Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

How's it going, NaNers? If you're doing NaNo, drop me a note, and let me know how it's working for you, or find me on the NaNo site as Rebecca Douglass if you want to buddy up. However much or little you're writing, it's all good--and probably more than you would without NaNo. I'll cheer you on if you are a rebel or a rule-follower. I kind of messed up when I set up my project, and set the goal for the entire 80K that it takes to actually make up a novel in my genre (cozy mystery), so it's a bit of a stretch for me to hit the target every day (to say the least). I didn't really mean to do that, since I have every intention of pushing the writing on through December 3, at least--I'm going to be at the Hypatia-in-the-Woods Holly House artist's residency until then. I figure the residency will be a time when I don't have a lot to do besides write, especially if the weather stinks, so I can catch up while I'm there. Meanwhile, though, the wri

Photo by KL Caley Posting for the weekly #WritePhoto challenge by KL Caley at New2Writing.com.  Read all about it and join in at the WritePhoto site.   This is a sort of continuation of September's story about the tractor in a field, and is a very short 330-odd words, since I'm working hard at hitting my ambitious NaNoWriMo goals and haven't time for additional short stories!   Farmer's Revolt, Part II Matt watched his sister drive the tractor off into the fog. Dad had reamed her out over cutting the hay in sweeping curves instead of neat lines, so she was keeping right to the path. Dad hadn’t taken away the tractor, though. Jane Amelia still got to drive it most of the time, while he, Matt had to drive the hay rake, or, worse, get down and pick rocks from the field, which was today’s job.   How could a field that had been farmed for as long as this one still have rocks poking up all the time? And why couldn’t he drive the trac

I've been running a series of photo posts of my summer's European travels in company with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. Last week I finished the section on hiking the Tour de Mt. Blanc (see series:  Part 1    Part 2     Part 3    Part 4   Part 5   Part 6 ) (or go here to search all my photo posts). Between the TMB and our second long hike of about 2/3 of the Via Alpina , or Swiss Alpine Pass route, we spent 4 nights/3 days in Saas Fee for recovery and further exploration. The trip from Chamonix to Saas Fee was a scenic tour in itself, as we first took the small mountain train up the Chamonix valley (valley of the Arve river) to the border, then transferred to a Swiss train (which switched between regular rail and cog rail depending on the grade) to drop into the Rhone valley at Martigny. Cool mural as we entered the station at Martigny. From there it was another train down the pretty valley, then a bus up into the mountains once more. Saas Fee is one valley over fr

  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 for the October 5 posting of the IWSG are  Diedre Knight, Douglas Thomas Greening, Nick Wilford , and Diane Burton ! Be sure you drop in on them and see what t

Image by KL Kaley   Posting for the weekly #WritePhoto challenge by KL Caley at New2Writing.com.  Read all about it and join in at the WritePhoto site. I'm cheating this time, and reusing a story from 2016. It's kind of a nice Halloweenish tale, and I'm still kind of jet-lagged and couldn't come up with a new one. Besides, I like this tale. 1000 words. The Enchanted Blasted Forest The Enchanted Forest is a punishment post, but never mind what we did to get sent there. They have to man the post, and soldiers don’t last long there, so you don’t have to do much to end up there. About half of those sent never even arrive.   There were six of us, and when the road entered the blasted Forest we divided up the watch. Tomo watched left, Martin right, Jock ahead, Kora behind, Shea overhead, and I was back-up to them all, scanning every direction as thoroughly as I could.   The monsters weren’t bold. If Shea called out “harpy overhead!” we’d all rais

  Check here for the previous posts in this series:  Part 1    Part 2     Part 3    Part 4   Part 5   TMB Day 8: Champex-Lac to Col la Forclaz, via Fenetre d'Arpette This was another day for us to split the party. My companions had done the Fenetre d'Arpette several years before on another trip, and encouraged me to do it but showed no desire to repeat the trip (for reasons that became clear to me). As a result, we split up not long after leaving our hotel in Champex-Lac, though I can't say I was hiking alone. I'm guessing more than half of TMB hikers on that day chose the higher and harder route. Though there were stretches where I enjoyed a little solitude, they never lasted long.   Dawn from the hotel balcony. We headed out at the usual time--about 8 a.m. I walked with my companions to the edge of town, then said goodbye and headed up the mountain alongside a tumbling mountain creek. Can't seem to find a name for the creek, but it was a pretty mountain cascade