If you ask a writer how to write a novel, you’ll hear a dozen different answers. From note cards to outlines. I tried them all and each time I felt bogged down, stuck. In fact, I got lost in the quagmire of paper. I felt like I was preparing for a full-scale invasion rather than writing a story. I kept hearing the words, “Just get it down.” I didn’t understand what that meant until I did it. Earlier this year…
I am a lot like my father. I didn’t realize it until today. In 1986, my father took pen to paper (literally) and wrote down one of the many bedtime stories we enjoyed as children. He painstakingly hand wrote, revised and edited, while my mother obligingly typed. Each revision, change and typed page was labeled and stored in a file folder. When polished, he mailed Mountain Adventure to publishers, only to receive rejections. So, the book was placed in a…