Immersed in the World

Help me make decisions about my book

Nicole — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:45:04 +0000

Hi everyone!

It’s been a busy couple of months! I finally passed my manuscript on to a few friends and their feedback is streaming in. I swear these friends could be diplomats. Their criticism finesse and ideas for improvement have me on the edge of my seat salivating for more, eager to get back to editing. Maybe I’m just excited to receive feedback and bounce ideas [...]

The Innkeeper is open!

Nicole — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 00:01:37 +0000

We are thrilled to announce The Innkeeper is now open!

I think this quote from Don Quixote sums up perfectly what The Innkeeper is: a cozy local place to relax and find respite.

The menu was designed to offer comfort. Some items are modeled after our time in the Caribbean, like spicy goat [...]

Then and now

Nicole — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:05:52 +0000

It’s early Saturday morning, the kids are asleep, and I’m typing away at the table.

I’m writing a scene in my memoir where Brian and I return by boat to our off-the-grid resort after two open water dives that’ll go toward our diver certification and we find the private bay full of yachts and the beach swarming with people. We had given all of our staff, [...]

Finding my way

Nicole — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:27:51 +0000

I’ve been quiet here lately.

I took a break from blogging to focus on writing Immersed, the book.

Then I got stuck and wasn’t sure how to fix it.

So I read and researched.

I dissected the chapters of Blood, Bones and Butter to see how another writer wrote her memoir.

I read parts of Don’t [...]

Across the cafe table: at the beach

Nicole — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 13:49:00 +0000

It’s The Travel Belles second “Across the Cafe Table” discussion and I can’t help but join in. This month’s question?

What’s in your travel beach bag and your ideal beach would be where?

Some of you may know I have a thing for beaches. The beach is where my husband and I decided to get [...]

My 7 links

Nicole — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 16:02:31 +0000

I’ve been pulled out of the cave where I’ve been writing my memoir by the lovely Corinne from Gourmantic. She nominated me to participate in My 7 Links, a blogging intiative dreamt up by Tripbase.

The goal of the project is “to unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not [...]

Salmonberry pancakes

Nicole — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:32:24 +0000

One of my favorite things about summer in the Pacific Northwest is the abundance of berries. The first to ripen are salmonberries. And they’re here! Salmonberry bushes grow wild along forest roads or hiking trails.

Ripe berries range from orange to red, and any shade in between.

We found so many camping on Shaw Island in the San [...]

At the sea under the moon

Nicole — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 05:03:12 +0000

The sky was clear the night of the full moon.

Our campsite on Shaw Island was surrounded by trees, except the side that looked out over the water. I couldn’t believe our good luck when the moon began rising over Canoe Island, in our view.

Earlier, while the moon was eclipsing on the other side of [...]

Lunar eclipse

Nicole — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 14:03:42 +0000

A lunar eclipse will occur this week, on Wednesday, June 15th.

They happen twice a year but depending on where you are in the world, they may or may not be at a convenient viewing time or when the skies are clear. Unfortunately, the eclipse this week won’t be visible to those of us in North America because it’ll occur during our daylight hours.

I [...]

Carrying water

Nicole — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 13:35:39 +0000

When I saw the blue five-gallon water jugs that Walk 1st International provides for their Walk for Water campaign, I was taken instantly back to the time my husband and I regularly transported water by very similar, blue, forty pound water jugs.

We were living at and operating a little off-the-grid beachfront resort [...]