Trying to be nice to "the city beautiful"
I read an interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith (she answered blog readers' questions over at Cynsations) and someone asked her what debut authors should NOT do, and one of her answers was:
Don't return to your hometown and open with, "Wow, I'm glad I made it out of here!" Every place has its charm and its dedicated book people. Embrace wherever you may be.
So, in that spirit, I'm going to try to list some nice things about Orlando. Because I complain about it a lot. I know. For someone whose favorite things are books, history, farmer's markets, hills, not driving, and weather between 50 and 60 degrees, this just isn't the right place to live. I realize for some people, it is right. Maybe if I loved palm trees and hated snow, I'd appreciate it more. But even for me, here are some good things:
--There are some nice, dedicated book people here, it's true. There must be, because we have three Borders within 30 minutes of us and they haven't shut down yet! (Knock on wood. In the absence of an indie, I love Borders.) I have a nice little local crit group where I've made actual writer friends I enjoy hanging out with and I've met some really nice people doing school visits and at the YA book club at the library.
--Disney is fun.
--Polonia and Gateway to India, two delicious and healthy restaurants near my house.
--Bright Light Books is one of the most well-organized and well-selected used bookstores I've been to anywhere in the country, and it is just the right size: big enough to browse in for a few hours, but not so big that you have a headache by the time you leave (I'm looking at you, Strand).
--Navel oranges.
--It's cheap to fly out of the airport.
--I do realize it could be worse.
Okay, that's about all I can think of.
But I do promise when I leave I'll never come back and say I'm glad I made it out. I'm not the type to gripe AFTER the fact.
Don't return to your hometown and open with, "Wow, I'm glad I made it out of here!" Every place has its charm and its dedicated book people. Embrace wherever you may be.
So, in that spirit, I'm going to try to list some nice things about Orlando. Because I complain about it a lot. I know. For someone whose favorite things are books, history, farmer's markets, hills, not driving, and weather between 50 and 60 degrees, this just isn't the right place to live. I realize for some people, it is right. Maybe if I loved palm trees and hated snow, I'd appreciate it more. But even for me, here are some good things:
--There are some nice, dedicated book people here, it's true. There must be, because we have three Borders within 30 minutes of us and they haven't shut down yet! (Knock on wood. In the absence of an indie, I love Borders.) I have a nice little local crit group where I've made actual writer friends I enjoy hanging out with and I've met some really nice people doing school visits and at the YA book club at the library.
--Disney is fun.
--Polonia and Gateway to India, two delicious and healthy restaurants near my house.
--Bright Light Books is one of the most well-organized and well-selected used bookstores I've been to anywhere in the country, and it is just the right size: big enough to browse in for a few hours, but not so big that you have a headache by the time you leave (I'm looking at you, Strand).
--Navel oranges.
--It's cheap to fly out of the airport.
--I do realize it could be worse.
Okay, that's about all I can think of.
But I do promise when I leave I'll never come back and say I'm glad I made it out. I'm not the type to gripe AFTER the fact.