Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

 This writer has been doing a lot more hiking than writing, but some work has been done, if mostly in my head. I have decided to draft my 3rd Seffi Wardwell mystery before I begin edits on #2, and hope to have it worked out well enough to jump in with NaNo again.  I’m trying to finish a couple of mystery shorts, one for Seffi and one from the Pismawallops PTA crew, and some progress has happened there, though I can’t quite see the way from where I am to the endings.  Meanwhile, here are a couple of unedited cell phone shots of some of the places I’ve been.  Apologies for any wonkiness. I’m not good at posting from my cell phone!  ©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2022  As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated. Don't miss a post--click the "Follow-it" link below!

We'll be back... just so you don't forget about us completely, here are a couple of nice photos. ©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2023  As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated. Don't miss a post-- Follow us !

We're on the road and out hiking, so you get to enjoy a story from the archives. I tweaked a few things here and there in this little piece from 2015. The River Gods   Nothing has been right here since the river stole the gods.   I must explain. Our village sat on the banks of a great river. I will not say which river, or even upon what continent, because we don’t need treasure-seekers swarming our lands, hunting for the gods. The gods must be found, it is true, but it must be we who find them, not someone who will carry them still farther from us.   The problem with idyllic villages on the banks of great rivers is that great rivers do not keep to their courses. Changes in the river channel had happened many times, to be sure, and each time we picked up and moved farther back into the jungle. Or forest. Or prairie. I’m not giving up clues that easily. We thought nothing of it. It was the natural course of things, including the course of the river. Som

It has been 12 years since Ninja Captain Alex Cavanaugh launched the Insecure Writers' Support Group. He obviously hit a nerve and filled a need, because the group has been going strong ever since, with monthly blog-hop postings and tons of encouragement, support, and often very concrete help being passed around the group. While the membership does fluctuate, a look at the top half of the sign-up list will show you people who have been active more or less from the start. Take a look at their stories! In personal news:  A Coastal Corpse has released at last! The first book in my new Seffi Wardwell mysteries is now available for sale. I am currently deciding if I'm going to jump right into editing the (already drafted) second book in the series, or draft the third book first. Series Blurb: Retired science teacher Seffi Wardwell is making herself a new home on the Maine coast. She has a flower garden to keep up to the stiff local standards and a tough job in br

A flawed but still gripping sequel to I Lived on Butterfly Hill , which I reviewed in 2015 . Title: The Maps of Memory: Return to Butterfly Hill Author: Marjorie Agosín, read by Kyla Garcia Publication Info: Audio Book 2021, Tantor Media. 7hours 47 min. Hardback published 2020 by Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, 368 pages Source: Library Publisher's Blurb: In this inspiring sequel to the Pura Belpré Award–winning, “dazzling and insightful” ( BCCB ) I Lived on Butterfly Hill , thirteen-year-old Celeste Marconi returns home to a very different Chile and makes it her mission to rebuild her community, and find those who are still missing. During Celeste Marconi’s time in Maine, thoughts of the brightly colored cafes and salty air of Valparaíso, Chile, carried her through difficult, homesick days. Now, she’s finally returned home to find the dictatorship has left its mark on her once beautiful and vibrant community. Celeste is determined to help her beloved Butterfly Hill get bac

I returned just over a week ago from 8 days on the Pacific Crest Trail through Washington's Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Naturally I haven't even edited 5% of the pictures, so I just picked a few to share and did a quick clean-up on them as a teaser. It may be a few weeks before I get back to editing these and get a full report out, since I'm heading out again, this time for a road trip with camping, hiking, and backpacking! This is one of the times of year when I don't care to sit at home. My brother-in-law snapped this one for me at the start point. Yes, I really do have everything I need for 8 days in that pack, including food. Carrying water for a few hours. Glacier Peak looking bare of ice, and the first hints of trouble to come, lurking in the valleys off that way. The pika may be my favorite animal in the world. A tidy and respectable camp scene. Alternatively, we have my entire kit spread out on the rocks as I prepare to pack up. Yes, Stinklet was along for the ride