When you query an agent or publisher, you pitch your manuscript to them. Comp titles are part of that letter. Comps are books published in the last three years. They’re similar to your manuscript, and they give the agent/publisher an idea where your story could fit into the marketplace. ![]() Part 1 - Why This Title? My middle grade novel is about the men who signed the Declaration of Independence. The first ten chapters follow them to the end of the American Revolution. One Dead Spy is a graphic novel about Nathan Hale. It starts when he joins the Continental Army, and it ends with his death, September 22, 1776. My manuscript and this spy novel are both works of middle grade historical fiction. They’re both set during the Revolution. Charles Carroll of Carrollton is my main character, and you’ll meet the first nine dead signers through his eyes. Nathan Hale, the spy, tells his story to a British officer, and the hangman. Part 2 - The Real Nathan Hale: No, not the author/illustrator of this book. I’m talking the REAL dead spy. The one who died almost two months after the founders signed the Declaration on August 2, 1776. And no, only John Hancock and Congress’s secretary signed on the Fourth of July. I couldn’t find a painting of the real Nathan Hale, but I found his statue from City Hall Park in New York City. I also found a sketch from the day the British hung him. That’s where my comp title begins, with the hanging. Now, the facts from a link attributed to the CIA . . . Nathan came from a prominent Connecticut family. He attended and graduated with honors from Yale in 1773. He got a job right away teaching in New London, Connecticut. When the War began in 1775, pre-Declaration, he immediately joined the militia. Within five months he was promoted to First Lieutenant. That’s how far Nathan goes to tell his real back story. It goes into his bad luck, which I didn’t find, but remember, my source was a CIA file. Maybe it’s still top secret, LOL! n any case, young Hale wasn’t able to fight on the frontline during the Siege of Boston, and that irritated him. THAT’S in the book. Fast forward, the CIA said Washington really needed intelligence after losing New York City to the British. So he turned to Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Knowlton. His rangers were like our Army Rangers, (special ops units.) Knowlton asked for volunteers. They’d cross enemy lines to spy on the British. His men said they’d die in battle, but not in disguise. Guess who raised his hand? Nathan Hale, and THAT was in the book. Nathan left for Long Island in his real disguise – as a schoolmaster, complete with his Yale diploma. His story, he was looking for work. That was the night of September 15, 1776, and that was in the book too. From there, the details from the CIA were scant. Maybe the author Nathan Hale used cause/effect to connect his dots. That’s what I’m doing with my middle grade novel. The CIA post said “. . . he almost certainly traveled around Long Island taking copious notes . . .” about the British and their fortifications before he was caught. Then on the morning of September 22, 1776, the CIA said “. . . his final words are purported to be . . . ‘I only regret that I have but one life to give to my country.’” So in other words, no one is sure if that’s what Nathan said, or if it’s a story that’s grown up over time. That’s where the author Nathan Hale began retelling his story. At the end of that dead spy’s life, and it’s where I’ll end Part 2 for you. Sources: Nathan Hale: American Patriot. Army Ranger. Spy. - CIA Knowlton's Rangers - Wikipedia Part 3: Who Was Henry Knox? I’ve heard of Fort Knox in Kentucky and Knoxville in Tennessee, but lately I’ve wondered how they got their names. Then I read One Dead Spy, and they were named after Henry Knox. So who was he? One Dead Spy said he owned a bookstore, and that he was in charge of artillery during the American Revolution. Bookstore and artillery, they just don’t match, so I looked him up. His story is fascinating! Henry’s dad died when he was nine, so he worked as a clerk in a bookstore to support the family. The owner inspired his love of books and learning. Between shifts, Henry taught himself French, philosophy, and math. Would you believe he even studied the wars of ancient Greece and Rome? ![]() Knox didn’t just read about war. He joined a Boston street gang and learned to fight. Then a local artillery company. He turned his knowledge and experience against the British. By 1771 Knox owned his own shop. Its titles included books about military history and strategy. He loved chatting with the soldiers who stopped by. A year later he started the Boston Grenadier Corps and joined the local Sons of Liberty. He was on guard duty for the Boston Tea Party and joined the militia in time for the Battle of Bunker Hill. He set up the fortifications and directed his cannons at the British. The battle turned into a siege. That’s when Knox got a brilliant, but crazy idea. He’d make the 300-mile trek to Fort Ticonderoga, New York, then return with the cannons and supplies the Americans captured. The crazy part – Knox reached the Fort on December 5 and returned with 60 tons of cannon, plus other munitions. For bonus points, he hauled them through the icy Berkshire Mountains and across a frozen lake. Knox delivered them on January 27, 1776. After his cannons started firing, the British army and navy decided to retreat to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Knox continued on as the artillery chief for the New York and New Jersey campaigns. By the winter of 1778-79, he had a new job, head of the first artillery and officer training school. He drilled over 1000 soldiers during that horrible winter. His school inspired the military academy at West Point. In 1780 he served on the military tribunal that sentenced John Andre to death by hanging. Andre was the spy who got Benedict Arnold to turn traitor. A year later Knox and his French counterpart helped end the war. They positioned the cannons at Yorktown. BTW, this is a portrait of Henry painted in 1806, long after the American Revolution ended. Source: National Museum of the United States Army PS – Nathan Hale, the real dead spy, made the trip to Fort Ticonderoga and back with 60 tons of artillery, in the dead of winter Part 4: Meet The Ohio Digital Library: It’s where I find the books for Saturday Reads. But I picked it for One Dead Spy because I can read it online, on my computer screen. That means I can make the page bigger. Much, Much BIGGER than my kindle screen. And that’s an amazing tool when you’re trying to read the cartoons in a graphic novel! The Ohio Library’s Description:
Experience the New York Times bestselling graphic novel—now as a deluxe, oversized edition featuring 15 brand-new pages of mini-comics The Bigger & Badder editions of Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales continues! Nathan Hale (the author's namesake) was America's first spy, a Revolutionary War hero who famously said "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country" before being hanged by the British. In Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales, author Hale channels his historical döppelganger to present history's roughest, toughest, strangest stories. This book tackles the story of Nathan Hale himself, who was an officer for the American rebels in the Revolutionary War and was eventually hanged for spying. This special edition of One Dead Spy features a larger trim size, a deluxe package, and 16 pages of bonus material, including research photos, sketches, and mini-comics from the author. Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales are graphic novels that tell the thrilling, shocking, gruesome, and TRUE stories of American history. Read them all—if you dare!
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Hello from the Findlay Hancock County Library! That was me back on November 1, when I was there for Author Fest night. If you didn’t make it and would like to meet some of the local and not-so-local authors who were, click on this link: Newsletter - Findlay-Hancock County Public Library Part 1 – Meeting People: One of the best things about an author event – meeting people – like readers and other authors. There’s nothing like it, and if you know me . . . I love to talk! When I talk to readers, we talk books. My favorites. Theirs. I also love to talk about what makes my books special; then show them. With Neil, it’s obviously him. I’m blessed that I met him, by writing about him. When I finished my last edit, I felt like I was saying goodbye to a best friend, and it turns out I was. I don’t see another Neil book in my future. Except . . . I do have an idea, but I haven’t pursued it yet. Maybe . . . With other writers, I love to talk to them. To find out what makes them tick, where they find their ideas, or writing/marketing tricks they can teach me. Nothing’s better than finding a new/better way to do something. But most of all . . . I love hearing their stories! Part 2 – Meeting the Authors Next-Door: Hello to my neighbors, from the tables beside me. They’re the writers I talked to the most. When there was a lull in the action, we had fun chatting and talking books. At the table to my left was Theresa Konwinski. She’s written poetry since childhood. Now she writes stories about life. She finds her words in her experiences as a nurse, wife, mother, and now in retirement. You can find her three published novels and five short stories on her website. At Author Fest she was excited about meeting people who want to write. People who are just beginning. Theresa loved talking to them, encouraging them to keep going, to keep writing. Listening to her reminded me how much joy I feel when the right words find their way into a story😊 If you’d like to meet Theresa Konwinski and her stories, check out her website: theresakonwinski.online – Stories about life… Meet Jean Mueller and Audrea Mancinotti at the table to my right. They’re a team in lots of ways. Jean does the writing, and Audrea does the illustrations. They’re also related. Jean is the aunt, and Audrea is her niece. They’re both educators. Jean is a school librarian, and Audrea teaches sixth grade. Best of all they work together creating children’s books. Their adventure started when Jean dreamed of writing a picture book about her father’s woods. It came true when she asked Audrea to do the illustrations. That first book came out last June, and their second one is brand-new. To read more about them and their books, check out their website: AudreaJean Books Part 3 – Meeting New Books: There’s nothing better than meeting a new book, except . . . discovering someone has a copy of your old one. And that was Jean! She stopped over when I was setting up my table. Picked up my old copy of Neil Armstrong’s Wind Tunnel Dream. Then told me she had a copy in her school library. She’d even read it to her students. Jean’s story made my week, and I’m glad I have a photo to remember it. ![]() Meet Jean and Audrea’s first book, Grandpa’s Woods. It’s the story of a special forest that belongs to Jean’s dad, Audrea’s grandpa. Best of all, he has a copy of his own story. Check it out on AudreaJean Books . Click on the link, scan down until you see this cover. Then you can peek inside a young boy’s adventure in grandpa’s forest. Snow Day, their second book, is brand new! If you ask teachers and kids across Ohio about their favorite kind of day, they’ll tell you it’s got to have snow. Who doesn’t like a day off?! If you’re looking for a snowy adventure, and there’s not a flake in sight, cuddle up with this book. Want to peek inside the cover? Click on their Facebook link and scan down the page. (2) Facebook. Does your map of the United States look like this? Mine too! That’s why when I found some really eye-opening ones, I had to share a few of them with you. To see a few more, click this link: 19 Eye-Opening Maps Of America That May Surprise You (onlyinyourstate.com) Map #1 – The Fifty States of Television: I’m from Ohio. Can you find it on the map? It’s labeled Family Ties, the most popular TV show ever set in the Buckeye state. It ran on NBC from 1982-1989. I watched it at the height of its popularity but never knew it was about an Ohio family who lived in Columbus, the state capital. Can you find your state on the map? If not, look up at the regular one, then scan back down and find it on this one. Good luck! Map #2 – The Most Popular NFL Teams Across the USA: Can you find Ohio on this map? It has four colors and four favorite teams. That’s because popularity is broken down by county. Can you name all four teams? A yellow one’s on the eastern edge of the state. They’re the Pittsburgh Steelers from Pennsylvania. There’s a brown one whose fans are found only in northern Ohio. Its name, its perfect! The Cleveland Browns! The Cincinnati Bengals own the southern part of the state, but they also have fans in Indiana and Kentucky. You’ll have to look for the fourth team on Ohio’s western border. It’s a teeny tiny bit of blue that’s surrounded by three other colors. It stands for the Indianapolis Colts from Indiana, of course! What about your state? Does it have one favorite team, or does it have to share? Here’s to fall football, the NFL, and yours! Map #3 – The Most Popular Boy’s Names of 2013: Can you tell from a glance what name Americans picked for their baby boys in 2013? If you guessed Liam, you’re right! Ohio picked it too. Did your state pick Liam, or did they pick one of the other favorites? There are eight other names that were popular in 2013. Can you find all of them too? PS – Are you curious what the Top Ten names for 2024could be? Or do you wonder if any of the names are the same? I hope so. . . because I’m always curious, and I looked them up! 1. Liam 2. Noah 3. Oliver 4. James 5. Elijah 6. Mateo 7. Theodore 8. Henry 9. Lucas 10, William Source: Top 1,000 Baby Boy Names in the U.S. 2024 Map #4 – The Most Popular Girl’s Names of 2013: How about baby girl names? What was America’s favorite? If you guessed Emma, you’re right, and Ohio picked it too! Woohoo! Did your state pick Emma, or one of the other names? This time there were only five. Can you find all of them too? PS – Are you curious about the Top Ten names for 2024, or if some of the names stayed the same? I was too! 1. Olivia 2. Emma 3. Charlotte 4. Amelia 5. Sophia 6. Mia 7. Isabella 8. Ava 9. Evelyn 10, Luna Source: Top 1,000 Baby Girl Names in the U.S. 2024 Map #5 – Dogs vs Cats: Did the data bar throw you off? I love how it makes it easy to see where dog lovers and cat lovers live, but I wish I knew what the > 1.25x meant. But, if I understand the key correctly, Ohio is a deep green state, so we have more cats per household than dogs. How many more, I have no idea. Did you catch that cat lovers live in the north and dog lovers in the south? Except for Florida. There’s always an exception to every rule! What about your state, who rules? Cats, or dogs? Map #6 – Your State’s Most Iconic Fast Food Chain: Look at all those great places! Each one represents something special about each state. I’m glad I can find so many of them in Ohio . . . It is the heart of it all! Speaking of Ohio, did you find our iconic food chain, Wendy’s? Dave Thomas founded the first one in 1969 in Columbus, and he named it after his daughter, Wendy. Almost sixty years later, it still has the freshest burgers in the country! That’s because they never use frozen meat. Ever! Can you find your state’s iconic fast-food chain on the map? Here’s hoping I can check it out in Ohio too! Next up – one last eye-opening map! Map #7 – A Distorted Look at the USA: What? How? Why? This is what the US would look like, if the country was divided up according to each state’s population. Look at New Jersey/NJ – It’s HUGE! It grew, and it grew, and it pushed New York off to the side. But don’t worry! New York/NY pushed Pennsylvania/PA, Ohio/OH, and Michigan/MI out of the way too. The link to this series of maps didn’t mention the electoral college, but I thought of it immediately. We have an election coming up. THANK GOODNESS for the electoral college. All my life I’ve heard that it’s useless, but, if you look at this map, you can see why it’s important. If the big states like Florida/FL, New York/NY, and California/CA got together and picked a president, most of the rest of the states wouldn’t matter. Not fair; not nice! If you can’t believe the way the population can shrink states, take a look at Map 13. It shows the parts of the country where no one lives. Then look at Map 19. It shows the counties where half the country lives. Between the two of them, they explain a lot about why this map looks the way it does, and why the electoral college is so important. Here’s the link again, in case you’d like to take a look. Link: 19 Eye-Opening Maps Of America That May Surprise You (onlyinyourstate.com) BTW – if you want to find your state on Maps 13 and 19, you need to have an idea where geographically, your state fits in the country. That’s a little tricky, and for this last map, you only need to know the abbreviation for your state. ![]() I found the Pomodoro Technique in an email from Better Report. They send me practical advice/suggestions. This one was all about time management, whether it’s a task you’ve been putting off, or one you’re struggling to complete. All you need – a task and a timer. Mine – 2 chapters worth of revisions, 22 pages of text, with comments added along the side – altogether 25 pages to get through. Talk about intimidating! So I pulled out the Pomodoro Technique and tried it. I figured I didn’t have anything to lose. It worked, revision by revision, page by page. ![]() Part 1: Here are the steps I used from Better Reports. 1. Choose a task. 2. Set a timer for 25 minutes and only work on that task. 3. When the timer goes off, take a five-minute break. 4. Repeat the previous steps four times. 5. At the end of the fifth interval, take a longer 15-to-30-minute break. Source: What Is the Pomodoro Technique and How Does It Increase Productivity? - Better Report Part 2: Here are a few rules that Better Report said to use. 1. If you start a pomodoro, let the timer ring.” Don’t stop early. Use your time to review, reflect, or plan for the next one. 2. Stop when the timer goes off. Don’t go over time. 3. Set your timer for those 5-minute breaks after the first 4 Pomodoro's. 4. Do something different during those 5-minute breaks. If you’re on the computer, get up and get moving. If you’re cleaning, put your feet up and relax, but don’t get lost in your break. Return to your task when the timer goes off. ![]() Part 3: Here’s how I tailor those Pomodoros to fit me. 1. Sometimes I stop early before the 25-minute timer goes off, but only if there’s not enough time to start the next one. I’d rather start my break early and the next Pomodoro early too. 2. If the timer goes off and I need to finish a sentence or paragraph, I do that too. 3. I skip the timer if I’m reviewing something like a whole chapter. I don’t want to stop and start. I don’t worry about the time. This is about me and how I can best use MY time. 4. With my 5-minute breaks, usually I get up and walk. It makes it easier for me to reach my step goals. Sometimes I clean. I HATE cleaning, but I can do it for 5 minutes. 5. Sometimes I take my long break early. If I’m hungry, I stop and eat, even if I need to cook. I take the time I need. Balance is important, and so is taking care of myself. Source: What Is the Pomodoro Technique and How Does It Increase Productivity? - Better Report Part 4: Meet the Inventor of the Pomodoro Technique. His name, Francesco Grillo. It’s true! Francesco invented the Pomodoro technique in college. Imagine coming up with an idea that gives you a career, and an income for the rest of your life! Here are some ideas from his website that you might want to check into. You can find Francesco’s link below. Who has Francesco worked with? - Managers - Entrepreneurs - Researchers - Writers, designers, product developers, and other creative professionals - And, Teams of people Why does he think you should try the Pomodoro Technique? - Enhanced Focus and Concentration - Improved Time Management - Reduced Stress at Work - Enhanced Team Communication and Flexibility -Adaptable to You and Your Task Requirements How can the Pomodoro Technique help you? - “Learn to be gentle with yourself and develop a conscious relationship with time.” - “Turn time into an ally and use it to improve individual and team productivity.” ![]() To learn more about Francesco: About Francesco Cirillo To read more about the technique: Pomodoro® Technique - Time Management Method (pomodorotechnique.com) Would you believe I finished this book a few weeks ago? I was in the middle of two posts I wanted to write, but I loved this book so much I had to do something – so I reviewed it for My Reads. Here’s the link: Rinda Beach - Beach Reads - Rinda Beach ![]() I found two ideas I wanted to share, but I ran out of time. The good news – you can find them in this book. The first is in Chapter 6. Ben Thompson broke the Declaration into three parts. Look for the real words in italics and read what Ben said about each one. Then skip to Pick Your Poison, it’s near the end of chapter 7. Did you know there were four different kinds of cannon balls? Solid shot, Grapeshot, Shells, and the red-hot kind you picked up with tongs. Check them out and learn more about ammunition. Here is my third idea, and I enjoyed every minute of putting it together. Each chapter had a two-page bio. With twenty chapters, I got to write brief biographies about twenty patriots - from Ben Franklin to George Washington: from the Marquis de Lafayette to the real Molly Pitcher. The best part – finding surprising stories about each one, and hoping you find inspiration in them too! ![]() #1. Today if you say Sam Adams, people think beer. But he was actually terrible at it and lost all of his money in his family’s malthouse business The real Sam Adams was a much better patriot. He was red-hot about independence, from 1764 with the Stamp Act until tea was taxed in 1773. That’s when Sam Adams came up with a great idea. Perhaps you’ve heard of it . . . the Boston Tea Party. ![]() #2. John Hancock was a Boston businessman before he got into the patriot business. In April 1775 the redcoats put a target on his back. Sam Adams too. Luckily, a few spies were watching and sent word to Hancock, Adams, and the minutemen in Lexington and Concord. Most people know John was President of the Continental Congress, but they don’t know he was adopted by an aunt and uncle after his parents died. He inherited their business. PS – Have you ever had your signature called a John Hancock? That’s because when John signed the Declaration, he wrote SUPERSIZE, so that King George could see it without his glasses. ![]() #3. Have you ever heard of William Prescott? I hadn’t. His claim to fame – he commanded the army at the Battle of Bunker Hill, the first big battle of the Revolution. It all started the night of June 16, 1775, when William sent his troops out to build a fort. The problem – they built it on Breed’s, not Bunker Hill. They did it so quietly that the British discovered it the next morning when they woke up. It took 3 tries for the Redcoats to win the hill. That’s because William kept his cool, his men too. They watched and waited until the British got close enough . . . THEN they fired, at the officers. The British won, but they lost 1,100 men, dead or wounded. Half the men they started with. ![]() #4. Everyone knows George Washington. The general who beat King George and the British Empire. The first president who was wise enough to serve two terms, not three. But did you know he’s the only president who led an army during his term? It started with another tax. Farmers in western Pennsylvania rebelled over a whiskey tax. They took up arms. Washington led an army across the state, but he was able to end the rebellion peacefully without firing a shot. ![]() #5. Everyone knows John Adams too. Founding Father, member of the Continental Congress, the first Vice President, and second President. He only served one term thanks to his old buddy and Vice President, Thomas Jefferson. It’s funny how life works – Adams and Jefferson were good friends until Jefferson ran against him for the presidency. The former friends didn’t speak for years, but I’m glad they finally did. Adams was always one of the loudest voices in the room, but no one listened to his suggestion that the president should be known as . . . “His Highness, the President of the United States, and Protector of the Rights of the Same.” I’m glad everyone disagreed with him. ![]() #6. Everyone knows Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, but did you know he didn’t want to? Or that he thought John Adams should write it? I didn’t. According to the book, Adams said he was obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular. Jefferson was the opposite. He was also a Virginian AND a better writer. Thank goodness Adams got his way, and Jefferson did the writing! You’ve probably heard of Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase, but did you know it doubled the size of the country? That it became the states of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana? What a bargain! ![]() #7. I’d never heard of Lord Stirling until I read this book. Would you believe William Alexander found research showing he was the senior male descendant of the First Earl of Stirling in the late 1750s? The House of Lords never recognized him, but American soldiers did. Lord Stirling is best known for the Battle of Brooklyn in 1776. He and his men held off the British until the remnants of the Continental Army could escape. There were already twelve hundred casualties, but it would have been so much worse without him. Stirling surrendered to the British later that day. He wouldn’t live to see the end of the war, but his friend George Washington walked his daughter down the aisle on her wedding day. ![]() #8. Before James Monroe became our 5th president, he was a lieutenant in the Virginia Militia during the days of the American Revolution. Look for him in the painting of Washington crossing the Delaware. Monroe’s the one holding the American flag. When he landed on the other side, he was wounded by cannon fire at Trenton, New Jersey the day after Christmas. Later he’d fight in the Battles of New York, Brandywine, and Monmouth. ![]() #9. You’ve probably heard of the Marquis de Lafayette. Do you recognize his other seven names? Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roche Gilbert du Motier. The American Revolution followed Lafayette home to France. He named his only son George Washington. And when he died, his coffin was covered with dirt from Bunker Hill. That’s where the first major battle of the Revolution was fought near Boston, Massachusetts. ![]() #10. Meet one of the toughest commanders of the American Revolution, Daniel Morgan. I’d never heard of him either. Daniel commanded riflemen at the Battles of Quebec City, Saratoga, and Cowpens. He was taken prisoner at Quebec, but only after his men begged him to surrender. When he was released in 1777, he created Morgan’s Rangers, 500 men passed his test – hitting a life-size picture of a British officer from 100 yards. If you made the grade, you got a Pennsylvania long rifle. It was far more accurate than a British musket, but harder to load. Morgan and his Rangers made the victories at Saratoga and Cowpens possible. Fun Fact: Today’s Army Rangers can trace their roots back to him. ![]() #11. Meet Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin von Steuben – That’s a lot of names! He came from Prussia, in Germany. He claimed to be a baron, but he wasn’t. Ben Franklin misread his bio and thought he was a general. He wasn’t, and he didn’t speak English either. So, Ben sent him to the Continental Congress, who sent him onto Valley Forge. During the worst winter of the war, Von Steuben whipped Washington’s army into shape with all the finesse of a drill sergeant. He was asked to, and he finally wrote down his drills, in French. Alexander Hamilton and Nathanael Green translated them. Would you believe the American army used his instruction manual until 1814? ![]() #12. Everyone knows Benjamin Franklin – author, inventor, printer, scientist, postmaster, and politician. He signed the Declaration, the Peace Treaty that ended the war, and the Constitution, but did you know his son was a loyalist? That William was the royal governor of New Jersey? The father and son fought so violently over the war; they never spoke to each other again. Not after William was put into an American prison, nor after he emigrated to England after the war was over. War is a sad thing. ![]() #13. This is the real Mary Ludwig Hays, also known as Molly Pitcher. Mary was an assistant on a cannon crew. Her job – to pass canteens to the men sweating and working over the cannons. Her husband John loaded them. Mary also poured buckets of water over the red-hot barrels to cool them down so it wouldn’t overheat and quit working. Mary wouldn’t look this clean in battle. She’d be blackened by powder with bullets and cannon balls whizzing around. And if the men needed to rest, Mary loaded and fired the cannon herself. Would you believe she left the army in 1783 as a sergeant, with an army pension too?! She was a liberated woman before Women’s Liberation existed. ![]() #14. Only one Revolutionary general was called mad. Not angry-mad, but crazy-mad. His name – Mad Anthony Wayne. If there was an impossible battle to fight like Stony Point, New York, Washington sent Wayne, but he gave him the best trained, best supplied soldiers in the Continental Army. This battle was so impossible – Wayne asked a friend to take care of his wife and two children if he died. So impossible he asked for volunteers to run into the fort. The first one earned $500. The next four men, $100 each. And would you believe – Mad Anthony Wayne and his troops recaptured Stony Point? ![]() #15. Have you watched Turn? Or heard of the Culper Spy Ring? Then you might know Benjamin Tallmadge. General Washington needed to get reliable, accurate information out of New York City, the headquarters for the British. He picked Tallmadge in late 1778 to create a secret spy ring. It stayed active, successful, and hidden until 1783 when the Revolution ended. After the war, Tallmadge settled down and became a Connecticut postmaster and Congressman. ![]() #16. George Rogers Clark – I knew his name, but not his BIG accomplishment. He captured the Northwest territory from the British, basically on his own. His victories and diplomatic skills doubled the size of the original 13 colonies. That land later became the states of Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. I was shocked to learn Clark died poor, after doubling the size of our country. I bet you’ve heard of his brother and his friend, Lewis. They were the two men who traveled across the country with Sacajawea. She took them all the way to the Pacific Ocean. ![]() #17. John Paul Jones started life as a poor Scottish sailor, and he wound up becoming the Father of the US Navy. If you’d like to visit his tomb, go to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. If he had a brother from another mother, it would be Mad Anthony Wayne. They both fought impossible battles, and won. Wayne on land, and Jones at sea. ![]() #18. A woman, fought in the Revolution?! True! Deborah Sampson Gannett served as soldier Robert Shurtleff. She was wounded several times. She even dug out her own bullets to keep her identity secret. She’s one of the few women who earned a pension during the Revolutionary War. Her story is a tale of triumph. At age 5 her mother sent her off to live with friends. She bounced from house to house until she was 10. Then she was sold as an indentured servant. She spent the next 8 years working in the fields by day. At night she taught herself to read. Would you believe it was against the law for slaves and indentured servants to learn to read, and for someone to teach them? ![]() #19. Nathanael Green was one of George Washington’s most trusted generals. He commanded troops from Boston to the Carolinas, but he’s best known as the Commander of the Southern Campaign. Think of the battles in Georgia and the Carolinas. They led onto Yorktown and the end of the war. TWICE, he was asked to serve as Secretary of War, but he refused both times. He preferred to live a quiet life in retirement. No wonder, after all those years on the battlefield. ![]() #20. Alexander Hamilton is famous for his duel with Aaron Burr. It started when Hamilton wrote a few mean pieces in the newspaper. The big problem, Hamilton fired into the air like he was supposed to, but Burr didn’t. He shot Hamilton in the gut, killing him. Hamilton was more than a man who died in a duel. He was General Washington’s aide, and he commanded troops at the Battles of Trenton and Yorktown. Later he played a key role in developing and writing the Constitution, and he was our first Secretary of the Treasury. Sad – he’s not known for any of those things. I’ve never done as much research as I’ve done for this middle grade novel on the founding fathers. Every chapter is an adventure . . . And I never know what I’m going to uncover. ![]() Part 1 – How I Do The Research: I learned within the first 10 chapters that I need 3 different kinds of research for each one. First and most importantly, I look up the man who died. It’s your only chance to meet him. I need at least three sources of information about him. Then I cut and paste the sources together. If I find the same fact 3 times, I can use it. Less, I can’t. Even then I still need to decide which facts are important, and which ones to skip. ![]() Next, I research the death year from the American Revolution. I copy and paste everything, until I know what’s important. Finally, I look up what my main character, Charles Carroll of Carrollton was doing. I save everything he did that year. The same rules still apply – I need to know which facts I can verify, and which ones fit in the chapter. Note – I save all three kinds of research, after my first draft of the actual chapter. Then I paste the research in the order it fit in the chapter, with all the source links. The last and biggest part, that’s all the stuff that didn’t fit in, verified or not, with their source links too. It’s there, just in case. The first draft of a chapter is 10 pages or less. The research I use is usually 5-8 pages, and the rest, it’s what didn’t fit. The whole document is usually 30-40 pages altogether. Part 2 – Stuck on a Fire: The idea for this post came when I hit chapter 36. I was stuck for 2 days on the research, and I couldn’t move forward until I pieced it together. When I looked up tobacco planting in the 1790s, I discovered they burned the seed beds before they planted them. I couldn’t imagine setting a fire on purpose – I grew up with Smokey the Bear. And today kids are still taught NOT to set fires, and I was writing about setting one. WHOA! The first thing I looked up – controlled burns. The link: Controlled Burns on the Farm | Beginning Farmers I learned from Beginning Farmers that you wait for a calm day to start the burn. Go to the bottom of a hill with the wind blowing up the slope. Set your fire so the wind blows away from people and houses. Aim it towards things like creeks, dirt roads, or rock barriers. Those 4 ideas helped, but I still wasn’t ready to write. ![]() I also looked up this link: 13869 (ncpedia.org) It’s from North Carolina’s encyclopedia. The title – Tobacco Farming the Old Way. I copied the pages I needed, but I didn’t use them. Why? I already had that information, but it confirmed the facts I knew. I’ve never started a fire without matches so I found another source: Link: How to Start a Fire With Flint and Steel | The Art of Manliness I copied and saved the supplies I need for the chapter. I’ll get a piece of flint, steel, and a char cloth. They all have specific requirements to start a real fire, but I don’t need to do that. Only write about it. Next, I’ll find some tinder. That’s dry grass or bits of plants from last year. I also copied two pictures from that link. I had to remember what they looked like. If I can’t picture them, you won’t when you read the words. I couldn’t share my pictures. I wasn’t sure if they were copyrighted so I took a screenshot from the search engine. The second and fifth pictures are the ones that helped me start a fire of words for you. ![]() But I still couldn’t write, so I found a YouTube video. I watched it a few times and wrote down these notes: - fire burns slowly - hearing crackling - left behind black ash - edge of flame licked edge of field Then I could write my controlled fire scene in chapter 36. Charley sets the fire, watches it burn, and keeps it under control. I was thrilled! My critique partners said they could picture the fire, all from my words. As a writer, that’s as good as it gets! And the link: VN 000355 L65 CB283 16x9 3m30s 230620M (youtube.com) Part 3 – False Family Connections: Meet the four delegates from South Carolina who signed the Declaration of Independence. The first is Edward Rutledge from Chapter 38 of my middle grade novel. I thought I found a great angle – that he was the brother-in-law of the other three. Then I double checked my research. ![]() Edward Rutledge and Arthur Middleton WERE brothers-in-law. Edward married Arthur’s sister, Henrietta. He died on New Year’s Day in 1787. I knew that – Arthur died in Chapter 14. Henrietta Rutledge died in 1792, and Edward remarried. My source said he was related to the other men through his second wife, Mary Shubrick Everleigh. And that source: Edward Rutledge | Facts, Early Years, Life, Death, Military & Politics (revolutionary-war.net) ![]() Edward Rutledge died in January 23, 1800. Thomas Heyward was still alive, so I kept looking. Thomas married twice. His first wife, Elizabeth Matthews. The second, Elizabeth Savage. No Shubrick’s there, and Rutledge wasn’t mentioned, AT ALL. Here’s one of the sources I checked: Thomas Heyward, Jr. | Facts, Early Years, Life, Death & Politics (revolutionary-war.net) ![]() I thought I was done with Rutledge and his brothers-in-law, but I discovered there might have been a connection. I didn’t realize it until I did the research for this post. Thomas Lynch Jr. married a Paige Shubrick in 1772, but they took a ship to the West Indies in December of 1779. Their ship never arrived so they must have died at sea. It’s one of the saddest chapters I’ve written, because of their age/cause of death. Paige may have been Mary’s sister, but she and her husband died long before Mary married Rutledge. AND there was no mention of a connection on the site. I’m glad I never used the brother-in-law reference in Chapter 36. Here’s one of the sources I used: Thomas Lynch | Facts, Early Years, Life, Death & Politics (revolutionary-war.net) Part 4 – A Shocking Discovery: This is a painting of the Declaration of Independence, but it’s not the signing. The five men standing in the middle are the Committee of Five. They drafted the Declaration. I always thought the Continental Congress signed it on the Fourth of July. Nope! Only two men did – President John Hancock and Secretary Charles Thomson. But that wasn’t my shocking discovery. When I started writing Chapter 1 back in January of 2023, I knew the signing happened on August 2. And I thought all 56 men signed their names. Nope! Only 49, and THAT was my shocking discovery. ![]() Meet Matthew Thornton! In that first draft of Chapter 1, I knew he signed late. His name was last on the Declaration, not with the other 2 men from New Hampshire. Something happened, but I didn’t know the what – so I took my best guess. Simplest is always best – Matthew signed later in the week. Then I hit Chapter 38, this summer on June 25. I think I went into shock. My mind probably raced, trying to figure out what to do. Here’s what I saw that night. It stopped me cold! Source #1: Matthew Thornton | Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (dsdi1776.com) ![]() Although Thornton was not present during the debates on independence or when 50 of the delegates signed the Declaration on August 2, he became one of six signers who did so in the following months…” ![]() “…was elected to the Continental Congress just in time to sign the Declaration of Independence…” ![]() “…signed the Declaration, several months after the official signing in July, one of six signers who were not actually present at the Congress when the Declaration was adopted…” Did you notice I color code my notes to help me ‘see’ my sources when I write? Later it helps when I go back to check something, like shocking discoveries! ![]() Within 30 minutes I texted and asked a critique partner if we could zoom the next day. She said yes. So I did some searching, and here’s what I learned . . . Link #1: The Declaration of Independence: A History | National Archives This one had 5. ![]() Among the later signers were Elbridge Gerry, Oliver Wolcott, Lewis Morris, Thomas McKean, and Matthew Thornton, who found that he had no room to sign with the other New Hampshire delegates. Link #2: Signers of the Declaration of Independence | Daughters of the American Revolution (dar.org) Had 2. ![]() 1. Matthew Thornton from New Hampshire Granted permission to sign. Arrived 3 months later. 2. Oliver Wolcott from Connecticut Signed after he returned to Congress in October. And here are the men who signed late: 1. Matthew Thornton - Arrived in Congress November 4. Probably signed in November. New Hampshire 2. Elbridge Gerry - Away on July 4; Returned to Congress September 2, 1776. Probably signed September 3. - Massachusetts 3. Oliver Wolcott - Returned October 1. Probably signed in October. Connecticut 4. Lewis Morris - Returned to Congress after August 2, before September 8. Likely signed in September - New York 5. George Wythe Returned to Congress after August 2, before September 14. Probably signed in September - Virginia 6. Richard Henry Lee Returned to Congress August 27, 1776. Probably signed in September - Virginia 7. Thomas McKean - Returned to Congress briefly in September,1776. Returned in January 1777. Signature is missing from Goddard Broadside, printed January. No one knows when he signed. Delaware ![]() And here’s my plan for going forward: 1. Go with 7 late signers. 2. Three names are mentioned in Chapter 1. Change/delete them and leave the rest alone. 3. Make notes on the 7 late signers on the chapters I’ve written, and on my timeline for the ones ahead. Do you recognize this landform? It’s the continent of Antarctica. It’s the only continent without a single country, although 22 have a ‘consultative’ status. That’s because they agreed to a 1959 treaty. They promised to keep Antarctica as a scientific preserve, like a national park. It was to be preserved as a place of scientific study and environmental protection. One of my critique partners, Sandra Martin Denis just got back from Antarctica. She was there during the summer, the warmest time of year. It’s funny – Antarctica’s summer is during our winter. Part 1: It came straight from Sandra’s trip – her photos and her words. Enjoy! Penguins live in Antarctica. Penguins live in colonies. They're great swimmers. They spend half their time in the water and half their time on land. They are expert divers. They eat krill, fish, and squid. Penguins mate for life. They build nests of stones. Most penguins lay two eggs in a clutch. The male and the female take turns incubating the eggs, except for the emperor penguin. They build "highways" on the snow. Their main enemy is the Leopard Seal. Sandra didn’t have a picture of one, but I found these two on Pixabay. Yikes! Look at those teeth. OUCH! Part 2: A trivia question about Antarctica’s climate. What is the average temperature range for Antarctica per year? 10°C to -60°C 10°C to -10°C 30°C to 20°C -5°C to -10°Celsius 50°F to -76°F 50°F to 14°F 86°F to 68°F 23°F to 14°Fahrenheit Take a guess, then check below the map. I completely missed this one. Antarctica is warmer than I thought! The annual temperature for the whole continent ranges from about −10°C on the coast to −60°Celsius. In Fahrenheit that’s 50°F to -76°F. Wow, 50 is way warmer than I imagined. That’s like a warm March day in Ohio! But it all depends on – location, location, location. ![]() That 50°F was near the coast, in the summer. That’s where Sandra was, but she said she wore a parka. Maybe at night when the sun goes down, the coastal temperature drops too. In the winter – that coastal temperature gets even colder, -40, and that’s the reading on both Celsius and Fahrenheit thermometers. That surprised me. I’ve never seen the two temperature scales match, with the same exact number. Incredible! I’m glad Sandra didn’t go inland, especially to the mountaintops. Their warmest temperature – -22. That’s one of the worst winter days in Ohio, ever. I don’t want to think how cold it gets in their winter. Ready? That’s -112?! Holy frostbite, that’s cold! And the coldest temperature ever recorded on earth? -128.56, at the Vostok station in Antarctica. That’s where scientists live. And the date – July 21, 1983. YIKES! Part 3: Wind Speed and Snowfall by the Numbers ![]() Those temperatures, like -112 F are without the windchill. To find that, I looked up the wind speed on the antarctica.gov link below. I don’t want to do the math, but if you can imagine, an Antarctic wind can blow at 100 km/h, and it can blow for days! I don’t do kilometers, so in miles per hour – that’s 62. If you want to imagine it, stand beside a highway. That’s how fast cars will drive by. I’m feeling colder already! Are you ready for the strongest winds? That’s 200 km/h or 124 mph, or the wind speed of a Category 3 hurricane. YIKES – x 2! ☹ As for snow – the average accumulation for the whole continent of Antarctica is 150 mm of water per year, or 5.9 inches. If you’re not sure what that looks like, find 6 on a ruler. When you go inland to the elevated plateau, the annual value drops to 50 mm. That’s only 1.96 inches. But at the coast, it rises to 200 mm or 7.87 inches. But for the heaviest rain or snow, find the peninsula in the northwestern corner of the map. It stretches to the north, and the Bellingshausen Sea is below it, to the south. It’s not labeled, but it gets over 1000 mm of water. In inches that’s 39.37. Think yardstick, then add your index finger for another 3 inches. That’s a lot of water! ![]() Sources: For more information: www.antarctica.gov.au My source: What is the average annual... | Trivia Answers | QuizzClub Map: By Robert Simmon - en:Internet Archive - https://web.archive.org/web/20070823123915/http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17838 (originally http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17838 NASA Earth Observatory), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3126858 I wrote the original post back in November, and I shared the update on my vlog. At the end, I predicted where I would be at the end of February. Today is March 13, and here’s where I am on my journey to tell the story of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence. Part 1 – Where I Was: I believe you need to know where you were, to take stock of where you are. It also allows you to see progress, and that’s a good thing. The original post went live on November 20. I was on Chapter 17, and I was writing about Ben Franklin. Oh My Goodness! I remember that chapter – not in a good way! It took me 3 weeks to find my way in. If you’d like to read the original post, here’s my link: http://www.rindabeach.com/blog/me-and-my-middle-grade-novel-where-am-i-now My vlog went live on January 28. I finished Chapter 21 with Francis Hopkinson that week. If you’d like to listen, here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2796790403792630 Part 2 – Where Am I Now? This week I finished Chapter 30. Only 27 chapters to go 😊 And the signer – Carter Braxton from Virginia. I’d never heard of him, but now I won’t forget him either. His mother died after she’d given birth to two baby boys. He was her second son. Carter married young like his father, and his wife died after she’d given birth to two baby girls. Heartbreaking. But he married again. She gave birth to ten boys and six more girls. Eighteen – that’s a lot of children! Milestones from my Journey : Chapter 19 = a third of the way to the end. Chapters 28 = halfway done. I celebrated both milestones with a tiny bit of shopping. It makes a memory and keeps me moving. Chapter 38 = two thirds of the way to the end. That’s seven chapters or seven weeks from now, I hope. Story Stats – 29 founders, dead Two states with all its signers dead – North Carolina (3) and New Jersey (5) The state with only one death – Massachusetts. The signer, John Hancock Part 3 –My Conclusions and How They're Working: Back on July 17 of 2023, I wrote a post about failing. I even thought about quitting. Back then I was struggling with Stephen Hopkins from Chapter 12. Here are my conclusions after a week of struggle, plus the answer to the postscript – how my conclusions are working. ![]() 1. It’s OK to fail. Sometimes you need to stop and make a new plan. The last time I failed/got stuck was on Chapter 17 with Ben Franklin. 2. Change when you need to. When I get stuck, I should take a break. I need fun and family too. I still take breaks when I need to. But after Chapter 17, I found a new technique. I haven’t missed a deadline since then 😊 3. When I get stuck, I should step back. Later I’ll see how to edit and revise. I don’t need to step back with my new strategy. At least so far 😊 4. Each chapter feels like I’m climbing some steep hills. I need to write at this story’s speed. Sometimes that’s fast, and the story just flows. Other times it’s slow or no-speed at all. That’s when my ideas need time to develop. I still feel like I’m climbing steep hills, especially at the beginning, but my new technique makes it easier to climb that first one. Then the story usually flows along. Sometimes I find a steep hill near the end, but the strategy works there too 😊 Post Link: http://www.rindabeach.com/blog/when-you-feel-like-quitting-inspiring-quotes-for-you-and-me Vlog: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=6554628911271624 Part 4 – Three New Strategies: How did I find them? The old-fashioned way – trial and error – until I find what works. For today. When they stop working – I go back to my drawing board. ![]() 1. Finding my way through research – I’m much faster than I used to be. I look for three internet sources for each signer, then what was going on just before his death, and finally what Charley and his family were up to. Sometimes I find my way into the chapter from it, but a lot of times, I don’t. ![]() 2. I write less – but not on the chapter of the week. I still write all day, taking breaks when I need to get up, until about 8PM. Sometimes just getting up and moving around will get me unstuck. And, so far I’m staying on track, writing a chapter a week. The less, that’s on my blog. I realized over the summer, when I thought about quitting, something had to give, and it couldn’t be me. So, now I write a blog section in two days. The first day I put up pictures and outline what I want to write. The second day I write and revise that section. If life gets in the way, and occasionally it does, I give myself a day of grace. Less is also on my vlog. I’m doing more classic posts. LOL, it’s just another way of saying an old one. I also look for blogs, beyond the original one, but they need to add to the vlog’s topic. ![]() 3. This is the BIG ONE! I write questions to Charley (Charles Carroll), and I answer them. After spending the last year and a half with him, I know him pretty well. This week I’m working on Oliver Wolcott. I’d never heard of him either. He was the governor of Connecticut in 1797, and a Major General in the Continental Army. He was one of the heroes of Saratoga, one of the first big wins for Washington’s army, but – that didn’t help me figure out how to write Chapter 31. What did? Questions! I started with ‘Where is Charley?’ and ‘What is he doing?’ Sometimes that works. Sometimes I have to ask more questions. I knew Oliver died on December 1, and Charley would have been in the Maryland Senate. So I asked what he might have been doing. That was a dead end, but it’s part of the process. Then I asked the question, and I hit pay dirt! I asked what Charley was doing at Christmas time. I got the answer the next morning. I realized I’d already written something about a priest visiting him. I don’t know if one really did, but it fits my research. Charley’s cousin was the first Catholic bishop in the US, and he started St. Mary's College and Seminary in Baltimore. The priest had to visit, because there were no Catholic Churches in Annapolis. Not yet. The first one was built next door to Charley’s house. BINGO! I started writing, and I finished the WHOLE rough draft in one day. I even started my first round of revision. I didn’t finish – I needed to write this part of the blog for you. If I hadn’t found my way into the chapter – I would have asked Charley more questions, until I found it. I know when I have a good answer, because I can keep writing. Even when I question the last paragraph I wrote. When that happens, I take a break, AND I can push past it. Part 5 – My New Middle Grade Goals: ![]() The next one – to finish Chapter 36 by May 3rd. That’s the first Friday in May. My critique group is taking Good Friday off. Then I'll return to my usual pace – a chapter a week – to research, write and revise. It’s the fastest I’ve ever written, and the most I’ve written in years. I have another goal that’s on the back burner. I’m moving as quickly as I can, but the other chapters come first. My second goal is to polish the first 3 chapters until they’re submission ready. It’s a work in progress. I bought this book last September, in 2022. I shop whenever I’m watching an OSU football game. It’s a superstition, but it makes me feel like I’m doing my part to help the Buckeyes win. ![]() My Stats from Last Year: Trivia score Name Recognition Chapter 1 5 of 20 -- Chapter 2 7 14 of 28 Chapter 3 11 11 of 20 Chapter 4 5 9 of 22 Chapter 5 5 7 of 21 Chapter 6 5 12 of 38 Chapter 7 8 10 of 26 That means my best scores came in Chapter 5 for both trivia and name recognition. It was all about catching the ball, AKA the receivers. Here’s my link to last year’s trivia: http://www.rindabeach.com/blog/trivial-pursuit-the-ohio-state-football-way Game Day Saturday, September 16 - Chapter 8 - How I did, and what I learned. Chapter 8: Coaching Carousel: I thought I’d do better on this chapter than I did. I’ve been following Ohio State football since the 60s. I can name the coaches in order . . . Woody Hayes, Earle Bruce, John Cooper, Jim Tressel, Urban Meyer, and Ryan Day. I double checked, and I missed one. Luke Fickel was coach for less than a year. He came between Tressel and Meyer. I have a soft spot for Luke’s wife, Amy. She comes from Spencerville, Ohio. That’s just up the road from my house in Wapak. In spite of knowing all that, I was back to mediocre again, 7 right out of 20. YUCK! And on name recognition, I knew 11 out of 23. Yep, mediocre, but, these questions are hard! These are my four favorite OSU coaches. I don’t know any of the ones before Woody. I was born in 1959, and Woody became head coach in 1951. He was still there during the fall of 1978 when I was a freshman. I feel sorry now for the next two coaches . . . There was no way they could compare to Woody, and the three that followed . . . I loved them like Woody 😊 Now for my Pick 3 questions, they’re all about the best OSU coach ever – Wayne Woodrow Hayes! 3. Including Woody Hayes, how many coaches have the Buckeyes had since hiring Hayes in 1951? A. 4 B. 5 C. 6 D. 7 I got it right . . . 7! You can double check the answer in the first paragraph. I named those 7 coaches in order, and I only forgot 1. Not bad! 11. How many Big Ten championships did Woody Hayes win as the Buckeyes’ head coach? A. 13 B. 15 C. 11 D. 17 Shucks! I guessed 17. Too high! The answer . . . 13. I guess even Woody couldn’t win them all, but he sure tried. 18. Urban Meyer and Jim Tressel combined to coach more All-Americans at Ohio State than Woody Hayes. A. True B. False I missed it! I said true, that two coaches could produce more All-Americans than just one. Wrong! I forgot that Woody coached for 28 years, while Jim and Urban only did 15, altogether. Wow! What a coach! Fun Fact: Before Woody came, OSU was known as the coaches’ graveyard. Game Day Saturday, September 23 – Chapter 9 - How I did. I started Chapter 9 during the Notre Dame game, and it was quite a game . . . I only managed to answer the questions. That’s it. Today the Buckeyes are playing Maryland so I’m going to try to do the writing. Chapter 9: Championship Caliber: I had no idea how I’d do this time. Who remembers championships after they’re over? Not me! I was surprised I actually did a little better . . . up from 7 to 8 on the multiple-choice questions. On name recognition I knew 10 out of 20. Woo-hoo! That’s 50%. Still mediocre, but a little bit better! Game Day Saturday, October 7 - Chapter 9 – What Resonated with Me None of the questions or their answers resonated with me, but the additional information from Ray Walker did. During the Notre Dame game, and afterwards something struck home. I didn’t know that Lou Holtz made a few comments about the Buckeyes, and Ryan Day answered back after the game, that it was Ohio against the world. It feels like it’s always been that way. ![]() - Ray noted that in 2018 ESPN ranked the national champions from the BCS years, and they put the 2002 Buckeyes last. The reason, the Buckeyes had a lot of close games as they finished out the season. ESPN said they just weren’t dominant enough. Gee, I thought winning was everything! It didn’t matter that the Buckeyes were the first to win 14 games in a season, or that they were 1 of 9 teams on the list to go unbeaten and win the national championship. When you’re ranked high, you have a target on your back. Add in that 2002 team were the first #2 to beat a #1 during the BCS years, but that didn’t matter to the powers at ESPN that made the rankings. (Like always, Ohio against the world) Game Day Saturday, October 14 – Chapter 10 - How I did I didn’t! I went to a baby shower, but I kept track of the score. When I got home, the game was still on, but we had company, so no chapter 10 ☹ But the Buckeyes beat Purdue 41 – 7 . . . Woohoo! Game Day Saturday, October 21 – Chapter 10, Finally! How I did & What Resonated with Me Chapter 10: Going Bowling: I had a bad feeling about this chapter . . . It’s either the kind with one ball and nine pins, or the kind that involves holiday football games in warm destinations. I figured I’d be terrible at both ☹ I’m glad I was prepared. I went down, 5 out of 20 on the multiple-choice questions. FIVE! That’s like a 25%. OUCH! On name recognition I knew 7 out of 20. A 35% is a little better, but not much. Double OUCH! What Resonated with Me: 1. I recognized two names – William White and Bobby Hoying. They were both local boys, from the county right next door. William grew up in Lima and played football for the Spartans. Northwest Ohio was thrilled when he became a Buckeye, and so was I. 2. Bobby grew up in St. Henry, and he played for the Redskins. He was chosen as Mr. Football back in 1990, out of all the high school players from across the state. Bobby went from playing quarterback in a small town in Mercer County to playing at The Ohio State University. It’s incredible when a local boy succeeds, and both Bobby and William made it all the way to the NFL. WOW! 3. I found a not-so-good memory in this chapter about bowl games, with Clemson. They were the team that got Woody Hayes fired. He was and still is my favorite coach ever. It began when Clemson intercepted a pass near the end of the game. Woody was known for his temper, and he grabbed the player’s jersey and hit him. The Buckeye team captain pulled Woody off the kid, and he was fired the next day. It was a sad end for Woody and his coaching career, but he was forgiven, and I’m glad his contributions have not been forgotten. PS – OSU lost that game in 1978. They’d lose again to Clemson in 2016 and 2019, but they finally beat them in 2021 . . . 49 – 28. There’s nothing like the thrill of victory after those 3 defeats. Game Day Saturday, October 28 - Chapter 11 - How I did, and what I learned. Chapter 11: Draft Day: I had no idea how I’d do in this chapter. I’ve never paid attention to the draft, ever! My results – I went up one, to 6 out of 20 on the multiple-choice questions. That’s 30%. Guessing stinks as a strategy, but it’s all I had ☹ On name recognition I knew more names than last time, 22, but there were 30 I didn’t know. My score – 22 out of 50, for a 42%. YIKES! ☹ I discovered after reading this chapter that draft day doesn’t always lead to a contract. It means nothing, until that contract is signed. Here are 3 stories about 3 superstar Buckeyes. ![]() #1. Have you heard of Paul Warfield? The Cleveland Browns drafted him in 1964. I was only 5 years old, but somehow, I remember he was fast. As a Buckeye he was a halfback. That meant he lined up with the offense, and he ran the ball down the field. Funny, I thought that would make him a running back! Cleveland picked him as a defensive back, but they also knew he could catch the ball. So, they decided to try him as a receiver. The result – Paul learned how to catch the ball that first year in the NFL. I guess your team gets a HUGE say on what position you play. ![]() #2. Tom Skladany is another name I remember. He left OSU before I came in as a freshman. He was a gifted kicker, the first specialty player to ever get a scholarship to a Big 10 school. The Browns picked him in the second round of the 1977 draft, but he never signed with them. He wound up sitting out the whole 1977 NFL season. Why? Evidently Art Modell called his agent ‘the biggest thorn in the side of professional football.” Art put Tom on the trading block, first with the Rams in return for two second round picks. Later he shipped Tom off to the Lions for a second and seventh round pick for 1978. OUCH! ![]() #3. Terry Glenn’s story from 1996 caught my eye. I was a mom with three kids by then, and I had time for football again. Terry had great hands . . . he was a receiver, and he was the seventh pick, in THE first round. Talented, right?! Well not enough for Bill Parcells, the coach for the New England Patriots. He said, “If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries.” Evidently Parcells didn’t want Terry, but two higher ups did . . . owner Bob Kraft and general manager, Bobby Grier. I have a feeling Parcells was happier with Terry by the end of the season . . . He set a rookie record of 90 catches, and they helped the Patriots into the Super Bowl that year. Game Day Saturday, November 4 - Chapter 12 - How I did, and what I learned. Chapter 12: Writing the Record Book: I had no idea once again how I’d do on this chapter. I would hear someone set a record, then promptly forget about it. My results on multiple choice questions – I went up one again, to 7 out of 20. That’s another 35%. Guessing isn’t the best strategy, but it’s all I had, again ☹ On name recognition this was one of my best scores, I knew 20, and I didn’t recognize 12. My score – 20 out of 32, for a sky-high 63%. That’s still a D or an F. YIKES! ☹ Game Day Saturday, November 11 - Chapter 12 – Three Record-Setting Stories ![]() #1. What would you do if you were the quarterback, and your passing game was off? Duh! You’d hand the ball to a running back. In 2020, that’s exactly what Justin Fields did in the Big Ten championship game. He handed the ball to Trey Sermon who had just transferred in from Oklahoma. I’m glad he did! Trey carried the ball 29 times, right into the OSU record book. He ran 331 yards that day against the Northwestern Wildcats. His best two plays, in the third quarter. Trey ran 65 yards, then 33, right into the end zone for a touchdown. That gave the Buckeyes their first lead in the game. Imagine, the Buckeyes behind in the third quarter?! OUCH! In the fourth quarter Trey’s running game gave OSU another touchdown and a spot in the College Football Playoff. He was the MVP, duh! Thanks, Trey, for saving the game! Bonus Source: Trey Sermon - Wikipedia ![]() #2. Meet Garcia Lane. This is the only picture I could find of him, and it was long after he set his OSU record in 1983. I graduated in June 1981 so I remember him well. He was a great player! His record – a pair of punt returns in ONE game against Purdue. The first came in the third quarter. Garcia caught the ball on his own 37, ran to his left, then cut back to the right. That’s when he found his hole and ran down the field for a 63-yard touchdown. Woohoo! Later in that same quarter, the Boilermakers punted to Garcia again. This time, no need for cutbacks. Garcia followed his blockers for another touchdown. This time – for 71 yards. Would you believe those were the second and third touchdowns of his OSU career? I didn’t realize returning a punt for 2 touchdowns in one game was exceptional. Only 10 Buckeyes have ever done it, and it took their whole OSU career to make it happen. Only 6 did it in one season, and Garcia, he did it in ONE game. No one has repeated or broken his record, ever. WOW! BTW – Garcia said there were two things he treasured from his years as a Buckeye – the punt return record, and being voted team captain his senior year. He never saw it coming, and it meant the world, because his teammates picked him. Source: On The Lighter Side : Garcia Lane (247sports.com) ![]() #3. And when it comes to kicking, you’ll find Mike Nugent at the top of all the lists. Some of his records include. . . 1. Mike kicked his way to 120 points in 2002. Think of how many field goals and extra points he had to kick to get there. It’s only been passed 4 times since he graduated in 2004. 2. He still holds the kicking record for college career points (356) 3. Made field goals (72) 4. Mike’s career field goal percentage (81.8%) 5. The number of 50-yard field goals in one season (5) for his career (80) 6. He holds the top two spots for field goals (25 in 2002 and 24 in 2004) 7. He made 24 field goals in a row between 2001 and 2002. 8. He became the second Buckeye to kick 5 field goals in one game. 9. Then he tied the record for perfect games in 2004 at North Carolina State. Mike made 9 perfect kicks, and 8 of them were from at least 50 yards away. Incredible! No wonder Mike played in the NFL from 2005 until 2020. Bonus Source: Mike Nugent Stats | The Football Database (footballdb.com) Game Day Saturday, November 18 - Conclusions from Ray Walker and Me Ray Walker started his conclusions with congratulations – for making it through all 12 chapters. Yay, I did that! He also said if he’d done his job well, that I’d be filled to the brim with new facts. Sorry, Ray. There was just too much information for me to absorb and retain. But Ray did give me a lot of behind-the-scenes stories. I loved reading them, but I wish I could remember them ☹. Ray also said his questions, answers, and stories were meant for readers to enjoy. I liked guessing the answers, but his questions, they were HARD! I even tested myself on name recognition, an extra challenge that I never quite rose to. The hardest part of all was the range of questions. It covered ALL of Buckeye History. I know a lot, from the mid-60’s to the mid-80’s. Then my kids came along, and I lost track of my Buckeyes. I returned in the 90’s thru today. That’s a wide range of sports history to retain, and I didn’t do as well as I thought I would. But I did end up with the fun and Buckeye pride Ray wanted readers to have. I found it when I picked 3 stories from each chapter to write about. Now I’m even more amazed by what my Buckeyes have accomplished throughout my lifetime, and beyond. For my pick-3’s, I always go hunting for pictures, and it’s a trip down memory lane whether I find a picture from their OSU days, or from later on. Then I take Ray’s stories and give them a Rinda-spin . . . by adding in my memories. Meet the Quarterbacks: (Chapter 3 – Calling the Signals) I know each and every one of these names, except for Les Horvath. He was before my time. Rex Kerns is the first one I remember, but I can only recall hearing his name on TV in the ’60s. Art Schlichter is the quarterback from my college years, the ’70s. He had his ups and downs over the years, but the important thing about him – he was a Buckeye. Craig Krenzel was playing when my baby sister was in college, the ’90s. Would you believe he went to the same church she did after they both graduated? She was impressed by his behavior. He acted like everyone else. He was just one of the church faithful, not a star quarterback. Game Day Saturday, November 25 - Memories from 2 Years of OSU Triv Today was THE GAME – the one with Michigan. They won the last 2 years, but I was hoping today would break the pattern. It didn’t ☹ Michigan won again, but only by 6 points. It could have swung the other way, but it didn’t ☹ My question from last week’s post – the one I still remembered after 2 years of trivia – What charm do OSU players get if they beat Michigan? Gold Pants! It makes me sad this is another year without that charm for my favorite team. The Story: In 1934 OSU hired Francis Schmidt as head coach. When the local media got a chance to ask about that team up north, Schmidt said, “They put their pants on one leg at a time, just like the rest of us.” That’s when two Columbus businessmen formed the ‘Gold Pants Club.’ They created gold lapel pins, shaped like football pants. Each player and coach on that winning team gets a gold pin, engraved with their initials, game date, and the score. What kind of trenches do football games have? The one between the offensive and defensive lines. They’re manned by lineman. The offensive ones fight to keep the quarterback safe, and he fights to gain yards/first downs/touchdowns for the team. He can either hand off the ball to a running back or throw it to one of the receivers. The defensive lineman fight to stop the quarterback. If they sack him, he loses yardage. If they stop the running backs, the offense might not get that all important first down. As for those receivers, there are also defensive backs who do whatever they can, within the rules (and sometimes outside them too) to stop the play. If they intercept the ball, that’s even better. It’s the only way a defensive player can EVER score a touchdown. Last year the linemen failed in THE GAME, but they tightened their lines, and the Buckeyes almost beat the #1 team/national champion – Georgia. I was so proud of those linemen. This year they were just as tough. OSU and Michigan were well matched, even with a brand-new quarterback. Kyle threw 2 interceptions, 1 near the beginning of the game. A defender caught it, and it gave Michigan a touchdown. The 2nd was the last play. Another defender caught it, and the clock ran out. The Buckeyes lost by 6 points – the cost of that 1st interception. Many of us think the Michigan pass/touchdown, was actually intercepted. This time by the Buckeyes, but the referees refused to change the call. Oh well, there’s always next year . . . See you at one of the New Year’s bowls! My team is sure to accept an invitation to one of them 😊 Game Day Friday, December 29 - Final Memories from 2 Years of OSU Triva Last night was the Cotton Bowl, the last game of the 2023 season. So many changes have happened since the Michigan game. Our starting quarterback left through the transfer portal. Other players did too, or they declared for the NFL like Marvin Harrison Jr did. I miss the old days when the players finished the WHOLE season. The Cotton Bowl didn’t end the way I hoped, but there were some bright spots . . . the defensive line was excellent. Our second-string quarterback gave his all and tried to play past an injury, but he wound up back on the sidelines. A third-stringer who’d only thrown 5 passes wound up leading the team, in a Bowl game. Incredible! The last time that happened was with Cardale Jones. He led the Buckeyes to a national championship. Here’s to the future, whatever it brings. Life is never dull when you’re a Buckeye! The last trivia question is from Chapter 4 – Between the Tackles, where the running backs rule. #5. Eddie George and Ezekiel Elliott are tied in the record books with the most 200-yard games for the Buckeyes, with how many? 5 4 3 2 The answer . . . 5 games. Both Eddie and Ezekiel had 5 games with over 200 yards. ![]() So where are they now? Eddie retired in 2006. He played for the Houston Oilers, who became the Tennessee Titans. Then he went to the Dallas Cowboys. Over his 9 years in the NFL, he rushed for 10,441 yards and scored 68 touchdowns. That’s 408 points he put on the scoreboard. Eddie was NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1995 and a four-time Pro Bowler. The Titans retired Eddie’s #27, which is a huge honor, and he’s a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. After Eddie retired, he went back to OSU to get his bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture. He earned his master’s degree in Management at Northwestern. Eddie hasn’t left football completely behind . . . he was named head coach at Tennessee State in April of 2021, and this is him in 2022. Bonus Source: Ohio State's Eddie George Named Pro Football Hall Of Fame Semifinalist - Sports Illustrated Ohio State Buckeyes News, Analysis and More ![]() As for Ezekiel, he’s still playing. He started with the Dallas Cowboys in 2016. He was an instant star. He was the NFL’s top rusher as a rookie, and players ranked him at #7 in the NFL’s Top 100 Players of 2017. Not bad for a beginner! Ezekiel remained a Top 100 Player for the next 3 years, through 2020. He played for the Cowboys for 6 years, through the end of the 2022 season. In 2021 Ezekiel began dealing with knee and ankle injuries, including a torn ligament in his knee during Week 4, but he refused to sit on the sidelines. He’d play one last season as a Cowboy before they released him in March of 2023. Ezekiel signed a one-year contract with a new team in August, the New England Patriots. He ran third down and red zone plays behind one of the starters. I don’t know where he’ll land in 2024, but I wish him well as a running back, and in life after football. I hope the best is yet to come for him. Bonus Source: Ezekiel Elliott - Wikipedia I’ve been wanting to write this post since the night I got home from the Northern Ohio SCBWI conference, but somehow life got in the way. Post after post came up, and they needed to go first. Now it’s November 20, and I’m finally going to write this post all the way to the finish, I hope 😊 Part 1 – Critique Guidance: I took part of my middle grade novel to the Cleveland conference, and I had an author/agent take a look at the first ten pages from Chapters 1 and 2. She gave me a lot of great advice – like what didn’t make sense to her (I only had 1 or 2 spots – Yay!) She also pointed out places where I needed to push up the writing. How? There was one place I remember where she wanted more historical detail. I wrote about the green tablecloths at the Pennsylvania State House. She wanted to know what kind, so I googled colonial tablecloths . . . I found many were made from damask. If you’re not sure what it is, it’s a woven fabric with a pattern you can see on both sides of the cloth. It’s mostly used in table linen and upholstery, and it was used in colonial times. There were a lot more places where she wanted me to show emotion. I went back and labeled each paragraph with a feeling like happy or sad. I have a writers’ book that’s set up according to emotions, and it has a list of ways that people show it in their faces, in their body language, and by their reactions. I picked one for each paragraph, and then went back to edit them in. I’m still polishing. I’m on my 14th revision of chapter 1, but it’s worth the time to get it right. If an agent or an editor isn’t engaged by that first chapter, they’ll stop reading. Then they’ll send an email that says thanks, but no thanks. I know – I’ve gotten a lot of those over the years ☹ ![]() Part 2 – New Chapters – Where I Am Now: In September before the conference, I just finished Chapter 13. It’s now November 22, and I’m stuck on Chapter 17. I was on it last week too. I got stuck trying to find my way in. Once I write the 1st paragraph or 2, I’m on my way. Whenever I start a new chapter, I find 3 sources of information on a founder. I copy all 3 articles, along with their sources. I save them in a file with the notes for that chapter. Then I go to the actual chapter, and I paste in the 1st article, the whole thing. With the 2nd source, I cut and paste it where it fits in the timeline of the original article. I do the same for the 3rd one. Because of this, all the facts about Ben as a printer are together in my timeline. The same is true for his time in the Continental Congress, and so on. The best part about this ‘lengthy’ procedure, it tells me which facts I can use . . . I can find them in 2 or 3 sources. If it’s only in 1 article, I don’t use it. BTW – I did that last week. ![]() I also researched my main character, Charles Carroll of Carollton. For Charley, I only needed to find out what he and his family were doing in 1789/90. Ben died in April of 1790, and I figured that out last week too. I also needed to know what was going on in America in 1789/90, and yes, I did that last week too. I knew the first US Congress started meeting in 1789 in Federal Hall in New York City. I had a list of bills President Washington signed into law, and I saved my sources, for future reference. With all that, I still couldn’t find my way in. This morning - Ureka! I found it. I could always picture Charley at Federal Hall, but I couldn’t picture how he found out how his friend died – what was going on at that moment, in a historical fiction kind of way. Today I looked at 2 bills Congress passed in April of 1790. Bingo! Now I can picture how he might have learned about it. ![]() It’s late, so I’ll wait until tomorrow or Friday to write those 1st paragraphs. Once I get going, I let the story take me where it wants to go. Sometimes I take the wrong path. Then I reread until I reach the point where I left the right path and took the wrong one. I delete that section, go back, and rewrite it. Usually it takes me 2-3 days to write and revise a new chapter. Why? It doesn’t have to be perfect. I have one chance with my new chapter and my Friday critique group. Then I have to move onto #18 for next Friday, if I want to finish all 57 chapters by the end of the summer. Fingers crossed – may the force be with me! ![]() Part 3 – My Goals for December: Starting next week, I’ll be part of 3 critique groups. One meets every Friday. Another meets on Tuesdays at least once a month, maybe twice if I’m lucky. I have a third that meets on Wednesday once, sometimes twice a month. My goal is to have one new chapter critique-ready for each meeting. My Friday goal will be the hardest one to reach. I have to finish a chapter a week, and I only get one chance to get it done. That means by the end of the month, I’ll be sharing chapter 22 on December 29th. There’s no room for revision. I take my Friday critique notes, add them to the chapter, and move onto the next one. I’ve been on chapter 17 for 2 weeks. That’s how long it took to write the first paragraph. It seems to happen whenever I move to a new setting. It’s harder for me to find my way in. If that happens again, I’ll fall short of 22. ![]() The Wednesday group is now my polishing group. It’s the opposite of Friday. We’ll meet once or twice this month. I’m on my 14th revision of chapter 1, and my Wednesday friends have looked at this piece 5 or 6 times. My goal –to finish it, I hope, then polish chapter 2. My Wednesday group, they have a great eye for detail. They won’t let me call it polished until it’s just right, like a bullseye on a target. ![]() My Tuesday group is BRAND-NEW! We’ll have our 1st meeting next Tuesday. We might meet again in December, or we might not. I have chapter 2 almost ready for them. I might start working on chapter 3, but only if my Wednesday group says 1 is done. If not, I’ll have them take another look at chapter 2. The most important thing this month – polish chapter 1. The second – to reach chapter 22. May the force be with me 😊 |
AuthorWhen I write, I can only have one voice in my head, mine. A little noise is fine. But too much, or worse yet, WORDS, and I must change rooms or pull out headphones. Then I can write on! Categories
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