Spent the day looking at real estate with Deb (who was, thank goodness, a realtor in her past life) and facing some very exciting but urgent, time-sensitive decisions.
Does this look like a little Alaska writing center to you? (Note that just a few yards to the left is Snow City Cafe, with great coffee and spillover space for special catered events. They have a liquor license, too…)
Does it look like a place where you’d like to do your next book launch, perhaps in conjunction with First Friday gallery tours that pull in hundreds of downtown visitors?
Does it look like a summer vacation rental that might also work for hosting the occasional visiting writer? (Picture the Coastal Trail just across the street and downhill.)
More to say, lots to ask our most loyal readers, but for now, I’ll leave you with the photo and the cryptically described dream.
I won’t be sleeping easily tonight…
It's perfect!
Looks pretty, and sort of artsy-Alaska. It's so much easier to pursue a dream with a clear image in your mind. Thanks for pursuing this one — for all of us.
I've been by there a hundred times and it has always seemed welcoming to me. For some reason, too, your post title reminds me of the old adage that opportunity is frequently ignored because it shows up in overalls, looking like work.
Call on me if you need a hand with a paintbrush or a broom. I'll wear overalls and think of the opportunities.
Looks very welcoming, homey, and vintage Alaskan. What do you have to do to get it?
Is that the house on the corner of L and 4th or something, where the old A Novel View used bookstore used to be?
If yes, what a great spot, but I imagine it needs a lot of work. Yes on showing up in overalls!
Yes!
I'm also willing to scrub & paint.
I like that it's close to the water and the trail but also is downtown (how's parking?)
Plus, it has a porch.
The just-right thing at the right time.
I love it! I know a writing center could thrive in a plain concrete square or office building, but this looks so perfectly writerly. It sounds like a great location. And I'm with everybody else — whatever building you choose, whatever elbow grease you need, I'm there. We're building our home out of pocket while we live in it, so I'm learning how to do all kinds of useful grunt work.
Thanks for the encouragement, and yes, we will need people with paintbrushes, gardening trowels, and sponges! (Especially in May.) Keep the comments coming.
Yeah, it's way cool! I really like it.
But not knowing any of the details or difficulties of getting this location, I'd just like to repeat what Eowyn said. I really think a writer's center could thrive anywhere with all us writers who are thrilled about y'alls idea.
The book launch with the potential First Fridays crowd does sound like an advantage for those who can handle that sort of thing (being socially phobic, i cringe at the thought of 100-200 people but that is the point of a book launch!)
Me too on the painting, scrubbing, or other work to get it ready. It'll be fun. And if it happens to be after mid-May, I will have already practiced my painting skills on the boys and girls club building!
Weird, specific request:
Looking for a reliable local plumber by tomorrow for a rough estimate of a shower/tub install, before we commit to a lease. Any ideas? email lax at alaska dot net.
Never mind, I think we have the plumber issue covered now. Zing-zoom. more coffee, more coffee.
Tomorrow, Deb will be providing more details but it's never too late to offer to volunteer, and I truly appreciate those who are stepping up. Dream on!
I hear that place is haunted…just kidding!!!
Count me in — the locale is great, the house looks like it has charm and history — and perhaps now a literary future?
I'm lousy with a paint brush, colorblind, and wouldn't know a garden trowel from a garden troll, but count me in anyway. I can move furniture or something useful like that.
It's beautiful! If we can get a decent deal on it, definitely a possibliity! And count me in too, for some unskilled labor.
This is lovely. Visual artists have galleries, performing artists have theaters, now Alaska writers will have a place, too.
I love that house and have admired it on many trips to Anchorage. Being in Ketchikan, I can't help fix it up myself, but I would be happy to send money for paint:) Blessings to you all as you take this on.
Your comments and emails are sustaining us during this frantic week of pre-lease-signing research. (Just had a plumber take a look today in prep for some needed work — things are looking good.) Thank you so much!
It looks perfect!
Congratulations on your new facility. Looks perfect for writers and lovers of writing.
This, indeed, looks like a little Alaskan writing center to me. Good luck with your dreams and your plans.