Here is the beginning of the book. This is a first draft of the book, no editing, no stopping, just written with the flow of words. It is how I love to write, just get the words down as they come and then worry about the perfection aspects later. Let's repeat, this is a rough draft and there are mistakes. I know this, but the ideas have been coming to me lately and I have to get them down. So, let me know what you think about the content as I add a new chapter. Have suggestions on the plot, theme, and character development, let me know!!!!! I will look at the passive sentences, the many other grammatical errors later, just let me know what you think!. It will be our writing project!
As Far as the Curved Road Takes Us
Chapter One
I am sitting here writing this account of what has gone on with a great deal of anxiety. I do not know if the internet service we have will support uploading this document. I am supposed to be uploading the draft of my book tonight. However, I have just written the first couple sentences of the book. I have a long way to go and not much confidence in my ability to succeed. I guess it isn’t much of a surprise if you knew me that procrastination has overtaken my common sense. I fear this book will not be any good and in an effort of self-preservation, I procrastinate.
I have been writing successful novels for many years and I simply ran out of material to incorporate into my stories. Until recently that is. I have been rather busy lately taking care of some of my neighbors who have run into some mysterious circumstances. I tried to stay out of their business outside of being friendly, but that did not work out very well.
I live in a small town of Gerton, North Carolina. When I say small town, I mean there is no gas station, no restaurants, and most of the houses you see from highway 74 or Charlotte highway as it is known. I have been told that there are more streets with houses on them that branch off the highway, but I have yet to venture down those roads. It is one of those things; if you do not need to be down that road, why travel it. The roads are curvy gravel roads that are also very steep. I looked at some of the small businesses around my home and am pleased to find a small little grocery attached to the Hickory Nut Gorge Community Center. Yes, we have a community center, but not a single gas station for miles. Nita and Susan own the little grocery store. I have been in there a few times, but I have yet to figure out who Nita and Susan are. I can probably pick them out of a line up as I have seen them going in the back of the store to bring out more products and talk to suppliers, but to know which is which, can’t do.
The fire station in Gerton is located right across from the post office. Met the postman, but cannot remember his name. He was very friendly, but for the life of me I cannot remember if his name was Gary or if I just think it is. There is a cute little quilt shop near my home, but I have never been in there. I simply cannot figure where I should park. It is close enough to my home that I could walk, but the way the cars and motorcycles speed on this curvy road, I would be afraid of being killed.
I live on a very small dead end street called Hickory Cottage Drive. It has two small cottages on either end of the road and a small motel to the right of my home. There are about six doors on this motel, but one man lives in the apartment that was made out of four of the rooms. The owners store some of their belongings in the other two areas. My house is a ranch home attached to a two story home. My attached neighbor has rented that side of the home for several years. Only thing is, she is never there. I saw her car in the drive way for about five minutes. She was here and gone before I really knew she was there. When I saw her car, I started a batch of scones for her but she was gone before I even got them in the oven. I enjoyed the chocolate chocolate chip scones for several days.
Sally rents the small cottage at the front of Hickory Cottage Drive. Ted rents the motel, Daisy rents the two story and Sean rents the other small cottage at the back of the dead end. There is an old barn behind the two story and next to Sean’s cottage that is more storage for the owner. They own all these properties, so it is like a small cozy neighborhood. The street we turn on from highway 74 to get to Hickory Cottage Drive is Bearwallow Cemetery Drive. Yes, there is an actual cemetery on this road. There are even families in homes up and down that road. However, I have not ventured up this road any during the first two months I lived here. I have been busy unpacking, writing, and trying to figure out where this book was going. I still do not know.
Now, I have to tell you that Sean and Sally seem nice enough, but Ted kind of gives me the creeps. He has not done anything really all that creepy, but just enough to be weird. Sean lives along and has a girlfriend that will come over on occasion. Sally fell and broke her hip the day that I moved in and her adult daughter has been staying with her. The daughter brought her dog with and I am sure that makes for a very crowded one bedroom tiny cottage. Daisy, I am not sure what her home looks like and why she needed so much room. As I said, she is never there. I mean never. Ted works at a local restaurant near Chimney Rock or Lake Lure; I forget which. In case you did not know, Lake Lure is famous for the location where Dirty Dancing filmed. He leaves for work in the afternoons and comes home around nine at night. I find him often watching me as I head to my car, walk to the mailboxes, or mess around my home. I feel weird, not stalked, but weird.
My home is a large ranch with four bedrooms, nice size living room, dining room, two bathrooms, kitchen, and laundry room. There is a door in the kitchen that leads to the outside and to a door leading to Daisy’s side. I keep the door to the outside locked as well as the door to my side. I do not believe that Daisy knows that I have that door locked, like I said, she was only here for five minutes or so and I doubt she checked the outside door.
I work from home doing some great freelance writing projects. I have more business than I know what to do with sometimes. I hope it keeps up until I finish this book and a couple more books in the future. I am trying to save all the book profits in savings and work on the freelance stuff for my daily needs. I head over to the local library pretty much every day. They have internet that works slightly faster than the slow speeds my internet service provides me. I also like to watch people and this certainly provides interesting views of mountain life. The library is over in Fairview, about six miles away. A Food Lion is near the library along with a few pizza and gyro options.
We do not have sight access where we live on Hickory Cottage Drive for satellite dishes for television. We do not have sight access for local stations even with a converter box since the United States did away with real free television. We cannot receive cable television services, as they have not come to our part of the highway. However, if look a few feet from our home on 74, to the right and to the left you will see they have cable service. It is just a few feet. I cannot believe it. We have spotty cell phone service at times and we have no access to phone lines. No landline phone services in our own homes. The small little road is littered with attempts at various dishes from a variety of companies, but the service stopped working as the trees continued to grow. It is a miracle my internet satellite works, but it is slower than dial up and limits what you can download each day. I cannot even download television shows. Again, this explains my trips to the library.
It is hard to believe that the world is so technologically advanced mere feet from my door, yet in this little street, five homes have less access to the rest of the world as some third world countries. It is quiet at night, except for the neighborhood dogs barking and an occasional car door slamming when someone comes home from work. Ted will play his car radio at night to listen to ball games, news, or commentary. I forgot to mention it is hard to get a radio station in the houses. The mountain is seriously close to our homes, I measured it outside my dining room window. The house ends and 13 inches later the mountain begins its climb up and up and up. It is beautiful, dark and yet there are times in the back yard so to speak the sun shines down between the trees and their long branches. If my fear of snakes and poisonous spiders was not so intense I probably would investigate it more. Nevertheless, it is severe and I like the pictures I see looking out my kitchen and dining room windows. It is just enough to take care of my curiosity.
Taking Care of the Written Word,
Dannielyn
As Far as the Curved Road Takes Us
Chapter One
I am sitting here writing this account of what has gone on with a great deal of anxiety. I do not know if the internet service we have will support uploading this document. I am supposed to be uploading the draft of my book tonight. However, I have just written the first couple sentences of the book. I have a long way to go and not much confidence in my ability to succeed. I guess it isn’t much of a surprise if you knew me that procrastination has overtaken my common sense. I fear this book will not be any good and in an effort of self-preservation, I procrastinate.
I have been writing successful novels for many years and I simply ran out of material to incorporate into my stories. Until recently that is. I have been rather busy lately taking care of some of my neighbors who have run into some mysterious circumstances. I tried to stay out of their business outside of being friendly, but that did not work out very well.
I live in a small town of Gerton, North Carolina. When I say small town, I mean there is no gas station, no restaurants, and most of the houses you see from highway 74 or Charlotte highway as it is known. I have been told that there are more streets with houses on them that branch off the highway, but I have yet to venture down those roads. It is one of those things; if you do not need to be down that road, why travel it. The roads are curvy gravel roads that are also very steep. I looked at some of the small businesses around my home and am pleased to find a small little grocery attached to the Hickory Nut Gorge Community Center. Yes, we have a community center, but not a single gas station for miles. Nita and Susan own the little grocery store. I have been in there a few times, but I have yet to figure out who Nita and Susan are. I can probably pick them out of a line up as I have seen them going in the back of the store to bring out more products and talk to suppliers, but to know which is which, can’t do.
The fire station in Gerton is located right across from the post office. Met the postman, but cannot remember his name. He was very friendly, but for the life of me I cannot remember if his name was Gary or if I just think it is. There is a cute little quilt shop near my home, but I have never been in there. I simply cannot figure where I should park. It is close enough to my home that I could walk, but the way the cars and motorcycles speed on this curvy road, I would be afraid of being killed.
I live on a very small dead end street called Hickory Cottage Drive. It has two small cottages on either end of the road and a small motel to the right of my home. There are about six doors on this motel, but one man lives in the apartment that was made out of four of the rooms. The owners store some of their belongings in the other two areas. My house is a ranch home attached to a two story home. My attached neighbor has rented that side of the home for several years. Only thing is, she is never there. I saw her car in the drive way for about five minutes. She was here and gone before I really knew she was there. When I saw her car, I started a batch of scones for her but she was gone before I even got them in the oven. I enjoyed the chocolate chocolate chip scones for several days.
Sally rents the small cottage at the front of Hickory Cottage Drive. Ted rents the motel, Daisy rents the two story and Sean rents the other small cottage at the back of the dead end. There is an old barn behind the two story and next to Sean’s cottage that is more storage for the owner. They own all these properties, so it is like a small cozy neighborhood. The street we turn on from highway 74 to get to Hickory Cottage Drive is Bearwallow Cemetery Drive. Yes, there is an actual cemetery on this road. There are even families in homes up and down that road. However, I have not ventured up this road any during the first two months I lived here. I have been busy unpacking, writing, and trying to figure out where this book was going. I still do not know.
Now, I have to tell you that Sean and Sally seem nice enough, but Ted kind of gives me the creeps. He has not done anything really all that creepy, but just enough to be weird. Sean lives along and has a girlfriend that will come over on occasion. Sally fell and broke her hip the day that I moved in and her adult daughter has been staying with her. The daughter brought her dog with and I am sure that makes for a very crowded one bedroom tiny cottage. Daisy, I am not sure what her home looks like and why she needed so much room. As I said, she is never there. I mean never. Ted works at a local restaurant near Chimney Rock or Lake Lure; I forget which. In case you did not know, Lake Lure is famous for the location where Dirty Dancing filmed. He leaves for work in the afternoons and comes home around nine at night. I find him often watching me as I head to my car, walk to the mailboxes, or mess around my home. I feel weird, not stalked, but weird.
My home is a large ranch with four bedrooms, nice size living room, dining room, two bathrooms, kitchen, and laundry room. There is a door in the kitchen that leads to the outside and to a door leading to Daisy’s side. I keep the door to the outside locked as well as the door to my side. I do not believe that Daisy knows that I have that door locked, like I said, she was only here for five minutes or so and I doubt she checked the outside door.
I work from home doing some great freelance writing projects. I have more business than I know what to do with sometimes. I hope it keeps up until I finish this book and a couple more books in the future. I am trying to save all the book profits in savings and work on the freelance stuff for my daily needs. I head over to the local library pretty much every day. They have internet that works slightly faster than the slow speeds my internet service provides me. I also like to watch people and this certainly provides interesting views of mountain life. The library is over in Fairview, about six miles away. A Food Lion is near the library along with a few pizza and gyro options.
We do not have sight access where we live on Hickory Cottage Drive for satellite dishes for television. We do not have sight access for local stations even with a converter box since the United States did away with real free television. We cannot receive cable television services, as they have not come to our part of the highway. However, if look a few feet from our home on 74, to the right and to the left you will see they have cable service. It is just a few feet. I cannot believe it. We have spotty cell phone service at times and we have no access to phone lines. No landline phone services in our own homes. The small little road is littered with attempts at various dishes from a variety of companies, but the service stopped working as the trees continued to grow. It is a miracle my internet satellite works, but it is slower than dial up and limits what you can download each day. I cannot even download television shows. Again, this explains my trips to the library.
It is hard to believe that the world is so technologically advanced mere feet from my door, yet in this little street, five homes have less access to the rest of the world as some third world countries. It is quiet at night, except for the neighborhood dogs barking and an occasional car door slamming when someone comes home from work. Ted will play his car radio at night to listen to ball games, news, or commentary. I forgot to mention it is hard to get a radio station in the houses. The mountain is seriously close to our homes, I measured it outside my dining room window. The house ends and 13 inches later the mountain begins its climb up and up and up. It is beautiful, dark and yet there are times in the back yard so to speak the sun shines down between the trees and their long branches. If my fear of snakes and poisonous spiders was not so intense I probably would investigate it more. Nevertheless, it is severe and I like the pictures I see looking out my kitchen and dining room windows. It is just enough to take care of my curiosity.
Taking Care of the Written Word,
Dannielyn
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