Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

Today I have for you... a few shots of a the giant driving marathon I've been on this past week. I was sad to have to leave my new home almost as soon as the truck was unloaded, but Eldest Son needed help moving home with his newly-minted MA, and we needed to be in CA for my father-in-law's memorial gathering. So since last Saturday I have driven from Seattle to Boulder, CO, and back to California (still have to finish the loop back to Seattle). Along the (2500-mile) way I have managed to get in 2 things I could call a hike and a couple of walks. Here are a few highlights. This was either Montana or Wyoming. A roadside rest stop with full facilities for all users. One walk was at Vedauwoo Climbing Area in Wyoming. I meant to camp there, but the place wasn't open yet for the season. I did camp nearby, and woke to snow and then hail. I 80 was heavily fogged in. This shot is from my breakfast stop, after the fog thinned a bit. Managed to break away from the packing up (haven...

Just wanted to let you all know I am still here! I am in the depths of moving into my new home and have no internet yet, so no big posts.  The big news is, I finished my redraft and am ready to start revising! No further explanation needed for my silence, right?

Title: Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir by one of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII Author: Chester Nez with Judith Schiess Avila Publication Info: Paperback: Dutton Caliber, 2011, 296 pages. Original hardcover, 2011, Berkley Source: Purchased at the Grand Canyon! Publisher's Blurb: Although more than 400 Navajos served in the military during World War II as top-secret code talkers, even those fighting shoulder to shoulder with them were not told of their covert function. And, after the war, the Navajos were forbidden to speak of their service until 1968, when the code was finally declassified. Of the original twenty-nine Navajo code talkers, only two are still alive. Chester Nez is one of them. [Note: this was true as off 2011]. In this memoir, the eighty-nine-year-old Nez chronicles both his war years and his life growing up on the Checkerboard Area of the Navajo Reservation-the hard life that gave him the strength, both physical and mental, to become a Mar...

I'm back with the final set of photos from the Grand Canyon... thanks for your indulgence! (If you really like to drool over amazing rocks, the first three episodes are Into the Canyon , The Search for Chevaya Falls , and Rainbow Falls ). Our final day was the hike back out of the Canyon on the Bright Angel Trail, probably the most heavily traveled route in the whole canyon, and also probably the most engineered. There's a reason it's almost three miles farther than the South Kaibab, down which we came to start the trip. I was pleasantly surprised by both the easy grade and the morning shade over most of the route. Fearing a hot and exposed climb, I made another early start. Each of us left on our own schedules, so I hiked alone again. Heading to the Silver Bridge--the Bright Angel bridge--in the early light. This bridge also carried the pipe that moves water to the South Rim.  The same bridge from below, one year earlier. Taken on my raft trip April 2021 Once across the ...

My writing updates are starting to sound a bit like a broken record: still trying to wrap up the rewrite of A Coastal Corpse (unless it turns out to be Hydrangeas and Homicide ), still struggling, and still not finishing or submitting any new short stories. I'm working hard to cut myself some slack about this, given how much is going on in my life. Instead of talking about all that (though it might be a good little sermon about cutting ourselves some slack when life makes it hard to be a writer), let's talk about what to do when a plot point just won't come out right. All suggestions and opinions welcome. See, I'm still not happy with my vision for the end of the novel, even though part of the reason for the complete rewrite was to make that all just flow as smoothly as chocolate over the rollers in the Ghiradelli factory. (Can you tell I'm also largely off desserts?). At this point, I have two approaches I keep trying: 1. Just keep writing dreck and hope that the r...

  Title: Getting Near to Baby Author: Audrey Couloumbis Publication Info: 1999, Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. 211 pages in the original hardback. I read the ebook. Source: Library digital resources Publisher's Blurb: Willa Jo and Little Sister are up on the roof at Aunt Patty’s house. Willa Jo went up to watch the sunrise, and Little Sister followed, like she always does. But by mid-morning, they are still up on that roof, and soon it’s clear it wasn’t just the sunrise that brought them there. The trouble is, coming down would mean they’d have to explain, and they just can’t find the words.  This is a funny, sometimes heartbreaking, story about sisters, about grief, and about healing.  Two girls must come to terms with the death of their baby sister, their mother’s unshakable depression, and the ridiculously controlling aunt who takes them in and means well but just doesn’t understand children. Willa Jo has to try and make things right in their new hom...

I'm back with another set of photos from the Grand Canyon... thanks for your indulgence! (If you really like to drool over amazing rocks, the first two episodes are Into the Canyon and The Search for Chevaya Falls . The fourth is Back Out of the Canyon .). The attempt to see Chevaya Falls was our third day in the Canyon, and we followed it with a second night at Clear Creek. The fourth day, we moved camp to the Bright Angel Campground, next to Phantom Ranch.  Temperatures were heating up, so I made as early a start as possible, remembering both the 3-400' climb out of Clear Creek canyon and the long, fully exposed traverse back to the North Kaibab. Already up the big climb before first sun. Camp was down in the bottom where the cottonwoods are. Morning light. Collared lizard. Prickly pear in bloom. I was back in sight of the trail bridges by mid-morning. The Kaibab bridge--the Black Bridge--is clearly visible. The Silver Bridge (Bright Angel Trail) is barely discernible if you...

  I've been a wee bit distracted and almost missed the party, but fellow IWSG Anthology writer C.D. Gallant-King has just launched book two of his funny, goofy, YA Gale Harbour horror series. But better late than never, especially to a series with such great titles. Remember Book One? Psycho Hose Beast From Outer Space now has company in the strangest little town in Canada. Newfoundland, Canada, 1993.   It's been a year since a handful of kids defeated the Psycho Hose Beast in the sleepy town of Gale Harbour, Newfoundland. Our heroes have entered into the era of rollerblades, Super Nintendo and oversized plaid shirts… unless you’re a goth, then it’s the era of Maybelline eyeliner, boots with too many buckles, and infected safety-pin piercings.   Thirteen-year-old Niall O'Neil is navigating a blossoming relationship with his crush, Harper Jeddore. Unfortunately, the power that allowed them to defeat the monster from the deep is still within them,...

  What is the IWSG? Read on! 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 May 4 posting of the IWSG are Kim Elliott, Melissa Maygrove, Chemist Ken, Lee Lowery, and Nancy Gideon! Be sure you stop i...