Here are some of the genesis/inspirations/places/times of writing my stories, my children’s books, and my novel. This information is included in my collection of stories called Three Decades of Stories which includes 35 of my stories. I began the first story, Annya’s Heritage, when I was a senior at Hathaway Brown School in 1967-68. I began the last story in 2011.
I want my sons Colin and Devon, their children and grandchildren to have copies of my stories in progress as of 2012. I hope they will try to get some more published after I die. I want them to give copies to my family members and give several copies to NHTI Concord’s Community College and also Hathaway Brown School where I attended from grades one to twelve.
Annya’s Heritage Annya’s Heritage was based on a woman named Ann Tompko (sp) who worked for my parents as Arrow Cottage in Northfield, Ohio. I no longer remember too many of the details about Ann because it my mind she became the character I wrote about. She was married and had quite a few children. I believe she was from Russia and that her husband was an alcoholic that she supported. My memory is that her children were successful and didn’t live nearby, but those facts may be from my story or from her bragging. She worked very hard and took pride in our gardens and landscaping and outdoor maintenance; she drove us kids places. I do remember that she threatened to tie my sister under the car and run her over if she didn’t behave. That memory is in the story. She did swear up a storm and Mom was pretty convinced that she stole quite a few things from us. In a way she was like the character from The Borrowers who borrowed or stole things that she found useful. I have a photograph of her holding a pair of shears standing on a wall behind our house in the patio next to what was Cy’s bedroom and later my bedroom. That photograph was the catalyst for the scene in which the narrator pushes her. The dogs in the story are probably related to our Jack Russell terriers: Heidi, Chips, and Snoopy. My mom helped me revise the story, type it on her old typewriter, and helped me come up with the title which I still have trouble spelling. Annya’s Heritage won the Raymond Short Story Prize at graduation from Hathaway Brown School in 1968, and the story received an Honorable Mention from an Atlantic Monthly student competition..
A Sense of Things A Sense of Things was started in 1974 when I was teaching at St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire, as an intern in the English Department right after I finished student teaching at Cleveland Heights High School in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and finished getting certified at Case Western Reserve University to teach 6-12th grade English. I was studying the Teaching of Writing with Donald Murray at the University of New Hampshire. He became very well known for his teaching about the Writing Process and had a column with The Boston Globe. Every week Donald Murray assigned the individuals in our class to write 5 typed pages of anything we wanted and then he conferenced with us individually for a half hour to review the writing. He and I disputed a great deal, but I find I have encompassed many of his ideas in my teaching of writing. I remember exactly where I was standing when I thought of the story. I was standing in the parking lot of the small dorm where I lived at St. Paul’s School, where I coached, advised dorm students, and taught. I suddenly knew I was going to write a story based on my older brother Cyrus who was born with a severe hearing loss possibly related to a forceps delivery. The character Cal was based on Cyrus in that both of them did mischievous things. I used from my memory of stories about Cy III the planting flowers upside down and the taking off the hinges of the cupboards in the kitchen so that they fell off when opened. I am not sure if I invented the finger painting the ceiling and the cutting the curtains or if Cyrus might have done those things. I believe that it was my grandfather who first suspected Cy was deaf. My mom was a teacher and had studied German at some point. Dad had been a pilot in World War II, so that may have been where I got the idea of having an American soldier meet a German waitress during the war. In 1974 I wrote the first five page draft of that story. In 1980 when Michael and I were assistant directors of Bread Loaf School of English at Lincoln College, Oxford, I revised the story (working on a typewriter), and then I may have written a revision in Asheville, North Carolina, and I scanned it in 2005 and did another quick revision.
Left Behind I wrote Left Behind in 1992 when I was teaching English as an adjunct at the University of North Carolina. I remember sharing it out loud with the writing class I was teaching at the university and being unable to finish reading it because the idea of my son losing his grandfather suddenly became unbearably real. A student finished reading the story for me. Ironically, years later my father did have a stroke. The grandfather was somewhat based on my Uncle Harvey, who was my mom’s brother-in-law, and who lived next door to my parents at Arrow Cottage with his first wife, Catherine Stephens Barrett, and years later lived next door to my parents in Gates Mills, Ohio with his second wife, Connie Barrett. Uncle Harvey, like my character, worked with wood and had a marvelous garden that sparked the idea for the garden in the story. The idea about carving chess pieces probably came from my dad teaching first his children and then his grandchildren how to play chess. The original idea for the story came from reading over some of my early writings. They were in a box that had gotten all mildewed and I was reading them as I tried to dry them out. I found a brief page describing a visit to my Granny Stephens when she was in a nursing home or hospital. I remember hearing that my brother, John, had bolted from the nursing home when he heard someone screeching out in pain in one of the rooms. Years later I visited Uncle Harvey after he had a stroke and that memory is the image of the grandfather after his second stroke.
Who Needs a New Friend Anyway Who Needs a New Friend Anyway was written in 1992 in Annapolis, Maryland, and was based on the boy who was the son of the couple that sold us our house. The father was the developer for the development of ‘ladeda’ houses where we lived. The family ended up moving back to another house in the development, and the young boy decided to destroy the tree house they had built on our property when they had owned the land. At the time my sons Colin and Devon loved to use that playhouse, they played soccer and loved Lego’s. I used to roller blade with the boys. Having a father and husband who traveled a great deal are additional biographical pieces that come into the story.
defying Gravity Defying Gravity, (originally Flying Past Defeat) written in Bedford, NH in 1996 and rewritten in 2005, is about a family having to leave the farm they loved. Today I am wondering if that was based on the family I lived with in Australia in 1969 who had been forced from the farm they loved because of inheritance tax. Also today as I write this I wonder if having the farm in the story be a dairy farm was related to Carolyn Burt (Stephen Murphy’s wife) living on a dairy farm and her family having to give it up. I know the wood working protagonist and the wood-working mentor were both based on Jim Fawcett (a close family friend who is a master furniture artisan) and Uncle Harvey who had an awesome wood shop in his barn at Gates Mills. I called Jim and talked to a student at NHTI to get a few of the wood working details for the rocking chair. I suspect Graham Duck’s bike riding might have been the basis for character’s love of mountain biking. I talked to Craig Cushing and one of my students to get the details of the Ford Mustang more accurate. I changed the car from a 1963 Corvette (which Michael had told me about) to a Mustang because it was a bigger car which could hold the rocking chair, and didn’t need to be a stick shift.
Taming Birches Taming Birches was written in 1998 when I taught my first independent study writing course with two students in it. I didn’t get paid, but I got to develop a writing course, which I have been teaching every since. My two students were Corina Arroyo and Amy. The story is almost entirely autobiographical. The snow/ice storm happened to Michael, Colin, Devon and me in Bedford, NH. The birch swinging memories were based on birch swinging attempts that happened to my siblings, my cousin, my father and me in Nova Scotia, Vermont, and Ohio.
TagAlong Musketeer Tagalong Musketeer, begun in 1998 for workshopping with my fiction writing students, was based on my observations of middle age friends, especially men, clinging to their ability to be athletic and pushing themselves physically in their 40’s and 50’s. Mike Duck, obsessed with biking many miles a day, was the specific inspiration. Coming to grips with not being able to ski down steep runs full of moguls was based on me letting go of being able to ski down any hill as a youngster and letting go of being able to keep up with my sons whose snowboarding daring eclipsed my skiing comfort. I have since switched to cross country skiing. I suspect the brother who is a confined to a hospital in a coma is based on my student, Wendy Moore, who was a 7th grade student of mine at Laurel School and who in her late 20s was in a ski accident that left her in coma. By chance she was in the Cleveland Clinic across the hall from my father who had stroke in 1998. I have also had students who had returned to school after having a bad fall or industrial accident and who had to find a new career. The negligent husband was modeled after a man who divorced his wife (a colleague at mine at college) and who was a lousy father. This story was published in September 2011.
Kayak Kelly Kayak Kelly, started in 2001, was a story I took notes on for a year while I kayaked. It was meant to trace a life in the year of a kayaker originally named Kate. For three seasons of kayaking I kept a journal of the changing water, skys, foliage, water lilies, fish, birds at Baboosic Lake 20 minutes from our house in Bedford, NH. I particularly spent time describing a hawk I saw all that year. Sometimes, I suspect that hawk and I were playing hide and seek as he would fly from section to section of the lake, and I followed his flight by kayaking below him. Sometimes, he would wait until I had pulled up on the beach before he made his appearance. That hawk is the image I use when I want to find a special peaceful place and time when I am doing yoga meditation. Unfortunately when I wrote the story, I couldn’t find my journal. The heavy weight woman was based on wondering how my heavy colleague could manage in a kayak, and she was the physical model for my character. This story is based on middle age women who have chosen to give up their own needs and have neglected to explore and try new activities in order to be a mother and wife, which they have love doing, but now suddenly want to have a life of their own. I suspect the leprechaun character comes from a Jay O’Callahan story. Colin and Devon will remember the leprechaun who could climb trees and gave a young artist outcast a pair of shoes so he could run fast.
Ghost Garden Ghost Garden, written in 2001, for one of my fiction classes, takes place in Tennessee, which would be like the area where we lived outside of Asheville, North Carolina, and where we traveled for the story telling festivals in Jonesboro, Tennessee. I have no idea where this story was inspired from, but I think it has the potential to be a novel.
Crunch Time/Time Out Time Out, begun in 2002 for my fiction class, was just a fun story based on me wanting to take a year off and write. The inspiration for the dog eating the kitchen floor was directly based on our puppy Moose. The son was inspired somewhat by Colin. The prom party was based on having all night prom parties at our house. The car accident in the driveway was based on Devon accelerating into our garage door as he was learning to drive. The novel the protagonist is writing was based on glimpses from Brave Heart and my own being in love with Scotland. The protagonist is a teacher as I am and realizes that she doesn’t have to quit teaching to write. The story called Time Out was published in Jimston Journal, an English online journal. Later after I did get a sabbatical from NHTI, I revised it with Michael Phillipps’ suggestions and changed the name to Crunch Time, and it was published in 2012.
Shipwreck Deferred Shipwreck Deferred (originally Body Trap) started in 2002 for my fiction class, was originally based on a line from my dad saying that after his stroke he walked like Frankenstein. Also one of my sons had once again broken his ankle or pulled a hamstring and I wanted to write a story about a grandfather and grandson who were both incapacitated. When I wrote this story, my mother’s cancer had not come back yet, but there were parts of the relationship between the grandmother and grandfather that I took from my parents’ lives, particularly the notes on pink hearts in the grandfather’s shaving kit. I purposely fictionalized aspects of the grandfather’s life. He was in World War II as a sailor (like my husband’s father) but not as a pilot (like my father.) The idea for making him a sailor and not a pilot was how I got inspired to have all the boat and sailor imagery. Also making him a baker was based on my husband’s father being a baker. I know I was trying to come to grips with my father getting less and less mobile but not wanting to rely on a walker or wheelchair. My father, unlike the grandfather in story, worked very hard at his physical therapy. The exploding egg scene is based on my mom exploding hard boiled eggs early in their marriage when they lived on an army base and Mom left the eggs on the stove too long.
No Turning Back & Fountain Magic No Turning Back and Fountain Magic, written in 2003 in my Fiction class, have in essence the same main character (despite the different names) and are based from snippets I hear from my college students and my college age sons and from my memories of girls visiting guys at Dartmouth where I often visited my brother, John, in college. I picked Nantucket because of my trips there with my friends Adele Wick and Rick Miller. I was also thinking of my students in lousy jobs stuck at home and wanting a way out. The photography store is based on my loving photography.
Dress Rehearsal for Dying Dress Rehearsal for Dying (originally Storm Rehearsal) written in 2004, is almost completely autobiographical and is based on the last Thanksgiving I spent with my mother after having just gone through the death of our dog Moose. It was the first piece I wrote after my Mom’s death in December 2002. I told Mom what happened to me outside that Thanksgiving, and she told me to write it in a story. So I did.
Eye Sore Eye Sore, written in 2004, was originally supposed to be the character in Body Trap moving down to Florida with his grandson. I spent spring vacation with my friend Ann Worthington in Treasure Island, Florida, where I rented a sitatop kayak and spent my days floating on my kayaking and writing descriptions of the birds, the boats, and the houses. Her brother, whom I had known since I was in middle school, was living with her. Sadly, he had become a gentle alcoholic who drank and smoked from morning until night and did nothing to quit drinking or rehabilitate himself after some serious falls caused by his drinking. He became the model for one of my major characters, and the boy in Body Trap turned into a teenage girl visiting wealthy relatives, who were based on some of the wealthy residents in Florida.
Soloist Soloist, written in 2005, was originally about a man like my father, who depended on someone to take care of him. The house was based on the cottage he lived in at the retirement nursing. While writing WHAT IFS so I could fictionalize the story, the invalid person became a middle aged woman and the main character became her sister whose life was completely focused on caretaking of her sister and son but not having the time to enjoy family relationship while she was a work alcoholic realtor so she could support her family. My husband used to be a realtor, so I suspect that’s why I picked that profession. I have been trying to teach myself to live my own life and not just focus on helping my parents in their needs. I have many friends who are putting huge energy into the lives of their parents. The cross country skiing is based on my love of skiing.
A Degree in Fire Starting A Degree in Fire Starting (originally Wilderness Debt) started in 1998 and finished in 2009, may have some roots in my children going to Cardigan Mountain on camping trips in 8th grade, may have roots in my father camping with his father in Nova Scotia when he was 6, and may have roots in our friend Richard Christiansen’s boy scout trips. The waterfall scene could relate to the Texas Falls where I met Michael, waterfall at Emerald pool, my general fascination with waterfalls, and our whitewater rafting trips. Setting the family’s home in Camden, Maine, relates to my working at a summer camp there in 1968 and 1972 and visiting homes of people who summered there and had yachts. The wealth of the family related to the wealth of families in Bedford, New Hampshire, and how spoiled some of the kids were.
DISAPPEARING ACT Disappearance, written in 2006, was conceived as I looked out the window of my home office in the winter when it was snowing, and I imagined a boy climbing up the tree in the night to a bedroom upstairs. The friendship of the two boys was loosely based on the friendship of my son Devon and his best friend Richard. The boy’s room and possessions were loosely based on the bedrooms of my two sons when they were in high school. Both my sons worked at one point as bussers at local restaurants and both liked to play poker with their friends. That sparked some of the other details.
LIFETIME GAMBLE Lifetime Gamble, written in Merle Drowne’s workshop during the summer of 2006, takes the antagonist from Disappearance Act and recounts his story and how he felt about deceiving his best friend.
Homebound Homebound (originally Homecoming) written in 2006 was triggered when my friend Adele Wick told me about her sons wanting to rent a dumpster to help her slim down stuff in their basement. Of course, Iraq, was often in the news, and it was difficult to have sons and not wonder what it would be like to lose one.
DUMPSTER Dumpster, written during Merle Drowne’s workshop during the summer of 2006, tells the story of Homecoming from the point of the view of the oldest daughter.
CAVERN TAVERN Cavern Tavern, was the first assignment in Merle Drowne’s workshop during the summer of 2006, when we were asked to review a nursery rhyme or fairy tale from a different perspective for an adult audience.
GUARDIAN OF THE DRUM, TRANSFER OF THE GUARDIANSHIP, MAROONED, AND ROAD KILL These are four stories (chapters) of a fantasy novel that I worked on in 2006 and 2007. The original idea came from sitting in the chair in the family room and studying the chess set my son Devon made for my son Colin. It took him over 80 hours and was made out of bronze. I wanted magical properties to the chess pieces or else I wanted them to be clues that would solve the disappearance of a young man at a lake. In essence, the lake is Conway Lake, where we spent many summers, and the cabin has elements of the Wilson cabins (Jolly Jayhawk and Lucky Lodge) where we stayed wonderful weeks during many summer vacations. The first version of the story was about a man who disappeared when he was young; his sister’s grandson comes to visit and begins finding clues about his disappearance, and finally locates it. A year later, when I tackled the story again, I realized the chess pieces were magic, and over time, a magic fox, crow, and turtle (who were all different embodiments of an Indian: boy, man, and old man) became part of the story. I work shopped these stories with my students in my Fiction Class and with my Writer’s Group (Hillary Nelson, Cathy Robertson-Souter, and Roslyn Block.) The story began to be about a young man who didn’t want to go to war and how he disappeared. His girlfriend’s nephew begins trying to solve his disappearance. His girlfriend’s Peace Corps experiences were related to my brother Cyrus’ Peace Corps years in The Gambia, West Africa. The story began to be about the misuse of the lake and the town through growth and development. As of 2007 November, I found the whole fantasy element hard to elaborate.
BREATHING ROOM Breathing Room, written in the fall of 2007, was supposed to be about a terrier like our Trixie (a rescue dog), and how she brought together two women in a neighborhood who were lonely and worked different shifts, and didn’t know each other. Instead, there is no dog and the story becomes about a woman who had to live a dairy farm and live in the city, which she hated. My sister-in-law, Carolyn Burt, grew up on a dairy farm, and I grew up on a Shorthorn Beef Cattle farm although I was never involved in the day to day farming. I worked on this story with David Huddle during my 2009 summer at Bread Loaf School of English. To my dismay he advised to cut my two favorite scenes, which I did. One of those scenes cut became “Raggedy Slipper” which was published in the Chaffey Review and nominated for a 2012 Pushcart Prize. The other scene he wanted me to cut was published in 2012 in Monkey Puzzle Press.
ONE FINAL SPIN (originally APPLE TREE LEGACY) One Final Spin is based on the beautiful box that Jim Fawcett made to hold Mom’s ashes. At her memorial service, we all attached special mementoes and shared at the Northfield Cemetery why these special gifts captured an essence of Mom. The retirement/nursing home is based very much on Kendal at Oberlin where Mom and Dad lived, starting in 2001. The friendship between Pearl and Joanie is loosely based on the friendship between Mom and her dearest friend Joan Nordstrom.
YOU CAN’T HELP YOURSELF You Can’t Help Yourself was started on the bus from Sebastopol, CA when leaving the ranch where my dad lived with my sister, Elizabeth. I was trying to tell (in the second person) a story of what it was liked to be trapped in body that had betrayed its owner by being paralyzed. The daughter was based a little on Elizabeth and a little on me.
FALLEN FLYBOY Fallen Flyboy was my attempt to tell the WW II story from the point of view of my mother, Mary Eaton, when my father, Cyrus S. Eaton, Jr. was shot down as a pilot, reported missing, rescued by a Dutch Fisherman, and then spent two years in a prison camp. The letter excerpts and interview excerpts are taken from actual letters and an interview with Mom. Many of the details are ones told to me by Mom. She lived at home with her family on Chesterton Road in Shaker Heights, she worked for an advertising company, she visited her father in Washington D.C. He told her he believed Dad to be dead. As soon as she returned home to Shaker Heights, she got the phone call from Dad. My Aunt Susan Morley remembers answering the phone call.
HOUSE OF CARDS, ATTACK DOG, and THE TIP OF THE AVALANCHE I could be wrong, but I don’t think these stories have any foundation in pieces of my life that I remember.
LAKESIDE COTTAGE Lakeside Cottage was based on my dreams to live in a cabin on a lake. I wanted to have a protagonist who was self-centered and evil. My students were shocked.
LISTMAKER Listmaker is again my exploration of a woman choosing to make her own career choices rather than always putting her children first. Again my students were shocked.
STORM’S EMBACE AND KITCHEN SECRET Storm’s Embrace was based on my mom’s final summer once her colon cancer returned. She felt closer and closer to her sister, Dibbie Tobin, who had died of colon cancer nearly twenty years earlier. Kitchen Secret was based on when Mom was originally diagnosed with cancer while my parents lived at Moreland Courts at Shaker Square. The cake was based on my niece Sarah Eaton telling me my surprise birthday cake was in the cupboard.
Children’s Books
I’ve Got a Better Idea I’ve Got a Better Idea was written in 1987 in Asheville, North Carolina, when I took a six week workshop in writing children’s books. The two boys are loosely based on Colin and Devon when they were quite young, and the lake scenes are loosely based on Conway Lake.
Being a Prince is a Bore Being a Prince is a Bore, written in 1988 and revised in 2003, was based on ideas the boys had, stories we had read about knights and castles, play acting the boys did, and the concept of being bored.
Five Days to Wait Five Days to Wait, written 1989 in Asheville, is based loosely on Colin and Devon and having to share toys.
Curse of the Pirate’s Treasure Around 1992, I started Curse of the Pirate’s Treasure. I began it when I was trying to write a series of short stories because I knew in the fall I would be doing an independent study with Peggy Parrish, the fiction teacher at University of North Carolina, Asheville. Peggy, a grad student (Dershey Mcdervette (sp)), and I were supposed to meet every two weeks all fall and have a new story to share every two weeks. Eventually Dershey, Peggy, and I all published the books we worked on during that writing seminar/independent study. I started writing a few months before the course started because I was concerned about meeting deadlines since I would be teaching two courses at the college, taking two courses, and being a mom to Colin (10) and Devon (7). My husband, Michael, was traveling a great deal at that point. His territory was the United States and Canada. I wrote the beginning of four or five stories that never went anywhere, and then conceived of writing a short story that would be set in the place I loved the best, Deep Cove, Nova Scotia. One day while taking a shower, I suddenly knew a whole series of events that would be part of the plot and several characters that would exist in that short story. I immediately wrote them down, and suddenly I had an idea for a novel, that was originally called Recovery, and was based on a New York City teen being forced to lived in a nowhere fishing village called Boulder Cove. Thus, I reversed my situation of growing up on a cattle farm in Northfield, Ohio, and my being very uncomfortable visiting New York City. I wrote a quick 85-page draft of the book, which Charlie Reed submitted to Scholastic Inc. An editor was evidently interested, but he left the company and the manuscript was lost or misplaced at the publishing firm before anything evolved. After working that semester with Peggy and Dershey, they advised me to cut out all the chapters in the last half of the novel that were told from the perspective of the adults, cut the five young wharf rat characters, eliminate the mom having cancer, and focus on fewer conflicts. Their suggestions made me cry, but I ended up taking their advice after assuring my children that those characters and all those things still happened but weren’t in the book any longer. I took another independent study in novel writing with Charlie Reed (who was head of the Education Department at UNC- Asheville and was editor of a magazine that reviewed young adult books) and Rick Chess (who taught poetry and writing at UNC-Asheville). Four or five times during the semester, I met with each of them who graciously read and gave me feedback on all the chapters of my substantially revised novel. I revised the book in Annapolis, Maryland, our next move. Cris Newport read it when I started teaching at NHTI and gave excellent feedback and suggestions about the father character. We briefly discussed publishing the novel with her tiny publishing company but decided against that. I wasn’t sure we could work together as teaching colleagues and as editor/author. Also, her publishing company didn’t focus on young adult books. Around 1998 my computer crashed and I lost the whole saved manuscript although I did have printed out copies. After recovering from the shock of losing my novel on the computer, I decided to rewrite the whole novel from scratch without looking at the hard copy. In my fiction writing classes I always promise to write every major writing assignment my students write. That entails writing two original pieces of fiction every semester I teach fiction writing. One summer when I taught fiction writing, I wrote chapters 1 & 2 with my class, then the next spring I wrote 3 & 4, then the next spring I wrote an entirely new chapter called Tarnished Armor introducing Rusty’s dad and one other chapter. I began rewriting the entire novel in those years but relied on looking at my printed out versions of the chapters as well as reworking each of them. I used many pieces of the earlier version but built on all that I had learned about writing by teaching it and working with students in writing workshops. In the summer of 2001 Richard Christensen read each of my rewritten chapters. I submitted the novel to several writing competitions, several publishing companies, and several agents, but I received no positive responses. I wanted to publish Curse of the Pirate’s Treasure by the time I was 50 so I could move on to other writing and so that the people I cared about would be able to read it. Therefore I self-published the novel with 1st Books (which later was bought by 1st Library), paid for the publishing and hired Ken Zilish to create the cover. The book came out in print just before I turned 52. I was a guest author for The Wings of Knowledge lecture series at NHTI in early 2003 after the book was published in June of 2002. My dad and my mom were the first two people to read the published book. Follows is Mom’s email after she finished reading Curse of the Pirate’s Treasure
Subj: A Treasure, for real! Date: 06/23/2002 4:39:47 PM Eastern Daylight Time From: Mseaton To: EatonMurph Cathy dear, Well of course, my favorite character is Rusty, so much like you. Loyal, hard driving, adventurous, high-spirited, generous, thoughtful and never yielding. Also, problem solving-not a "mean bone in her body." Curse of the Pirate's Treasure by Cathy Eaton is a lovely, worthwhile read-to say nothing of-a gripping story. I hated taking my nap; I was so eager to continue the tale. The suspense got stronger and stronger as the story went on: early the light-hearted Snipe Hunt (which would have been even more suspenseful had I not known about snipe hunts) progressed to more and more exciting moments. It was hard to believe that Matthew was involved in the havoc wrought by the robbers. Still, he was really hurting inside and surely under the influence of those two bad guys. I was holding on to my chair when Rusty fell into the well and filled with admiration for Nick's bravs efforts to save her. (Nick is so lovable.) I never dreamt that the intruders on the island were the rescue people. The characters were realistically drawn; lots of show not tells. I fell in love with Alex, who reminded me of Cecil-good with his hands and thoughtful as in bringing wood to help out Sheila. There's a possibility, he may end up with Sheila (after the published story ends), and that Rusty's father may be unable to reform. Dad said Rusty's father was an exact replica of Tom Day in the way he chatted with everyone. The peaceful influence of the Sea Witch must be similar to the feeling yoga gives a person. Rusty's swims in the cold water reminded me of some of the reasons you love Nova Scotia. You caught the feeling of Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia we-especially you-knew: the clear air, invigorating water, evergreen trees; the neighborly attitude of the people: pies, cookies, cakes, the fishing scenes-did they ever bring back memories of my wonderful vacations at Deep Cove. And Cathy, the end of the book couldn't havs been more satisfying. I couldn't believe Sheila and Rusty would end up going off to NYC and staying there, but it seemed inevitable. There are many thoughts and situations and suggestions in thelast chapters especially that are not only philosophical, but are so refreshing. I like the point of using the money for people to gain ways to he;p themselves, (the making and selling of quilts reminded me of Aunt Cynthia), the idea of Rusty and Sheila standing up for themselves, not rushing into doing something that did not feel right to them. I think Rusty's father really had to earn their trust. I plan to re-read the first and last few chapters to set in my mind the deep thoughts you had about the main point of the book. It all held together so well. Finally, you did a simply stellar job, Cathy. Dad and I are really proud of you and excited that you accomplished such a feat. Much love, Mom And an important PS. This afternoon, Dad found his 1929 diary written at Deep Cove. In it is a hand drawn map of Oak Island and description of a treasure hunt he and a friend of his had at the time. He was mighty excited to find the treasure of the diary.
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As of December, 2005 I have sold about 400 copies and given away about 100 copies of the book; the book is in several libraries and book stores. I originally ordered about 550 copies. As of December, 2005, I have earned all the money I invested in the book: having it edited, hiring a cover artist, publishing, marketing it and purchasing 500 copies of the book at $7.50 to $8.00 a copy. I sell each one for $12.00 a copy. I probably still have about 40 copies of the book left. I have done author visits at schools in Asheville, Annapolis, Manchester, Concord and Bedford before and after the book was published. I have shared the writing process and read excerpts from the novel to approximately 20-25 classes. I also talked to folks in Pugwash, Nova Scotia, (when I visited in September, 2005) about doing readings there in the summer of 2006. Laurel School, where I taught when I was pregnant with Colin, has also expressed an interest in my doing an author visit there over two or three days. I did three all day author visits at McKelvie Middle School in Bedford, New Hampshire (where Colin and Devon attended) and was paid $500 a day. I did author talks in four classes on each of those days. My son Colin also came in to the McKelvie Middle School writing group and did an author talk based on one of his short stories. The publishing company priced my novel too high to sell in book stores and be competitive with other young adult or teen novels. My manager at the publishing company quit the company just as my book was in the final stages and did nothing to help come up with a more feasible selling price. In the summer of 2005 I began negotiating with the recently sold publishing company about bringing it out in a 6 x 9 format rather than a 5 x 8 format, which would allow me to sell it closer to $14 a book in stores rather than $19. This would entail investing more money to have them reformat it. I reread book and made new editing changes, corrected a few errors, deleted two “bad words,” and am considering using an earlier version of the first few paragraphs. I put all that on hold when school started in the fall of 2005. It has been suggested by a different publisher that I cut 100 pages. In order to do that, I would need a ruthless editor because I am too attached to the book as it is.
Many Thanks
Thanks are due to the many friends and readers who have read numerous different versions of my stories and made suggestions how to revise them.
First I would like to thank Michael Phillipps from whom I took two fiction courses; then he became my writing mentor. His insight, suggestions, tweakings, and support sustained me and helped me take my stories to a new level.
Thanks also to David Huddle and Catherine Tuddish, my professors at Bread Loaf School of English where I took courses during my sabbatical from NHTI in 2009. David directed to me cut my words ruthlessly. Catherine found extra time to respond to my stories.
Because of a workshop with Merle Drowne at Southern New Hampshire University, I joined a writing group with three participants from his workshop that met for two years: Cathy Souter, Hillary Nelson, and Rosalyn Block. What a delight it was to exchange stories and revision ideas with professional writers.
At SNHU, Carla Gericke introduced to Flash Fiction, and Bret Johnson provided many story triggers. I adopted his book with my fiction students.
I’ve learned so much from the many friends who have contributed to my knowledge of editing. Tory Brotherhood, Adele Wick, and Debby Holland worked with me to edit Curse of the Pirate’s Treasure. Always I can contact my longtime office mate, Craig Cushing, to help choose the perfect car for any of my characters. Gail Schilling and Erika Olsen read my stories, helped me submit stories to magazines and pointed out errors I needed to fix in my stories. Jane Hunt and I met for a semester to tackle flash fiction. If only I could capture the voice of characters that she does so masterfully.
My students at NHTI read many of my stories and gave me honest feedback in our fiction workshops. Liz Duck has enthusiastically read my stories and inspired me to keep conjuring up stories. Kat Ely has been my inspiration to keep trying to get published. My nephew Nathaniel Eaton continues to inspire me as he pursues his MFA and when as guest speaker by video chat he inspires me and my students to strive to create and thrive in the endeavor.