One of my favorite ways to take a break from writing is to go the beach.  It doesn’t matter the time of the year because the subtle seasonal changes make the coastline almost a magical place for me.  I actually prefer the off season because it makes you feel like it’s your own private beach.

I have a couple of tucked away beach spots that I frequent at least once a week.  It’s amazing for me to feel the cool sea air in my lungs.  I immediately begin to feel more relaxed and centered.  Any problems or stress that I had seem to disappear, and suddenly they don’t seem as urgent anymore. 

If I close my eyes, it’s incredible with all of the sounds, smells, and feelings you can experience with the waves crashing and then softly lapping against the sand, seagulls soaring overhead, the breeze on my face, the slight ringing of the buoys further out in the water, and the unmistakable sea air.  I can’t imagine my life without being able to breathe the sea air on a regular basis. 

I take my dogs to the beach even if the weather is cold, lightly raining, or foggy.  One particular Sunday afternoon, it was extremely cool and really foggy.  In fact, the fog was getting thicker by the minute.  Visibility was significantly less from the time I had arrived and it was difficult to make out the boats in the small harbor or to see the beach coastline. 

My mind began to wander, like what sometimes happens to writers, especially if you’re right in the middle of a novel or an outline.  I began thinking about what it would be like to be all alone and what might be waiting out there in the fog. 

Was it sinister? 

Who would be hiding out on a boat?  And why? 

What would happen if I were to walk along the boat dock and stumble onto something that I shouldn’t see?

Am I really alone?

I had a million questions that I tried to answer from a writer’s perspective.

I typically have my camera with me when I venture out and I took several shots of the harbor so that I would remember that eerie, solitary feeling I had in the fog that day.

I finished my walk with my dogs and I suddenly realized how I wanted to begin Dead Game with Emily searching for a child abductor hiding out on a boat in the fog.  I referred to this foggy harbor photo when I began writing the beginning scenes in the award winning thriller Dead Game.

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Blog: www.authorjenniferchase.com/
Website: www.jenniferchase.vpweb.com/
Crime Watch Blog: www.emilystonecrimewatch.wordpress.com/
Book & Crime Talk: www.blogtalkradio.com/jennifer-chase/
Books: Compulsion = Dead Game = Silent Partner = Screenwriting