Ludington Daily News Column- June 2011

 I did get my newspaper column done on time, but forgot to blog about it. It was due on Monday, and I actually zapped it off the the editor several hours before the deadline.

Several times a year the column features other people who "get off the couch." This month I wrote about a paddling journey that a group of people took this month the entire length of the Muskegon River. It was named Voyage of Discovery, and had the purpose of surveying the river's ecological health.

I called the watershed organization which sponsored the trip, and also one of the people who paddled the entire distance, for interviews.

"21st Century Voyage of Discovery

The Manistee River is the third-longest river in Michigan. Can you name the two that are longer? Did you guess the Grand, just because of the name? You are right; it’s longest. Which one is in between? That would be the Muskegon..."

Chapter 10 of News from Dead Mule Swamp

This chapter has taken forever to finish. I started it almost a month ago, and then decided that it was time to have something significant occur to keep the plot moving along. That changed the chapter from one of mostly dialogue to a lot of moving people around and meeting someone new, and setting up this next piece of action.

That took a lot of words! In fact, this chapter is twice as long as the previously longest chapter. Hmmm. Maybe it should be split into two.

Nevertheless, I got a big chunk of the story done to take to the West Side Gang writers group last night. Since it was really rough (I finished just in time to take it), they offered some good suggestions.

It is a little odd to hear one chapter of a book about once a month. I know, since some others are also bringing chapters. There usually needs to be a little update to remind people who the secondary characters are and what previously happened.

I should be good to go with the next few chapters now, as this latest plot complication plays out.

Program Booking

The program on June 21 has spawned another booking on September 21 for the Academy of Lifelong Learning, an arm of the local West Shore Community College.

The goal of the The Lifetime Learning Academy is "to become the leading provider of continual learning and enrichment to adults with programs that promote growth, culture, and spiritual life through academic courses and social interaction."

I know they do a good job of publicity, so it should be a great venue.

Interest from Cozy Cat Press

Cozy Cat Press has expressed an interest in News from Dead Mule Swamp!

"A 'cozy mystery' is a fun mystery that features an amateur sleuth--often female who uses brain power over brawn. The protagonist hero/heroine usually stumbles into investigating a crime--typically murder. She--or he--is generally a likeable, sympathetic character. In fact, most of the characters who appear in "cozies" are likeable--and often eccentric. Cozies move fast, with lots of exciting plot twists. That's what a cozy is. Here's what a cozy isn't--violent, profane, or sexually graphic!"

Cozy Cat is a consortium rather than a publisher. They collect mysteries with a similar style and work together for publicity and marketing. See Cozy Cat Press

Guess I better write faster.

I May Know More Than I Thought

A friend called me today and wanted some advice for her adult daughter who has written an elementary-school level book. The daughter had been talking to some self-publishing company that sounded to me like a terrible choice. Very little concern for the author, very high cost, etc.

I was amazed to discover that I now knew enough about some of the options available to actually help someone else make some choices as to how to proceed- query a traditional publisher, vanity press, print on demand, self publish, etc.

I certainly don't know enough yet to be writing articles about the topic or to lead seminars, but I sure know more than an average person. I think I've graduated to being a "professional" writer.

Two Program Bookings

Just this week I confirmed two more program bookings, both in September. On the 13th, I'll be in Marquette, Michigan giving one of my two keynote talks. They haven't decided which one for sure, just yet. I'll stay overnight with a friend. In fact, I may go a day early so that I can do some hiking around Marquette. It's a beautiful place! This program will be sponsored by the North Country Trail Hikers Chapter of the North Country Trail Association.

Then I have to boogie home on the 14th, because I have a program in Pentwater, Michigan on the evening of the 15th of September. This will be a shorter presentation, "The North Country Trail in Michigan." This one came as a direct result of putting out some flyers last Tuesday night. Several people from the Sable Dunes Audubon Society were there, and they want me at one of their meetings. They chose this title because it's a shorter program, and they don't usually have hour-long presentations.

I am really pleased at the steady requests for speaking!

Submitted "Secret Spring"

The poem, "Memory of Life," that I submitted for the Ludington Public Poetry Project was too long. They want shorter poems. I was completely uninspired until tonight when I read the poem "Mornings at Blackwater," by Mary Oliver. Suddenly, I had an idea based on a spring my dad showed me on our property when I was 14. I couldn't believe that I hadn't ever found it in all my years of roaming and exploring. The poem begins:

Secret Spring

My father told me about the secret spring
the year I turned fourteen.
I thought...

Ludington PPP is a small program that posts poems by local authors around town for people to read. The theme this time is Spring and Summer. I'd really like to have one poem posted, so I hope this one is more acceptable.