Day 1779: Book finished!

In January, 2009, I began outlining ideas for a book about Quest.  It was a skimpy outline at first, but I kept fleshing out ideas that winter until the new season of backpacking began.  I called it "The Quest Community Scrapbook."

In September, 2009, I realized I would never give the book my full attention as long as I was still teaching at the college.  All my life, the students have always come first.  So, I retired again, this time in December, 2009,  from SUNY Fredonia.  That winter, the chapters began to take shape.

Beginning the following summer, I started conducting interviews with key leaders,  student leaders and campers.  I recorded each interview and then transcribed them and stored transcripts in binders.

In the following year, Steve had two knee surgeries and cancer.  We were home a lot between medical procedures so I renewed my commitment to write.  I adopted a program called NANORIMO which mandated that I write a minimum of 1000 words a day with no editing.  I started on the first of November, 2010, took one week off at Thanksgiving and another at Christmas.  By March, I had over 100,000 words.  I did the same thing the next year, only I allowed myself to edit.

Editing, rewriting, researching, interviewing went on each winter from October to March.  Sometimes I only worked an hour, sometimes eight, but mostly I worked 3-5 hours per day.  Steve patiently stayed out of my hair, tried not to distract me too much and reviewed chapters.

My friends in Penelope have been with me every step of the way.  Their input has improved my book's clarity and message.  They have been unfailingly kind, generous with their time, patient and loving, but also demanding intellectually and artistically.    In January, when I finished the last version of the book, we celebrated with a spaghetti dinner and champagne.  Tomorrow morning, we will celebrate again when we do the final edit on the final version of the query letter.

Of course, it didn't end there.  In my research on publishing, I found that the industry standard for non-fiction is 100,000 words and I had 136,000.  Back to the drawing board.  I cut 25,000 words in February to create a much leaner, more effective book.

Today I finished the final review of every chapter, all 21 of them.  I cut maybe another 700 words altogether.   I'm very proud of it.  I think it's a helpful and inspiring story.  My dream is that other schools and communities will pick it up and say, "Hey, we should do this! Let's go backpacking!"

I'm grateful to all the people who have read all or parts of the book and offered their insights: Lee, Mark, Kathy, Donna, Ellen, and Evan who helped me finally settle on a title.  It's simple, straight-forward, and clear.    Quest: A Guide to Backpacking With Teens.  Most of all, I am grateful to my husband, who has taken his job as reviewer very seriously and who has offered his ideas and experiences.  

Monday morning, I will mail the letter and wait, but not long.   The next steps are complicated and difficult in a very different way.  I will publish in 2017,  whether through a publishing company or self-publishing.  It will happen.

A special spaghetti dinner for the high school and adult stage crew for Mulan, Jr.

Such a dedicated group!