I am Legolas, an elf prince of the Woodland Realm, patiently waiting for sunset and the arrival of tasty fireflies.
I was taken on a journey not unlike those in Tolkien’s tales. The humans packed for a trip of some complexity.
Kitten chow - check. Litter Dome of Excellence - check. Backpack to carry me around - check. Fuzzy balls and turquoise mouse - check.
I cannot fathom what this was about, although it involved countless humans on two-wheeled, pedal-propelled vehicles.
New hunting grounds appeared each evening for over a week. I learned of magnificent glowing, blinking bugs the humans called “lightning bugs” or “fireflies.” We do not have these in my home woodlands. The phenomenon was entirely to my liking. And my taste.
Legolas hunting in the wilds of Iowa.
The peak experience of the entire week was an evening in a camp where young human girls entertained me with a bubble-producing machine. They adored me, as is proper. Then the fireflies came out in the cool of dusk. The hunting was bountiful. I ate many of the glowing, airborne bugs. Quite spicy!
The arduous journey finally concluded with a return to my house. I must rest from my travels until a new adventure presents itself.
On the next-to-last day of RAGBRAI, Merida and Catherine are still smiling and speaking to each other.
No fiction writing was accomplished for over a week. My husband and I were part of a caravan of tents, RVs, trailers, and buses traveling from one Iowa town to the next. Entire tent cities and RV parking lots appeared overnight, only to vanish the next morning.
We were the Support Vehicle crew for team You may not rest now, there are monsters nearby. A long name for a team of two - Merida Bass and her husband Ron.
Merida and Ron ready to pedal to a new set of small Iowa towns.
If you want the entire story of the nearly 400-mile bicycle journey from the Missouri to the Mississippi Rivers across the state of Iowa, check out our RAGBRAI series starting with I Got Crop Dusted in Nebraska.
Crewing for an endurance event is challenging and exciting. As support crew, we did not have the same experience as Ron and Merida. But we did get to see an incredible slice of Iowa at the meeting and overnight towns.
Downtown Perry, Iowa
Leonard and I did ride bicycles a few times. Once was in the overnight town of Dyersville, where we rode into the countryside to see the movie set for Field of Dreams. Our puppy Strider learned it was less stressful to ride in his bicycle-drawn puppy-mobile than to negotiate the crowded streets under his own paw-power.
Will my RAGBRAI experience make it into my fiction? Perhaps. Although it is difficult to imagine capturing more than a tiny snippet of the week-long event.
Will I crew again, or perhaps even ride for part of the journey? Ask me after I’ve caught up on my laundry and sleep!
And now - back to reality with writing news.
While we were out of state for our RAGBRAI adventure, Merida learned that Grandpa’s New Year’s Relocation won the Colorado Authors League Award in the humor category!
Frayed Dreams and Broken Strands audiobooks are complete! The recordings are currently under review. Hopefully, they will be available in the next couple of weeks.
Book Three of the Ninja Grandparent Placement Mysteries is in the works! Granda’s Celtic Captivity will be here in 2026.
Catherine Dilts is working on re-issuing her Rose Creek Mystery books and completing the manuscript for the fourth title in the series. More information, coming soon!
Merida Bass is illustrating two new children’s book coming fall of 2026.
We will be sharing the stage with other local authors.
Saturday, August 15th
1:00 - 3:45 pm
Douglas County Library - Parker
20105 East Mainstreet, Parker, CO 80138
Douglas County Library in Parker, Colorado
Support small business and local authors in one big event!
Sunday, August 16th
Noon - 5:00 pm
3918 Maizeland Rd, Colorado Springs, CO
Basecamp Books and Adventure
Catherine and Merida are featured authors at the Mesa Verde Literary Festival!
Author Chat:
A Mother-Daughter Writing Team
Co-authoring sounds like a great way to “share the load” of creating a book manuscript. Half the work, double the fun. What is the reality of writing a book with a family member? Who does what, or are all tasks shared equally? How do you keep from killing each other when you disagree?
El Rio Cantina on the patio 9 to 9:50 AM
Author Panel:
2:45 PM to 4:00 PM Creating Villains and Monsters: Characters We Love to Hate
September 5, 2026
Mancos, CO
Basecamp Books and Adventure carries every current title by Catherine and/or Merida.
3918 Maizeland Rd, Colorado Springs, CO, United States, 80909
Basecamp Books and Adventure's Facebook
Hidden Gems (University Village Colorado Springs Location) also carries several of our titles.
5020 North Nevada Ave Suite 120, Colorado Springs, CO, United States, 80918
Escape Velocity Comics stocks children’s books illustrated by Merida Bass.
19 E Bijou St, Colorado Springs, CO, United States, 80903
Escape Velocity Comics' Facebook
Poor Richard’s Books and Gifts offers children’s books illustrated by Merida Bass.
320 - 324 1/2 North Tejon Street, Colorado Springs, CO, United States, 80903
Poor Richard's Books and Gifts
Catherine’s Website - https://catherinedilts.com/
Merida’s Website - https://merida-creates.com/
Catherine Dilts is the author of the Rose Creek Mystery series. Her short stories regularly appear in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. Recently retired from a career in environmental compliance, Catherine now writes fiction full time.
Catherine's Substack @catherinedilts
Merida Bass almost wasn’t an artist. Fear of criticism resulted in her teaching remedial algebra to unwilling college students. After ten years of torture, she grew a backbone and threw herself into art, writing, and training for endurance events.
Merida's Substack @meridacreates
This post is public so feel free to meow it out to the rest of the world.
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