Welcome to Munsonville: The People, Places, and Things of the BryonySeries

What a project this book turned out to be!

It was a good idea, long over-needed, and definitely as tedious as writing a dictionary.

And it was the book that just wouldn't end. 

I'd look over my notes and find another entry I'd missed (and then another and then another).

Rebekah is still tweaking the cover. For instance, it's still missing Jennifer Wainwright's credit for her gorgeous pen and ink aerial illustration of Munsonville's Main Street.

Still, it's now very possible that copies will be available at WriteOn Joliet's anthology release party on Dec. 7. 

Here are four random sample references of the listings in the book's nearly three hundred pages.

Snowshoe hares: A real nocturnal hare with large hind feet that changes color during the year – brown in summer and white in winter. Mentioned in “Before The Blood: Bryony Simons.”

Sole: A small flat fish with a firm texture and mild “non-fishy” taste. Briefly discussed as a menu item in “Before The Blood: Henry Matthews.”

Sommersonnenwende: A real German word meaning summer solstice. Kellen attends a summer solstice picknick in honor of St. John the Baptist in “Before The Blood: Kellen Wechsler.”

Song of Roland: A real eleventh-century chanson de geste (song of heroic deeds), author unknown, about a military leader named Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in AD 778, during King Charlemagne’s reign. Possibly France’s oldest epic poem or work of literature. Henry reads a portion in “Before The Blood: Henry Matthews.”

At any rate, I'm feeling rather accomplished this morning. And as you move through your day, I hope the projects you tackle lead you to that same good feeling.

Have a terrific Thursday!

Recap of 2023 At-Home Writing Retreat

The writing project for my at-home 2023 writing retreat really was as tedious as writing a dictionary.

I've been working on a guidebook for the BryonySeries called "Welcome to Munsonville: The People, Places, and Things of the BryonySeries." I have a screenshot below, so you can see what I mean.

It took many months to enter all the people, places, and things. So I had barely started writing the "people" descriptions when the retreat started.

My goal was to complete the book, an impossible task, but I embarked upon it anyway.

It probably didn't help that I also had two doctor appointments, one meeting two events, one concert, a three-hour Zoom call with a family member, a WriteOn Joliet Zoom meeting, and several hours on two separate occasions with Rebekah as we ploughed through medical bills and caught up on BryonySeries accounts all happening in the same week.

Not exactly a full writing retreat. But as much of a writing retreat as I could manage for this year.

We did ignore the housework until Sunday. And then we spent several hours catching up.

Still, with all that in the background, I did manage to complete "people" and "places." I am now working on "things," the largest section but with the one with the least cross references. 

I'm readjusting my expectations that I can complete this book, including the time needed for actual production, in time for the holidays. But we shall see.

With 2023 being a year of the unexpected, with many of the "unexpectedness" being difficult and challenging, the year just might surprise me in a good way.

We shall see.

In the meantime, I have "Karla Joins In" to copyedit this week.

Or, at least, that is the current plan.

Have a great Tuesday!

Virtual Writing Retreat 2023

Five years ago, I took my first at-home writing retreat when airfare to North Carolina skyrocketed and Rebekah and I decide to forego a trip to visit Sarah.

Although I missed seeing family, I accomplished quite a bit of BryonySeries writing (I was finishing up a draft of the fifth installment of Before The Blood at the time). 

However, my at-home writing retreats are intense and hyper-focused almost to grueling. So the enjoyment is not in the moment but satisfying in the amount of words completed.

So now I try to take an at-home writing retreat once a year. 

This year's writing retreat starts Saturday morning and runs through next week and the following Sunday afternoon, whereupon, I will return to reality and tackle some homework.

Among the retreating, I will tell a story on October 18, lead a WriteOn Joliet Zoom meeting on October 19, and participate in a local author expo on October 21.

Otherwise, I will be less present to the world and respond to messages very slowly.

The goal is to complete (or come very, very close) to completing the BryonySeries guidebook by the end of the retreat.

But I am a long, long way from home right now (cue Foreigner).

Wish me luck!

As Tedious as Writing a Dictionary

Our family's experienced a rough twelve months.

We lost Frances in August 2022, my father in January 2023, Ron in May 2023, and we lost Theodora, my great-niece Evelyn Celeste in her second trimester, a step-grandson (Dhane), and Cindy lost her father, too.

Rebekah also lost her car when someone totaled it while she was sitting at a red light. And I've had two separate overnight stays in the hospital this month, along with two weeks of daily trips to the infusion center.

So I entered my first vacation week of the year behind in life things and needing a nice long break. 

I had considered taking a writing retreat during this time. But, honestly, I didn't want to focus that hard. 

So how have I spent the time?

I've been catching up on sleep, odd bits of "life" chores that kept getting pushed aside all these weary months, and working on the BryonySeries guidebook that I hope to have available at WriteOn Joliet's anthology release party on December 7.

The guidebook is called, Welcome to Munsonville: The People, Places and Things of the BryonySeries, and I started compiling it last year.

It has an introduction and three sections: people, places, and things. Each section has the appropriate entries with brief descriptions (no spoilers) and which book(s) the reference appears.

Here's an example:

"The Fish and the Ring": An English fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in English Fairy Tales. Appears in “Before The Blood: Bryony Marseilles.”

The Fisherman and His Wife: Folk tale by the Brothers Grimm about the perils of greed and discontentment. Appears in “Before The Blood: Bryony Marseilles.”

The Girl I Left Behind Me: An old English folk song. Because a U.S. Army marching son during the War of 1812. Starts with the lyrics, “I'm lonesome since I crossed the hill, and over the moor that's sedgy.” Appears in Before The Blood: Bryony Marseilles” and “Before the Blood” Bryony Simons.”

The Green-Headed League: A parody title of the Sherlock Holmes short story "The Red-Headed League" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Appears in “Cornell Dyer and the Howls of Basketville.”

The Green Lady: Folktale from Hertfordshire. A poor girl finds work with a fairy and is warned by the fishes not to eat her food. Appears in “Lycanthropic Summer.”

The Eleventh Commandment and other Tales: Fictional book of short mystery stories by Harold Masters. Appears in “Bryony.”

The Hieroglyphics of Horapollo Nilous: A real ancient book, attributed to Horapollo, one of the last priests of the Ancient Egyptian religion in the fifth century. A copy sits in the library at Arcadia. Appears in “Before The Blood: Henry Matthews.”

Now, putting this BryonySeries guidebook together is as tedious as writing a dictionary. But a writing retreat is not amenable to multitasking.

But it's the perfect project for moving forward with the BryonySeries while catching up on rest and life tasks.

Have a great Friday!