When I think of my ideal place to write I think of somewhere quiet, somewhere with no phones and no Internet, somewhere I can’t be distracted by the hustle and bustle of everyday life. And no, turning off my phone doesn’t count because in my heart of hearts I know its still there, waiting for me, and that there is a new Netflix show that needs to be binge watched. However, I now know that I need to be more careful in the things that I ask for. The last two weeks I have had just that, no cell service and very limited Internet, the perfect situation for writing…or so I thought.
As it turns out being in the middle of one of the driest deserts in the world during the summer season (currently summer in South America) isn’t the idea location to work on finishing up the second book in the Language of the Dead series where a freezing cold winter just happens to be taking place. Apparently there are limits to even my imaginations!
For the last two weeks I was doing fieldwork in the Atacama Desert in Chile looking at the microbial ecosystems. If you’ve read my bio you’ll know that my day job is being a research scientist, which I love because it lets me do cool things like going to the Atacama Desert in Chile! But with only fieldwork to focus on I thought I’d have some time on my hands to get some more writing done. Well, I was right about that but underestimated the power of my environment. So sadly, I wasn’t as productive as I wanted to be on the writing front but I did get to do some recreation reading. I finished three novels on the trip (reviews coming soon!).
Hot, Dry and Windy!