October 3, 2021

November is National Novel Writing Month, or for short, NaNoWriMo. For those who are not familiar with this form of stress, it is the month writers are to complete a 50,000-word novel from November first through November thirtieth. For the past three years, I have wanted to participate. Something always kept me from this mission. This year, I planned to finish a third novel. Again, this will not happen. I cheated by giving myself a head start. I finished Down Somerset Lane’s first chapter in October, only 48,000 words to go. Unfortunately, other writing projects are taking too much of my time.

As president of Ada Writers, it is my responsibility to collect all the short stories and poems for our yearly book titled Creations 2021. I am also required to come up with an eye-catching cover. So far, this is the only finished part of the project.

At the corner of 10^th Street and Broadway in Ada, OK stands the local newspaper, Ada News. The backside of the building has a beautiful, full-length mural. Every time I drive down either of these streets, I slow to admire the artist’s work. Since we are Ada Writers, and the mural is in Ada, Oklahoma, what better way to combine the two than as part of the book cover? The problem is, who to credit on the About the Cover page? And so, I began a full-blown investigation.

I posted on the Facebook group, Ada Curiosity. Asking if anyone knew the artist’s name. I received a reply from the editor of the newspaper in the form of a personal message. The message asked me to call her. I did. She referred me to a gentleman at the Chickasaw Arts Academy. When I called the academy, I was told he had the information I needed, but he wasn’t in. I left my number. When he called back, he happily provided the artists’ names. Viola! Project About the Cover successfully completed, and much easier than I expected.

Guess I better start getting the stories and poems formatted for publication. Only then will I have time to work on the first draft of Down Somerset Lane. Hope you are having a relaxing Sunday.