The cover for Travels with Maggie, which I had designed back in 2014.
“It is always better when you give a damn.” – John D. MacDonald
Coming to the End of a Long Road
In May of 2006, I left my youngest daughter’s home in Camden, Arkansas. Six months later, in time for Thanksgiving dinner, I arrived at my oldest daughter’s home on the outskirts of Dallas.
In-between, my canine companion, Maggie, and I traveled 7,000 miles in a small RV, through 23 states and Canada, to Maine, where we stood on top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park one morning to get this country’s first ray of sunlight.
The Mark Twain Lighthouse in Hannibal, Missouri, which I climbed up to explore during my Travels with Maggie. — Photo by Pat Bean
The in-between miles are the topics of my book, Travels with Maggie, which soon will be available at Amazon. It’s part travelogue, part memoir, part bird book, part nature book, and part about one woman’s conversations with her dog. I think it would fit nicely on a book shelf between John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley and Charles Kuralt’s On the Road, with Peter Cashwell’s The Verb to Bird nearby.
But this book is written with a feminine voice, that of an old-broad, wandering-wonderer.
This week I put the mechanics of putting Travels with Maggie up on Amazon into the hands of an angel who, unlike me, knows what she is doing. I spent three frustrated weeks trying before I finally gave up.
A view from Acadia National Park in Maine, which was the destination of my journey. — Photo by Pat Bean
Late yesterday evening, when I was having a Jack and Coke on my back balcony with my friend, Jean, who needed it after her high school teaching day, to celebrate the new stage of my book, I suddenly found myself crying.
I’m not exactly sure why.
My book, whose first draft was named one of the top 10 when it was entered in a Mayborn Non-Fiction Writing Workshop contest, has now been through five rewrites, edits and proofings.
The second rewrite was a major one to add voice, which I had omitted because I was trying to hide the fact I was an old-broad. The Mayborn critiques, all of them, said this was the book’s one major fault – and I knew immediately they were right.
The third rewrite was mostly a polishing of my writing, as was the fourth. The fifth was
Mostly a typo-catching read-through. And there will be a sixth proofing yet to come. This is a 75,000-word manuscript so each of these steps took some time.
My dream of writing just such a book is over a half-century old, during which time the whole world of publishing changed. I was reluctant to let go of the traditional world, but finally decided I didn’t have the time to wait around any longer. In the traditional world, the publisher would have done the marketing for the book. In today’s world, most writers are now having to accomplish this step themselves.
It’s what I am going to have to do – and telling my blog readers about my book is a first step toward that goal. Whew! I feel a weight lifted off my shoulders for writing this. I’ll now let you follow each step of getting Travels with Maggie out there with me. Maybe you’ll even buy my book when it’s finally out to the public.
Bean Pat: Citizen Sketcher http://tinyurl.com/k9xrpq4 I love the watercolors on this blog, and the artist’s celebration of them. Reminds me of my current celebration.
Pat Bean's blog 
Congratulations, Pat! Publishing a book is a wonderful achievement, and tears are a perfectly normal reaction to finally reaching publication. I always wander around like a lost soul for a while after completing a book, too. 🙂 I’ll look forward to reading Travels With Maggie!
Thanks Diane.
Oh congratulations, Pat! I’ve been looking forward to reading your story for a long time. I’ll be one of your first buyers! 😊
That cheers me tremendously Linda. Thanks for the kind words.
I’ll be in that purchase line, right behind Linda Hoye. Huge congratulations, Pat!
Thanks Mary Jo. Your support is very welcomed.
Yep, still waiting to read this Pat, let us know when it’s there.
It’s about time Jim, don’t you think?
Everything in its time Pat, 😊
But you know that from your writing and travels. I’ve enjoyed following you around the States. So reading the gathered stories will be fun. Almost a trip down memory lane.
🙂 I’ll look forward to reading Travels With Maggie! I always wander around like a lost soul for a while after completing a book, too.
I’m still trying to find myself. Thanks for letting me know I’m not alone in this Mary.
Oh, how wonderful. All of your travels in one location that I can hold in my hand. I have enjoyed your journey and will also be one that purchases this as soon as it is out. Yay! Can’t wait. Congratulations! I am sure it will be an awesome book as reading your blog has been awesome. I will be sharing this on my blog as well as Facebook.
Thanks very much for your support Aprons.
Brava, Pat. I know the focus required in the evolution of a pristine manuscript. And the attachment to the routine of spending time with a work that becomes a part of you. . No wonder crying was involved. It’s like sending a child off to kindergarten. You’re proud but sort of at loose ends. Excited to see you Friday as we talk about the next steps
You are a gem Ethel. Thank you.
I’ve been waiting for this forever! Add me to the list of folks who are going to buy your book. Dancing with joy over here. And I’ve been waiting a long, long time to say this: YOU DESERVE A BEAN PAT!
Thanks Debra. I’ll use my new backscratcher to give it to myself. You, by the way, have been an inspiration to me and an example for me to follow when I market the book.
I will definitely buy this book, can’t wait! Promise me you will autograph it please!~
Jude
Most definitely, Jude. Hugs
Congratulations Pat! When you are ready to do a little promotion, do come over for a gest post 🙂
I would love to do so. Thank you for the invitation Sue.
Congrats! I look forward to reading your book. Yes, finally attaining a long-held dream is exhilarating, and a tiny bit scary. There’s nothing like publishing your own book. Kudos.
Thanks Laura
Congrats! Sounds like my kind of book.
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