Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer's Support Group day. Members post on our blogs, discussing our doubts and fears, struggles and triumphs. We visit each other and offer a word of encouragement for those who are struggling, or cheer for those with a success to celebrate.  Today's the day--Let's rock the neurotic writing world! The awesome co-hosts for the March 3 posting of the IWSG are Sarah - The Faux Fountain Pen   Jacqui Murray ,  Chemist Ken ,  Victoria Marie Lees ,  Natalie Aguirre , and  JQ Rose ! Each month we have an optional question to start the discussion. The March 3 question is: Everyone has a favorite genre or genres to write. But what about reading preferences? Do you read widely or only within the genre(s) you create stories for? What motivates your reading choice(s)? Before I get on with answering the question, time to report on progress!   Thanks to support from my friends, I expect to finish edits on Death By Donut this wee

  Title: This Time Next Year We'll Be Laughing: A Memoir Author: Jacqueline Winspear. Read by the author. Publication Info: Audible Audio, 2020; 10 hours.   Hardcover Soho Press, 2020. 303 pages. Source: Library Digital Resources Publisher’s Blurb: After sixteen novels, Jacqueline Winspear has taken the bold step of turning to memoir, revealing the hardships and joys of her family history. Both shockingly frank and deftly restrained, her memoir tackles such difficult, poignant, and fascinating family memories as her paternal grandfather's shellshock, her mother's evacuation from London during the Blitz; her soft-spoken animal-loving father's torturous assignment to an explosives team during WWII; her parents’ years living with Romani Gypsies; and Jacqueline’s own childhood working on farms in rural Kent, capturing her ties to the land and her dream of being a writer at its very inception. An eye-opening and heartfelt portrayal of a post-War England we rarely

A year ago I was in Patagonia with my husband and brother-in-law. Part of our trip was a 10-day road trip through Argentina and Chile. I wrote about the early parts of that trip here and here . The center of the trip was Patagonia National Park of Chile, not so very far from the southern terminus of the Carretera Austral. Many of these photos are by Dave Dempsey. Entering the park. Tom and I are rearranging the car in the background, to make room for one of the hitch-hikers hoping for a lift to the campground. The Parque Nacional Patagonia has at its core the Chacabuco Valley, until recently one of the region's largest sheep ranches. It was purchased in 2004 by Kris and Doug Tompkins, to be re-wilded, then turned into a park under the control of the Chilean government. Doug Tompkins didn't live to see his dream fulfilled, but did get things well under way. His widow eventually negotiated the creation of five Chilean national parks through the-profit conservancy that owned the

  Spring Upon a Crime (A Seattle Wilderness Mystery) by ML Erdahl About Spring Upon A Crime   Spring Upon a Crime (A Seattle Wilderness Mystery)   Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series   Publisher: Wild Rose Press (January 13, 2021)   Paperback: 294 pages   ISBN-10: 1509234608   ISBN-13: 978-1509234608   Digital ASIN: B08P87F6J1   Wilderness guide Crystal Rainey leads a group of college students to a private campground amidst the awe-inspiring Olympic Rain Forest. The excursion is ruined when the charming hostess Roxie is discovered standing over the land owner's body, murder weapon in hand. Enlisted to investigate the crime to absolve her friend, Crystal descends on the quiet city of Forks to find loggers, developers, and eco-protesters circling the property, intent on either exploiting or protecting the bastion of old-growth forest. The list of suspects is intimidating. Can Crystal find answers in a community determined to keep her in the dark?   My Review: I have to say it: this book wa

    What could be more appropriate for Valentine month than Gustav Klimt’s   The Kiss ? This shimmery, early 20 th  century painting of a couple embracing in a patch of wildflowers has riveted art afficionados  across the world for decades. Use this amazing painting to kick off  a romantic love story of star crossed lovers. Or maybe a much married pair who’ve been together for years. Of unrequited or lost love. Or any love of the other gazillion types. For unValentinish souls, remember that there are kisses other than romantic ones.  The kiss of life, the kiss of death, the kiss of betrayal, the angels’ kiss in spring. The mystical thousand ways of kneeling and kissing the ground. One golden artwork, a zillion directions to go. Pick yours and run with it. We’re cheering for you. And can't wait to see what you come up with! That's the February challenge. And this is my response. I struggled a bit, until I remembered something my boys told me about their experience at 5

  Title: Record of a Spaceborn Few Author: Becky Chambers. Read by Rachel Dulude Publication Info: Harper Audio, 2018 11 hours 41 minutes. First published by Hodder and Stoughton, 2018. 359 pages. Source: Library digital resources   Publisher’s Blurb: Brimming with Chambers' signature blend of heart-warming character relationships and dazzling adventure, Record of a Spaceborn few is the third standalone installment of the Wayfarers series, set in the sprawling universe of the Galactic Commons, and following a new motley crew on a journey to another corner corner of the cosmos—one often mentioned, but not yet explored. Return to the sprawling universe of the Galactic Commons, as humans, artificial intelligence, aliens, and some beings yet undiscovered explore what it means to be a community in this exciting third adventure in the acclaimed and multi-award-nominated science fiction Wayfarers series, brimming with heartwarming characters and dazzling space adventure. Hundred