Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

Really? I'm writing? Well, okay, at this point that's stretching it. But I'm staying home for a while and back at my computer. More specifically, I am plotting and planning and getting ready to start drafting a new novel. I even have a tentative title:  Painted Over . I kind of liked  Portrait of the Artist as a Young Corpse,  but that's a bit long and maybe a bit geeky.  I'm still at the stage where I'm having fun tossing around big ideas and coming up with characters, writing their stories, and wondering what new personal challenges Seffi should face. It's starting to come together in my head, so I can reasonably hope to start the first draft within the next couple of weeks. I'm looking at bringing back some peripheral characters from both  Edited Out  (#3 in series, released Aug. 25) and #4 , Logged Off   (possibly  Logged Off at the Library , but I'm leaning toward the shorter title. Feel free to offer your opinions on all this in th...

I'm posting today with t he fantastic Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop hosted by Greg Pattridge of Always in the Middle . Check out Greg's blog for a list of additional middle grade reviews.    I got this book out of the library thanks to multiple positive reviews from other posters on the Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays hop. The plot and setting revolving around a fire lookout in the Gila Wilderness were the main attractions. I also liked the cover--very dramatic!    Title: The Burning Season Author: Caroline Starr Rose Publication Info: Audible Audio, 2025. 3 hours. Hardback by Nancy Paulsen Books,  256 pages. Source: Library  Publisher's Blurb (Goodreads): In this coming-of-age survival story in verse, a fire lookout-in-training must find her courage when a wildfire breaks out on her watch. Twelve-year-old Opal is deathly afraid of fire. Still Opal is preparing to become a fourth-generation lookout on Wolf Mountain, deep in the New Mexico...

Last week I started sharing the photos from this amazing trail in the Icelandic Highlands. Here's the next installment, where the weather turned... Icelandic :D Laugavegur Trail Day 2   (Sept. 7): Hrafntinnusker Hut to Alftavatn Hut You remember that lovely view from the hut from the previous evening, right?   Conditions in the morning were... changed. The wind was coming up, the mist turning to rain, and it was clear a) why the tent sites have rock walls around them, and b) that I was really glad I'd chosen to stay in the huts. From the start I was wearing my rain gear, my camera optimistically still on the shoulder strap though under its cover. Spoiler: that didn't last long. Within half an hour, the wind and rain had both picked up, I'd stowed the camera, put on the poncho (with a lot of tucking to keep it from flapping, and the rest of the day took cell phone photos. Despite the conditions (and inability to see the mountains that surround the caldera through which ...

 Today's Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour is something a little different... a card game, featuring Jane Austen and her wonderful characters! Jane Austen's Dowries and Dalliances: A Literary Card Game from Samanta L. Hastings Celebrate Jane Austen's 250th Anniversary! About Jane Austen's Dowries and Dalliances   Format: Games Publication Date: 10/7/2025 ISBN: 9781797235578   Hours of fun for Jane Austen fans of all ages: This literary card game features simple and satisfying gameplay with a beautifully illustrated deck full of favorite characters from all of the novels.   Hold on to heroines like Emma Woodhouse and Anne Elliot to win the highest dowry as you gossip with Mrs. Bennet to gain insight into another player's hand, send an opponent's card eloping with John Yates to remove it from play, or use Mr. Darcy’s refusal to dance to skip the next player's turn. Whether y...

I'm posting today with t he fantastic Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop hosted by Greg Pattridge of Always in the Middle . Check out Greg's blog for a list of additional middle grade reviews. This was one of those library books I found by following the "if you liked that" suggestions. It kind of falls into the "issue books" category, but was an interesting read regardless.   Title: Asking For a Friend Author: Ronnie Riley Publication Info: Scholastic Press, 2024. 268 pages in Kindle Source: Library Publisher's Blurb (Goodreads) : Why go through the stress of making friends when you can just pretend? It works for Eden and their social anxiety... until their mom announces she's throwing them a birthday party and all their friends are invited. Eden's "friends," Duke, Ramona, and Tabitha, are all real kids from school... but Eden's never actually spoken to them before. Now Eden will do whatever it takes to convince them ...

September 6-10 this year, I hiked Iceland's famous "Volcano Trail," the Laugavegur track. I had mixed weather, but the first day combined amazing scenery with good weather, and as a result I have far too many photos to do more than the one day in this post (besides, I haven't finished editing the rest of the hike, let alone the following 2 weeks in Iceland). The excitement started with a 7:30 a.m. bus from Reykjavik. I arrived at the bus station as the sun was about to rise. It's a small city, so the bus depot was only a 15-minute walk from my hotel. It's a 3 1/2 hour ride to the start of the trail at Landmannalaugar, so we had a much-appreciated "comfort stop" partway.   The bus ride was definitely part of the excitement, as this was my first chance to see much of Iceland beyond the city. I managed to score a front seat (always my goal due to motion sickness issues), which allowed for some good photo ops. As far as I could tell, we drove around a...