Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

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.  Since this is Pride month, I'm focusing my MMGM book reviews on middle-grade books about sexual orientation and gender identity.  A note for those wondering if books like this are appropriate for middle-grade kids: 9-13 is exactly the age when kids are entering puberty and starting to think about love, sex, and increasingly, gender identity. That makes it exactly the age when they need books that openly address the things that happen in middle school besides using a locker and changing classrooms six times a day. If 10-year-olds are old enough to be thinking about kissing their girl/boy friends (and they are thinking about it, so... yeah), then they are old enough to read about it.   This week's book tells a story of first love from two perspectives.   T...

I got distracted this week and didn't finish editing the photos I meant to share today, so I'm giving you a story to read instead.  This is a story from the Ninja Librarian's world, written in 2013 for a flash fiction challenge requiring me to include a list of words. I used it as an excuse to give a voice to one of the secondary characters in  The Ninja Librarian , I think as I was working on or just as I published the second book in the series,  Return to Skunk Corners . Without further ado, here's Tess, of Two-Timin' Tess's Tavern with her take on the arrival of the Ninja Librarian in Skunk Corners.   Tess's Tale   Everyone knows Big Al, the chief storyteller of Skunk Corners. And Tom himself has had a thing or two to say from time to time, but in my opinion the time has come for some of us common folk of Skunk Corners to have a turn. So, Tess Noreen here, of Two-Timin' Tess's Tavern, to tell you how it was the day Ninja Tom ...

    Publisher's Blurb (Goodreads): Two kids join forces to save a dog . . . but wind up saving each other. Ash is no stranger to feeling like an outcast. For someone who cycles through genders, it’s a daily struggle to feel in control of how people perceive you. Some days Ash is undoubtedly girl, but other times, 100 percent guy. Daniel lacks control too—of his emotions. He’s been told he’s overly sensitive more times than he can count. He can’t help the way he is, and he sure wishes someone would accept him for it. So when Daniel’s big heart leads him to rescue a dog that’s about to be euthanized, he’s relieved to find Ash willing to help. The two bond over their four-legged secret. When they start catching feelings for each other, however, things go from cute to complicated. Daniel thinks Ash is all girl . . . what happens when he finds out there’s more to Ash’s story? With so much on the line—truth, identity, acceptance, and the life of an adorable pup named Ch...

I'm nearing the end of my photos from the April trip to Utah, but I still have a couple more posts' worth. After spending the early morning at the Devil's Garden , we headed into the town of Escalante for  snacks and  showers (about $9 with tax at the Escalante Outfitters, so one of my pricier showers but much overdue--as some will remember from my May IWSG post ). We promptly undid much of the effect of the showers by launching on a late-morning hike up the Escalante River to Escalante Arch and Cliff Ruins Arch. I usually avoid hiking in the desert at mid-day, but the trail was flat and promised at least some shade, so we went for it. Spoiler alert: it was hot. Overlooking the Escalante River. The line of trees following the curve of the cliff shows where the river runs. Cottonwoods and red cliffs. The Escalante River. The word "river" is an elastic term; in the desert things are "rivers" that in Western Washington would barely qualify as "streams...

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.  Since this is Pride month, I'm focusing my MMGM book reviews on middle-grade books about sexual orientation and gender identity.  A note for those wondering if books like this are appropriate for middle-grade kids: 9-13 is exactly the age when kids are entering puberty and starting to think about love, sex, and increasingly, gender identity. That makes it exactly the age when they need books that openly address the things that happen in middle school besides using a locker and changing classrooms six times a day. If 10-year-olds are old enough to be thinking about kissing their girl/boy friends (and they are thinking about it, so... yeah), then they are old enough to read about it.  Today I'm featuring two books by Kyle Lukoff that address similar issues in very...

The Devil's Garden is probably the most accessible bit of cool geology in the Grand Staircase-Escalante. There is a picnic area and outhouse, a quarter mile off the Hole-in-the-Rock road, and the bizarre sandstone formations start right by the parking lot. In a fairly thorough ramble of it all I covered about a mile, though I could have hung around playing among the towers and hollows much longer. Morning seemed like the best time to photograph the hoodoos, and I went twice for first-thing-in-the-morning photography before moving on to other things. The photos are all mixed up together. To prove the point about being right by the parking, here's the sign and the first set of hoodoos. Hoodoos like these are formed via a lot of erosion--but in places where there's a hard layer atop softer ones. That's all this English major is going to say about the geology, but I love the results. I think most of these formations have names, but I didn't pay much attention to that. T...

I know I just checked in with a writer's update last week for the IWSG, but when I'm editing, I need all the check-ins I can get. I think I'm making progress, and I fear I'm failing to see something huge. Big thanks to Jemima Pett for agreeing to take another look. I can always count on her to give it to me straight!   Back in April I reviewed Matt Haig's  The Comfort Book .  A wonderful friend saw it and gave me a hardback of it for my birthday. Inspiration from a piece called "It's Okay" "It's okay to be a mess... It's okay not to make the most of every chunk of time. It's okay to be who you are. It's okay."   As for the actual writing update... I'm making progress. That's the best I can say, but it's okay :)   Rebecca M. Douglass, 2025 As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated. 
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