I am on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, and right at this moment I am in a dark bar with about a dozen writers.  There are a handful of community people as well, and much chattering and laughter from both groups. This is the Rainforest Writer’s Village workshop, sponsored by Patrick Swenson of Fairwood Press.

Today was extricating myself from my CIO hat, getting some much-needed household stuff done, and grabbing John Pitts for a three hour drive where we listened to Starship Sofa, Jordin Kare, and Queen.

It was so lovely sunny that a hike ensued.  The rain forest is really quite different – this is temperate and drips with damp and moss and mud and fern an magical or surprising sights or beings.   Unlike tropical rain forests, most things are not over-sized, although we are on the same site as the world’s biggest spruce tree, at least if you believe the signs.  If you look closely, there is one bit of rainforest magic  in the iphone photo snap here.

Jay Lake arrived looking quite good (Yeah – go Jay) and sporting a handsome new haircut.  That is a particularly good treat since I haven’t seen him since his chemo started.

I outlined the rest of the book, so now I know what I’m writing at a more granular level.  I’m no true outliner, so what I really mean is I have a paragraph for each main scene.  I’m hoping to get 20-30K words done total this three full days – which is pretty serious stuff.  Which means I’d best get to bed.

More pictures at  http://picasaweb.google.com/bjcooper1/RainForest2010Day1# for your viewing pleasure.