfire and its crew. I will leave you with a cool photograph taken from the boat’s stern a couple Halloweens ago, and a more recent pic of me and a pale, skinny friend in Coupeville, Washington, in 2022.
hasta pronto!
I am thrilled you've agreed to be interviewed and am looking fowart to learning more about you and your life at sea, Jennifer!
I always love reading of your adventures at sea and on land, in books and via virtual. My Halloween costume: writer at rest (loungies/popcorn & M&Ms and ... now I can't even remember what I watched, but it was probably more rom-com than horror.)