Going back to the place you can't go back to.

I get a visceral tug from this photo. Always.

It was taken in Nenana Alaska in the late 1950s or early 1960s, on a winter day with the sun already sinking, probably about three-thirty or four in the afternoon.

There's something about it that always sort of punches me.

Obviously, today I'm an adult, author of 12+ books living in western Oregon. But on that day, I was probably in grade six or seven, and most likely in that house behind the church when the picture was taken.

I can see myself there, feel myself in those rooms. They smell like supper coming on, probably coffee perking, my dad's cigarette. They sound like Dad's typewriter clatter, my brothers grexing, my sister making baby noises, my mom with the radio on or listening to Broadway music on the tweedy Webcore phonograph.

Who took it? I don't know. I found it on the Alaska Digital Archives site, which I highly recommend.

I've written eight books that take place in or near Nenana and I spend a lot of mental time back there. Homesickness? I don't think so. More like this song snippet from Cheryl Wheeler.

Simply, I know this town.

• Well, I know these streets and these backyards
• This barn that's fallin' down
• We come to where they're building now
• And ride our bikes around.
•  
• You think I'm just a little kid
• Some trouble on the way
• Well I knew that place before you did
• Is all I've got to say.
•  
• (Chorus)
• I'm only walkin' through these streets and all around
• I'm only walkin' I know this town

Cheryl Wheeler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYkOn_jZbyY

I grew up in Nenana Alaska

I grew up in Nenana Alaska. Scenes like this one, of the namesake river steamer "Nenana," live on in my mind. 

I write two novel series, The Father Hardy Alaska Mystery series (adults) and the Cheechako series (middle-grades and up) that take place in versions of this town, and—in my mind at least—among these people.

Nenana in the 1950s was like other towns in the US in the 1920s or '30s. There was no police force, no firefighters. My father, all his life had a scar on his shin where he turned out to fight a Nenana fire and a hose broke loose, drenching him at twenty below, and ripping open his leg. He stumbled to the nearest house, freezing, and of course they took him in.

Why write so much about Nenana? It was rough and raw in its way, but absolutely real. And everybody I still know who lived there, quite a few of them reading this, knows they have that old and genuine Alaska spirit in them. They read the books and tell me, "I'd forgotten that," or "you nailed it," or ... "Yeah, it really was that cold."

I love to go back to those dusty streets in my memory, and the river, to recreate the mood and the tone of a place that is vastly changed, and take readers along for the ride.

Thanks to you all for coming along and telling me how much you enjoy the ride.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO WRITE A BOOK?

I'm between books now.

Frankly, it feels weird. This is the first time in about six years I haven't been getting up early, five or six days a week, to "get in my pages." 

No, I haven't run out of ideas. On the contrary, even when I stop writing, the episodes keep playing in my mind. I know there are writers who anguish over their pages and the occasional dry spell. I guess I fall into the storyteller category, if there is such a thing. My characters talk to me and to each other whether I'm writing or not. I know enough to pay attention. 

The big question, when I do get back on the path, is what to write? I have no shortage of
possibilities.

Probably the top contender for next book is a fourth Cheeckako book... yes, I do read my mail. I realize I'm overdo with that one as readers and teachers have pointed our. Here's what I know about it. It will be back in Southeast Alaska, near Sitka, with the cast of characters that we last saw in "Float Monkeys." So plenty of boat and airplane action... and a treasure ship!

Due out... soon!

I am just about to publish... yes, quite a bit delayed, the fifth book in the Father Hardy Alaska Mystery Series. It's called "Without a Prayer." 

Billie, my editor, says the next book out will be a standalone book for middle-grades (like my Cheechako series) that takes place in the Pacific Northwest, instead of Alaska. It's called "Raft." Below is a rough comp of the cover. 

"Raft" is about a boy who can't read, but manages to fake his way through school with the help of his good friend Ozzie ... who dies suddenly. So in one stroke he's lost his best friend and his only way of coping with the world. What to do? Well, that's what the book is about. 

I'm already blocking out Hardy six. No firm title. Episodes are already playing in my brain. Will they finally get married in this one? Maybe. I know but I'm not telling.

Pick up books for summer reading!

Whether for yourself or for kids and grandkids, there's nothing like a book while you're waiting for the ferry, or the airplane, or just sitting in the sun or sand and want to escape. I would be delighted if you'd take one of my mysteries or adventure stories along, and even more delighted to receive a review/rating on the Amazon site when you finish. If you like it, I'd love to hear. If you didn't like it, I want to hear that, too. 

In the meantime, thanks for buying and reading my books, those of you that write to me, I love hearing from you. Keep it up.