When I wrote my last blog post in October, I had no idea the next time you heard from me would be the second week of December. For a variety of reasons, including poor internet service, I took a break from blogging. It wasn’t planned, and it happened one day at a time.

As I am able, I will post blogs about what I’m reading and what I’m writing. Since my last blog, I learned that the story I pitched for the upcoming Revolutionary Women issue of Cobblestone magazine for children was rejected. Since Molly McCurdy’s story is a local one for which there is no certifiable documentation, it is understandable that the magazine’s editors chose not to pursue my story idea. It was worth a try.

I have just finished reading James Scott Bell’s 2012 book titled Revision and Self-Editing for Publication, 2nd Edition. I gleaned many pointers from it. I plan to use Mr. Bell’s recommendations to systematically edit and revise my The Spanish Coin manuscript. That project should keep me busy all winter. I have added specific editing and revision tasks to my daily calendar through February 2016.

Ironically, I started writing this post 30 minutes ago. Issues with my internet service have prevented me from writing more. I changed the title of this post from “I’m back!” to “I’m trying to come back.