New Year: New Book Update!

Happy New Year! It is hard to believe that my last update was only three months ago. I hope that all of the holidays since then were good to you and yours! Much has happened in my writing world since we left off in October.

Let’s first tackle the obvious: No, I did not write (nor reach a total of) 50,000 words in November for the NaNoWriMo challenge I mentioned in my last update. However, I kept at it almost every single day and managed to more than double my word count.

That, to me, was quite an accomplishment! I’m learning that celebrating the little victories is very important in a writer’s life – or in anyone’s life, really.

My writing is also a little more organized since my last update. You may or may not be aware that I haven’t been writing the scenes of my book in chronological order. I look at my wall full of sticky notes with my scene ideas (my version of a book outline) and choose one to focus on that day. From the beginning, I have opened my book document in Microsoft Word, jumped to the last page, and then added a couple of blank lines with a set of hyphens (----) where I could start my new scene.

As you can imagine, that Word document was getting to be pretty messy by the time I hit 20,000 words or so.

I took some writing time to assign headings to my scenes and then to organize them into the order they will likely go in the book. The result was pretty magical. My book is really starting to look like a book! It has structure! Another small victory!

In other news, I have completed more research. My cousin, Denise, inherited a recipe book that Gram had made for Denise’s mother. Among the recipes, Gram related some events with the people and places in her life that happened to be from the same timeframe as the story I’m writing. Not only were those details helpful for book research, but also – and more importantly – what a family treasure! I didn’t know it existed until my cousin’s visit in October. (Thank you for sharing, Denise!) I made an electronic copy of the recipe book for myself and my family, so we could all delight together in Gram’s stories and recipes that are just “so Gram.”

In addition to learning more about Gram’s past from the source, I also had the pleasure of interviewing a former mayor of Masontown, where my grandmother had lived during the ’40s.

The former mayor, Kay, is 97 – about the age Gram would be today – and sharp as a tack. She welcomed my mom and me into her home, where she told us some personal stories about her childhood and her amazing path to being elected the first female mayor in the town’s history. She hopped in my car – ignoring her unbuckled seat belt warning bell until it finally stopped dinging – and took us on a tour around town. I had brought photos of Gram from the ’40s, and Kay was able to show us where some of them were taken. She also pointed out where my grandmother likely attended school as a child.

In addition to a local nonprofit, Kay had helped to found Masontown’s historical society, which had resources from the local bicentennial and sesquicentennial. She sent us home with copies of books from these events, which featured many historical photos.

So, Kay is my new hero. She’s just going about her life without realizing what a true #boss she is. Have you ever met someone – a stranger – who left you with an impression like that?

After leaving Kay’s house, my mom and I headed out to a neighboring area to see if we could identify Gram’s childhood home from the photos I had brought along. We drove around Gram’s old stomping grounds for a while without much luck. As we were heading out of town, though, we passed a place that gave us a “vibe.” I found a place to park the car, and we walked back along the busy road to get a closer look. I looked up the address online and found that the structure was built in 1920.

To me, the curve of the road, telephone poles, and structures in the background all seem to line up. But don’t take my word for it. Below are the photos from May 1943 and December 2022, so you can make your own comparison. (In the 1943 photo, that’s Gram with her brother-in-law, holding their babies. My uncle and his cousin were born on the same day!)

Whatever the case may be, it’s all a part of what’s turning out to be a pretty grand adventure. Every peek into Gram’s past helps me to feel closer to her and appreciate all the more what she was able to overcome in life. I just hope that comes through in the book!

Thank you for joining me for the ride. I hope big smiles come easily for you in the coming year, as you encounter your own wonderful experiences with friends and loved ones!

This cartoon, which I drew during some wintry weather, will hopefully get you started with those smiles:

Until next time,
Patty