Anna DeStefano's Blog

Water is healing. Water is welcome and regeneration and peace. The sound of it is a natural anti-depressant for me. A sleep drug-free aid. It’s home,wherever I find it. And some places…well, some places are magical pockets of nurturing I know I’ll return to for the rest of my life. Sylvan Falls Mill (Boyd,  p. 126) is one of those places. It’s a 50 foot water slide that falls off Taylor Creek near Clayton GA.

This is an historic grist mill built in 1840 and operating continuously as a mill ever since. And it’s home of one of the best mountain B&Bs I’ve ever visited. Mike and Linda, the owners, have become friends I know we’ll keep for the rest of our lives. Think amazing breakfasts and the sound of water running down the falls 24/7 and the most picturesque valey view you’ve ever scene, all framed by the backdrop of a national park–Blackrock Mountain.

Did I mention the fabulous falls (small, but there’s something raw and untouched and personal about them), running past some of the rooms and the breakfast area where you eat every morning (and where I write late at night if I can’t sleep). I’ve hiked the mountain, walked through the valley, and flat out love this place. My husband and son do, too. My son’s visited with us most of his life. Mike and Linda feel like they’ve watched him grow up.

And they have. (more…)

I grew up surrounded by water: the inter-coastal waterway (marshes) in my back yard, the Savanna River off to the left and the Atlantic Ocean a little further away and to the south, close enough that shore birds flew over my neighborhood every day. But in my adult life, I’m more often than not landlocked. Which leaves me migrating to water every chance I get now. I’m not picky, except that natural water sources enchant me more than man-made lakes ever could. When my creativity or simply my peace of mind needs a “hit,” I’m looking for water that flows, that I can walk into and touch; water that I can hear and close my eyes and still see; water that will come back to me in my dreams when I’m home and too far away again.

If you’re an artist, you know what I mean. You have a touchstone, too. Something you need to be healthy and inspired and free. If you’re a reader, you’re the same, too. That need is what draws you back time and again to certain stories. Certain authors. Certain themes.

Water is a common theme in my books. All kinds of water. Even when I write about dreams, there’s water symbolism everywhere–just wait until we talk about the dream symbolism in Secret Legacy ;o) I need it in my life. And I need to be out of my home office looking for it, whenever I don’t need to be here for work or family. Because it’s not just the water that drives me. It’s the nature around it. The isolation and belonging of it. The history and the immersion into the present. The travel and the coming home. The reality and dreaming. Water brings all those things to me.

So, I’ve embarked on a Waterfall project. (more…)