Napa Valley | Mary J. McCoy-Dressel

Tag: Napa Valley

Reality and a Muse in San Francisco

Posted at 3:04 pm by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on September 1, 2012

I spent hours at this overlook photographing the bridge.

Do you have a favorite city? In my country, my favorite city is *San Francisco, California. On this visit, I was with my oldest son and then daughter-in-law. So why should you care that my favorite city is San Fran? Here I go again, bringing up something for a reason. Of course, the reason is a book, a very into the future…maybe book.

I say “distant future” because this manuscript will be totally rewritten. Let’s say the whole theme will change if I do revise it. Oh, the book is totally written, but it’ll never see the light of day in its present theme. My readers would not like this book as it is. My muse got carried away and she blushes now when it’s mentioned.

None other than the famous Golden Gate Bridge.

Since SF is my favorite city, it’s only fitting that one of my characters has the same favorite, right? Ah, ha. Now we’re getting somewhere. The difference? I don’t have a real life hero to travel with like my heroine does. Another difference? This book is outside of my western genre. Right now I’m having a lot of fun writing contemporary western romance, one reason this book is on hold.

Winters in the Midwest are cold, freezing cold in winter, with blowing snow. I could go on… Brr…. A trip to San Francisco is nice even in December as long as your flight isn’t delayed or cancelled here in the Midwest due to a snowstorm. Who am I fooling? Every flight I’ve ever had out of San Francisco has been delayed.

One of my trips took me to Napa Valley. Guess what? I listened to this song multiple times while writing the “maybe never to be published” novel. Be inspired with a view of San Francisco. Go ahead, click Play and enjoy “Lights” by Journey.

A bit of advice here—if you’re ever walking along the sidewalk near Fisherman’s Wharf and see a green bush that looks out of place, probably near a light pole–well, it is out of place. A scary man is dressed as a bush. Haha, I know how weird that sounds.

He’ll jump out and scare the living daylights out of you. After everyone has a good laugh, he’ll ask you for money. Yeah, he gets money for scaring people. I’m speaking from experience. Trust me. I didn’t laugh. I’ll tell you more about that story at a later date.

Coit Tower

Mmm, chocolate!

If you ever go, have a plan. Even if you have a plan, traffic congestion will slow you down more than you think, so keep that in mind. *The links to the city are only here for your pleasure and enjoyment in case you’d like to take a look at my favorite city. If you want to plan a trip to the City by the Bay, I suggest you do your own research for accommodations and attractions.

Posted in #AmWriting | 11 Comments | Tagged Fisherman's Wharf, Howdy Ma'am, mary j mccoy dressel, Napa Valley, reality and a muse in san francisco, San Francisco California

Redding, California Motion Fire

Posted at 11:40 pm by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on July 14, 2008

My oldest son lives in California. One of the big fires is close to his city now. His boss and some friends he works with have already been evacuated, but they live farther out of town. He’s been sending me photographs, so I am adding some of them here. It’s so scary. From some of the photos sent to me, I am seeing some of the places I have visited while there, like Shasta Dam, Whiskeytown Lake, and other places like that where the fires are breathing on the borders. It’s just sickening to see the devestation!

This week my youngest son is going to California to tour Napa Valley. There are fires around Sacramento, too, so I don’t know how much of Napa will be closed off. They won these tickets, and the plans are all made, so they can’t change it now.