One part of my own "writing process" is that there's always another novel coming together in the background. Driving in today's lovely springy weather took me through East Barnet, Vermont -- where the depot in the days of the passenger trains was named "Inwood." Here are three postcard views from the wonderful
Northeast Kingdom postcards site provided by Janice Boyko -- one showing a railroad washout, and the other two, views of East Barnet village. Thanks to Marvin Roy, I also have a copy of a scrapbook from a family connected with the huge mill structure you can see in the postcards, home to the Roy Brothers croquet factory.
Weather and wooden structure conspired to destroy the factory three times, and the railroad only runs a freight train now (twice a day). The village is more of a whisper, a bend in the road with a cluster of homes closer together. But there's a story lurking there, and each time I drive through, a little more of it will come clearly. In a few years, I'll know the characters and the plot.
But for today, I know the title:
Inwood.
2 comments:
Beth, how fun! I love to read about your creative process. Thanks! Cool photos!
Thanks, Holly! On the wall in front of my desk, on the big sheet of brown butcher paper, are newspaper articles that "belong" to the very next novel I'll be writing. But way over to one side of the sheet are other "bits," some that are clippings and some that are hand-written on colorful "sticky notes." The one that I think may belong with the novel Inwood deals with a couple who were terribly shocked to be refused permission to purchase a local burial plot. Do you see the stress line already forming, for the story? I can hardly wait!
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