A crooked bow or neat bow? Wrapping up the year.
A dozen or so snapshots from 2018.
Through life we have high years and low years, quiet years and boisterous years. Exhausting years. Amazing years. For me, most fall across that spectrum…each year is a hodgepodge of exhilarating, fun, draining, and emotion-filled. Does our year end like a holiday present wrapped with a crisp, clean bow? Or is that bow slapped on and frayed by the cat that chewed it?
Hmm…a bit of both? Here’s my 2018 wrap-up.
Professionally:
Wow. That is one word to describe this year for me as Writer Jean. My audio book for A Hundred Kisses released (on the heels of its print counterpart in 2017). I also signed three new contracts with The Wild Rose Press ((insert squeals of joy)):
The prequel to A Hundred Kisses (release date coming OH SO SOON in early 2019, along with cover art)!
My first women’s fiction novel will release also in early 2019. Again, blurb and cover art to come soon…
Lastly, my novella with the Deerbourne Inn series will release in early 2019 (see a pattern here? Oh how funny things can all happen at once!). Stop the presses! I have the cover art and blurb below. So exciting! Check back in March/April for a date. :)
I also was happy to publish two more travel stories with Outdoor Families Magazine this summer. Be on the lookout for another article in the new year.
What else am I up to? Well, I’ve been ping-ponging back and forth with my editor on the endless edits for the above three manuscripts. I am not lying when I say I read through each manuscript in full at least 5-10 times before it’s sent to my editor, and another 6-10 after. That is many, many words. And very tired eyes. Because I like math, I did the numbers. For a 350 page book, that is 7,000 pages and over 2 million words. So I kinda fell into the trench of words during the past 4-6 months while doing the edit shuffle with my amazing editor! I thank my friends and family for all their patience!
I’m also working on the third manuscript in the “Hundred” trilogy. It’s been a fun ride in 13th century Scotland and it will be fulfilling to wrap up my journey there next year. Of course, my creative muse won’t leave me alone, and I have more book ideas percolating…
Personally:
The fun stuff first:
A family trip to the Grand Southwest (Utah and Colorado) in the spring.
Annual visit to the lupine of Sugar Hill, NH and a trip up Mount Washington and in our favorite region in New England: Franconia Notch.
Our first camping trip with our sons in Baxter State Park, Maine. We love Maine, our second home it seems.
Whirlwind weekend in the lovely Green Mountains and Mad River Valley of Vermont (for research of course for the Deerbourne Inn novella!).
Our family enjoyed the great outdoors with kayaking, bicycling, hiking, and sailing.
Memories with friends and family and my new Twitter/writer groups.
Oh, and I turned 40!
The not-so-fun stuff that encourages me to grow and build resilience:
Loss of loved ones.
Parenting woes (who needs sleep, right?).
A bit of burnout.
And just some good ol’ personal struggles (I’m sure we all have one or two or ten we can plug in here).
And a bit of the random:
I saw a coyote cross my path on the my favorite farm road after dropping the children at school. And a buck (male deer) decided to also flank, then run in front of my car (thankfully with space so he was not harmed). I love where I live: where country meets suburbia.
My kids ditched the training wheels on their bikes!
My raspberry bush was a BEHEMOTH this year! So happy. Lots of jam-making this winter!
I discovered Skinnytaste and wow, her garlic knots are to die for.
I conquered my fear of NYC at the annual Writer’s Digest Conference (and had a great time).
Managed my first time as a Professor of Potions and Co-head of House at a Harry Potter-themed summer camp! (Exhausting & hot!)
Spent an unexpected 7 hours in the Dallas-FW airport and rode the high-speed tram around-and-around with my son.
Our cat was lost, then found!
Tried my hand at curling with the family. It’s way harder than it looks.
Snow, so much snow. But we shouldn’t expect otherwise in New England!
I was elected to the Library Board of Trustees for our town library.
So with gratitude, fulfillment, and a bit of the bitter-sweet, I tie my bow on a the present that was 2018. I welcome 2019. Bring on more highs and lows and life lessons!
Best to all and see you in the New Year.
Jean
The Perks of Research: Mad River Valley, Vermont
Ah, I love research and travel. Among my suggested list of ways to research (books, library/online research, in-person resources/interviews, museums, etc.), my favorite is to actually go to the source...to touch, smell, and breathe it. Living only 3 hours away from my next book's locale (central Vermont, in the quiet, rustic, gorgeous Mad River Valley), means one thing...road trip! The hubs and I planned a getaway with the kids north for Memorial Day weekend so I could do some hands-on research. And take time off from our busy schedules.
More familiar with the White Mountains in New Hampshire and the coastal towns and mountains of Maine, I now know why the Green Mountains are called such. Not only is Vermont a very "green" and environmentally-conscious state, it is in fact, quite green in late spring through summer. Granted, I'd visited Vermont once before to tackle a climb up Mt. Mansfield, but this time my goal was different: research. We planned a relaxing, low-expectations itinerary with plenty of down time.
Our explorations included visits to the historical, small towns of Waitsfield, Warren, and Iraville, and a few others along the way. No visit to Vermont would have been complete without a tour of Ben and Jerry's and cheese tasting at Cabot Creamery (yum!). Rounding out our trip: a 20-ft cliff jump into a water hole (brrr...I took the pictures and kept my shoes dry!), long country drives, waterfalls, and a climb up Mt. Stark. Note the mud in the fourth picture below...Vermont is known for it's 5th season in early spring, "Mud Season," and we got to experience the tail end of it.
Our days were filled with overcast skies, some sun, and rain, but that's to be expected over Memorial Day weekend in New England. The Warren Lodge was a splendid find! The courteous staff provided us with s'mores fixings and we enjoyed nightly fires by the Mad River while our kids went for a dunk (with clothes fully on -- why not? -- and also with bathing suits later once they realized they had them). It was a lovely respite from the daily grind of school projects, chores, and work assignments (okay, okay, I did do some writing over the weekend!).
Vermont Signatures:
Cows
Covered bridges
Green Mountains
Farms, meadows, long drives
Cheese, ice cream, chocolate
Rivers and waterfalls
Hikes or skiing
Rustic small towns
How do you actually do the research?
Well...
1. No matter what you do, make sure you have fun. Take in the moments and cherish them.
2. Take lots of photos!
3. Chat it up with locals - ask questions about anything! There are always stories to be heard, or some interesting facts only locals know.
4. Get trail maps, brochures, road/park maps, etc.
5. Visit places off the beaten path.
6. Observe people in their everyday routines (parks, restaurants, etc).
7. Eat the local cuisine.
Well, that's all from here! Hope you enjoy the photos, and always remember to follow your heart and have fun while on this ride called life. And when researching, take it all in...and write detailed notes.
P.S. We loved the Mad River Valley so much (and the Warren Lodge), we returned this year, too, and went toward the end of September, just when fall foliage was inching toward its peak. A few more photos to entice…
Fording Rivers
Last week Facebook nicely reminded me of a fond memory, that ironically, I’d already been thinking about that very week. Spooky ESP aside, the image was an exclamation point on a road sign in Mt. Aspiring National Park, in the Wanaka area of New Zealand. I’ll start with a disclaimer: we traveled to this jewel of a country (Middle Earth if you’d like to call it that) for our honeymoon over a dozen years ago and it is hands down my favorite place on earth (sorry, Scotland, you’re second place). But I digress. What’s interesting about this sign is that it’s an exclamation point! First, you laugh at the image and think what the what? Then you see the sheep photobomb (and laugh more).
Why the exclamation point?
Let’s start with how we got there. The drive to the Rob Roy Track was long, gravely, and a shakin’, window-nearly-breakin’ nauseating ride. There was no way to drive “just right”: fast, slow, in the tire ruts, or dodging holes…our car rumbled and roared on the 19-mile (30km) gravel road. The second challenge was alluded to by those lovely yellow signs. Fords in the road.
Yes, with our small rental car we needed to ford washed out parts of the road. Another disclaimer: we had asked a park ranger if the tiny rental car could handle the fords and she advised that it could. These were not little trickles of water. They were a foot deep, twenty feet in width, filled with rocks of all sizes, like your typical river. And we had to ford it over and over. I lost count. We probably crossed eight passes. Each time, I held onto the car for dear life while my husband drove us down, through the rocky, deep bottom, and back up the other side.
We were so busy crossing the river that I didn’t snag a photo of the fords!
How often in life are we living in the moment, crossing fords, and hurrying to the finish line (or to the next adventure)? We are so hyper-focused on the task that we don’t take a moment to enjoy the journey. Or at least to appreciate it. Certainly, we reminisce in happy fondness later.
But what do we do during those times?
Sometimes we survive. We wake up, do the daily grind (whatever it may be: careers, parenting, caregiving for a loved one, going to school…the list is infinite). Some nights, we crawl into bed, achy and beaten by the day.
Sometimes we live. We cherish those moments like enjoying a great cup of coffee at sunrise, strengthening muscle while paddling a lake, listening to the laughter of our kids building Lego structures, conversing with a good friend or partner, or writing a new scene in a manuscript with sweet abandon!
And sometimes we doubt. On our trek in New Zealand, we questioned that road, those fords, even the track itself: can we make it? Should we keep going?
While on that bumpy-ford-crossing-will-we-ever-get-there road, my husband and I took in the magnificent glacial valley scenery: slender trees lined up like lollipops, cows and a million sheep nibbling on grass, tall cascading waterfalls, blue sky, puffy clouds, and sweeping mountainsides.
When we reached the trail head, we were exhilarated to have made it through the cumbersome, scary, nerve-wracking, beautiful, amazing journey there. But the journey wasn’t finished yet. First a rain shower hit, and we took cover (it was spring after all). Then we donned our packs and huffed up the mountain trail to even greater views of the valley. “Oh, look, swing bridges!” my husband exclaimed. My stomach didn’t match his excitement. But I made it across. The reward at the end of the trail: the Rob Roy Glacier.
But truly, the real reward was the journey it took to get there.
Would we do it again?
Of course!
p.s. There will likely be more travel adventure posts coming from me because this gal loves to travel, photograph, and write all about it! And you betcha’ I have many misadventures to share, too!
Going Berserk: Research!
This week I delved into the definition of berserk. Sure, I knew that it meant going a little crazy. I guess I never knew that it originated from the Vikings until I happened upon it in a book and online. A few clicks and turns of the page, and I read some fascinating articles by experts in the psychology field.
What does Merriam-Webster define it as?
Berserk(er): an ancient Scandinavian warrior frenzied in battle and held to be invulnerable
Old Norse berserkr, probably from ber-bear + serkr shirt
First known use was 1800. [ahem: I can’t refer to this elite frenzied warrior sect of the Vikings by that name in my circa 1300’s manuscript unless I can verify its use that early]
While I was on the berserker bandwagon, I also enjoyed (yet again) researching a variety of Scottish and Norse swear words. These are the things research for novels are made of. :) It can be entertaining…and time-consuming. Certainly I do my fair share of research for historicals, but contemporary novels also require a bit of digging for accuracy and authenticity. Writers submerge themselves in their worlds, and research is one powerful way to achieve such immersion. Sometimes I do the research up front, but usually, I find myself veering off the word-count train to look up a medieval remedy for fevers, to figure out if cork or stained glass was available in 1263, to find that perfect curse word, to read about the legends of the Kintail mountains, or to unveil the Norse wolf god Fenrir's story… and, and, and…. :) The list is long. Everything from minor to major…requires some level of research. And I am a bit of a research junkie.
What are my go-to methods for research?
Travel! Explore the location if possible. Be it a small seaside Maine town or the grand castles of the Scottish Highlands, nothing replaces being there, breathing the salty air along a bustling fishing dock, listening to the rustle of trees in an ancient wood, touching the crumbling stones of a grand keep, or observing the patterns of guards flowing in an out of an army base.
Museums: When you can’t get to the location, museums are a great place to find information, see relevant period pieces (furniture, tools, art representing time periods/clothes/culture, weapons, etc.). Also, museum curators and employees usually LOVE to talk about the displays or may share anecdotes not typically found on the information plaques. A recent museum visit to look at dinosaur fossils and geologic specimens was such a delight (granted, I’m not writing any prehistorical novels) as the curator (I think a geology college student) regaled us with lots of information not found on the displays about the collections. This past spring I visited Mystic, CT where the Draken Harald Hårfagre, a reconstructed authentic Viking ship, was being housed. I walked on it, touched it, and asked questions (like why in heavens are there rocks in the hold below the wooden deck? - Answer: they needed to toss anything in there to give it the weight/balance it needed. Insert my college physics that I aced but still don't understand). It was an amazing experience. Lots of oh's and ah's.
Merriam-Webster or other etymology websites: Words have different meaning and usages among time periods and cultures. This website also allows me to know when a word first came about, so if it’s too modern, the phrase/word must go if I am writing a historical novel. Researching slang words and idioms is also quite enlightening!
Websites: Wikipedia is an okay start but I always expand to other websites since Wikipedia is not always accurate or validated. I recommend starting there and then branching off to other reliable website sources. Double check. Find a fact and you’re unsure about? Hop around on the ‘net and verify it. Find academic articles or primary sources. We all have our favorite websites. I will not lie when I say that Mapquest or Google Earth are close seconds to Merriam-Webster. Again, they are stepping stones to lead me to other more time/area-specific mapping resources.
Libraries: Ah, books. Nothing can beat a book. I have so many favorites, and even though I’ve been knee deep in medieval Scotland for years and consider myself adequately knowledgeable, I still fall back on books. There is always room in my library for another book on lore, customs, clans, names, or life in a medieval castle. This time around as I write the prequel to A Hundred Kisses, I added in Viking and old Norse books and they are absolutely fascinating! Librarians are a great asset, too. Like the museum curators, they are filled with hidden knowledge.
In person/interviews or experts: Know somebody from the region you're researching or who has expertise in a specific area? They’d probably be more than happy to answer your questions. Network. Connect. Put fishing poles out on social media. I bet you have a lot of friends and family who are experts in something you need help on. My graduate school thesis adviser and my editor are both from Scotland, so I asked them a few questions about words/phrases. I have a friend who knows all about horses, so she is my horse expert go-to. My father-in-law is an avid sailor who crossed the Atlantic Ocean solo in a sailboat (at the age of 70...yes, that's a story in its own!). I have friends in recovery who know about addiction (applicable to a character I’ve written). I’m a parent of a special needs child. I have relatives who are/were in the military. I connected with authors who live in an area of the country I’ve never traveled to but need to know about for a novel. The list goes on and on. People are a great resource!