Welcome… I’m New Here! Hello from the Pacific Northwest USA!

[Becca T]

Hello - I'm originally from the Northwest. I grew up in Bend, Oregon and attended the University of Oregon in Eugene. I now live in Frankfurt, Germany. I have to admit, Oregonians don't always referr to your Vancouver in the nicest of terms... Vantucky comes to mind. Anyway... welcome!

 

[CarolMS]

Haha! I agree! It's true, "Vantucky" does fit in some ways. But Vancouver has much improved and some of us live in neighborhoods, such as Salmon Creek/Felida where I am, which could as easily be in Bend or Portland. For me, the move here had to do with health, age and budget--the cost of living here is a fraction of what it was in the SF Bay Area and is much less than in Portland too (and no state taxes, unlike Oregon and CA!)--and best of all, I can be in the heart of Portland in 15-20 minutes! I'm very sensitive to aesthetics and after living my entire adult life in San Francisco and Mill Valley CA, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from SF, as well as some years in Paris France and a while in NYC, I had to talk myself into making a sensible move to Vancouver, but beautiful, progressive Portland is so close--I do everything urban there--and my location is surrounded by rolling hills, forests, rushing rivers and streams. And nice people! So what can I say? It's pretty okay.

 

[Becca T]

Haha! I agree! It's true, "Vantucky" does fit in some ways. But Vancouver has much improved and some of us live in neighborhoods, such as Salmon Creek/Felida where I am, which could as easily be in Bend or Portland. For me, the move here had to do with health, age and budget--the cost of living here is a fraction of what it was in the SF Bay Area and is much less than in Portland too (and no state taxes, unlike Oregon and CA!)--and best of all, I can be in the heart of Portland in 15-20 minutes! I'm very sensitive to aesthetics and after living my entire adult life in San Francisco and Mill Valley CA, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from SF, as well as some years in Paris France and a while in NYC, I had to talk myself into making a sensible move to Vancouver, but beautiful, progressive Portland is so close--I do everything urban there--and my location is surrounded by rolling hills, forests, rushing rivers and streams. And nice people! So what can I say? It's pretty okay.

I get why people move to Vancouver. I've only ever driven through, probably hundered times going between various places in Oregon up to the Seattle area. I think some of the reason Vancouver gets a bad rap is jealousy. In Vancouver, you don't pay Oregon property taxes but you can cross the state border and buy things without paying a sales tax. Oregon doesn't have a sales tax and Washington does. I don't know if it's true anymore, but back when I was entering university people from Vancouver could get in state tutiton rates for both Oregon and Washington, which made some of us more than a little bit angry/jealous. Glad you are enjoying it though, that's all that matters when it comes to an individuals choice of where to live.

 

[CarolMS]

There is no state income tax in Washington, a substantial benefit/savings for many. I'm retired now, but when I was working, I saved a bundle each year because of the move (I lived in Portland 10 years, after moving to the region from the SF Bay Area in CA). Unfortunately Vancouver home values have shot up, too, so the property taxes aren't fun. But it's been good to see the fairly new Washington State University campus in Vancouver--WSU's first satellite campus, and growing by leaps and bounds--offers WA state tuition rates to Oregon residents now.

 

[Emily]

Welcome Carol, lovely to have you here

 

[CarolMS]

Thank you, Emily. I'm hoping to participate more as time goes on.

 

[izi 出久]

I think it's going to take me a while to settle in. Tech savvy, I'm not.

Heyyy don't worry about this. Take your time. I consider myself tech savvy and was a dunce on here for like... well... perhaps I still am.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

Pacific Northwest, aye? I'm traveling to Portland next weekend for the marathon. Welcome, Carol! Glad you're here

I live in Portland. If I can be of any service, please let me know.

 

[CarolMS]

I live in Portland. If I can be of any service, please let me know.

Thanks, Peyton.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

Have not heard from you, lately. I hope all is well. How is your novel revision going? I'm agonizing through every line of one I began long ago... I hope yours is going better.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

Hi @AgentPete and everyone in the Colony!

I've been regularly watching Litopia's pop-up submissions for quite a while, thoroughly enjoying the warmth and good humor as well as learning from the expert commentary, so it seems about time that I start to more actively participate, yes? I'm a retired psychotherapist with multiple and varied past lives in the entertainment and hospitality industries and business as well as mental health--I know, maybe a little ADD?--and my insatiable curiosity has led me to live in multiple places as well: Minneapolis MN, San Francisco and Marin County CA, New York City, Paris France, Portland ORE, and now just across the Columbia River in Vancouver WA. Regrettably, I'm a bit disabled and too old to still be so adventurous, except in my mind. Ah, well . . . . So after years of writing for business, academia, and mountains of journaling, I'm now writing and rewriting a first novel, and I'm loving every--well, almost every--minute of it. It's literary, upmarket women's fiction, and historical (1968-1970), theme-driven, with the main characters' psychological/emotional dynamics the means through which the story is told. No surprise there, given my interest in psychology, right?

Well, enough about me. I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you better, too. Cheers! --Carol

I wish I had replied earlier. The setting of your novel is similar to one on which I am working. I had not thought of it as historical. No hoop skirts, rogues on galloping horses. I guess I think historical means Regency... Anyway, best of success.

 

[CarolMS]

Have not heard from you, lately. I hope all is well. How is your novel revision going? I'm agonizing through every line of one I began long ago... I hope yours is going better.

Hi Peyton! I know; I was so busy saying hello in the welcome thread and then I'm afraid I've hesitated to become more active because I'm already finding it hard to get enough done with my novel revision. I have complicated story and structure problems to work out and the project is so big (still around 150,000 words, after 192,000) that it's a bit unwieldy to do "big picture" work on it as well as get the word count down. A good developmental editor would help, but the cost and finding the right person is downright scary, since I can't afford to make a mistake in money or time at my age. But I'm exploring my options. And working on the revision, mostly in my head at the moment, but in necessary and productive ways, at least. And I've written a new beginning. Maybe, since it's yet another. Like you, I began my novel quite a while ago; a long story, so I'll save it for another time.

I laughed when you said you're writing a novel taking place in the same era as mine and hadn't thought of it as historical fiction. I, too, was surprised to realize mine could be categorized as such. I mean, hey, I was around during that time, so what do they mean, "historical"? Yikes! Seems weird, doesn't it? I'm thinking you might be having a similar experience. We'll have to commiserate on that.

Thanks for connecting. Let's chat again.

 

[gbhunt]

Hi @Carol MS , so happy to meet you!

 

[CarolMS]

Thanks for saying hello, Geraldine. The sentiment is mutual.

 

[PCFrontier]

Hi @AgentPete and everyone in the Colony!

I've been regularly watching Litopia's pop-up submissions for quite a while, thoroughly enjoying the warmth and good humor as well as learning from the expert commentary, so it seems about time that I start to more actively participate, yes? I'm a retired psychotherapist with multiple and varied past lives in the entertainment and hospitality industries and business as well as mental health--I know, maybe a little ADD?--and my insatiable curiosity has led me to live in multiple places as well: Minneapolis MN, San Francisco and Marin County CA, New York City, Paris France, Portland ORE, and now just across the Columbia River in Vancouver WA. Regrettably, I'm a bit disabled and too old to still be so adventurous, except in my mind. Ah, well . . . . So after years of writing for business, academia, and mountains of journaling, I'm now writing and rewriting a first novel, and I'm loving every--well, almost every--minute of it. It's literary, upmarket women's fiction, and historical (1968-1970), theme-driven, with the main characters' psychological/emotional dynamics the means through which the story is told. No surprise there, given my interest in psychology, right?

Well, enough about me. I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you better, too. Cheers! --Carol

Hi Carol, I have just joined Litopia. So a welcome from me a new member.

 

[CarolMS]

Hi Carol, I have just joined Litopia. So a welcome from me a new member.

And welcome to you, too, @PCFrontier! I hope you find involvement in Litopia's community and activities as enjoyable as I'm finding it to be. I'm still exploring, even upgraded my membership so as to be able to participate more. Nice people, excellent craft discussions, and lots of fun!

 

[CarolMS]

I think your timing is right on. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) I think there is a huge wave of 60's nostalgia coming and even for the 70's as we hit a decade or 2 of stagflation. Has anyone made better music to clean house to than Ball and Chain?? Or Cocaine? . My Baylor Tx. Song Goddess.

I can't believe I somehow missed this from you (although admittedly I'm still a bit lost as I try to navigate the multiple areas with posts on the Litopia site) and I want to apologize for doing so. How could I have missed a chance to listen to Janis?! She was so amazing. It's so sad she died so young (an accidental heroine overdose in a hotel when in L.A. for a gig, at 27, in October of 1970--just two weeks away from Jimi Hendrix' death on tour in London, also at 27). She lived in a redwood canyon in Larkspur CA, very close to where I last lived in Marin County CA, which is just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. She was seen around the area in her psychodelic-painted car and had what was considered "her table" at The Trident, a hot hippie-era waterfront restaurant in Sausalito CA (then owned by the Kingston Trio). A lot of this comes up in my novel, which mostly takes place 1968-1970 in SF and Marin. My character, Krista, also a singer (but jazz), says she loves Janis because she "sings with her insides out." Yes, she did. She did indeed. She held nothing back. It was a kick to see/hear the response of the guy presenting this video recording, hard to believe he is just discovering Janis. Makes me feel really old. HaHa. But she deserves to be remembered. You can feel her pain in her music. For some musicians, that's what it's all about. The need to make the hurt seen, make it matter. And exorcise it. Thanks for posting it!