We Have a Winner in my Blog Comment Contest

I put all the names of people who have commented here in a hat and drew. And the winner of a signed copy of GONE FROM THESE WOODS is Patricia Cruzan! Congratulations, Pat! And thanks to all of you who have commented on this blog. I appreciate your support. Look for posts about other authors in the coming weeks, as well as frequent articles about what I'm reading and writing. Better go ahead and subscribe so you don't miss anything!

GONE FROM THESE WOODS FINALLY PUBLISHED TODAY!

Today was the official publication day for my debut novel, GONE FROM THESE WOODS. I've received congratulations all day long from many different people and I appreciate everyone's messages. Having your first book published by Random House after writing for over twenty years is totally WONDERFUL! I feel like the luckiest writer in the world!

GONE FROM THESE WOODS: Four More Days to Go

Only four more days to go until publication of my debut novel, GONE FROM THESE WOODS! Today, I'm going to talk about counseling, and more specifically about the school guidance counselor who inspired the counselor in my book who helps Daniel deal with the results of the horrible tragedy that happens in the woods.

Her name is Becky Kelley. She works at an Oconee County School, Malcom Bridge Elementary. I met with Becky one day about a year ago in her school office and we talked about my fictional character, Daniel, and how he could overcome and learn to live with what had happened to his beloved uncle.

Mrs. Hardy, the counselor in GFTW, first appears on page 36: "I'd like you to meet our school counselor, Lisa Hardy," Mrs. Pettibone (Daniel's teacher) added, gesturing toward the red-haired woman in a rumpled denim jacket.

"I hope it's okay for us to talk to Daniel now," Mrs. Hardy said in a cheerful voice, making me sit up straight on the couch with her sharp, intelligent look."

Here's an excerpt from chapter fourteen, when Daniel goes back to school:

"The walls of Mrs. Hardy's office were turquoise. At first I didn't like the color. But the more I looked at it, the more it pulled me in, until I felt like I was standing in a big aquarium.

On the wall behind her desk hung a giant picture of a kid walking hand in hand with a woman who looked like his mom. In one corner, there was a kid-sized octagonal table and eight blue plastic chairs.

A futon with a wrinkled tan cover was next to the table. A bright yellow flower made from clay jutted from the wall over the futon. I could tell it was clay because the paint didn't go all the way to the edges, leaving the rough orange clay exposed.

I walked over to the wall behind the table and studied a poster called "The Chart of Faces." The heading was "Stages of Grief," and each face had a different expression. The last face smiled at me."

I smiled on my way home from my meeting with Becky Kelley. She was exactly the kind of counselor my imaginary boy Daniel needed to help him go on with his life. I think the advice Becky gave Daniel that day could help anyone dealing with grief and I thank her for sharing her expertise that day so I could weave it into my book and offer it to the world.

The Woods in GONE FROM THESE WOODS

Today is August, 19, 2009, five days until the official publication of my debut novel, GONE FROM THESE WOODS. Of course I'm getting excited and I hope you are, too.

In celebration of the publication, I'm going to talk today about the woods in GFTW. My inspiration for the woods in my book came from my early morning exercise walks around my neighborhood, and especially from my own yard. One of the reasons my family bought this 3 l/2 acres of property back in 1992 was the woods in the front yard. There's a pine straw covered path through those front yard woods. We walked there when we were considering our purchase and felt as if we were walking in a secluded, private woods, even though the main road was close by. The tall pines, dotted with a few hardwoods, were (and are) home to three different kinds of woodpeckers, plus many other birds and other wildlife. The sounds of the trees, the scent of pine in the air -- we found all this and more in our outdoor sanctuary. So, when I needed woods for my book setting, I found them in my own front yard.

Here's an excerpt from the beginning of chapter seven of GONE FROM THESE WOODS:

"The woods took me in, hiding me in pine-scented darkness as I ran, my moccasins crunching pinecones on the path, my ears full of night sounds from unseen animals.

After a while, I had to stop. Panting hard and hugging myself to keep warm, I strained my eyes, trying to see where I was. All around me, trees swayed, making soft sounds in the air, like they were breathing.

Somewhere up ahead, something -- maybe an owl -- screeched. The hairs on the back of my neck bristled. Maybe I should go back to the house . . ."

If you want to read more, pick up a copy of GONE FROM THESE WOODS starting August 25, 2009, at your local bookstore. If they don't have GFTW in stock, ask them to order it, or order it yourself from your favorite online bookseller.

GONE FROM THESE WOODS: Six Days till Publication

Today I'm continuing to count down to the official publication date, August 25, 2009, for my debut novel, GONE FROM THESE WOODS, by writing a note. Today's note is about the Tennessee connections in my book.

Daniel's mom is a native of Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, a real town near Chattanooga. Over 30 years ago, my parents and younger sister, Leanne, moved to Cleveland, Tennessee, about 30 or so miles from Chattanooga, when my dad was named postmaster there. This is where my Tennessee connection in GONE FROM THESE WOODS comes from. I've been visiting the area for many years and love the mountains and natural beauty there. And the beautiful town and road names, many from the area's Indian heritage. Sadly enough, my mom and I follow some of the Trail of Tears route when we take the back way to Chattanooga for shopping at Hamilton Place Mall and McKay's Used Bookstore. I always feel sadness when I see the historic maker on the side of the road and remember the history of that time.

In addition to the Tennessee native mom in my book and the town name, Soddy-Daisy, there are two Tennessee Road names transplanted into my Georgia setting: Mouse Creek Road and Hooper Gap Road. Sure, we have lots of great road names in Georgia, too. But I couldn't resist "borrowing" some of the Tennessee names I've admired over the years for my debut novel.

Celebrating the Gone From These Woods Countdown

Today is August 17, 2009, and I'm back to counting down the days until August 25, the official publication date of my debut novel, GONE FROM THESE WOODS. Even though I haven't posted a note about GFTW here (in my countdown series anyway) for the past few days while I was on vacation, I was still counting down, as you can imagine!

So, a few days have gone by without a note. If we don't count today, we have seven more days until P-day! I'll try to find time to post at least seven more notes.

In my last note, I talked about chapter one of GFTW. Today, we'll move on to chapter two. One of the most interesting things about chapter two, which begins on page 14 of this 192 page book, is that this particular chapter two wasn't in my original manuscript. The chapter two you see in the published book was added by me during an approximately eight month long rewrite at the request of my editor, Michelle Poploff. In fact, I probably added about four new chapters to my book, in part to flesh out the adult characters, at Michelle's request.

One of the characters who first appears (but is mentioned earlier) in chapter two is Frank Hooper, the neighbor who drives up in his pickup truck full of barking dogs. Frank was a later addition to my book and is based on the late George Langdale, a man who owned almost 70 acres of land behind my family's land, and who used to drive by me when I was doing my early morning exercise walks around the area. I was very pleased to put George in my book as Frank. He was quite a character in real life and works well in my fictional story, too. While I was at it, I grabbed his truck and his dogs and put them in my story.

Pay close attention to the world around you. What you need for your fictional stories may be walking by, or driving by, or barking at you right now!

Winterville Historic District Heritage Walk

Here's an opportunity to learn more about the city of Winterville, Georgia, the town I've lived in since 1992. I also lived in the Winterville community, outside the city limits, for several years as a child and young adult, starting at age 11, and attended sixth grade at Winterville Elementary School, in the old building that presently houses RESA.

There are two tour dates:

Sunday, September 6 @ 2 pm

Saturday, October 10 @ 10 am

Here's more information about the tours and the tour guide, my friend, Mary Quinn, daughter of our former longtime Winterville City Clerk, Helen Williams.

Winterville grew up around the 6-mile station of the Georgia Railroad between Athens and Union Point, a route known as the “Athens Branch” which began operating in 1841. The station was a water stop and the beginning of a bustling community of banks, mercantile stores, doctors and, of course, a cotton gin. Incorporated in 1904, the City of Winterville is a circle, one-mile in radius, located entirely within Clarke County, but its 1,061 citizens are only a small part of the larger zip code known as Winterville which includes portions of three counties—Clarke, Oglethorpe, and Madison.

The tour includes numerous and diverse historical structures such as the recently renovated train depot; the Carter-Coile Doctor’s Museum; a blacksmith shop; the old Winterville High School—home of the state’s first home economics program; and several period homes all located within an area included in the National Register of Historic Places. Tour goers will walk portions of the abandoned railroad designated to become “The Firefly”—a 38-mile walking and cycling trail extending from downtown Athens to Union Point. This tour will last approximately 1½ to 2 hours.

Your tour guide:

Mary Quinn resides on Main Street in Winterville, her residence a nineteenth-century home built by the Georgia Railroad. Born just a mile away in neighboring Oglethorpe County, Mary’s family moved away from the family farm and into Winterville and Clarke County in 1960 where she attended Winterville Elementary School, Athens Junior High and High Schools and the University of Georgia. Quinn retired from a career in accounting in 2000 and enjoys various public service roles. She is a council member and mayor pro tem for the City of Winterville, director and volunteer of the Winterville Marigold Festival, Friend of the Winterville Library, trustee and treasurer of the Winterville United Methodist Church, volunteer with the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, and a volunteer in the Athens to Union Point Rails-to-Trails Collaborative. Quinn also served as a member of the SPLOST2005 Citizen’s Advisory and Oversight Committees.

Tickets:

ACHF Member: $12 / Non-member: $15

10 or more series tickets: $10. Pre-purchase 10+ tickets and make reservations later. No refunds.

Order forms are at www.achfonline.org

Please Note: Tours are generally limited to 25 people and paid reservations will be accepted on a first come/first serve basis. All sales are final. Tours will be held rain or shine. Please provide an e-mail address in order to receive tour updates, instructions and your order confirmation. No tickets will be mailed.

Questions? E-mail achftours@bellsouth.net or call 706-353-1801.

My advice? Get your tickets early!

GONE FROM THESE WOODS: CHAPTER ONE

The official publication date, August 25, 2009, is only 19 days away! Today I'm going to talk about chapter one. In my original version of chapter one, the final scene was much less clear. My editor suggested that, rather than obscuring the action, which is very shocking, I rewrite and allow the reader to "see" what happens. Doing this required me to actually reenact the scene with a friend, Kathleen McGuire. Then I recruited Eric Pozen, our former police to give me a gun lesson and re enact the scene yet again. It took me quite awhile to get this final scene just right, just as it was extremely hard to "be" an eleven-year-old boy throughout a 40,000 plus word book. I think I did okay. Tell me what you think after you read the book.

GONE FROM THESE WOODS: DEDICATIONS

Today is day 20 in our countdown to the publication, August 25, of Gone From These Woods. In honor of today, I'm going to talk about the dedications page. Here's what it says: "This book is dedicated to the memory of my second-grade teacher, Dycie Hancock Schneider. Also to the memories of her first husband, William Campbell; her nephew, David Hancock; and my uncle, Terry Bailey -- three men who left this world too soon."

All four of the people I dedicated my debut novel to are dead. But they are remembered here in the Athens area where I live. Dycie Hancock Schneider was Mrs. Campbell, my second grade teacher at Oconee Street Elementary School. I remember her encouraging smile, pats on the back, and those Friday Bingo games in our classroom. She was the kind of teachers all kids should have. A few years after I was in her class, I heard that her nephew, David Hancock, had accidentially shot and killed her husband, William Campbell. That's all I knew about her real life tragic story until I visited her after my book was written and purchased by Random House, about three weeks before she died (at age 90). I had used the tiny bit of her story that I knew before that visit as a "jumping off point" or a spark to ignite my own fictional tale of Daniel Sartain, an eleven-year-old boy who accidentially shoots his beloved uncle, Clay.

The other person on my dedication page, Terry Bailey, was my own uncle who died at age 34 from complications of an automobile accident. Terry was suffering from terminal cancer at the time of the accident, which may or may not have been accidential. No one knows for sure. Several years earlier, when Terry was 23, he had survived a near-fatal bike accident on Baxter Street in Athens. I grew up with Terry, who became a counselor and assistant director of admissions at Columbus College. Since he was only five years older than me, he always felt like an older brother.

All these years later, I still miss Uncle Terry. What would he say about Gone From These Woods? What would Dycie, William and David say about Daniel Sartain's story? We'll never know. But I do believe they're all in my book in spirit. And I hope they approve.

GONE FROM THESE WOODS: COVER ART

One of the questions people ask me, when they hear I have a children's book coming out is, "How many pictures does your book have?" They seem to think that because GFTW is a children's book, it will be heavily illustrated. My book is a children's middle grade novel and is almost 200 pages long. Some MG novels do have illustrations, usually line drawings every now an then, but most MG novels have only the dustjacket art. So the answer to the question is one.

One day, as we worked together on the editing of GFTW, my editor, Michelle Poploff, emailed me and asked for my thoughts on the cover art. I told her I envisioned the main character, 11-year-old Daniel Sartain, standing in front of the woods. I suggested the lake in the book be visible in the distance and maybe a rabbit and birds. We both agreed that no gun should be visible on the cover.

A few weeks later, Michelle sent me the cover art. I was immediately captivated by the boy. He actually favors my nephew, Joe Sanger, who was one of the models for Daniel. At first I thought the boy's hair style might be wrong -- maybe too contemporary (my book is set in 1992). But when I looked back at some of my own son's photos from that time, I decided the hair was okay. I also wondered about the jean jacket, since I didn't "dress" my character in a jean jacket in the book. But when I looked back at my son's photos, again I had to admit that Daniel could have been dressed that way.

I was a little disappointed when I didn't see a rabbit on the cover or the lake and birds. Then my daughter told me to look closer. If you stare into the trees and sky area you begin to see subtle things there that are in the book. I'll leave it to you to figure out what those things are.

The real boy on the dustjacket is model Luke Kitson of Canada. The dustjacket artist is Blake Morrow. If you go to this website you'll see his bio and representive art, including the cover of GFTW. He has done other book covers. I think he did a wonderful job of illustrating GFTW, packing the whole essence of the book into this one illustration.

GONE FROM THESE WOODS: TITLES

Over on Facebook, I've been counting down to August 25, 2009, the official publication date of my debut novel, GONE FROM THESE WOODS, by posting a note about the book each day. I've decided to move those notes to my blog. Here's my note about the book's titles.

My debut novel, GONE FROM THESE WOODS, wasn't always called that. The original working title was RABBIT SEASON. I changed the title to A SEASON FOR RABBITS after a writers' group member said that title reminded her of a Bugs Bunny cartoon (Is it duck season or rabbit season?). My final working title was D-MAN (Daniel's nickname in the book).

After Michelle Poploff, VP & Executive Editor of Random House Children's Books, bought my book, she suggested two new titles: MOUSE CREEK ROAD and GONE FROM THESE WOODS. I ran all these titles (mine and hers) by several different groups of children. One group was made up of kids who visited the Athens Regional Library where my fellow writers' group member, Jackie Elsner, worked as the children's librarian. Another group was a gifted English class taught by another fellow writer's group member, Susan Vizarugga (author of OUR OLD HOUSE and MISS OPAL'S AUCTION, Henry Holt) in Oconee County.

The results from young readers was mixed. No particular title won. I preferred A SEASON FOR RABBITS, but finally agreed to my editor's pick, GONE FROM THESE WOODS, which is a line right out of the book.