Friday, April 25, 2008

Clichés You Can’t Escape

Vampire writers and graveyards. Can it get more cliché than that? Well, maybe the all-black attire and the reclusive nature, but I think that can extend to more than just vampire writers…

I bring this topic up because a reader was kind enough to send me some of her cemetery pictures.

I have to admit that I enjoy walking through cemeteries during the day and they are among my favorite places to take pictures. Graveyards are places of history and memories. But a really old one can also be an amazing park with beautiful landscaping, old trees, and quiet ponds. I love the old statues in the classical style found in Athens and Rome. I love the streaked and weathered faces of the angels, the vines creeping across the ground to wrap their thin arms around the tombstones.

One of my favorite spots is the Spring Grove cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio. It’s one of the oldest and largest in the area. I’ve spent a lot of time walking in and still haven’t covered the whole thing. It’s a peaceful place to think of story ideas and plot out books. What’s more, I’ve seen more walkers and wedding photos being taken than I have ever seen funerals.

Below are some of my pictures from Spring Grove. I hope you like them.

As for my vampires, they don’t hang out in cemeteries. My main character Mira once explained that vampires stick close to their food source. Humans don’t tend to hang out in graveyards at night, so why should a nightwalker? In fact, the one time I’ve got Mira going to a graveyard, it’s because she wants to go to the one place where she is sure not to run into any other nightwalkers.

On a lighter note, I’ve got another kitty video for those that liked the Wake-Up Kitty video.


5 comments:

Candace said...

Oh my gosh, that was great! I love it when the cat drags over the garden gnome...lol!

Rinda Elliott said...

I have Simon's cat. Only mine meows to go right back outside and stands there while the door is open. My family was watching him try to get outside one night and he jumped up to pat at the door handle. My daughter said he was thinking, "I could rule the world if I only had opposable thumbs."

Think I'll put that on my blog. ;)

I LOVE THE PICS OF THE CEMETERY.

Jocelynn Drake said...

I like dogs too, but there's just something about cats... no matter how loving and adorable, there's something innately evil and scheming about them as well.

Thanks. Spring Grove is an amazing place.

Rurality said...

Looks like a cool cemetery, but... wedding photos?!

The people I usually run into in cemeteries are fellow genealogists. :)

Jocelynn Drake said...

I know it sounds strange, but there are a number of places within Spring Grove where it's just beautiful gardens, ponds, fountains, and arching rock bridges that are perfect for wedding pictures. I've seen some and you would never guess they were taken in a cemetery.