Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

A simultaneously slightly absurd and frightenly real story of WWII, for kids 8 and up.   Title: Island of Spies Author: Sheila Turnage Publication Info: Dial Books, 2022. 384 pages. Source: Library digital resources. Publisher's Blurb: Twelve-year-old Stick Lawson lives on Hatteras Island, North Carolina, where life moves steady as the tides, and mysteries abound as long as you look really hard for them. Stick and her friends Rain and Neb are good at looking hard. They call themselves the Dime Novel Kids. And the only thing Stick wants more than a paying case for them to solve is the respect that comes with it. But on Hatteras, the tides are changing. World War II looms, curious newcomers have appeared on the small island, and in the waters off its shores, a wartime menace lurks that will upend Stick's life and those of everyone she loves. The Dimes are about to face more mysteries than they ever could have wished for, and risk more than they ever could have imagi...

  I wrote the first few hundred words of this story a couple of weeks ago for the #WritePhoto challenge. I have since rewritten that and continued the story, so I'm including the whole 1950 words here--grab a cup of tea and relax with this double-sized flash fiction. These are the photos from KL Caley's WritePhoto page that set off the story. I didn't make the deadline, but go ahead and follow the link for other takes on the prompt.         At the Castle   I. Approach   Once, the entry to the castle must have shouted a large and inarguable “do not enter.” Moat, drawbridge, portcullis. With appropriate guards, it would keep out all but the most determined invaders.   There is one invader that no wall can protect against: time. The moat had long since filled itself in, the portcullis was rusted, and someone had built an all-too-solid bridge.   The new arrivals considered the antique pile and w...

Today we are back in the Alpine Lakes wilderness on a very special overnight pack trip I did in late September. Why special? Well, this was not only a return to a place I dayhiked 30 years ago and vowed to revisit on another fall day, but it was my first solo backpacking trip in nearly as long--since I married in 1994. More significantly, it was my first solo backpack since losing my husband. It was kind of a test, because solo hiking is something I need to be able to do, given how hard it is to find trail partners who are a good match. I've been doing some car-camping alone (in transit to places, for the most part), so I was pretty sure I'd be fine, and I was. Rachel, Rampart, and Lila Lakes The hike was a single night, about 5 1/2 miles in (and 2300' up) past Rachel Lake to Rampart Lakes. The big attraction is the fall color--mostly in the form of mountain blueberries and a couple of other bushes that turn pretty brilliant colors. The drive from Seattle is pretty short (a...

  Murder of Pearl: A Silverman Sisters Cozy Mystery (Pearl Party Cozy Mysteries) by Nellie H. Steele   About Murder of Pearl Murder of Pearl: A Silverman Sisters Cozy Mystery (Pearl Party Cozy Mysteries) Cozy Mystery 1st in Series Setting – Fictional estate of Willow Lake Estate A Novel Idea Publishing, LLC (October 21, 2022) Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 182 pages ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1951582780 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1951582784 Paperback ‏ : ‎ 202 pages ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1951582675 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1951582678 Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0B5Y497HD The world’s her oyster…until someone is stabbed with her shucking knife.   With a struggling pearl party business, sisters Kelly and Jodi Silverman are thrilled to land a weekend long jewelry party at a large estate. But the gothic house, complete with its weeping woman fountain, gives Kelly a bad vibe.   A nasty storm strands them at the spooky mansion. And when the birthday gal is found with Kelly’s shuckin...

It's time for this writer to check in with a progress report, and what I have to report is... less writing, more thinking. This state of affairs has been brought on by me having agreed to teach a class on novel writing at a local senior center. This in turn has forced me to do something I haven't done for a couple of decades: class prep. This turns out to be a good thing, on the whole. Yes, I'm using my writing time to prep for class. But what I'm really doing is thinking about aspects of creating a novel. This week, for example, I've been focused on character. For those of you with amazing memories, you may recall that character is exactly what has been giving me holy heck in the last novel, so this might be a good thing. At this point, I am realizing how much needs to be juggled in writing our characters: their voices. Their backstories. Their conflicts and motivations. Oh, yeah, and their physical descriptions, which I tend to more or less leave out, and is that ...

                                        Approach--photo by KL Caley Participating in the weekly #WritePhoto blog hop at KL Caley's New2Writing blog. Every Thursday a new photo prompt. Post stories, poems, whatever by the following Tuesday and link back to KL's page.   I may have taken some liberties with this castle, as I don't think the one in the photo backs up to water, but that's the way of things when you start writing! This one is about 630 words. Approach Once, the entry to the castle must have shouted a large and inarguable “do not enter.” Moat, drawbridge, portcullis. With appropriate guards, it would keep out all but the most determined invaders.   There is one invader that no wall can protect against: time. The moat had long since filled itself in, the portcullis was rusted, and someone had built a solid bridg...

This is a three-night backpack trip I did with my brother-in-law back in September, in Washington State's Alpine Lakes Wilderness. I had meant to do an additional two nights but that was when the Bolt Creek fire blew up and closed US 2 over the mountains--where I had intended to come out. I of course didn't know that at the time, but the sudden increase in smoke where we were and still more to the north where I wanted to go meant retreat was the right option. Day 1: Tuck and Robin Lakes  The hike in from the trailhead at Tucquala meadows (a good 3 hours from Seattle, more if the road hasn't been graded recently, but always fully passable to a Prius) to Robin lake is about 6 1/2 miles--and better than 3000' up. It's a stiff hike, in other words, with a full pack on a hot day (remember, I was carrying food for 5 days, and we weren't able to start hiking until late morning). The first several miles of trail is well-graded and climbs gradually past Hyas Lake,  then ...