From my inbox...

The following is a true story.

A loving and caring aunt gave her niece a copy of I SO DON'T DO SPOOKY for Christmas.

The niece sent the email below to the aunt (who forwarded it to me):

Aunt M,

Thank you SO much for I So Don't Do Spooky. I am enjoying it SO much.
I try not to read it too fast so that I don't get to the end too quickly.
Thanks again!

The happy niece. And look how neat and tidy her room is!


"I try not to read it too fast so that I don't get to the end too quickly."
This is the kind of sentence that stops an author's heart.

Thank you for the forward, Aunt M.

I will be basically incommunicado this weekend. Yes, dear children, this counts for you too. I'm going to a writers' retreat through my local SCBWI. We're spending the weekend at the San Luis Rey Mission in Oceanside, CA. I will be writing up a storm. And eating meals prepared by monks. Yes, you read that right. I hope we're not talking unleavened bread and water. I'll post about the experience on Monday.

My Town Monday: Oceanside Pier

At feet, 1954 feet, this is our longest wooden pier on the west coast. The Oceanside Pier is open 24 hours and offers a great stroll with views of the beach and surfers. In case you need to know, restrooms are located at the Pier's halfway mark. There's a nice little restaurant (Ruby's Diner, 760-433-7829) at the end.



The Oceanside Pier is located in.....Oceanside, CA (sometimes life is not full of surprises!). Oceanside is a North County community located 35 miles north of San Diego. It's fairly close to Legoland and the Wild Animal Park and Mission San Luis Rey.

You do not need a fishing license to cast off from the pier. The general consensus is that live bait works best, especially anchovies. Some fish you might catch: mackerel, croaker, halibut, sand bass and guitarfish. I gather it depends on where you stand on the Pier and what you use as bait.


A couple of things to watch out for:
1. There can be friction between surfers and fishermen. The old territorial thing.
2. Throw back undersized white sea bass. You want to be nice and give them a chance to grow up. Also, it's illegal to keep them, and there's a fine.


For more info about the Pier, call 760-722-1534. Oh, and an interesting book: Pier Fishing in California



Next Monday, I will be posting about a different fun pier that's NOT in San Diego because....I won't be in San Diego. How's that for a little cloak and dagger?

Please surf over (corny, but it kinda works!) to Travis Erwin's blog. He's our Fearless Leader for My Town Mondays. Along with his own MTM post, he'll have a list of participants.


Sources:
http://www.pierfishing.com/resources/?id=piers:oceanside_pier
http://www.sandiegocoastlife.com/attractions/san-diego-coast/piers-oceanside.html
http://www.beachcalifornia.com/oceansi1.html
www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/10/12/news/coastal/4_01_2710_11_06.txt