What is a literary palate cleanser?
It’s what I call my ‘between’ novels. To avoid burnout and keep my creativity churning, I switch focus, writing in a different genre, or changing from fiction to non-fiction, after finishing a manuscript.
I’d been working on a historical novel set in North Carolina during the American Civil War, editing for months, and ready for a literary palate cleanser.
Good Ashe Lavender Farm came to my attention via a Facebook post. The image of blooming lavender hills conjured memories of my trip to Provence in 2015 where the heavenly aroma of lavender filled the air even in the off-season due to all the products made from lavender. I particularly recall lavender ice cream, lavender lemonade, and lavender bath soap and sachets.
During the years I’d researched and written the historical, another novel pecked at me, throwing stones when I sat at my computer, begging for attention.
“Write about me,” it screamed.
“Write the Gothic, suspense, romance set in a French chateau in Provence, and yes, hills of lavender running to the lake, where a woman drowned, or maybe she didn’t…”
You get the picture.
Our senses are wonderful tools to enhance writing. Immersing myself in lavender, learning how and where to cut the stalks, crouching over the mounds of grayish/green foliage with lavender spikes shooting off in all directions, seemed like a great exercise in steeping myself into the aromas my characters would inhale. As a bonus, while Good Ashe Lavender Farm didn’t have a lake, they did have a water lily pond, two fawns playing near the woods’ edge, and butterflies and honeybees working the lavender blooms.
After filling our bouquet bands and purchasing them in the barn, we bought a bar of lavender soap, and they gifted us a few recipes–another bonus. How about lavender lemonade fizz?
Another bonus, their lavender is certified organic, which means I can steep the lavender in simple syrup for cocktails or lemonade, add it to steaming cream for lavender ice cream, or make a butter cookie with lavender infusion.
You don’t have to write a novel featuring lavender to visit the Good Ashe Lavender Farm. But you will have to hurry. The season is winding down. Of course, there’s always next year…
If you want to pick lavender, visit Good Ashe Lavender Farm, or find them on Facebook.
Have you ever picked lavender? Have you cooked with it? If so, what is your favorite recipe?
Let me know in the comments.
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Renee Canter Johnson was born in North Carolina, where she still resides. She has a BS in Business Management from Gardner Webb University. Johnson studied Creative Writing in France and Italy, was awarded two terms at Noepe Center for Literary Arts on Marthaās Vineyard, and completed a Novel Intensive Study at the University of Iowa. Johnson loves spending time with her family and fur babies, and when she is not with them, you will find her reading or writing.
Join her at reneejohnsonwrites.com for insights on travel destinations, books, authors, and living a creative life.
Published author with The Wild Rose Press, blogger, and lifelong voracious reader, with the belief that novels conquered the world of virtual reality long before technology made it possible. The next adventure is just a click away!
Renee Johnson Writes 