9/12/07 -- I'm working these days with fine sandpaper. By that I mean that the changes to STORM MOUNTAIN are getting smaller, more in the realm of finishing touches. Well, actually that might be a bit of an exaggeration, giving the impression that...

8/28/07 -- Writing took a backseat this past week, being filled with preparations to take my youngest daughter, Amy, to college. Car crammed with her gear, we finally headed off for two days of orientation. Very exciting stuff, both for us as pare...

8/16/07 -- Slogging through the literary muck with a sleep deprived brain this afternoon. Fresh air is what I need. Think I'll go for bike ride downtown to run a few errands, then try again.Later: Hey, it worked! Writing is not just mental. The wh...

8/14/07 -- After several days of getting caught in the trap of over thinking my story (a tendency of mine, my wife, Debbie, tells me), I loosened up again and had a productive writing session today. My goal is to finish this rewrite of STORM MOUNT...

8/3/07 -- Photos below are from the previously mentioned crevasse adventure on Mt. Hood, the purpose of which -- besides a fun day in the high country -- was to help me with the crevasse rescue scenes in my book, STORM MOUNTAIN. The White River Gl...

7/27/07 -- After many frustrating weeks trying to ferret out why I can't access this blog, then hours sitting at my desk with the telephone to my ear, listening to musak while on hold with tech support, I have finally -- FINALLY -- gotten the bugs...

6/1/07 -- Early Wednesday I got a sudden gut hit that maybe I needed to spend even MORE time on character development in order to proceed with STORM MOUNTAIN. At first skeptical of my own intuition, I resisted. After all, hadn't I already spent to...

5/25/07 -- A big benchmark reached this past Tuesday: I am now done with author visits for the 2006-2007 school year. It all ended at Hayden Meadows Elementary in North Idaho, a wonderful school full of enthusiastic teachers and young writers. (An...

5/16/07 -- Trip report: Had a great weekend on Mt. Hood. Below is a photo of me after the steep hike up to the cabin. At 5,800 feet above sea level, there was still plenty of snow on the ground, at least five feet or so. The debris you can see on ...

5/11/07 -- I've had a productive week of writing, and now for the icing on the cake! Early tomorrow morning my wife, Debbie, and I leave for a trip into the backcountry of the Oregon Cascades. We'll drive from Corvallis to the north side of Mt. Ho...

5/9/07 -- Been working the last three days on STORM MOUNTAIN, particularly as it relates to the main character, Ben, and how he changes /grows during the course of the story. In "writer talk", this change/growth is called the character arc. To hel...

5/1/07 -- Whew! I'm back from a long trip speaking in schools in the Orlando area of Florida and in Greensboro-High Point, North Carolina. Great time in both states. Wonderful kids, and teachers, and librarians. On a personal level, of particular ...

4/10/07 -- Below is a photo of my office. I post it because I believe that where a person writes matters. For me, that means a space where I can organize all of my notes, have plenty of light, the equipment I need (gotta have my Mac), and privacy ...

4/5/07 -- A bit confused today on exactly how I to handle the two main characters falling into a crevasse in my novel, STORM MOUNTAIN, it was clear I needed to step back and look at the big picture. Once again I resorted to the following handy aid...

3/23/07 -- I'm back from school visits in Michigan. Great trip. Great teachers doing great things with kids. Nice to see.Been working this week on the first rewrite of STORM MOUNTAIN. Have made my way to chapter 6 and so far all is going well. I'd...

3/10/07 -- Back on February19th I reported in this journal a major shift in the plot of STORM MOUNTAIN. I didn't reveal it then (got to keep the reader guessing!), but it involved the death of one of the main characters. (Heavy stuff.) Since then ...

3/06/07 -- Started my first rewrite of STORM MOUNTAIN. On a whim I tried switching from the first-person present-tense I used in the first draft to third-person past-tense. For example, "I stare in complete and total confusion," became "He stared ...

2/28/07 -- The last few days I've been at work on what is generally referred to as "promotion." For me this means designing a mailer that officially announces the publication of my new novel, A TOUGH NUT TO CRACK. (I know, I know, it's been out si...

2/23/07 -- Yahoo! I've just finished the first draft of STORM MOUNTAIN, and it feels great. True, there is a TON of work to do: research, more character development, logistics, and many many rewrites. This draft is rough in the truest sense of the...

2/21/07 -- Yesterday morning I was reading the newspaper and saw an article that almost made me drop my coffee! I had known that there were climbers missing on Mt. Hood, here in Oregon. Now the headline read that, unlike the tragedy of December in...