The Gentle Genre; Article from Writer Unboxed Blog

[Victoria Bastedo]

I love what this article is about. As the resident fluff writer in my local writing group in the Snoqualmie Valley, I've spouted many a rant, I mean expressed an opinion, along these lines. I want my readers, when I get a few, to feel happy when they've finished one of my books.

The Gentle Genre

I’m writing this while they’re still counting votes after the election, when tensions are running high on both sides and the entire country could use a little something (non-liquid) to calm them do…

writerunboxed.com

 

[Emily]

Oh, I love this too; a very dear friend of mine regularly espouses exactly the same sentiment. I cycle through genres a lot, frequently reading a few books throughout the day: different day-times call for different genres, I love a gentle book in early afternoon

And can I ask, is Snoqualmie Valley an actual, real place?! What an extraordinary name, how do you pronounce it? (and what would be its heritage, so to speak?)

 

[Victoria Bastedo]

Oh, I love this too; a very dear friend of mine regularly espouses exactly the same sentiment. I cycle through genres a lot, frequently reading a few books throughout the day: different day-times call for different genres, I love a gentle book in early afternoon

And can I ask, is Snoqualmie Valley an actual, real place?! What an extraordinary name, how do you pronounce it? (and what would be its heritage, so to speak?)

Yes, it's our local tribe. It's pronounced as it's spelled, Snow- Qualm- EE. My town is called Snoqualmie, but the valley encompasses several communities including North Bend, Fall City, and Carnation. Located about 25 miles east of Seattle, we've got our little mountain, Mt. Si, which can be seen in the old show, Twin Peaks. We've got several rivers, and Snoqualmie Falls. There you go.

 

[Emily]

That's fantastic (I was pronouncing it as: Snock- wal-mee!!!!!) Sounds like a really beautiful place

 

[Victoria Bastedo]

It's a good place to live. If you like hiking, lakes, rivers, mountains, and a big city nearby for those times when you want concerts or amazing museums. Coffee shops everywhere, made for writers. (When not under lockdown, of course.) There are a lot of artists in the Pacific Northwest as well, of all sorts. You can meet painters, photographers, musicians, actors, gardeners, ect. My local writing group has collaborated with local actors, and they read our pieces at the microphone for several events. We also collaborated with our local artists, where we wrote short stories based on their paintings. Here is the latest example:


Such fun!