(My Town Monday is a project conceived in the darkest corners of Travis Erwin's brain.)
My current work in progress is set in St. Martin, in the French West Indies. It's half an island. Or, to be more precise, 20 square miles of a 37 square mile island. The other half of the island is Dutch. I'd say the island was in the Caribbean, but only half of it is--other coasts are washed by the Atlantic. And, now that I think about it, only half the book is set there. The other half takes place in New York.
I've been going to Saint Martin/Sint Maarten since I was a kid, for thirty years, and my husband and I own a couple of timeshare weeks there. (We inherited them from my parents after Hurricane Luis destroyed the island in 1995, leaving the timeshare development in ruins. It took 5 years to find someone to take the place over because the original owners ran off with the insurance money. My parents moved on to a livable space for their vacations and passed their weeks--completely worthless at the time--to us.)
Half a book is a lot of words, but it doesn't cover a lot of time, and there's no way my characters could go to all the great spots I've been on the island. But a few days a year isn't long, either, and I now give you three spots I've never been. The signs, though, the signs are priceless.
and the place where they take care of all your sleeping needs...forever....
Monday, March 31, 2008
(Not) My Town Monday
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14 comments:
I love it, Laura! It takes me back to when I lived in the Carolinas, about 20 years ago. Our mechanic was on the outskirts of town and I had to leave my car with him for just a couple of hours one day, so rather than go all the way home only to turn around and come right back, I took my year-old son and went across the road to a small coffee shop: The Praise Jesus Coffee Shop and Auto Supply Store, where the counter displays held muffins, Bibles, and motor oil. Priceless!
My current WIP has a few scenes set in the Caribbean and the islands are mentioned throughout so I've really been researching the area.
Those signs cracked me up. Multi-tasking to the max.
I have always wanted to visit St Martin. Now, I want to more than ever. :)
Great signs!
Laura,
How smart you are! time for research--let's hit the Carribbean!
Great post and great pictures.
Terrie
Is the Shampoo Skanki? The Brothers? Is Skanki a first name and Shampoo the surname? This sign fills me with wanderlust and possibilities.
For the rest of you (like me) who thought the girl pictured might be the aforementioned Skanki, Laura says she's the ubiquitous Presidente beer girl. My search for Skanki continues.
Thanks for the sideways look at Paradise!
Love the signs! I want to go to the Caribbean, but I think I would avoid that last guest house! Gotta visit Skanki's though!
This was neat! I'm not sure I'd want to stay in the guest house/ funeral home. That seems to be tempting fate... especially if business is slow. ;-P
Elaine -
Motor oil? Gives a whole new slant to "greasy spoon."
Travis -
Yeah...when your whole economy is based on tourism, any spare room is a "guest house". And I've been researching private yachts for mine...it's been quite eye-opening.
Barrie-
You definitely should! St. Martin is lovely because they accept Euros, dollars, Netherlands Antilles Guilders...plus, there's the cool "two countries, one island" thing.
Terrie-
It makes up for the less appealing aspects of research, anyway.
Clare & Reb - I'll meet you guys at Skanki's!
Clair-
But wouldn't it be a great place to set a murder mystery??
*snarf* Oh, those are priceless!
Gotta love the signs! The Bag Lady wants to come to Skanki's, too...
st martins/sint marteens sounds like a great place to put half a book. counts as exotic, beautiful and describing it will interest most everyone
*ROFL!* Those signs are classic! They remind me of a Chinese buffet I saw in Austin that had a great big sign proclaiming, "Super and Best!"
Makes me want to go just to read the signs.
I first visited St. Martin in the 70s, before timeshares, before they even had paved roads. Inland, the houses had no exterior doors, only a curtain, and the foot-thick walls kept the interiors cool. On my first trip, I rescued a goat caught in a fence.
How times have changed.
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