From Bean Town to La La Land
Posted by Lisa
This...
is what I love about my new home; the Santa Monica Mountains surround our valley. Views are breathtaking, morning and night. In any direction I turn, vast mountains comfort me with their quiet magnificence.
In July, I moved from South of Boston to North of Los Angeles.
I’ll never forget that January evening at Writers' Group when I told them my news. I had a secret, a sad kind of secret. I didn’t want to share it. When I look back, I remember their expressions so well. I expected shock. What I saw was sadness. Amy and Hannah and Lynne didn’t want me to leave, and I didn’t want to go, plain and simple.
“Your husband took a job in California?”
“This won’t happen. It can’t happen.”
“Is this some kind of mid-life crisis?”
No, sadly, it was an opportunity for him that I couldn’t let him pass by.
I’ll never forget that January evening at Writers' Group when I told them my news. I had a secret, a sad kind of secret. I didn’t want to share it. When I look back, I remember their expressions so well. I expected shock. What I saw was sadness. Amy and Hannah and Lynne didn’t want me to leave, and I didn’t want to go, plain and simple.
“Your husband took a job in California?”
“This won’t happen. It can’t happen.”
“Is this some kind of mid-life crisis?”
No, sadly, it was an opportunity for him that I couldn’t let him pass by.
But, how can a writers' group work when one of the writers lives three thousand miles away? Well, we talked about it over the next few months. There were two reasons we felt our group could survive. One was commitment. One was technology (video calling, to be exact).
Yes, I’ve moved to California, and I really do like it. But I still root for the Red Sox (and yes, they kicked some serious Los Angeles butt yesterday).
Yes, I’ve moved to California, but I still have my writers' group: thanks to technology, occasional cross country flights, and steadfast determination. We’re making this work.
Hallelujah!
8 comments:
Lisa, I can just picture that scene! Congratulations on your move and best wishes for much happiness, though I know what it's like to move so far from home. A beautiful view certainly helps, though, doesn't it? :)
Lisa, best wishes...I have a feeling your group will survive...I envy the commitment and am thrilled by the group's success.
Mo
(five)
Lisa, I had no idea! You've moved to my hometown! Well, I don't actually live in my hometown, but I spend my summers there and my family is still there and yes, those Santa Monica mountains, and the San Gabriels and so on, and the Pacific waves collapsing against the shore, are what keep me going through the long NY winters.
Hooray for you!! (and perhaps a cup of coffee or a glass of wine in July of next year??)
xx
k
I couldn't imagine being in a writers' group without you.
Amy
Now here I've been visualizing you on entirely the wrong coast all summer! I love both of them (coasts) and I imagine you and your family are loving LA. The big question: have you been forced to pronounce the letter "R" and stop dropping "Rs" from the ends of words ending in "A"? You may not have "the accent", but when I left Boston 100 years ago, I sounded just like Norm from Cheers, much to the amusement of everyone I met. So -- I copied the "TV people" and worked on it. I am sure you will have no trouble continuing the wonderful relationship you've got with The Writers' Group -- You're all on a roll!
So much change going on in The Writers' Group, yet for all the change much remains the same. There's no doubt that love and technology will keep you all together.
And much happiness, Lisa.
Of course you're making this work--the four of you have the determination and will to make anything (book deals, anybody?) work. I'm envious--and tickled to be along for the journey!
Sorry to hear that your group is no longer physically together.
The same thing just happened to my writing group because I also moved to southern California (Riverside). (The view from your house is even more beautiful than than mine.)
My group also plans to keep meeting virtually through videoconferencing. Any tips you can provide would be greatly appreciated. We don't have a system up and running yet, but plan to use iChat.
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