Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

It took a little patience, but I was finally able to get the library's audiobook of Adam Shoalts' latest, Where the Falcon Flies , which won in the "Journeys" category of the 2024 National Outdoor Book Awards .  I have a bunch of others still on hold!   Title: Where the Falcon Flies: A 3,400 Kilometre Odyssey From My Doorstep to the Arctic Author: Adam Shoalts. Read by the author. Publication Info : Penguin Canada, 2023.  10 hours. Original hardcover by Allen Lane, 2023, 364 pages Source: Library Publisher's Blurb (via Goodreads): Looking out his porch window one spring morning, Adam Shoalts spotted a majestic peregrine falcon flying across the neighbouring fields near Lake Erie. Each spring, falcons migrate from southernmost Canada to remote arctic mountains. Grabbing his backpack and canoe, Shoalts resolved to follow the falcon’s route north on an astonishing 3,400-kilometre journey to the Arctic. Along the way, he faces a huge variety of challenges an...

Welcome back for another episode of "Rebecca Rocks Out." After 2 years, I returned to Dry Fork Coyote Wash and to Peekaboo Gulch, where I broke my foot in April 2023. No injuries this time! Well, except to my camera, which finally succumbed to all the desert sand and grit halfway through the hike. I'm glad that cell phones these days have great cameras, so the trip wasn't a photographic loss. We went on from Peekaboo to Spooky Gulch, an even narrower slot canyon, though not in my opinion as pretty a one.   The hike starts with a short walk to the edge of the canyon, then a long walk along the shelf atop the sandstone. Starting the hike. Two years ago we climbed into Peekaboo from the bottom of the wash, a climb that I don't like and can't do without help. This time we hiked up alongside the slot and dropped in from the top. A bit of a search located the place we climbed out after I broke my foot. It was a less obvious route than I remembered! From there we hea...

It's the first Wednesday, and time again for the Insecure Writers' Support Group post. I'm delighted to be a co-host this month.   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!   Don't forget you can post your link on the IWSG Facebook page !   Let’s rock the neurotic writing world! Our Twitter handle...

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.  I'm pretty sure I learned about this book from one of my fellow MMGM bloggers--they've been tipping me off to the best books lately. Wherever I learned about it, it struck the right note with me.   Title: Ollie in Between Author: Jess Callans Publication Info : April 2025, Feiwel & Friends. 225 pages (ebook) Source: Library Publisher's Blurb (via Goodreads): Puberty, AKA the ultimate biological predator, is driving a wedge between soon-to-be 13 year old Ollie Thompson and their lifelong friends. Too much of a girl for their neighborhood hockey team, but not girly enough for their boy-crazed BFF, Ollie doesn’t know where they fit. And their usual ability to camouflage? Woefully disrupted.When a school project asks them to write an essay on what it means t...

I've been there four times now, and probably shared photos each time, but I can never get too much of these twisting and narrow slot canyons. You'll have to put up with the repetition! In four visits, this was not only the first time the slot has been dry, but the first time it's had anything less than chest-deep pools of cold, murky water. It's more pleasant without the wet. A hike of just under 3 miles takes you into the wash and across to the opening to Zebra slot. A close eye on the weather is essential here--rain anywhere in the area could result in a flash flood through the slot, and that would be... bad. It would be bad, also, to do this in the heat of a summer day, as the climb back up to the car is hot and exposed. We found it so even at noon on a comparatively cool April day (the wind was no fun, either). Once, long ago, there were sand dunes. Zebra is a popular hike, so it's easy to follow the trail and the footprints to the opening.   On other visits, th...

After my lovely week plus in the canyons of Utah, I'm back at the computer, and finally taking the dive into the notes on my next Seffi Wardwell mystery, Edited Out. Things don't look too bad, but there is plenty of work to be done. I love hiking and scrambling around the canyons, but you know the best part of this trip? Little to no cell coverage, and thus a lovely news block-out. I know I can't keep my head in the sand all the time (hmm... given the stuff the winds were blowing around into faces, meals, etc. for a couple of days, that might be more literal than intended!), but a true break from all the scary news is a good thing sometimes! Since I was traveling with a couple of good friends, for once I didn't do a lick of work. I had my draft with me, and my laptop with a couple of other projects I could have messed with, but chose to be social, and just to read when we were hiding in our cars because the weather got... interesting! In other writer news, just before ...

A couple of weeks ago I offered my seniors' writing class a selection of wonky characters to work with, and nabbed a pair for myself. The following is the result, though I could see making some changes and turning it into a full-length short story (is that an oxymoron?) Among the Dunes “Damn!” Bargo let the air-cruiser coast toward the surface of the planet he’d come to pillage. Once again the blasted impulsion motor had cut out and he was about to be stranded… where? He pulled up his map and tried to figure that out. Somewhere in the middle of something called the “Mojave Desert.” His home planet had only one biome, the one inside the domes, so he wasn’t sure what that meant, but based on what he was seeing below him, it meant nothing good. He shifted to concentrate on landing in one piece, for all the good it might do him. The air-cruiser landed gently in one of the clear spaces, where he was pretty sure he’d not rip the belly out on the sharp rocks or po...