November Calendar

Here's my November calendar (I'm sorry it's a little faded...). I plan to start work tomorrow morning on Book 3 of Adventure USA. Hold me to it!

Stay tuned for my Wednesday, November 1 word count.

 

Free Personalized Labels Available!

 

These free personalized labels are available for your books. Just message/email me, and I'll send one (or more) off to you.  

I know how much readers love to have a personalized book, and since I can't be everywhere at once, I'm hoping these labels are a nice replacement for me actually being in a book store and signing books. 

Happy Reading!

A Walk in the Woods

 

I've just returned from traveling and have been feeling a little overwhelmed by the tasks I needed to attend to now that I'm home. 

So when the weekly birding email popped into my Inbox, my first thought was to delete it. No time right now for a walk in the woods. 

It's a delightful group led by a talented birder. They meet every Friday at a different park in my town. You just need to show up. The group is a mixture of the "pros" (those who can easily identify by sight or sound whatever birds are nearby) who come without fail every week and others -  like me - who come when they can. But that sort of thinking means that I won't go as often as I should. 

I say "should" because it's easy to forget what a walk in the woods will do for you. 

 

The morning was chilly and drizzly, okay by me since I like it cold. Traveling had made me feel as though I had missed autumn, one of my favorite seasons. This walk in the woods reminded me that I hadn't. I just needed to pay better attention.

 

I couldn't help thinking of Robert Frost's poem about "two paths in the woods." 

I missed the start time, but no problem as the leader's email had included which path the group would be on should any of us show up later. The birders were easy to spot with their cameras and binoculars, standing still and staring into the trees.  

Someone called this the "Halloween Tree" with the many vultures perched at the top.

It was a glorious morning. With the help of the "pros," I saw a white-throated sparrow, a creeper, mallards and wood ducks, among others. There were many more to be seen, but I'm not as quick with the binocs as the rest of the group. 

I returned home renewed and refreshed, so grateful I had taken the much needed time (that I hadn't realized how much I needed) to spend time in nature.  

 

Back cover copy for MASSACHUSETTS! The Stolen Spyglass

I'll admit it: I despise writing a synopsis. It's just too difficult to summarize a book filled with twists and turns, unexpected happenings, dynamic surprises, and the adventures of eleven-year-old twins, Josh and Lizzie Parker.

But I have to do it. And this time, just like last time and the time before that, I forgot that the only way to do it is to sit down and DO IT. 

I guess, like all writers, I'm afraid of that blank Word document. I'm afraid to start, afraid to fill up the document with meaningless words and drivel.

But the only way is right through it. I wish I had saved the 15-20 drafts (next time, I will, so I can share some with you) I wrote before I felt like I actually had something to edit.

Here's the "finished" product:

Eleven-year-old twins, Josh and Lizzie Parker, and their travel blogging parents head to Nantucket Island off the coast of Cape Cod. Aboard the ferry to the island, the twins meet Sara Coleman Clarke, "Grams" to family and friends. Desperate to invigorate her floundering family museum, Grams has organized a Spyglass Spectacle gala to raise money for the much-needed improvements. Baxter Benedict, a long-time friend and famous collector, has finally agreed to allow the museum to display the most treasured item in his collection, a priceless spyglass that once belonged to Nantucket whaling captain, Reuben Coffin.

Suddenly, the spyglass is missing from its locked showcase. Mr. Benedict is furious at this unimaginable loss, and the future of the museum is in danger. With the Spyglass Spectacle just days away, will Lizzie and Josh, along with their new friends, Maya and Zoey, be able to piece together a complex web of clues and recover the spyglass in time?

I say "finished" because it's not really. It will probably under go another 10 or so edits before it's really what I want. But it's a draft. Maybe even the draft. We'll see.

And now back to Book 1 in the Adventure USA series: ALASKA! Danger on the Mushing Trail.

Here's my friend, Brianna McNall's son who proclaimed, "I love this book!"

Books

Last night I finished "Frozen in Time" by Mark Kulansky. It's the story of Clarence Birdseye and how frozen foods developed from an idea into a billion dollar enterprise. I thought it was very well-written - just the right amount of information with a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor, too. 

I keep a "Books Read" list as a Google doc so I can easily add to my yearly list. I rate the books 1-5 and include a short summary. It's extremely helpful to scan when someone asks me what I've read that's great. 

At the moment I'm juggling 4-5 books because some of the books I had put on hold were available at the same time. I still need to finish these: 

The Other Family Doctor by Karen Fine, DVM

The Queen's Fortune by Allison Pataki

The Second Mrs. Astor by Shana Abe

And, there are three more that I haven't started yet...

PS - I raked those leaves above into a large pile last fall. I'm posting it because this week the temperatures have been chilly in the morning: high 50's - low 60's. It feels like fall is coming. (That and spring are my favorite seasons.)

What does "Don't Get It Right, Get It Written" really mean?

The title of this blog, Don't Get It Right, Get It Written, refers to my mindset when I start a project or am attempting to make progress on a writing project. It's a reminder that the most important task is to get the words down. I try not to let that soft (or sometimes loud) voice that can ask all kinds of questions, such as, "Why are you doing this? Will anyone really care about reading this? Is this really worth the effort? Would my time be better used for..." 

Anyone who has sat down to write anything is often plagued by doubt. But the best way to overcome this is through perseverance and determination. Just sit and write. Ignore those doubts, and get the words down. Once they're down, then the editing can begin. I can find myself very surprised after a morning of working on a chapter that I didn't think was going well only to be shocked when I reread the pages the next morning. Often, they will seem much better than I thought and show promise that will improve with editing.

I also use a writing calendar, which keeps me motivated. I note the number of words I wrote that day and then add them to the running total at the bottom of the daily box. I am usually surprised by how much progress I have made when I add up the words at the end of the week.

Here are the writing calendars for my second book in the Adventure USA series, MASSACHUSETTS! The Stolen Spyglass. As you can see, the progress was slow but steady.

(Additionally, when I skip a day, that stark empty box or a big "X," with no word number in it is a blaring reminder that I missed a day.)

I just finished reading The Magnificent Lives of Majorie Post by Allison Pataki. It was very interesting, with a great narrative voice. In the course of the book, Majorie explored the work of Clarence Birdseye, who founded Birdseye Frozen Foods, eventually recommending that the Post Company buy it.

This was very intriguing, so I looked for a book about Clarence Birdseye, who had been on my radar ever since I read a review of Birdseye: The Adventures of a Curious Man by Mark Kurlansky. It was unavailable at my library, but I found Frozen in Time (Adapted for Young Readers): Clarence Birdseye's Outrageous Idea About Frozen Food by Mark Kurlansky. I plan to read it next.