A Snapshot in Time

A couple of years ago I was talking with a fellow writer at a conference about my coffee table book, Hotels to Remember. Although a great deal of work went into creating this book which features my original paintings for each of the hotels, my photographs taken at the hotel sites, and my writing, the book was outdated from almost the moment it came out. This was depressing to me.

"Don't worry," the other writer said. "Your book is a snapshot in time."

Since that time, I've thought a lot about what he said. Hotels are renovated and updated constantly. Names change as new owners purchase properties. Even the oldest and most historic hotels change as one chain replaces another. Any book written about wonderful and historic hotels has to be a "snapshot in time."

Last fall, my publisher decided to consider the possibilities of that title. She elected to create A Snapshot in Time as the title for a new series of books which is actually a smaller version of Hotels to Remember, focusing on each individual hotel. Each new title has a slick beautiful hard cover. Each hotel has its own book.

So far, there are three books. The Jefferson Hotel was the first. The Homestead and Hilltop House followed soon after.

I love these little books because people will have the opportunity to collect them as a memory of a visit to a special property. And it's good to know they are A Snapshot in Time.

I'm glad another writer took the time to share his thoughts with me. Without that, I might still be sulking about the way hotels change all too fast!

A Snapshot in Time

Origins - My Story

I was a third-grader when I decided I wanted to become a writer. We lived in Fredericksburg, VA at the time. The community was very connected to George Washington whose mother's home was located there next to Kenmore. I was fascinated by all the stories about Washington's childhood, especially the one about him cutting down a cherry tree. He later told his father, "I cannot tell a lie, I cut down the tree." When our class got an assignment to create a poem, I decided to write about Washington and the cherry tree story. I was selected to read my poem at an assembly for the entire school which made quite an impression on me. I liked the attention and decided then and there that I would become a writer.

When I got to eighth grade, I wrote in my journal that I planned to become a journalist and go to Washington University in St. Louis. Of course, that didn't fit my parents plans and I had to attend a state college instead. I never got to take even one course in journalism, but I fell into a journalism job quite by accident. An editor saw a letter I wrote to our school board, contacted me, and I landed a freelance writing job. More freelance followed, and I never looked back.

Eventually, I got the urge to try my hand at fiction. Seven published novels resulted, and I'm working on my eighth right now. But it all began in third grade...

Thanks to the hosts of the Origins blogfest - DL Hammons, Alex J. Cavanaugh, and Creepy Query Girl Katie Mills.  I'll head out to read as many posts as I can. Interesting topic!!!