Postcard Challenge Week 04

Here we are in week 4 already! I am really enjoying this challenge and look forward to every Monday morning! This week we are in China - big country with lots of people and fascinating cultures.

Connor has been walking the Great Wall for his assignment this week, trying to capture what he feels and sees as well as paying attention to what the magazine is paying him for. At one point along the way in the wall section out of Beijing, he stops to rest and daydreams about being here with someone he cares for - telling her what he imagines when he is behind the camera.

He shakes himself, smiles and gets back to work. The wind almost carries his hat away! Good thing he has quick reflexes. That is his favorite fedora!

He brought his lunch and while he sits leaning against the wall to eat, he reaches in his pocket and re-reads Melinda's last postcard. She did notice he made the postcard - perhaps he should try it again.

 

 

Connor seems to be taking Melinda's lead by ending with "Sincerely" and his first name. And perhaps he is using the same tactic of the question to be answered to keep getting postcards from Melinda. After all, it would be rude not to answer.

Photo info says:
China is mostly known for it's Great Wall - built out of stone and compacted sand that stretches for thousands of miles. The Great Wall rises and falls with the contours of the mountains westward, crossing nine provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions for 6,700 kilometers. The construction of the wall began during the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC) and Warring States period (475-221 BC) during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
 

Postcard Challenge Week 03

Here we are in week 3 and Brazil.

Technically, Melinda is still in Austria when she answers Connor's postcard. She had to track down a postcard for Brazil and since Rio is one of the most popular vacation spots of the times it wasn't that difficult. She asks him a question and hopes to keep the correspondence going.

 

 Melinda has been to Brazil before and looks forward to eating more of some of the foods that were her favorites. ‘Frango Asado’ is barbecue chicken with rice and fries. 'Prato Feito' (rice and brown beans with steak) was delicious.

Rio de Janeiro also holds Carnival – Brazil’s world-renowned celebration. It takes place 40 days before Easter. Melinda would like to stay in Brazil that long, but doesn't know if she can. Perhaps she will be able to arrange a short return trip.

The text about the photo says: The Statue of Christ the Redeemer, standing 30m (98ft) tall and overlooking the city of Rio de Janeiro, is one of the tallest statues in the world. The statue represents Jesus standing with outstretched arms and is one of the most famous symbols of this lively city, and of Brazil. Construction started in mid-1926 and was completed in 1931. The statue sits on top of Corcovado Mountain (Hunchback Mountain) located in Tijuca National Park, a popular area for picnics and walking. From the statue, there are superb views of Sugar Loaf Mountain, downtown Rio de Janeiro and Rio's beaches.

You can view the postcards in my Flickr here.

Postcard Challenge 2012 Week 02

So here we are in week 02. My story takes place in 1956. Each postcard has a unique postmark with the appropriate date on it.

I intend to do my postcards mainly digital and may add other things to them as well as time passes. A box or altered book will be made also - to hold all the correspondence. It is also my intention to date everything - so the story can be read in order no matter if things get disarranged in the box/book.
I will also include text of my blog posts within the box/book - as I am hopeful it will add to the story as it unfolds!

Connor is pleased someone likes his photography enough to let him know it. He decides this woman should know he enjoyed receiving her postcard and assumes she is single by the "Mrs" missing in her return address. He wants to send her another photo and will turn one into a postcard.

He finds a darkroom to use via the magazine he is working for. He prints up some photographs in an appropriate size and backs his favorite with heavy cardstock. The word "PostCard" proves to be a challenge. He ends up carving a stamp from an eraser he finds in his hotel room. It took two tries because he forgot you have to carve the text backwards!

Practice stamping

Postcard Challenge 2012

I have joined an interesting Challenge this year! The Postcard Challenge 2012 put on by DarcyW(UK). You can read all the details here. The challenge is based on Nick Bantock's Griffin and Sabine series - where two characters of your choice write postcards back and forth to each other every week. Darcy will post a different country for us each Monday of the year!

Our first country is Austria. Here is where my A character (Melinda Blake, author of romance novels and then some) will take the lead. She discovers a photograph in one of the library books she is using for researching her latest novel. There is the address of the photographer imprinted on the back of the photo. It's a very lovely landscape that might have been taken near her home in Tuscany. She begins to daydream about what inspired him to take that particular photograph. Perhaps he would like to have it back? she wonders. So...before she can think of a reason not to....she writes on the postcard in her purse and takes it up to the counter to ask if the clerk will post it for her.

 

 

And so we shall see where this will lead Melinda! I will do my best to keep up with the challenge and post here once a week with a new postcard and newest portion of the story. I do love to write fiction and it will be difficult for me to hold back!