Gail Priest

Author of the Annie Crow Knoll trilogy and Eastern Shore Shorts

Kayaking on the Sassafras River

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P1030642I gave myself a few hours off from work yesterday morning to go on a kayak trip up the Sassafras River and into Lloyd Creek. It was over-cast, and the clouds were amazing. I spotted two mature Bald Eagles, three immature Bald Eagles, a Green Heron!, three Belted Kingfishers, along with numerous Great Blue Herons, immature Double-crested Cormorants and Laughing Gulls.  One gull was very cooperative while I took pictures of it in its fading summer garb. The lotus flower plants are increasing up there, and taking over more of the creek.  I spent time simply floating and enjoyed how soothing the quiet was up in the creek.

On the way out of the cut, I encountered a large number of youngsters in canoes led by Chestertown’s mayor and the Vice President of Sultana Educational Foundation, Chris Cerino. It was great to see Chris, the other Sultana staff and the kids enjoying themselves.

I purposely spent the three hours kayaking as a way of getting back in touch with the beauty here on the Sassafras River and the Chesapeake Bay. This kind of thing is always inspiration for my writing, especially as I work on Annie Crow Knoll: Moonrise, the third book in the series.

I hope you enjoy the pictures I took along the way.

 

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Rewirement Instead of Retirement

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Rewirement Instead of Retirement

I recently retired after nearly twenty-seven years as a public education teacher of theatre arts, speech, and English, with a three year stint as a guidance counselor.  Around year thirteen, I took a break from public education and worked as an actor and director for ten years.  Then I became a college adjunct professor in a theatre department before returning to full-time teaching in a high school performing arts program, which I did for the final eight years of my teaching career.  I’ve reinvented myself several times during my career.

Since I formally retired from teaching this past June, people ask how I’m enjoying retirement, like I’m bouncing grandchildren (don’t have any) on my knee and playing cards with my girlfriends.  I smile and say, it’s not retirement, it’s rewirement.  This was a term my dear friend Patricia Osborne shared with me.  She works as a Life Coach and helps people navigate transitions in their lives, among many other things. You can find out more about what Patt does at her website www.adventurecoach.com. When I told her how I disliked the term retirement, she said, “You’re not retiring, you’re rewiring.” That term immediately felt right.

Now I am rewiring myself as a full-time writer.  I’ve been writing for many years-three plays, a screenplay and two novels.  It was always something I managed to do during the summers, holidays and snow days.  Now, it’s what I do.  Well, I haven’t quite figured it out.  Between editing and launching my second novel, marketing both novels, learning how to use social media to promote my career, posting on Facebook and Twitter, starting a newsletter, struggling with my website, and beginning the third novel, which involves a good deal of research, I’m working as much as ever.

It’s a very exciting time.  I do miss my students, but we manage to keep in touch.  I’m finding that I have a love/hate relationship with the fact that I make my own schedule.  That’s been the biggest challenge for me in these early days of rewirement.  But over-all, I’m very happy and content.  Thanks to a very supportive husband, great friends and loyal readers, I am on my way to the next chapter of my life.

Annie Crow Knoll: Sunrise Characters and Setting

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This is my first blog ever, and the fact that it’s on my author website is a dream come true.  So welcome!

Readers have remarked on the significance of the setting for Annie Crow Knoll: Sunrise. When I am writing, the characters’ environment and how they are responding to it gives me a lot of information. Sometimes I see the characters in a particular setting (Packard’s Schoolhouse Studio, down on the dock, in a particular cottage) and then I wait to see what they are doing and hear what they are saying to each other.  Other times, I hear the characters talking, and I have to wait to see where they are or I have to decide the best place to put them for this conversation. The setting affects what they are doing while they talk.  I see them like I would characters in a movie or on a stage setting.

As an actor and a director, a character’s environment is a very important choice to utilize.  For example, if I’m acting in a role and the setting is a kitchen, I might play with my silverware if my character is anxious or embarrassed.  I could grab a dish towel and snap it playfully at another character to flirt or to joke around. I might make a cup of tea to soothe myself or to soothe the other character.  Because I work this way as an actor, I see my characters like this.  I place them in an environment so I can discover things they’ll use in that setting to support what they’re saying, feeling, and experiencing.

For example, when Packard is painting and someone enters his School House Studio, he may respond to that other person with his paint brush.  He could keep painting. He could stop painting and clean the brush. He might drop the brush right on the floor.  These choices give the reader a good deal of information.  Also the reader can feel more a part of the environment and understand the characters by seeing how they respond, in this particular story, to the Knoll and the bay and the birds.  We know right away that Grace and Annie are going to connect because they both have pet birds, and Grace is immediately ready to look for owls with Annie.

I’m so glad that you checked out my website and this blog.  I hope you enjoy the book!

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