GREETINGS FROM CABO

¡Buenos días desde Cabo San Lucas!

How blessed am I to be able to write this blog while poolside at the Pueblo Bonito Rose Resort? I meant to post this last night, but at eleven-ish, I noticed I hadn’t quite finished my train of thought and decided this morning would be a better time to edit before too many cocktails.

Randy and I have had a relaxing vacation so far. Though I’ll be sad to fly back to Oregon on Saturday, I’m thrilled that I’ve been able to write and hopefully finish “Chaos in Cabo” while in Cabo!

I’d hoped to have this book done before now, but that thing called life threw me more curve balls than a major league baseball game over the last six months, so I’ve worked on the manuscript here and there.

But once we were at our resort, drink in hand, sunshine turning my skin a lovely reddish pink; I felt the creative juices flowing. The first thing I did was reacquaint myself with the story and characters. And oh, how I’d missed them. I hadn’t realized I’d left Coco and Amado in a fight over whether they loved each other enough to sacrifice their separate lives to be together. And how could I set up my villainess to have a major secret revealed and then not write the scene?

Those weren’t the only threads that needed attention. When I walked along the beach basking in the waves from Medano Bay, it occurred to me that in my book, I call the bay the Sea of Cortés. And worse yet, I’d written that Amado and Coco used to surf off of “Lover’s Beach.” An impossibility since the beach sits within the bay.

Like I said, I am so blessed to be able to be here where the story occurs and realize my mistakes!

After a few days of editing and rewriting, I could continue with the novel. And I wasn’t the only one ready! These characters don’t care that I’m on vacation and should be sleeping late before relaxing by the pool. They’ve been waking me up at five-thirty, demanding I set my fingers to the keys of my laptop or pen to paper as I stand in the pool … and get busy.

As you may remember, I write my novels from the POV of the three main characters, rotating chapters with their POV. I love this style because it always allows me to flesh out my characters more and contemplate what happens to them next and how their story moves the whole story forward.

But that hasn’t been enough for these characters. Coco decided before it was her turn to regain control of her life and put the two men vying for her heart in their places. Amado believes he’s lost his quest to sail off into the sunset with Coco and live happily ever after, and he makes a huge mistake. Alida feels she’s made an error in judgment by falling in love with the office manager for her scam-calling crew and fears he may be her undoing.

I’ve mentioned before that sometimes my secondary characters decide they need a better story, too, and do things I hadn’t originally planned. That’s the case with Antonio, Alida’s soft-spoken office manager. Oh, the story he tells about his previous life … even I was enthralled. And when did Nacho decide to disappear with his wife and son?

I swear this novel seems to be writing itself. Is it because I’m here in my México, in the land of sun, sea, and margaritas? Is my creativeness heightened because I can see my characters living in this tropical paradise? Should I get a job as a waitress, learn to speak better Spanish, and stay until all the novels in my Mexico Mayhem series are written?

I doubt my husband would support me staying, so I hope my characters pack up and come home with me when I pack my bags to return to Oregon. I believe I will retain some of the beauty and wonder of Cabo once I’m home, but writing “Chaos in Cabo” while in Cabo has been one of the highlights of my writing career.

So, for now, I bid you adiós as I go in search of my first mimosa of the day. ¡Salud!

Feliz escritura, señoras ~