Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

The last couple of weeks I've been writing about the dayhikes of September. Today, we're strapping on the big packs and heading into the Cecil D. Andrus/White Clouds Wilderness, just across the road (as it were) from the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho. I did this hike with my brother-in-law  Tom, of Photoseek.com, where you can find far better photos than I take (and buy them)! (No, I don't get a commission, but yes, I am willing to shamelessly promote friends and relations). Day 1: A slow start We deliberately took our time on this day, double-checking our packing and enjoying a glorious breakfast at the camper (big thanks to Carol for doing most of the cooking!), then lunch, before we began the hour's drive to the TH. The turn-off was only a few minutes down the road, but the Fourth of July Creek road runs a long, gravel/dirt way into the mountains to give hikers a good start on the good stuff. Heading to Washington Lake, then on to Chamberlain Lakes Signs and maps offe

NaNoWriMo--National Novel Writing Month--is officially over, even for my extended goal, and I'm ready to reflect on the experience and the process. Goals: I set my goal to hit the 80,000-word norm for my novels by December 10.  The result: Edited Out turned out to be more like 74K, and even shorter in the quick-and-dirty draft that left out some things. I went back and added some missing scenes, then was left with the choice of "failing" or cheating. Reader, I cheated. I finished out the last few days with whatever other writing I had on hand to do, to make it up to 80K. Result: I have a very rough and rocky draft of the novel, some personal stuff that needed writing, and partial draft of a short story that may be the germ of the next Seffi Wardwell mystery. Win-win? Maybe. I also have a bit of burnout. Writing daily, and often writing a LOT each day, left me with a story I'm not sure how to continue and a desire not to look at any of it for a while. On the other han

I owe the author and publisher of Into Siberia an apology, as I apparently got this book through NetGalley, not from the library as I assumed by the time I got around to reading it. So I'm overdue with the review. Title: Into Siberia: George Kennan's Epic Journey Through the Brutal, Frozen Heart of Russia Author: Gregory J. Wallance Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2023. 304 pages. Source: Netgalley ARC Publisher's Blurb: In the late nineteenth century, close diplomatic relations existed between the United States and Russia. All that changed when George Kennan went to Siberia in 1885 to investigate the exile system and his eyes were opened to the brutality Russia was wielding to suppress dissent. Over ten months Kennan traveled eight thousand miles, mostly in horse-drawn carriages, sleighs or on horseback. He endured suffocating sandstorms in the summer and blizzards in the winter. His interviews with convicts and political exiles revealed how Russia ran on the

I haven't done a lot of flash fiction lately, but with the WEP closing down I came back from my non-participation (I wasn't getting the inspiration from the songs and movies, as well as moving away from so much flash fiction on the blog). I also thought I'd look in on the WritePhoto prompt at KL Caley's New2Writing, and that put me in mind of my on-going story about the Scots vs. Aliens. I'd kind of finished that, but decided a little wrapping up wouldn't hurt. It's not much of a story, but here it is. The WEP prompt is "Over to You," which is offered as freedom to write what we want, so I did, but am linking back for the farewell. The WritePhoto Challenge is issued each Thursday with posts to be up and shared by the following Tuesday. The prompt is, of course a photo: Photo credit KL Caley My story isn't particulalry related to the photo, even if it did start my mind going back to that castle where the Campbells began the rebellion. Here'

This is a big post, so fasten your seat belts!  First: This is IWSG day, so I have a short post to report out on NaNoWriMo.       Why? The IWSG is here to share and encourage, to offer a place for authors to admit their insecurities and offer help and support to each other. How? The official IWSG posting day is the first Wednesday of every month. Hop around the list and see who has worries, triumphs, and news to share.  Every month we have an optional question to spark discussion.  Our motto:  Let’s rock the neurotic writing world! Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. The awesome co-hosts for the December 6 posting of the IWSG are C. Lee McKenzie, JQ Rose, Jennifer Lane, and Jacqui Murray! Every month, we announce an optional question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. December 6 question: Book reviews are for the readers. When you leave a book review do yo

I picked up this book on a recommendation from Jemima Pett's blog, and found myself very much drawn into the world of the book (first in series).   Title: The Steerswoman Author: 
 Rosemary Kirstein Publication Info: Del Rey, 1989. 262 pages, Kindle Edition. Source: 

 Library Publisher’s Blurb: If you ask, she must answer. A steerswoman's knowledge is shared with any who request it; no steerswoman may refuse a question, and no steerswoman may answer with anything but the truth. And if she asks, you must answer. It is the other side of tradition's contract -- and if you refuse the question, or lie, no steerswoman will ever again answer even your most casual question. And so, the steerswomen — always seeking, always investigating — have gathered more and more knowledge about the world they traveled, and they share that knowledge freely. Until the day that the steerswoman Rowan begins asking innocent questions about one small, lovely, inexplicable object… Her discove

A couple of weeks ago I shared photos from the first stage of my September road-and-hiking trip, with several hikes in the Wallowa Mountains. From there, we moved on to Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains, an area I last hiked in (runs off to check records) 2007. We (I was traveling with my brother- and sister-in-law) had our eye on a 2-3 night hike in the White Cloud Mountains, but first needed to do a couple of dayhikes to adjust to the time zone and the altitude, which while not Sierra-like would put us over 9000' much of the time. Hike 1: Sawtooth Lake 10 miles, 1775' This hike is one of the Sawtooth "must see" hikes, and is well worth the effort. The entire hike is scenic, and though the climb is significant, it's seldom excessively steep. We started early with the short drive from our campsite, leaving the TH before 8 a.m. After a mile and a bit of very gradual climb in the forest, we briefly joined the Alpine Way trail and began to climb.   The advantage when th