It has been VERY cold here in Maine this weekend. It makes me want to fast forward to spring when we can all be on the water instead of standing on it!
As you can see from my previous post, the book is officially published!
It was a very surreal moment to come home and have a box waiting for me. I got so excited.
Opening the box and seeing the cover for the first time... seeing the book in book form was an amazing feeling. There have been so many hours put into this project. Writing a book was much more challenging than I anticipated. I naively had the thought of: if I can do a blog, I can write a book!
Turns out that is true, but... there is a lot more work involved than one may expect.
The book includes 54 trips that are most within an hour's drive of Portland, Maine. There are a few trips that extend just beyond an hour, but those are trips we feel are well worth it.
I had a post here in November that shared some of the history of how we got to this point.
This weekend my stepsister went up to visit our parents and I was so excited to have her take a copy of the book up to them. I was able to give them the first signed copy!
My stepsister sent me a message and said that she had gotten there not long before dinner and had shown them the book. Dad said he would look at it after dinner... my stepsister sent me this picture and said she had never seen Dad eat so quickly so he could get to his recliner to read!
How cute is my dad? He is a part of this book...he and Mom helped me learn to appreciate nature and time being on the water. I am so excited to have been able to give him the first copy.
We were able to include a dedication in the book... and Sandy, my writing partner, was very generous in saying that it should be dedicated to my mom.
There are so many things in this book that go beyond just the paddling adventures. There are photos of friends and family... it means a lot to have them included. One photo in particular has great meaning to me.
This one...
This is a picture of one of my amazing friends, her son and her husband. My friend, in that photo, was fairly newly diagnosed with breast cancer. It was taken in 2011... and she recently died. Our publisher was wonderful in understanding why this photo was a priority for me. I am so glad that this photo is in the book.
Each of my nephews are also in the book...I love that all of the pictures were taken when the boys were so much littler than they are now:
My oldest nephew...now a senior in high school!
My middle nephew:
And the youngest:
It's so cool to have them included. Over the years I have taken the boys for several days each summer and they have paddled with me and, I think, have a good appreciation of being on the water and being able to see things from the perspective of a kayak.
I am happy I will have the opportunity to give them each a copy of the book as well and hope that as they get older, when they are adults, they will bring their own families to Maine and do some of the trips.
The book looks so good! It is so hard to believe that we went from something like this:
To this:
I have started reading the book... I kind of wondered if authors read their own books... and it is so nice to look through it and remember where we made changes, where we word-smithed for hours, and... to see it in book form... seeing the culmination of everything... makes me very proud.
I also want to let you know I am going to continue posting new places to paddle as well as photos of some of my favorite spots. I also hope to share some journeys that I share with Gladys.
She has no idea what she is in for, so many fun adventures!
(Just look at that face!)
Please keep reaching out to me. I love hearing from you!
If you have bought the book, please share your feedback with me about it!
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