Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

This is purely an eye candy post--I spent a couple of weeks in Maine with a friend back in October, some of the time on the coast, some at a cabin on Webb Lake near Blue Mountain State Park. I'm not going to try to make a narrative of this--just share a bunch of pretty pictures :) Leaving the smoke-filled lowlands of Puget Sound  The coast Near Brunswick, ME Warm enough to work outside! Christmas Cove, ME The Gulf side of Christmas Cove Damariscotta Pumpkin Festival Lily approved of the corgi pumpkin! Inland Classic Maine home with a glorious tree! Brunswick Commons Crystal Spring Farm open space, Brunswick Webb Lake Tumbledown Mountain Tumbledown Mountain and Webb Lake Fog on Web Lake from Blue Mountain State Park Hope you enjoyed this little excursion through the best season of the year!       ©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2023  As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated. Don't miss a post-- Follow us !  

  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 February 1 posting of the IWSG are  Jacqui Murray,   Ronel Janse van Vuuren,   Pat Garcia,  and  Gwen Gardner! Every month, our ...

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...