I Spent an Hour and Wrote 44 Words

I spent an hour yesterday on chapter 1 of North Country Quest and wrote 44 words, of which 22 are going to be moved to the preface, and the rest are junk.

Why am I so slow? It's all part of the writing process. I listened to part of the tape again. I made two additional false starts and deleted them as horrible. I looked up the section of this hike on the map and read the description. I opened my mapping software and tried to find the name of a creek where I ate lunch (it has no name). I spent some time just getting the memories of that hike arranged in my head. Some were very clear, and others I had to work on.

I've had the name of this chapter, "Meanders and Undulations," settled since the date of the hike (October 2003). It's a phrase taken from the actual trail map description, and it's a perfect lead-in to the second half of my meandering journey along the North Country Trail.

But the next step, getting a catchy opening on to paper (screen), isn't that simple. I think maybe I've got an idea now. We'll see if I can get somewhere with that today.

This first chapter not only has to be an essay about the particular hike, but be an opener to the entire second volume, so it needs to be GOOD.

Poem to be Included in Elements of Life

I don't have a contract yet, but it is pretty certain that I will have a poem included in the next anthology to come from Twin Trinity Media, called Elements of Life.

The book includes stories which were submitted for contests of the themes of Birth, Life, and Death. These contests took place before I got involved with Twin Trinity/ Accentuate Writers. However, Michelle (Michy) Devon, editor and publisher has requested poems to use as fillers between the stories.

This summer I wrote a poem entitled "Now, Then, When," and Michy requested that I send it to her, yesterday.

Elements of Life will be the next volume published. It follows Elements of the Soul, Elements of Time and Elements of Dimension, already in print.

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Editing Article for North Star

Not much writing happening today. I'm swamped with work for pay which I sure have to keep doing. (Of course higher pay would mean I could afford more writing time, but these days, I'm just glad to have a job.)

I did do some editing and providing additional material to the magazine editor for the next edition of North Star. It's entitled "Those Irrepressible Girls," and focuses on women who have made significant contributions to the North Country Trail Association.

West Side Gang Writers' Group

The West Side Gang met tonight. It's a twice-a-month get together where we share works in progress for critique. I'm not much of a joiner, but I've come to value this group.

It's a talented bunch of folks! Some write poetry, some essays, some fiction, others non-fiction. Some of us just write all kinds of things because we can't stop.

Tonight, even off-season (several people go south for the winter), we had eleven people show up, and eight of us took something to read. Since I'm sort of in between projects, I took two short poems I had written over the winter.

Who knows what I'll ever do with all my poems? Poetry is a real tough sell, and I write it mostly just because I like to. But I do have them all collected in one notebook. That was a project from last winter.

And, there were holiday goodies to munch on, too. Can't beat that!

A Meager Beginning, but Working on North Country Quest

Somehow, I have to work on both North Country Quest and Paddy Plays in Dead Mule Swamp at the same time. I honestly don't know how possible that is going to be because I usually get my head so deeply inside one idea at a time that there isn't room for much else.

Nevertheless, I found the tape covering the hike that will be the first chapter of NCQ today, and began to listen to it. I already know what the theme of the chapter will be. Each chapter in North Country Quest and North Country Cache is an essay that can pretty much stand on its own, so as soon as I know the thematic idea the essay is usually fairly easy to write. However, the fact that this will be the first chapter of the second book means that it needs a lot more filling out.

The book is following the format of the first book, a continuation and completion of the hike along the North Country Trail. In some ways, finishing the story excites me, and in some ways it seems boring. I think I can't really tell until I get into it. But, in either case, I've made a commitment to write the second book.

They say the most difficult part of any journey is the first step... so I've made a first step.

First Review of News from Dead Mule Swamp is Positive

Jennifer Malone-Wright, author of several vampire novels, graciously agreed to review News from Dead Mule Swamp, and I sure like what she says!

Although I did provide her with a free copy, Jenn says "I cannot guarantee a positive review... I simply write what I think about a book and that's it."

Basically, she feels that I've captured the small-town feeling well, and recommends the book. Please visit her blog and read her review of News from Dead Mule Swamp.

You can order this cozy mystery at Smashwords or Amazon.

If vampires are your thing, be sure to check out Jennifer's books, too

Beginning Paddy Plays in Dead Mule Swamp

Is it possible that spending some time each day writing is becoming a habit? I have so few good habits that would be delightful!

At any rate, I had made notes to outline the general plot for the next Anastasia Raven mystery, and now I have a chapter and a half done.

Paddy is an Irish Setter puppy that belongs to Ana's cousin. She has agreed to keep Paddy for a few weeks of the summer. What kind of mischief can Paddy get into?

If you want to get acquainted with Ana, be sure to buy News from Dead Mule Swamp. It's only 99¢!