Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

I've been doing a lot of reports on my progress with the novel or the story collections. Mostly it's been all editing, all the time lately, so I thought I must surely have something to share about editing.  My current editing stage is line edits. That is, I think I've fixed the issues with the story, and now I'm trying to make the writing as good as I possibly can. I have several stages for that process, too, and I'm still not quite sure what the best order is. I'll share in the order I'm tackling them for this book. 1. My 'words to watch' list. I have a list of 17 words or constructs that I overuse/abuse, or that are just plain weak writing. I'm nearly through the list, and I have to say, it feels good to replace passive forms like "I realized" with active and immediate descriptions. I've decided that when I write the drafts, certain words and phrases get dumped in as sort of place holders, which then have to be located and replace...

  Title: Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President Author: Candice Millard. Read by Paul Michael Publication Info: Random House Audio, 2011; 9 hours 47 minutes. Original by Doubleday, 2011, 339 pages Source: Library digital resources Goodreads Blurb: James A. Garfield was one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president. Born into abject poverty, he rose to become a wunderkind scholar, a Civil War hero, and a renowned and admired reformist congressman. Nominated for president against his will, he engaged in a fierce battle with the corrupt political establishment. But four months after his inauguration, a deranged office seeker tracked Garfield down and shot him in the back. But the shot didn’t kill Garfield. The drama of what hap­pened subsequently is a powerful story of a nation in tur­moil. The unhinged assassin’s half-delivered strike shattered the fragile national mood of a country so recently fractured by civil war, ...

  It's the first Wednesday of the month, and that means it's time for the wonderful people of the Insecure Writer's Support Group to come together!  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!  Each month we have an optional question, meant to spark a post or a discussion. This month's is, Blogging is often more than just...

  Title: Finders Keepers: A Tale of Archaeological Plunder and Obsession Author: Craig Childs. Read by the author. Publication Info: Hachette Audio 2018. Hardback: Little, Brown & Co. 2010 (288 pages) Source: Library digital resources Publisher’s Blurb: To whom does the past belong? Is the archeologist who discovers a lost tomb a sort of hero--or a villain? If someone steals a relic from a museum and returns it to the ruin it came from, is she a thief? Written in his trademark lyrical style, Craig Childs's riveting new book is a ghost story--an intense, impassioned investigation into the nature of the past and the things we leave behind. We visit lonesome desert canyons and fancy Fifth Avenue art galleries, journey throughout the Americas, Asia, the past and the present. The result is a brilliant book about man and nature, remnants and memory, a dashing tale of crime and detection.  My Review: I'm a fan of Craig Childs for the above-mentioned "trademark lyrica...

This post is from 2015, but the retrospective photos date back, in at least some cases, to 1998 when our first-born was a toddler. The message still seems completely relevant. Maybe I should do a second edition, showing our boys as teens and now adults, enjoying the outdoors with the family. (Oh, and yes, I know this Friday post is on Saturday. I consider knowing what day of the week it is a triumph!) [Apparently I'd made some kind of plan to spiff up the blog, something I do on a regular basis--make the plans, that is, not necessarily carry them through] In keeping with my new blog plan, instead of a book review, today I'm doing a sort of a trip review...a few shots of the kids enjoying the outdoors through the years, in hopes of reminding folks that there's no gift for the kids like taking them outside. I apologize for some of the photos--many of these pre-date our digital photography, and not all the scans turned out well. Start them right from the beginning. Rememb...

I'm exited to have Chrys Fey here today to talk about her new book, #6 in the "Disaster Crimes" series. She's shared some background on the book and other important news! Here's the beautiful cover to start with: Here's what I asked Chrys: Why did you give Disaster Crimes Book 6 a different title from the rest of the series ( Hurricane Crimes , Seismic Crimes , etc.)? Chrys Fey’s Answer: Book 6 of the Disaster Crimes series is titled A Fighting Chance because it’s featuring a different couple than the previous 5 books and it can be read as a standalone. Thorn and Amanda are the main characters in A Fighting Chance . The previous (unlucky) couple was Beth and Donovan, whom we followed from Hurricane Crimes (Book 1) to Frozen Crimes (Book 5). With a different couple as the focus, I didn’t want to continue the title trend by having the word “Crimes” paired with a word for the disaster that takes place. If I were to do that, readers could...

In February 2020--remember those days when we could still travel and move about?--my husband, brother-in-law, and I traveled through Patagonia. I'm starting to be able to go through those photos again and share some. I have used more of my husband's photos than I have in the past, in part because they are better than mine, and in part so that his talent can be shared. One of our early stops on an 11-day, 1600-mile road trip on both sides of the Chile-Argentina border, was the Cueva de Las Manos (Cave of the Hands), a UNESCO World Heritage Site established in 1999. In a canyon carved by the Rio Pinturas into the basalt, a lengthy section of overhang (not really a cave) is covered with thousands of pictographs, primarily the silhouettes of hands. The drive down Argentina's Ruta 40 over the Patagonia steppe felt a lot like driving minor backroads through the US Southwest. At least it, unlike the 17-miles road to the cave, was mostly paved (though we learned to read at least th...