Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

Another week without a prompt from Chuck Wendig, but I had it covered, thanks to the story I couldn't finish in time last week. I used a random title generator, and got "The Four Awakenings," which I changed a little after I finished the story because I felt like it. The setting must have been inspired by how cold me feet have been lately! The Fourth Awakening My first awakening was simple, and normal. When the sun came up, I opened my eyes, same as any day. Sleeping, then not sleeping, just as usual, and really only about three-quarters awake. That morning, opening my eyes was about the last normal thing that happened. I rolled out of the sack, and instead of my bare feet hitting the fuzzy rug that’s been by my bed since I was ten—that’s 15 years, for those of you wondering—they hit sand. Mom bought that rug at a rummage sale, and when she brought it home I hated it. It was tacky, and pinkish, and dated even though it was brand new. But I kept it anyway, because it was f

Time for a huge sigh of relief: I survived the insanity of NaNo! Time for a sigh of another sort: I'm not done with the book, and I had to take several days off from writing as soon as the month ended, to attend a conference. Now that's done and I'm digging out from under the home chores I neglected. Renewed respect for those who have full-time jobs and families and still manage to write even 100 words a day. You rock. As for how NaNo went: I hit and passed the 50K mark (ended the month at 52,196), and have at least a partial image in my mind of how the rest of the book goes. I'm still hopeful that I can keep up the pace and finish before Xmas. Of course, I'm also at that point in the book where I am suffering serious doubts about what I'm doing and if I've really muffed it this time. It always seems to hit me about this point in a book (somewhere around 2/3). Last year, I made it to about 7/8, and then, lost and confused, let it slip away from me. That'

Title: Death Comes to Pemberley Author: P.D. James; read by Rosalyn Landor Publisher: Books on Tape (original: Alfred Knopf, 2011, 291 pages). Source: Library digital services Publisher's Summary: It is 1803, six years since Elizabeth and Darcy embarked on their life together at Pemberley, Darcy’s magnificent estate. Their peaceful, orderly world seems almost unassailable. Elizabeth has found her footing as the chatelaine of the great house. They have two fine sons, Fitzwilliam and Charles. Elizabeth’s sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live nearby; her father visits often; there is optimistic talk about the prospects of marriage for Darcy’s sister Georgiana. And preparations are under way for their much-anticipated annual autumn ball. Then, on the eve of the ball, the patrician idyll is shattered. A coach careens up the drive carrying Lydia, Elizabeth’s disgraced sister, who with her husband, the very dubious Wickham, has been banned from Pemberley. She stumbles out

Okay, the first order of business is congratulations to Jacky and Shelli, winners of the giveaway for e-copies of The Problem With Peggy. Happy reading! Next, we have one more week without a new story, because I'm attending the California School Board Assoc. annual conference this week, and haven't had time to write a story (I made a start, but have only about 1/3 of a story, about 30 minutes to bedtime Thursday night. Not happening. I'll finish it and use it next week!). Meanwhile, I'm learning lots to help me lead our school district, which is a pretty amazing thing to be able to do. So, as so often when I've no stories for you, I've gone into the archives for some photos to serve as a Friday distraction. And since a lot of us have been feeling like things are kind of tough the last few weeks, I picked out photos of things growing where you wouldn't think they could. Pioneers among the lava (Hawaii Volcanoes NP) Never underestimate the power of a plant! (

Today we are participating in another Great Escapes Free Book Tour, taking us to Portland, Oregon. Title: First Degree Mudder (A Pacific Northwest Mystery) 4th book in the series Author: Kate Dyer-Seeley Publisher: Kensington (November 29, 2016).  Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Source: ARC as participant in the free blog tour. ISBN-13: 978-1496705099 E-Book ASIN: B01CMGS41G Publisher's Synopsis: When a mud marathon champion bites the dust, Meg Reed has to go the distance to make sure a killer comes clean . . . Back home in Portland, Oregon, Meg is ready to take her career as an outdoor writer for Extreme magazine to the next level. Lesser journalists sling mud—Meg plans to run through it. To train hard for Mud, Sweat & Beers, an extreme 5K mud run, she’s signed on with the Mind Over Mudder team, run by ten-time mud marathon champ—and former drill sergeant—Billy the Tank. But when Meg finds her tenacious trainer dead in the locker room, she has a sinking feeling someon

It's here at last! Help yourself to the hors d'oeuvres, get a mug of hot cocoa (hey, this is a kids book! Stay out of the adult beverages!), and join the party. I got the box the day before Thanksgiving. The excitement of opening a whole box of my books never grows old. Stinky and Stinklet are excited there are now three books all about them. (Shh! I haven't told them that the books are mostly about the people of Skunk Corners). In honor of the great occasion, the skunks are hosting a special giveaway--the new ebook for two lucky winners! a Rafflecopter giveaway And for today only--contact us to purchase ANY of our books directly (signed!) and we'll pick up the shipping costs.    Purchase links: Kindle Paperback B&N Smashwords iTunes

The end is near! Well, the end of the official NaNo month, anyway. As we move into the final days, how are all of you NaNers doing? Still moaning with Thanksgiving excesses and too busy talking with relations to write, or picking up speed on the final sprint to 50,000 words and 3/4 of a draft? (Sorry to be a spoil sport, but unless you're writing middle grade fiction, 50K isn't a novel). As I expected, I slowed down a lot through the holidays as I was busy with cooking and talking, but I managed to write each day through our visit with relatives. I reduced my target to 1000 words, which is a little less than an hour's work if I've got a good idea where I'm going (that's getting harder--more on that in a moment). Currently my word count stands at 43,000. That's a little ahead of the amount needed to reach 50K by the 30th, at least if I bump my output back up to 2000 words daily. Two things are going to make it harder to pound out the pages the way I'd lik