Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

I ditched NaNoWriMo even before they closed down, but years of using their hype to help myself along have put me on a schedule where November and December are my months to draft new novels. This year is no exception! I have been contemplating the next book in the Seffi Wardwell series for some time, and began getting serious about plotting, planning, and outlining in September and October. Of course, since I was traveling and hiking a lot during those months, I wasn't ready to start writing November 1. I still wasn't ready to start writing Nov. 4, but as usual, I couldn't resist any longer, and jumped in. After all, I knew what the first scene was going to be. So now I'm over 13,000 words into the book, and I'm plotting and outlining just ahead of my writing. Also: I don't know whodunnit. Seriously. Darn near everyone has a motive, some better than others, and no one has a cast-iron alibi (or at least, that's how I see things now. Of course, we haven't e...

Sigh. This was supposed to post last Monday, but I failed to hit the "publish" button. Which was just as well, because I also forgot to let Greg Pattridge know to add it to the hop list. I'm posting this morning with the Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop. The hop is sponsored by  Greg Pattridge of Always in the Middle . Check out Greg's blog for a list of additional middle grade reviews.    Thanks to Rosi Hollenbeck and her project of reading and reviewing everything Gary D. Schmidt has written, I'm on rather a Schmidt jag myself. I have to say I love the variety of his stories, from fairly heavy to kind of goofy to just sweet ( A Day at the Beach ). This week's story is more on the goofy end. Next week or thereabouts I'll get to  Orbiting Jupiter  and  Jupiter Rising,  which are more heart-breaking.     Title : Pay Attention, Carter Jones Author: Gary D. Schmidt. Read by Christopher Gebauer Publication Info: Recorded Books, 2019. ...

That's right--I've finally come home and returned to editing photos, so I have another round of pictures from my September backpack trip in the John Muir Wilderness and Kings Canyon NP.   This post picks up with Day 4 of that hike. Days 1-2 are here , and Day 3 here . As we move into the heart of the Sierra, I have too many photos, so I'll just do one day at a time.   Random "on the trail" photo to start with something horizontal since otherwise Facebook will mess up the post.   Mornings are cold, even at a "mere" 9200'. It's always hard to get going, but we were pretty good at being on the trail by 8:45 or thereabouts. It always took a couple of hours to get us all through breakfast, foot care, and packing up, though part of that is time spent hoping for the sun to come and thaw us out!   Breakfast time. Once the sun was on us, it warmed up fast enough. High altitude and dry air means big temperature swings!     Morning sun.   An hour or so late...

It's the first Wednesday of the month, which is IWSG posting  day--and this month, I'm honored to be a co-host! Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting.   Let’s rock the neurotic writing world! Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. The awesome co-hosts (aside from me!) for the November 4 posti...

I originally wrote this one in 2016, though I may have run it again since. Unlike last week's story, this one's not so funny. Have a great Halloween!   Witching Weather   “Fog’s rising.” Jack made the observation in a detached sort of way, not sure if it mattered.   “More fun that way,” Jill answered. If he was unsure about the weather, she was not. She straightened the tall, pointed hat that kept threatening to tumble from her head. “It sets the right sort of mood.”   The boy and girl grinned at each other. Both wore sweeping black robes, dramatically wizardly. A close observer might have even thought they had come from the costume shop, but with the fog settling in and the daylight gone, no one could be sure. Jack wore a silver circlet around his forehead, while Jill sported the afore-mentioned pointed hat.   “At least half the kids will be spooked before we even begin,” Jill said, eyes aglow with excitement.   Jack nodded, seeing ...

This is a bit of semi-comic horror I wrote and shared on the blog in 2013, and maybe again in 2023. I've touched up a couple of small things, but mostly am leaving it as-is. Enjoy! The Quick and the Quicker I never trusted that statue in the garden behind the house. The place was crawling with statues, but the rest remained well-behaved, doing as they were told and returning to their appointed places when asked. It creeped me out a little, but Mom and Dad took it all for granted, and said I was much too sensitive. Mom liked it. She said it was like living in an art gallery and that helped her create.   Mom’s an artist, and she’s had a lot of trouble working lately. She says all artists go through dry periods, and she just needs inspiration. I don’t know what inspiration one gets from statues that won’t stay put, and I’m not sure I want to know. Mom’s work is a little weird.   There was one statue that did the washing-up for us every evening. She looked like some k...

Last week I shared photos from days 1 and 2 of my most recent Sierra trip. That took us up and over Paiute Pass, then down into Pauite Canyon. I don't have a lot more ready to go, but I can report out on Day 3, which involved hiking the rest of the way down Paiute Canyon to the John Muir/Pacific Crest trails, then up the San Joaquin River and finally up into the Evolution Valley at the end of a long day. We'd spent the night down in the trees by the creek, but most of the trail was a bit up the slope and in the sun. Periodically the trail dropped to creek level (when the canyon wasn't too steep and narrow), and there were waterfalls.   Up from the stream onto the slopes again, with cool trees. I think the trail junction is down where the slopes all come together. We've dropped a lot of elevation and the size of the trees shows it. By noon we'd dropped to the JMT--and the lowest point of the whole hike, at about 8100'--more than 1000' lower than we started th...