Imagine a Time Without Good Restaurants and Clean Hotels

"St. Louis Union Station Hotel" ©Mary Montague Sikes

Suppose you could travel back in time to 1869 and have your automobile instead of a covered wagon to journey cross country from St. Louis, then Independence, Missouri and on to Denver, Colorado. Even without the problems associated with the small wooden wagon, pulled probably by oxen, the trip would still be difficult by today's standards. After all, the road was rugged. There were no real bridges to cross rivers and streams. There were no motels or hotels and few places to find food of any kind.

I thought about my heroine Meg from A Rainbow for Christmas and wondered if her journey would have been difficult even in a car. Of course, there would be no gasoline, so that imaginary trip would have been impossible. Still, it would be fun today to follow along one of those wagon trails and imagine what the journey was like in 1869.

When the rails were laid for train tracks, things changed in a big way. It's wonderful and exciting to visit amazing old hotels today and realize they came along with the emerging railroad system. The El Tovar on the edge of the Grand Canyon, the Hotel Del Coronado across from San Diego, California, the Brown Palace in Denver, Colorado. These elaborate hotels and many more grew from the needs of railroad passengers, and they helped change our way of travel. They were constructed around the turn of the 20th Century, not that many years later than Meg's journey.

One of my favorite hotels is the one built around the old St. Louis Union Station. The railroad station dates back to the late 1800s. Trains fascinate me still, but I'm very glad people no longer travel by covered wagon.

Radio Broadcast
On December 9 at 8:05, I will be the radio guest of Neal Steele, XTRA 99.1 and will discuss A Rainbow for Christmas. A podcast of the live show will be available at the Chesapeake Bay Writers web site .

What is the Meaning of Success?

As a writer, or as an artist, what do you consider success? Must you make money at your craft to be successful? Or is success gleaned in some other manner?

In our society, people are often judged as successful when they accumulate a large amount of wealth. But is that true success? Is wealth a meaningless barometer for some?

Artists and writers walk to the beat of a different drummer, I think. Success is completing the 10th page of your latest manuscript--the goal you set for the day. It's looking out the window and sketching a leaf outlined against the sunlit sky. It's writing the words that come to you in the night. It's hearing the voice of an angel creating a poem inside your head. It's grabbing a camera and photographing the sky filled with orange clouds at sunset. It's watching the face of a loved one brighten with happiness. It's hearing the sound of laughter in the air. It's smelling the sweet scent of flowers on a spring day. It's writing down the thoughts special sensations bring. It's hanging a painting in an art show and receiving a compliment for it. It's signing a book for a stranger who receives it with a smile. It's the unexpected sale of a painting. It's looking out the airplane window and photographing clouds just below.

"Above the Clouds" ©Mary Montague Sikes

In the end, success is dancing in the sunlight and knowing you've done your best. It's acceptance of who you are and gratitude for the opportunity to be a creative soul on Planet Earth.

Thank you Alex Cavanaugh and co-hosts Julie Flanders, Heather Gardner, Kim Van Sickler, and Elsie is Writing 
for the Insecure Writer's Support Group today. That is a story of success.

Writers Learn from Readers at Book Signings

Key West Sailboat - ©Mary Montague Sikes

As I reflect on a recent book signing, I realize writers can always learn at least one new thing as they talk with readers. I like to promote the exotic destinations that many of my novels feature.

"Do you like to travel in the Caribbean?" I ask, hopeful I'll learn that he or she has been to one of the islands my books feature and loved the trip.

"No. I've never been to the Caribbean."

"I haven't been to Antigua."

"I don't want to go to Jamaica."

"Where is Trinidad?"

These are the answers I often get. My publisher created the "Passenger to Paradise" series for my books, so those responses disappoint me. I wrote Secrets by the Sea  because a museum director on the island of Antigua intrigued me with his stories about the rich history of this tropical paradise. I hope to find readers who relate to the island's history or to the fact it was settled by the British. I want to find people who have gone to Jamaica and appreciate a fantasy story related to the legend of the white witch of Rose Hall (Hearts Across Forever). I want to discover those who have visited Mexico or Central America and have studied the Maya ruins because of those visits (Jungle Jeopardy).

Perhaps I am approaching potential readers the wrong way. Should I ask, "Are you an armchair traveler who fantasizes about visiting the tropics?"

With the unusual cold weather we have now in Virginia, a warm destination like Key West, Florida sounds perfect. I could curl up with a book set in a nice tropical place where warm breezes blow and sweet floral scents fill the air.

As a writer, what do you do for a positive response from readers? How do you you draw them into your settings? Do you learn from readers at your book signings?

What Inspires a Writer Years Down the Road?

Phoenix Gold Mine

A few years ago, we were exploring an area of Colorado we had not visited before. In Idaho Springs, we came across the Phoenix Gold Mine and met the co-owner, Al Mosch, who gave us a tour we will never forget. Besides sharing his story of an eye-to-eye encounter with a mountain lion, Mosch related other mining tales and gave me a piece of gold-flecked ore from the mine. Because of this unusual character, I will never forget our mine visit. Not only did I include the Phoenix Gold Mine as a side trip for the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver when I wrote Hotels to Remember, but I also used some of what I learned that day in my novel, A Rainbow for Christmas.

That novel was also inspired by books I found on that same Colorado trip that were written by women who crossed the plains from Missouri traveling by wagon train. In museums, I saw items from some of those journeys. I also viewed actual wagons from those trains and stared in wonderment, amazed at how small they actually were.

Using inspiration years down the road is one of the things that especially excites me as a writer. I keep notebooks, take photos everywhere, and put everything together in my "gathering books". You never know when you'll have a chance to use some of that information.

What inspires you?

A Rainbow for Christmas and Daddy's Christmas Angel are two of the books I'll be signing on Friday, November 22 at the William and Mary Barnes and Noble on Duke of Gloucester Street in Williamsburg, Virginia from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. I will also feature A Rainbow for Christmas on the Neal Steele radio show, 8:15 a.m., Monday, December 9.

Sedona, Arizona is a Place to Love

Sedona Red Rocks October 2013 ©Mary Montague Sikes

Whenever I see the red rock formations of Sedona, Arizona come into view, I marvel at the sight. These amazing rocks have inspired artists and writers forever, I suspect. As the lighting shifts across the rocks, so does the impact of the red rock images.

Within the last 12 months, we have made the trip to Sedona from the East Coast three times. We have stayed in three different locations, Ridge on Sedona Golf Resort, Hyatt Pinon Point, and Poco Diablo Resort. All three resorts are outstanding for different reasons.

The Ridge is located at the Village of Oak

Sedona Red Rocks 2007 ©Mary Montague Sikes

Creek and is near the Red Rock Cafe, an exceptional restaurant for breakfast that features 99-cent mimosas on the weekend. Several art galleries are located in the area, including Cielo Bella. Of course, it is near the famous Bell Rock formation. For sports lovers, PJ's sports bar is nearby.

The Hyatt is situated conveniently close to uptown Sedona with lots of rock shops in the area. The Sedona Art Center is within easy walking distance. The resort is not far from Tlaquepaque which is well-known for arts and crafts shopping and has several attractive art galleries. Sports fans will enjoy the TV screens and the convenience of the Steaks and Sticks restaurant that is next to Tlaquepaque.

Poco Diablo is in a quiet setting next to Oak Creek. The Best Western restaurant on the site is excellent for breakfast. Our room faced the golf course which gave us a nice view from a little patio. The location is convenient for several rock formations, including Bell Rock and is situated between Oak Creek and Sedona.


The Golden Goose Cafe has become one of our favorite places for breakfast dining in Sedona. The Little Mermaid omelette is outstanding. Featuring shrimp, crab meat, jack cheese, and an hollandaise

Little Mermaid ©MMSikes

sauce topping, it's a meal worth a return trip to the city. Their roasted potato medley is delicious as well.

Recently, I watched "Drum Beat", a 1954 movie featuring Alan Ladd. With its setting in Sedona, I was captivated. I was also amazed at the beautiful red rocks rising up from a remote wilderness. Now, the Village of Oak Creek has expanded almost to the edge of Bell Rock. It was nostalgic to see the earlier movie setting. I'm glad so many old movies were set there. I'll be on the lookout for them because Sedona, Arizona, then and now, is a place to love.