Part of the thrill of writing for me is to revisit an area that I fell in love with. It’s like a familiar old shoe. My imagination just climbs back into the day when I lived there and I get to see, smell, feel, and hear all that enamored me when I was there.

I so enjoyed creating The Queen Anne Fox, my first published novel and the first in the Jessica Tyson Mystery Series – set on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, WA.

Flora and fauna-lined stairways wander all the way down the hill—I would guess a half a mile distance. Stairways from the Queen Anne Apartments at the top of the hill to The King Dome and the lower Queen Anne shopping area at the bottom. A fun excursion.

Have you read other novels that entice you to visit the setting?

Half way down the hill, and a short walk along a winding road, there’s a cliff with cement benches where the view over-looking Puget Sound is spectacular. I especially loved the pink cosmos that bobbed their blossoms just above the stone wall. I still grow them each summer to remind me of Seattle as they dance in the breeze above the railing on my deck.

Is there a certain flower that elicits a fun memory for you?

One flower – lined stairway led down the side of the hill adjacent to the Five Spot, a café and gathering place. I spent many a Sunday afternoon strolling down that stairway and visiting the delightful gift shop on Upper Queen Anne.

Have you been there? Or, do you have a spot in your memory that makes you smile each time you revisit?

Please click replies below and write of      books   or   memories   or   flowers.

And — oh yes, I write books, too!

Click on Books above.

CONTEST: To win a copy of The Queen Anne Fox please subscribe to my blog in the top right corner to be eligible for the drawing!

Winner of last month’s contest: Brenda Casamento – Fitness Instructor and Coach.

It’s April! Spring is just trying to find its way into Wisconsin. It seems strange to see the sun shining on my snowless deck. That by itself is not strange, but beyond is still totally white with six inches of snow. It’s April and my colorful, giant flower-hill is not green. Green in your yard?

When I grew up in Michigan I never liked the Spring, except that it was a promise of summer to come. Spring was frozen ground, dirty snow, muddy paths, and cold winds. I wanted to sit on the ground on a blanket and play with my dolls. I wanted sugar sand on the corner sand hill! What Spring daydreams awaken for you?

Now the season excites me. The garden catalogs start filling the mail box in January. Every day I say, “I’m not ordering flowers, this year. I’m only buying from greenhouses.” But the colorful catalogs tease me and I have to browse — see what’s new. Am I the only one?

Come the end of April, we have to check the shed each day where the mail lady and UPS leave packages from Brecks and Michigan Bulb and… Yes, I buy those little three inch plants and wait patiently, usually two years, for some to grow into wondrous flowering bushes. Am I alone in this?

I want to thank you for joining me. It was great fun to read your stories of escape into the twilight to play games. Someone mentioned flashlights. The only time we did flashlights was when our country cousins took us on a Snipe Hunt. And…yes, we fell for it.

Later this month I’m writing of childhood birthdays. (Makes me smile to think of memories you may share.) Plus, a visit to Seattle, the setting of my first novel, The Queen Anne Fox.

Free drawing – Win a free copy of The Queen Anne Fox. Subscribe to my blog in the top right corner to be eligible for the drawing!

Spring flower gardens coming soon
Send photos of your Spring garden to my Face Book address – Jerol Anderson Author or e-mail: jerolanderson@rocketmail.com – I may post them here in the slide show (credit to you of course).

And, oh yes, I write books, too!

Click on Books at the top of the page or Books in Progress

Stop back again soon. Please share your thoughts. Click REPLIES below.

Did you have a normal childhood? Like I said on my bio page, growing up between two brothers and in a neighborhood of boys, I either ran with the pack or found my private corner of books and paper dolls.

The very senior people in one of my writing groups have been talking about such games as Red Rover – Red Rover, Eeny Einy Over and Kick the Can. I don’t go as far back as Kick the Can, but I have to admit, I’m guilty of sneaking out with my brother, during long summer evenings, to play Red Rover up on Oak Street. Oak Street, where we weren’t allowed to go, with the rough boys, we weren’t allowed to play with. Just before dark we’d hear Mom calling, trying to find us. All the kids around Oak Street got to stay out after dark. Then there was Eeny Einy over where we threw the ball back and forth over someone’s roof. Another game Dad would have hollered at us for, if he’d known we were playing.

When I became a pre-teen, we moved to a more girlie neighborhood. Like any busy/dizzy teen there were girl parties here, girl parties there – with the Girl Scout Troup or Job’s Daughters. My daughters and granddaughters roll their eyes as I tell them of kid-nap-breakfasts in our PJ’s. Guess that isn’t done any more, huh? (Sometimes I feel so retro.)

Today I live in a winter wonderland. Lots of time for writing when going out means getting stuck in the long driveway. The photos on the front page are scenes from past years around my home. Twelve inches expected today. We’ll be looking like the photos before the day is through. The green shot is for contrast. It shows the real reason we stay in this frozen tundra.

Deep snow sparked my imagination for another manuscript, Secrets in the Snow. It’s set in Northern Minnesota. Not sure the snow in my yard sticks around long enough to hide bodies. “Oops, don’t be giving it away!”

In the future, I’ll be commenting on the hidden statements here (very senior, girlie neighborhood, retro and more). Please share any thoughts and/or memories awakened by the words on this page.

Photographs are Copyrighted by, and used with permission of, Rancho Riescho Productions.