Venice Beach

You guys! This weekend my Mom and I went to Venice Beach for a very special reason. Do you want to know what it is? Book research! That's right, I'm working on my second novel, Venice Beach Love Song. I'm so proud of my debut novel Hollywood Love Song and, as travel and adventure bug as well as a writer, I'm drawn to unique and  interesting locales and you can't get more unique than Venice!

I won't bore you with all of the driving we did (I swear we went up and down every street at least twice as I mapped out my character's paths) or every shop I saw when I walked up and down the promenade, but let me just say that the weather was perfect, the smell of churros was strong, and the beautiful weirdos were out in full force. I took copious notes and can't wait to get back to writing!

Since my Mom had been to Venice, but never on the canals, we actually started our journey there and since it was so early in the morning on a Sunday we basically had the place to ourselves. Except for, you know, the people that live there. We meandered up and down the walkways and bridges, passing under cool shade and through warm sun. The few people we did see were friendly and we could hear Beach Boys and wind chimes around every bend. Can you even imagine living there? I can and I did. I imagined the heck out of that fantasy.

On the way back to the car at the end of our afternoon we even spotted a WRDSMTH! Score! And a lot of great street art literally everywhere. I heart Venice Beach so much.