Linda Jo Martin

Writer, Artist, YouTuber

  • About
  • Journal
  • Fiction
  • Art
  • Home
  • The Art of Writing
  • Book Reviews
  • Lists & Challenges

In Santa Cruz, CA For Novel Research – Where Motel Rooms Are Not All Equal

October 30, 2011 By Linda Jo Martin Leave a Comment

After staying in a very nice motel for two nights in Aptos, I moved to a motel close to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and it is a bit of a let-down. The room is a lot smaller, the building a lot older.

The worst thing is that it has a door joining it to the next room in which a family is staying. I don’t mind kids, but wonder why – with most of the rooms here empty – the manager placed me here. I could have gone back to ask for a different room after I realized how easily sound travels from one room to the next, but too late now. I didn’t do it because I felt safer here, between the manager’s apartment and the family next door. Seriously, only two of the rooms are rented here tonight. I feel like I paid too much for this room and tomorrow will move elsewhere.

Meanwhile I’ve been using the free wifi to do novel research. I discovered that a few of the resources I need are available here in Santa Cruz. They’re also available at the San Francisco Historical Society research library but that isn’t open until Wednesday! The day I planned to go home!

Mission Santa Cruz

Mission Santa Cruz

Today I made a second trip to Mission Santa Cruz, where the main character (MC) of my novel (Perfection) was born. She’ll return there a year or two after the novel begins. The novel is set in San Francisco, Pescadero, and Villa de Branciforte (now part of Santa Cruz) during the mid-1850s. Writing historical novels involves doing a lot of research! If anything is inaccurate someone will eventually notice, so great care must be taken. In this novel I’m striving to include information about the SF “Vigilance Committee” of 1856 and other well-known facts of the history of this area.

Besides the novel research I’m also gathering information for two of my websites. Today I went to the Bigfoot Museum in Felton and met curator Mike Rugg. My interest in Bigfoot is well known. I also took a walk in the woods near a local Bigfoot sighting location just outside Santa Cruz.

Another website I’m gathering information for is my Journey! California travel website. That’s barely underway. My intention is to add travel narratives for all parts of California. Travel and writing go hand in hand, don’t you think?

I’m getting a lot of experience in choosing motel rooms! I know I’ll probably never stay in this one again, though it got some good reviews on the internet.

Similar Posts:

  • California Travel – Planning a Trip to Santa Cruz and San Francisco
  • It Is Novel Writing Season Again!
  • Unexpected and Unbelievable – My Father Passed Away
  • Places Where I’ve Lived
  • The Business of Bigfoot

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)


Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

A recent video on my Booktube channel, at YouTube

To receive blog update notifications via email, enter your email address:

About Me

Hi, I'm Linda, the Book Lady, and I'm excited about reading. A book is a gift you give yourself. It is so much fun to open that cover and discover what was hidden within. Books share the wisdom of the ages with us. Who wouldn't want that? So I read frequently and encourage reading. If you're a reader, let me know by becoming my friend on GoodReads.


My novel, River Girl, is about a girl living in the Klamath River Valley.

Here's a link to my prayer website:
Prayer Power.

I use Amazon affiliate links on this site and appreciate it very much when you purchase from my links. I also use a few other affiliate links - such as PicMonkey... a great graphics program I subscribe to.

My Art

Bird Art by Linda Jo Martin - http://lindajomartin.com
Acrylic
Wild and Precious - art by Linda Jo Martin
Watercolor / pen
Summer Afternoon - art by Linda Jo Martin
Pen / Watercolor

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” ? Cicero - Art by Linda Jo Martin http://lindajomartin.com
Acrylic
Acrylic
Angel art by Linda Jo Martin
Sketchbook

Psalm 91:9-11 - Angel art by Linda Jo Martin http://lindajomartin.com
Sketchbook
Art: Idaho Hills, by Linda Jo Martin
Junk joiurnal, acrylic
March Mystery Madness 2020, art by Linda Jo Martin
Gouache journal

Plan A to Z - lettering by Linda Jo Martin
Lettering class project
A daring adventure - art by Linda Jo Martin
Fountain pen ink journal
Small Joys
Watercolor sketchbook

Watercolor sketchbook
Valley of decision.
Bible journaling
Mount Glittery by Linda Jo Martin - mountain climbing quote by John Muir
Acrylic painting

Watercolor sketchbook
“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.” ? Ralph Waldo Emerson ... watercolor painting by Linda Jo Martin
Watercolor sketchbook
Imagination Soars, by Linda Jo Martin - http://lindajomartin.com
Watercolor sketchbook

Plant Seeds
Watercolor sketchbook
The Prayer by Linda Jo Martin
Acrylic painting
A basket of flowers, by Linda Jo Martin - http://lindajomartin.com/writing/art
Fountain pen ink journal

January reading:

The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren

Girl With A Pearl Earring

Charlotte's Web, by EB White


Murder on the Orient Express - Agatha Christie

Recently finished reading:

Single Gay Christian, by Gregory Coles
A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles
Black Hawk
Spinning Silver by Naomi Movik
The Glass Hotel

It's All In the Story: California
Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
An Anonymous Girl
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Blindness, by Jose Saramago
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith
New Kid
Hattie Big Sky

Anxious for Nothing
It's Like This, Cat, by Emily Neville

Light on the Devils: Coming of Age on the Klamath
Your Blue is Not My Blue
How to Be Filled with the Holy Spirit
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

You can find me on Pinterest

Visit Linda Jo Martin, Book Lady's profile on Pinterest.

My art is at Zazzle.com

Dating Palms
Linda Jo Martin Art and Photography
Buy Scrivener for Windows (Regular Licence)
I love Scrivener, and use it for all my writing. It is a fantastic writing software that organizes a novel, ebook, or screenplay efficiently while I write and revise.

I Subscribe to Audible for Audiobooks

My Twitter Feed

© 2021 - LJ Martin Web - Legal Notices
Linda Jo Martin is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program,
an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for
sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.Com.

This site uses cookies: Find out more.