Guest Blogger author Kim Culbertson - Why Tahoe?

Introducing our first guest author blogger ever - Kim Culbertson! 
 We have been big fans since she visited Hicklebee's over a year ago.  You are all invited to join us to hear about her latest book - The Possibility of Now - eat cookies, drink hot chocolate and have a snowball fight when she visits us again at Hicklebee's tomorrow night - February 26 @ 7 pm.  Until then enjoy Kim's answer to this question posed by a member of our Teen Advisory Board.   

Question: "Kim Culbertson obviously loves Tahoe, and she lives close. I love that she writes about north Lake Tahoe because I grew up a lot there. I'd like to know why she has chosen specific places, such as Squaw and Tahoe City. What kind of memories does she have there that make those special to her. Especially  ask about Commons Beach because she's mentioned it in at least two of her books:) "

I do love Tahoe. What gave it away? J I live in the foothills of Northern California with Tahoe an hour from me. For over the past ten years, it has been the go-to place for my family. When I drive into Tahoe, my body, mind and spirit reset. My family loves to hike there, head to the snow in the winter, and in summer, we paddle the blue water. My daughter (now 11) played on Tahoe’s shores as a baby, a toddler, a small child, and she continues to love spending time there (we spent a lot of time with her at Commons Beach when she was smaller, which is why that has made it into two of my books!) Our favorite little bakery is Tahoe House in Tahoe City. We’ve spent every Labor Day in Tahoe with friends for the last ten years. My husband and daughter have been skiing at Squaw Valley for the past seven. Five years ago, my daughter wondered why I wasn’t also skiing. I’d had a bad experience with skiing in high school, so I’d never tried it, thought I didn’t like it. She asked, “How do you know you still don’t like it if you don’t try?” Kids. So I tried it late one spring and –loved it. I was slow and struggled but it was the first time in a long time I’d learned something new. I’ll never be a natural skier, but the mountain still calls to me – being on the slopes is its own form of meditation for me. And it called to my writer heart too. Place is essential to me in my novels, it becomes a secondary character. The Possibility of Now is not only a novel about a girl trying to sort herself out after her life goes off-track, but also a love letter to Tahoe and all it has to teach us.