Realms of the Raven

I’m a reader who likes to know about the setting of the stories I read and who tends to be disappointed if the stated setting doesn’t match the reality. Especially if the setting is a historical or otherwise meaningful setting.

The Del Fantasma bar, the center of the Del Fantasma series of stories from Aspen Mountain Press, is set in Point Loma, California. This is near San Diego, in the southern part of the state and I have a considerable advantage because I used to live in Southern California. The minute I read the setting, I knew I had to write a story that used my childhood fascination, the Old Point Loma Lighthouse, as a part of the story. The many times I visited there, even before the restoration and visitor center was erected, I could almost hear the voices of the keepers talk to me.

Is it any wonder that Lara can see and hear the last keeper of this lovely old lighthouse speak to her in Texas Tea?

Just to tease you a little, here are some facts you may not know about the lighthouse.

• The light was first lit November 15, 1855.
• The light was extinguished March 23, 1891.
• The lighthouse was only in service for a little over 35 years because the fog was so dense and the lighthouse so high, the light could not be seen well. A new lighthouse had to be built at a lower elevation (the New Point Loma Lighthouse - still in service).
• The base of the lighthouse is 422 feet above sea level and the lantern is 462 feet above sea level - this made it the highest lighthouse in the United States.
• The lantern was fueled by oil and used a five foot tall 3rd order French Fresnel lens.
• The lighthouse building is made of local sandstone and was not painted white until 1887.
• The cost to build the lighthouse originally was approximately $30,000.
• Captain Robert Decatur Israel, the last keeper of the lighthouse, really did fire his shotgun to warn ships away during fog when the light could not be seen.
• During WWII, the lighthouse was painted camoflage green and was used as a signal tower for ships seeking to enter San Diego harbor.
• In 1933, the site was turned over to the National Park Service.
• In the 1980s the lighthouse was restored to its current historically accurate condition.
• The light was lit again in 1984, the light house’s 130th anniversary, and was then lit nightly again.

Stay tuned for a release date and an excerpt as Del Fantasma: Texas Tea gets closer to release! You can read the blurb in this post.

What places are special to you? Why?

Today I blogged about the setting for Del Fantasma: Texas Tea, my upcoming release from Aspen Mountain Press. I’m a great lover of history and maritime history so the Old Point Loma Lighthouse was a special place for me growing up. The ability to use it and its history in a story was really fun and I think added an additional dimension to the story.

You can read the blog post here

Don’t forget to let me know what you think of the site and what places are special to you….

I took a few days off after finishing Texas Tea, so I’m currently at:

Total New Words: 27,547
Average Per Day: 1,252

I’m trying to decide what to work on next.

I should get a release date and cover before too long. At the moment I’m just waiting to hear from me editor and see if she likes it or not.

Wooot

Now - what to work on next……

Want to know the recipe behind my upcoming release from Aspen Mountain Press?

Here’s the blurb for the book:

Photographer Lara Saunders has a lifelong secret – she can see and hear ghosts. When she was rescued from a near drowning by the ghost of a lighthouse keeper, he set her on a mission to document historic lighthouses and the lives of their keepers so they were not forgotten. Now on her third book in the series, Lara has arrived in San Diego to document the Old Point Loma Lighthouse but hasn’t counted on becoming the target of Cody Warren, the matchmaking owner of the Del Fantasma bar. Or falling in love with a handsome Park Ranger whose secret is even more strange than her own.

And here’s the recipe:

1/2 oz Vodka
1/2 oz Gin
1/2 oz Light Rum
1/2 oz Triple Sec
1/2 oz Tequila
Sweet and Sour Mix
Splash of Cola

Pour vodka, gin, rum, triple sec and tequila into a glass with ice. Fill it with sweet and sour mix. Add the splash of cola.

Stay tuned - I have a couple of unique prizes for giveaways as the release date nears!

As of today:

Total New Words: 27,547
Average Per Day: 1,620

Things got better after the cat trauma week. He’s okay, though he’s locked in the bathroom and keeps telling me how BORED he is.

I made my goal and got my average up over 1500 words (both these numbers are over the span of the challenge). I also finished Texas Tea, so now I’ll be moving on to the next project - as soon as I figure out what that is.

As of today:

Total new words: 16,677
Average per day: 1,191

This week sucked. I had a cat in the hospital all week and several days I was too distracted and too exhausted to move

As of today, I’m now at:

Total New Words: 13,817
Average Per Day: 1,382

My aha moment is that I managed to write, even worried over my sick cat, once I set myself down to do so. The words came, not perfect and not in final form, but they DID come.

Still not at my 1500 words per day goal, but I have been writing every day.

As of today, I’m at:

Total New Words: 10,060
Average Per Day: 1,437

Still a tiny bit short of my goal of 1500 new words per day but up from my prior report of 1,042. Maybe I can up it some more.

As of today, I’m at:

Total New Words: 3,125
Average Per Day: 1,042

Not as fast as I want - I’m trying for 1500 per day - but I’m an “edit as I go” person so I have to do at least prelminary edits on the prior day’s work before I can write more. It also helps me remember where I am in the story.