by Kat Latham
This weekend my husband, parents and I went to a village in California’s San Bernardino mountains that brought back a lot of memories for me.
Nearly twenty years ago, my parents took me and my rambunctious little brother to Lake Arrowhead for the first time. I was thirteen and totally embarrassed by my family—although, if I’m honest, they’re all a lot cooler than I am.
I spent that weekend engrossed in Harlequin romance novels, which I’d just discovered, in an effort to avoid thinking about the fact that I was a chubby pubescent girl with braces and a feathered mullet. That weekend, I was a confident career woman in my twenties who brought tycoons to their knees (figuratively and literally :)).
While we were there all those years ago, I also saw a stunning bride smiling for her wedding photos, and that cemented in my young mind the fact that Lake Arrowhead was among the most romantic places in the world.
My flirty twenties are now behind me, and I’ve been a stunning bride (if I do say so myself), but Lake Arrowhead still pulls at my imagination. Walking around with my husband and parents made me realize how important reading has been in my life – both to keep me grounded and to give me wings, to develop my empathy and soothe my sometimes aching heart.
Two things are the same, all these years later. First, I spent this past weekend reading Harlequin novels. Except this time, I read them as a reviewer instead of to escape.
Second, being in Lake Arrowhead filled my imagination with stories. Only now, they’re stories I’ll have the confidence to write down and share instead of keeping them private.
Is there a place that you strongly associate with reading? Is there a place you’ve visited that sparks your imagination, or a place you’d love to visit because you’ve imagined it so many times you feel like you’ve already been there? Comment and enter to win not only Dakota Cassidy’s BURNING DOWN THE SPOUSE but an entry for the Grand Prize Drawing of an iPad 2.
Kat Latham has been reading romance for a couple of decades. With degrees in English lit and human rights, she loves stories that reflect the depth, humor and emotion of real life. When she’s not writing contemporary romance novels, she can usually be found blogging or tweeting overly personal information. She loves meeting other readers and writers online, so follow her on Twitter or check out her blog and say hello!
The place that sparks my imagination the most is my grandmother’s lake cabin in Minnesota. I have not traveled there in over 7 years and it absolutely breaks my heart. There are days that I wish I could just disappear to the cabin for a few months to write until I am completely spent.
One other place I know that I would love, but have never been to is Colorado. Honestly, no specific location within the state just about anywhere will do where I can look at the mountains and get lost in thought.
Your trip sounds wonderful Kat!
I love to travel, although the traveling that I’ve done is minimal (Philippines to California and a few places here and there). I’ve always thought that Paris is a place that sparks my imagination. True, I haven’t been there but I’ve always imagined it to be the most romantic place. I would imagine myself in a cafe, reading my favorite historical romance novels and just basking in the aura of the place. Of course, it helps that there are historical sights to see and shopping to do!
I’ve never been to Lake Arrowhead, though but I have been wanting to go. Love your photos, Kat.
Oh, and I always bring books (minimum of 3) with me when I travel. Good thing I have my nook with me so I bring more books everywhere!
Beautiful pictures! I would love to travel overseas one day and visit all of Europe. Places that appeal to me greatly are Scotland, Switzerland, Russia and England. They are old-world and places rich with history for me. As a history buff, I know travelling there, visiting famous sites and ancestral ruins would be a wonderful experience. I get my inspirations of places to visit mostly from books. When I read a book, I invest emotions in characters but in the places as well. I love stories that can transport me to another place and provided vivid descriptions so that the experience is as close to real as it’s going to get. For now, I find inspiration nearby and thankfully I don’t need to look far for beauty. In the West Coast, there are mountains and acres of land, and lakes that seem endless. There are many authors who write stories that are close to home for them and I also like these as I can relate to the places and appreciate my very suroundings.
I would say it was when I was younger and I visited Italy and Spain — both of these countries are so rich in history. One place that I associate with my reading is driving through different states and imagining what stories each small town could tell.
A place I love to visit and that always sparks my imagination is the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. It is so beautifully maintained and restored that it’s easy to imagine living there!
What a wonderful and special post today. The photos are lovely. A place that remains in my memory is Alberta, specifically the wonderful Rocky mountains and the gorgeous lakes. Moraine lake, Peto Lake are locales that are stunning, unforgettable and where I would enjoy spending more time. These are wondrous and have to be savored.
I haven’t had the chance to travel in the last couple of years but one of my favorite places is Niagara Falls, Canada. I know it’s the cliched honeymoon place but I love the scenery and the way the town just feels to me. I’ve visited there three times and just enjoy relaxing and taking different tours that are available and it’s also nice because there are other things to see in the area too. I always read regardless of where I go and almost always a romance.
I was truly lucky to have done some traveling when just married and since we waited 15 years for children, we found many fascinating places. I think they all touched me and I can’t think of a place I wouldn’t want to try. Now adays I do most of my traveling in books and they too make everything fascinating and exciting.
I love to travel and I’ve been all over the world, but the one place I hadn’t been to that really sparked my imagination was Paris. I’d read about it so many times, in so many books. I finally got a chance to go there this year. The reality was actually quite different from my imaginings and in a way, I almost wish I hadn’t gone but had kept it as that perfect place on my mind. I’m just going to have to find a new place to dream about.
I don’t have any special place for my reading. I could read and enjoy a book almost everywhere.
Although I haven’t been I think the Almalfi Coast in Italy would be such a place.
Carol L
Lucky4750@aol.com
I am like Marjana-I can read anywhere. However, I like to sit on my back patio with a glass of iced tea, my dog by my side and read, read, read.
My favorite places to read are on my couch and laying in bed. I have imagined being on a tropical island with a lighthouse where I sit and watch the sun rise.
A place I’d love to visit is Scotland, and a place that I’ve been that sparks my imagination is New Orleans 🙂
What a great post and the pics are awesome! I usually do most of my reading on one end of my reclining couch. I visit all kinds of wonderful places in books and one of my favorites is Ireland and Scotland, it really sounds like a beautiful place. I would also love to go out west for a while, just to see how every thing looks. So many places to visit in books it really hard to just pick out one place to visit.
I do all of my traveling in books.
The place I associate with reading is the end of my couch.
I went to Minnesota in May, and it was lovely. We just visited several lakes, and the neighborhood they were adjacent to was made up of many beautifully landscaped old houses. I could just imagine what it would be like to live in one of those houses. Every house was unique, and it was just so different from what I see here in California. The one place I most strongly associate with reading is my bed late at night. I do the majority of my pleasure-reading there.
I like going to the beach or visiting my family in the mountains. Both places are great places to read at, the beach with the ocean breeze and waves and the mountains with the peace and quiet.
I love reading on the beach. I could spend the whole day there without moving.
Growing up, we had a camp on a small lake in the Adirondacks in Northern New York State. I spent many days and evenings sitting on the dock reading or making up stories. I hiked in the woods and climbed the mountain near it. This is the country of LAST OF THE MOHICANS and it was easy to see the characters slipping through the trees. On on particular summer morning, I remember getting up to find the lake fogged over. You could see it swirling and shifting. It didn’t take much of an imagination to expect to see a brontosaurus slip from the fog towards shore. We have gone back to visit friends there, and it is still the perfect place to put out a chair, sit in the fresh air, and read.
I can’t say there’s a place that I strongly associate with reading, because I’ve always read anywhere I possibly could, even when I was drying the dishes as a young girl, LOL. The place that sparks my imagination and I’d love to visit is London, England – actually the whole of Great Britain. I’ve read so many wonderful historical romances set in Great Britain, I’d love to see some of those places I’ve read about.
Hawaii and a great castle I always dreamed off
Great post, lovely pictures! 🙂 I love reading about England in my romance books. I’ve never been there but I’d love to go take a trip there someday!
My fondest memories of reading are in the library in the home of the two retired librarians who introduced me to Jane Austen when I lived in England as a child. It was one of those picture-perfect home libraries with dark paneled walls, rows and rows of bookcases, big leather chairs and a fireplace.
I’ve been so very fortunate in my travels to see the stately homes of England, the castles of Germany, the Alps, the ruins of Vlad the Impaler’s fortresses in Romania/Transylvania. I’ve seen English moors and Austrian forests. And in each of these places a romantic hero was always just behind those trees, just inside those fortress walls or striding in the mists of those moors.
Years ago, I visited Germany and the town of Rothenburg. This was a medieval town which, aside from its rather harsh treatment of Jewish citizen by the Nazis (expelled, not killed), was pretty cool to a group of college students. What I remember the most, aside from my kvetching sister, was the Criminal Museum with its collection of torture devices and punishments throughout the last 1000 years.
I can read anywhere, although I mostly read in bed! 🙂
Regarding travel, there are lots of places I’d love to visit if the opportunity arose. I’d love to visit Italy and see the great cities of Rome, Milan, Venice and Florence, and I’d also like to return to Spain, and especially to Barcelona, which I once visited years ago, and would adore to see again. I also hope, someday, to visit the USA again. I hoped to see New York this year for RWA, but alas circumstances prevented that. But I haven’t given up on getting there one of these days. I’d also love to return to San Francisco, the one place in America I have visited. I loved that city!
As a kid, I used to climb into the backyard fort or settle myself on a comfortable branch in a tree in the backyard and read. So I guess you would say that I like to read outdoors a lot.
I think that Rome is a magical city especially at night. There was just something different about that atmosphere when I visited a few years ago. The one place I’d love to go is Ireland.
I like to read any place at almost any time. I take my books to doctor appointments, when I go to visit someone, outside, to my recliner, in the bathroom, or in bed. Places that spark my imagination are England, Italy, and Scotland.
I love peaceful spots for reading. One of my most vivid memories is my first room/the house I grew up in – it was so perfect. The window faced East, but the perfect amount of sunshine was there in the afternoons in the summer. A giant bed (well, to a kid), a nice breeze, and music playing.
Otherwise, I love reading by the water on a nice day with a very faint breeze. I like being left alone and everything being quiet and peaceful while I’m trying to read, or when I’ve really settled in.