Sunday, July 15, 2018

Grand Isle Part 2

 Sometimes we stumble onto the most wonderful of places by chance. Me going to Grand Isle was not by chance; it was very purposeful. However, I had absolutely no idea what type of place I was walking into. I've heard some stories about this tiny little island, been warned to be careful, but now, after spending less than 24 hours there, I can't imagine why. I have never been to a more welcoming, relaxing, charming place in my life. 
I can't name one other place with a tourism director like Louise "Weezy" or a restaurant owner/council woman like Leoda Besson who'll drive you all over the island in her golf cart, the very first golf cart on the island, in fact. She's a trendsetter. I can't name another place where you can stand in the same spot and see both the sunrise and the sunset or a place with wonderful wildflowers that greet you at the entrance to the beach. 
Yesterday was a rough first day of our mini vacation; there's no doubt about that. But today made up for every last bit of wrong turns creaky motel beds or loud AC boxes. We started the day off with breakfast at Yum's (the name says it all). Which might very well be the only breakfast place on the island--also a drive through. I don't think I've ever heard of a drive through breakfast place before. We had some delicious mini beignets and and a full breakfast. Afterward, I was asking our waitress if she was from the island and if she could tell me what life was like. She was a new return, after being gone for many years, and told me the woman I needed to talk to was Yum, the owner of the restaurant, aka Leoda. So Miss Leoda comes up to me asking what I want to know about the island. 
"Anything. I want to know anything you can tell me."
"Well, you got some minutes? I can take you around in my golf cart." I'm sorry, but what other town will you find someone just willing to give you a free tour of their town, taking time out of their sunday morning??
But while she went to go collect her golf cart, we made our way down to the Grand Isle Tourism Center, which is in the middle of town next to the dilapidated butterfly dome (I still find it charming and cute, even if it isn't finished), where we met Mrs. Weezy and her husband Darrell. Weezy and Darrell are raising a daughter who's considered different in their tiny island town because she's uber intelligent and loves to binge read. I told Mrs. Weezy that she's normal in my world--the type of girl I'd definitely be hanging out with! But my mom had talked to Weezy on the phone, told her my story of writing and getting published and my success so far, and this apparently gave Weezy all the hope in the world for her daughter. Thirty seconds after Isidora and I walked through the door, she was hugging us, teary-eyed and stuffing a basket full of goodies for us. 
For the next hour, we just talked and talked. I learned more about the island from Mr. Darrel, who's lived there all his life. They are just some of the warmest, kindest people I have ever met, and I am beyond thankful that my visit could help ease their worry about their daughter in some way. Natalie, if you're reading this, you're awesome. Don't let anybody make you think otherwise. 
After we left the tourism center with our basket stuffed full of goodies, we went back to Yum's and started our golf cart tour with Leoda, and oh my, I've never received such information from a tour guide before! She took us back into the real part of Grand Isle, back where the locals live and where the remaining Acadian built houses are, and through the haunted neighborhood of Grand Isle and then down Post Lane where the ghost of Jean Lafitte is said to roam. We weaved in and out of these wooded areas with great magnolia trees, talking about history, about her childhood on the island, about how many people come here to create new lives for themselves, and it just hit me that this really is the perfect place for the third book of Ascension. You'll see why :) 
But she drove us down the beach, critiquing people who were crabbing incorrectly. We saw a school of dolphins right near the shore, which just absolutely made my morning, as if it wasn't already fantastic enough. It was a beautiful day; there were tons of people out fishing and enjoying the weather and each other's company. 
I just can't imagine a more idyllic day spent with some of the most wonderful people I've ever met in my life. The lesson from all this, I guess, is when you go to new places, don't be afraid to ask questions. My mom asked questions when we were finding a place to stay, which led to a wonderful morning with Mrs. Weezy and Mr. Darrell. And I asked questions at breakfast this morning, which led to a fantastic golf cart ride with about as local a woman as I could find. This has been one of the most wonderful adventures I could've ever asked for. 
So to Isidora, thank you for being my travel buddy and going with the flow. 
To Mrs. Weezy and Mr. Darrell, thank you for being the kindest of humans, giving us hugs and warmth, and absolutely making our morning. 
To Ms. Leoda, thank you for being the most fantastic tour guide we could've asked for. My book research wouldn't be complete without you. 
The people we met on Grand Isle are whole heartedly and unabashedly themselves, and that is something I strive for in the people that I surround myself with. 
Thank you, Grand Isle. I'll definitely be coming back for a second visit! 

Love,
    HER 

Saturday, July 14, 2018

Book Research: Grand Isle, La

Let the mini vacation/book research begin (and nearly end...I'm on this little slice of land off the coast of New Orleans for less than 24 hours). But here we are, and I've already gotten so much information!
For those of you who have never heard of Grand Isle, Louisiana, it's one of the few coastal islands just off of New Orleans that basically acts as a buffer during hurricane season, which is why all of their houses and buildings are on stilts. This island has a long history with pirates, mainly the infamous pirate Jean Lafitte, who you might've heard of in some New Orleans/surrounding area legends. However, some of you English majors might recognize the name of the island from Kate Chopin's classic The Awakening. I can assure you first hand that as an English major who's read The Awakening twice for school, it is nothing like the idyllic, relaxing, upper class island that we've read about. But this is in no way a negative mark on the island's record.
Grand Isle is a charming town filled with local fisherman and laborers all living on houses of stilts. I noticed on the drive in that the majority of the houses have been named with phrases such as "Lit Mama's" and "Weathering Heights," hinting at the locals' fun, playful nature.
We checked into our Sand Dollar Motel room located at the very tip of the island where a fishing rodeo is happening (this is what the island is truly, internationally famous for) and they were hosting live music for some fishermen after a long day. Then we made our way back into the town where all the real action is :)
For those over 21, stop at the Island Daiquiri Drive Through for some excellent mixes to take with you  on your walk to the beach, which is just a short pass across the street (the eastern side is the best beaches, apparently host to several parties throughout the year). You'll walk up through the grassy pass and go through an entrance of a bushel of sunflowers (my favorite!). There's several entrances along the island with free parking, but if you park centrally in the town, it's not a bad walk at all! We spent some time on the beach as the sun was beginning to fall, and the weather was absolutely perfect! We had the heat of the sun on our backs with the cool breeze of the ocean on our faces. The beach proved to be a great stop because we got to talk to some locals about their views of the island (pretty much the point of coming to Grand Isle). They're local construction company owners who talked about how all they want is to get out of Grand Isle, and it just amazes them that so many international folks are traveling all across their world to come to the bottom of the real south. "Why in the heck do they want to come here?" It's just a tiny island town with a slow way of life.
The Starfish Diner has an amazing shrimp po-boy with lots of locals filling the tables. If you listen closely, you can hear the waitresses catching up with their tables that they haven't seen in awhile (bonus, you can bring your unfinished daiquiri in from next door as your drink).
We finished up the evening sitting on the dock of the bay outside of our motel, listening to "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding (hehe), where several guys were still fishing out on the dock, and there were even more boats still out on the water. I'm guessing that this is a 24- hour deal. The weather felt so nice with a cool breeze, almost to the point that I was chilly, but at the same time, my skin was sticky with humidity. When in Louisiana, right? I've pretty much forgotten what it's like to be an LA girl.

And that's day one of book research on Grand Isle. Guess I've given away the location of Book 3. Shhhhh don't tell the vampires!

Cheers,
    HER 

Thursday, July 5, 2018

Clandestine Spotify Playlist

We're gearing up for the Clandestine book launch over here in good old Tennessee, and I honestly could not be more excited! I've been sitting on this book for nearly two years, so I cannot wait to share it with all of you. I know you might be getting a bit antsy worrying about what's going to happen to Cheyenne. Don't worry, she's ready to share the next part of her story!

But the music...you might remember from last go-round that I created an Ascension playlist, along with particular character playlists as well. I've, of course, done the same for Clandestine, which I created after I wrote the first draft. The themes of the songs pretty much go chronologically through the plot of the book, so if you listen to it before you read it, you might get some very obscure hints about what's going to happen in the book :)

I always listened to this playlist when I was editing Clandestine to get me in the mindset and the New Orleans mood, and I honestly love it even better than my Ascension playlist. Give it a listen, get pumped for the book, and enjoy!! July 20th, here we come!!!

1. The City of New Orleans by Arlo Guthrie
2. broken by lovelytheband
3. Coming of Age by Maddie Medley
4. Black Out Days - Future Islands Remix by Phantogram
5. Hold Ya Head by The Notorious B.I.G. 
6. Please by Josiah and the Bonnevilles
7. Guilty Party by The National 
8. I've Given Up on You by Real Friends
9. Dreaming of You by The Coral
10. Meet Again by Langhorne Slim, The Law
11. Hunting Happiness by W. Darling
12. I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free by Nina Simone
13. A closeness by Dermot Kennedy 
14. Disappear Here by Bad Suns
15. Perhaps Vampires is a Bit Strong But... by Arctic Monkeys
16. Cold Little heart by Michael Kiwauka
17. Say It Ain't So by Weezer
18. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by Ella Fitzgerald
19. Run for Cover by The Killers
20. On + Off by Maggie Rogers
21. Basic by Declan McKenna
22. Where Does the Good Go by Tegan and Sara
23. Stranger by Miki Fiki
24. Lil Dead Eye-d by Richard Edwards, Margo & the Nuclear So and So's
25. Under Your Spell by Futurebirds
26. Technicolor Room by Astronomy Club
27. After-hours by TroyBoi, Diplo, Nina Sky
28. Stonecold by machineheart
29. Kill and Run by Sia
30. Bludfire by Eva Simons, Sidney Samson
31. Rollup by Flosstradamus
32. Taste Like by Dan & Drum
33. Lose Feeling by The Copper Children
34. Hold Me to Ya by River Whyless
35. Cold Times by Brent Cowles
36. Ain't no Rest for the Wicked by Cage the Elephant
37. No Good by Kaleo, Vinyl
38. Raise the Dead by Rachel Rabin
39. Wicked Ones by Dorothy
40. Heartbroken, In Disrepair by Dan Auerbach
41. Better Days by Hedley
42. Die Fun by Kacey Musgraves
43. Hallelujah by Pentatonix
44. Winterlong by Neil Young
45. Winter Is All Over You by First Aid Kit
46. Christmas Eve Can Kill You by The Everly Brothers