All writers are introverts. They must be to hide themselves away for days in dark rooms, staring at little computer screens while words hop from one line to the next.
It’s an old cliché and it isn’t relevant anymore.
Today writers have to market themselves, meaning they have to spend time on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr and other social media sites. They have to interact with reviewers and participate in internet parties.
And they have to give speeches.
The speech I’m working on now isn’t about writing or the content of my books. It’s about the five thousand mile trip my husband and I took in our 32-foot boat. After looking at 800 images I’ve concluded two things: we need a new camera and we need a new photographer.
My spouse is an engineer so we’re doing this chronologically. “Really,” I say. “Why not group lighthouses and locks and sunsets?” It seems that’s what most of my pictures were about. I also photographed water and clouds. We were on a boat trip, right?
“We’re starting in Mobile, Ala. and we’re ending in Mobile,” he says.
After going through the images, one waterway began to look much like the next although the shots taken with my smartphone were a heck of a lot better than the ones I took with the old digital camera. I confess that I had edited some of them. The phone pictures were the ones I attached to my daily Facebook posts. I wanted them to look good.
It’s too late to berate myself for not snapping more pictures of interesting sights along the shore, or in the towns, or even our life on the boat. I guess I was too nervous about the passages. Many of the pictures were taken from inside the boat. Not the best place to capture what’s happening outside.
And then there were those that are missing. “Didn’t we take pictures of that interesting castle-like structure we passed on an island in the Hudson River?” I ask.
“We did. Where are they?”
“Can’t find them. They must have disappeared into the innards of the camera, kind of like socks in a dryer.”
Or maybe I forgot to push the button while bouncing around on a blustery day. There were many like that, and I’m not exactly Popeye when it comes to boats.
Next time I’ll let Captain Mark take the pictures. He doesn’t mind hanging out the door or scampering up to the bow to get a better angle.
But then, I’d have to be driving.
Maybe a photography class is in my future.
LOL!