Took a day off from writing yesterday

2/2/07 -- Took a day off from writing yesterday to go skiing with my daughter, Kelsey, and her boyfriend, Tyler. We drove to Mt. Hood (see photo below, the highest peak in Oregon, elevation, 11, 235 feet). Skies were blue, but the temperature was in the low 20s, and with the wind gusting at 35 mph the overall effect was bone chilling. At one point we were racing along, rounded a corner and were hit head-on by a blast that was so powerful it brought us to a complete halt. A few hours of that kind of weather and fingers went numb. Feet turned to blocks of ice. Still, we had fun -- the main purpose of the day -- and as a nice bonus I came away with a some very real-world research on the effects of cold that I can use in upcoming scenes of STORM MOUNTAIN. There is no substitute for personal experience when you sit down and try to make a scene come to life.