Book Review: Shore House Slumming

Dana and Bella are about to embark on the summer o f a lifetime- stay warm this winter with thoughts of the beach with Carli Palmer's latest novel, Shore House Slumming. 

Q: What is the basis for this novel- what was the inspiration?

My inspiration for this book came to me while watching “Friday the 13^th, believe it or not.  If you’ve ever seen it, the backdrop for the movie is a summer camp deep in the woods.  My imagination took over and I thought how freaked out I would be if I had to house-sit for someone in the middle of nowhere. I would be paranoid at all the things that would go wrong. That’s when Dana was born – a house-sitter with unpredictable and crazy things happening to her in strange surroundings.

Q: What are your favorite beaches?

Living on the east coast you get to experience at one time or another beach life. Out of all the beaches I’ve been to, so far I have to say that Myrtle Beach, SC is my favorite, because I’ve made some everlasting memories there with my family that I’ll never forget.

Q: What’s the best part about Dana and Bella- what do you hope they accomplish in this journey?

Dana’s mission is to get to Florida. So when she gets into all these unpredictable dilemmas she has to use her best judgment on what to do. The dilemmas in turn help her make better decisions once she settles in her new home.

Bella is just a go-with-the-flow character, and that’s what I like about her. She’s not like Dana where as Dana sees a disaster, Bella sees an adventure ready to be conquered.  My hope is that Dana gets to her destination and acquires some street smarts and Bella stays in touch with her and becomes her voice of reason.

Q: In your writing, what part do you look forward to the most?

Seeing the finished cover! I always have an idea of what I want it to look like in my head and seeing a designer take my idea and going with it gives me joy to no end. It’s a high to see the finished product.

I also look forward to the research. From the locations to the names of the characters, I research everything and learn so much on subjects that I wouldn’t think twice about if it wasn’t in my book.

Staying at the Beach in the Off Season!

I just spent four days at the beach..over Thanksgiving!

The beach is very different during the winter, but still has a magical air to it, even though it was about 20 degrees. I still took walks on the beach and went shopping at my favorite places...forget black friday shopping at the malls! I did most of my gift-buying on LBI in Beach Haven, New Jersey and totally enjoyed supporting the small businesses such as How to Live and Country Kettle Chowda.

My fiance's family was going to be full up at the beach house, so we opted to stay at the open-year-round Engleside Inn where we also could bring our doggie. For several days, we enjoyed staying here, walking on the beach, dining for lunch and seeing our family and enjoying Thanksgiving. 

This inn is great any time of year and quite comfortable. We also enjoyed the sushi lunch which is offered every Friday and Saturday during the non-summer times.

If you find yourself in LBI, do yourself a favor and a book a room with a soaking tub and a view of the ocean and enjoy some great food- you'll be glad you did!

"The spring, summer, is quite a hectic time for people in their lives, but then it comes to autumn, and to winter, and you can't but help think back to the year that was, and then hopefully looking forward to the year that is approaching."

-Enya