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There is a lot of complexity in this short, quiet coming-of-age novel. Sensitive younger readers will be drawn in by Daniel’s story, which can be likened to a more emotional twin of Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet.–Booklist

Gone From These Woods, published August 2009 by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, is Athens, Georgia native Donny Bailey Seagraves’ debut children’s middle grade novel for ages 9 – 12.

Set in the woods of rural North Georgia, it’s the story of 11-year-old Daniel Sartain and his uncle, Clay. Daniel doesn’t want to go hunting that cold November morning in 1992. But he does go. The accident that happens that day changes his life forever.

This new Donny Bailey Seagraves is a work in progress. Come back soon to see the finished product.

I put all the names of people who have commented here in a hat and drew. And the winner of a signed copy of GONE FROM THESE WOODS is Patricia Cruzan! Congratulations, Pat! And thanks to all of you who have commented on this blog. I appreciate your support. Look for posts about other authors in the coming weeks, as well as frequent articles about what I'm reading and writing. Better go ahead and subscribe so you don't miss anything!

Today was the official publication day for my debut novel, GONE FROM THESE WOODS. I've received congratulations all day long from many different people and I appreciate everyone's messages. Having your first book published by Random House after writing for over twenty years is totally WONDERFUL! I feel like the luckiest writer in the world!

Only four more days to go until publication of my debut novel, GONE FROM THESE WOODS! Today, I'm going to talk about counseling, and more specifically about the school guidance counselor who inspired the counselor in my book who helps Daniel deal with the results of the horrible tragedy that happens in the woods.

Her name is Becky Kelley. She works at an Oconee County School, Malcom Bridge Elementary. I met with Becky one day about a year ago in her school office and we talked about my fictional character, Daniel, and how he could overcome and learn to live with what had happened to his beloved uncle.

Mrs. Hardy, the counselor in GFTW, first appears on page 36: "I'd like you to meet our school counselor, Lisa Hardy," Mrs. Pettibone (Daniel's teacher) added, gesturing toward the red-haired woman in a rumpled denim jacket.

"I hope it's okay for us to talk to Daniel now," Mrs. Hardy said in a cheerful voice, making me sit up straight on the couch with her sharp, intelligent look."

Here's an excerpt from chapter fourteen, when Daniel goes back to school:

"The walls of Mrs. Hardy's office were turquoise. At first I didn't like the color. But the more I looked at it, the more it pulled me in, until I felt like I was standing in a big aquarium.

On the wall behind her desk hung a giant picture of a kid walking hand in hand with a woman who looked like his mom. In one corner, there was a kid-sized octagonal table and eight blue plastic chairs.

A futon with a wrinkled tan cover was next to the table. A bright yellow flower made from clay jutted from the wall over the futon. I could tell it was clay because the paint didn't go all the way to the edges, leaving the rough orange clay exposed.

I walked over to the wall behind the table and studied a poster called "The Chart of Faces." The heading was "Stages of Grief," and each face had a different expression. The last face smiled at me."

I smiled on my way home from my meeting with Becky Kelley. She was exactly the kind of counselor my imaginary boy Daniel needed to help him go on with his life. I think the advice Becky gave Daniel that day could help anyone dealing with grief and I thank her for sharing her expertise that day so I could weave it into my book and offer it to the world.

Today is August, 19, 2009, five days until the official publication of my debut novel, GONE FROM THESE WOODS. Of course I'm getting excited and I hope you are, too.

In celebration of the publication, I'm going to talk today about the woods in GFTW. My inspiration for the woods in my book came from my early morning exercise walks around my neighborhood, and especially from my own yard. One of the reasons my family bought this 3 l/2 acres of property back in 1992 was the woods in the front yard. There's a pine straw covered path through those front yard woods. We walked there when we were considering our purchase and felt as if we were walking in a secluded, private woods, even though the main road was close by. The tall pines, dotted with a few hardwoods, were (and are) home to three different kinds of woodpeckers, plus many other birds and other wildlife. The sounds of the trees, the scent of pine in the air -- we found all this and more in our outdoor sanctuary. So, when I needed woods for my book setting, I found them in my own front yard.

Here's an excerpt from the beginning of chapter seven of GONE FROM THESE WOODS:

"The woods took me in, hiding me in pine-scented darkness as I ran, my moccasins crunching pinecones on the path, my ears full of night sounds from unseen animals.

After a while, I had to stop. Panting hard and hugging myself to keep warm, I strained my eyes, trying to see where I was. All around me, trees swayed, making soft sounds in the air, like they were breathing.

Somewhere up ahead, something -- maybe an owl -- screeched. The hairs on the back of my neck bristled. Maybe I shoudl go back to the house . . ."

If you want to read more, pick up a copy of GONE FROM THESE WOODS starting August 25, 2009, at your local bookstore. If they don't have GFTW in stock, ask them to order it, or order it yourself from your favorite online bookseller.

Today I'm continuing to count down to the official publication date, August 25, 2009, for my debut novel, GONE FROM THESE WOODS, by writing a note. Today's note is about the Tennessee connections in my book.

Daniel's mom is a native of Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, a real town near Chattanooga. Over 30 years ago, my parents and younger sister, Leanne, moved to Cleveland, Tennessee, about 30 or so miles from Chattanooga, when my dad was named postmaster there. This is where my Tennessee connection in GONE FROM THESE WOODS comes from. I've been visiting the area for many years and love the mountains and natural beauty there. And the beautiful town and road names, many from the area's Indian heritage. Sadly enough, my mom and I follow some of the Trail of Tears route when we take the back way to Chattanooga for shopping at Hamilton Place Mall and McKay's Used Bookstore. I always feel sadness when I see the historic maker on the side of the road and remember the history of that time.

In addition to the Tennessee native mom in my book and the town name, Soddy-Daisy, there are two Tennessee Road names transplanted into my Georgia setting: Mouse Creek Road and Hooper Gap Road. Sure, we have lots of great road names in Georgia, too. But I couldn't resist "borrowing" some of the Tennessee names I've admired over the years for my debut novel.

Today is August 17, 2009, and I'm back to counting down the days until August 25, the official publication date of my debut novel, GONE FROM THESE WOODS. Even though I haven't posted a note about GFTW here (in my countdown series anyway) for the past few days while I was on vacation, I was still counting down, as you can imagine!

So, a few days have gone by without a note. If we don't count today, we have seven more days until P-day! I'll try to find time to post at least seven more notes.

In my last note, I talked about chapter one of GFTW. Today, we'll move on to chapter two. One of the most interesting things about chapter two, which begins on page 14 of this 192 page book, is that this particular chapter two wasn't in my original manuscript. The chapter two you see in the published book was added by me during an approximately eight month long rewrite at the request of my editor, Michelle Poploff. In fact, I probably added about four new chapters to my book, in part to flesh out the adult characters, at Michelle's request.

One of the characters who first appears (but is mentioned earlier) in chapter two is Frank Hooper, the neighbor who drives up in his pickup truck full of barking dogs. Frank was a later addition to my book and is based on the late George Langdale, a man who owned almost 70 acres of land behind my family's land, and who used to drive by me when I was doing my early morning exercise walks around the area. I was very pleased to put George in my book as Frank. He was quite a character in real life and works well in my fictional story, too. While I was at it, I grabbed his truck and his dogs and put them in my story.

Pay close attention to the world around you. What you need for your fictional stories may be walking by, or driving by, or barking at you right now!

Today is August 17, 2009, and I'm back to counting down the days until August 25, the official publication date of my debut novel, GONE FROM THESE WOODS. Even though I haven't posted a note about GFTW here (in my countdown series anyway) for the past few days while I was on vacation, I was still counting down, as you can imagine!

So, a few days have gone by without a note. If we don't count today, we have seven more days until P-day! I'll try to find time to post at least seven more notes.

In my last note, I talked about chapter one of GFTW. Today, we'll move on to chapter two. One of the most interesting things about chapter two, which begins on page 14 of this 192 page book, is that this particular chapter two wasn't in my original manuscript. The chapter two you see in the published book was added by me during an approximately eight month long rewrite at the request of my editor, Michelle Poploff. In fact, I probably added about four new chapters to my book, in part to flesh out the adult characters, at Michelle's request.

One of the characters who first appears (but is mentioned earlier) in chapter two is Frank Hooper, the neighbor who drives up in his pickup truck full of barking dogs. Frank was a later addition to my book and is based on the late George Langdale, a man who owned almost 70 acres of land behind my family's land, and who used to drive by me when I was doing my early morning exercise walks around the area. I was very pleased to put George in my book as Frank. He was quite a character in real life and works well in my fictional story, too. While I was at it, I grabbed his truck and his dogs and put them in my story.

Pay close attention to the world around you. What you need for your fictional stories may be walking by, or driving by, or barking at you right now!

Here's an opportunity to learn more about the city of Winterville, Georgia, the town I've lived in since 1992. I also lived in the Winterville community, outside the city limits, for several years as a child and young adult, starting at age 11, and attended sixth grade at Winterville Elementary School, in the old building that presently houses RESA.

There are two tour dates:

Sunday, September 6 @ 2 pm

Saturday, October 10 @ 10 am

Here's more information about the tours and the tour guide, my friend, Mary Quinn, daughter of our former longtime Winterville City Clerk, Helen Williams.

Winterville grew up around the 6-mile station of the Georgia Railroad between Athens and Union Point, a route known as the “Athens Branch” which began operating in 1841. The station was a water stop and the beginning of a bustling community of banks, mercantile stores, doctors and, of course, a cotton gin. Incorporated in 1904, the City of Winterville is a circle, one-mile in radius, located entirely within Clarke County, but its 1,061 citizens are only a small part of the larger zip code known as Winterville which includes portions of three counties—Clarke, Oglethorpe, and Madison.

The tour includes numerous and diverse historical structures such as the recently renovated train depot; the Carter-Coile Doctor’s Museum; a blacksmith shop; the old Winterville High School—home of the state’s first home economics program; and several period homes all located within an area included in the National Register of Historic Places. Tour goers will walk portions of the abandoned railroad designated to become “The Firefly”—a 38-mile walking and cycling trail extending from downtown Athens to Union Point. This tour will last approximately 1½ to 2 hours.

Your tour guide:

Mary Quinn resides on Main Street in Winterville, her residence a nineteenth-century home built by the Georgia Railroad. Born just a mile away in neighboring Oglethorpe County, Mary’s family moved away from the family farm and into Winterville and Clarke County in 1960 where she attended Winterville Elementary School, Athens Junior High and High Schools and the University of Georgia. Quinn retired from a career in accounting in 2000 and enjoys various public service roles. She is a council member and mayor pro tem for the City of Winterville, director and volunteer of the Winterville Marigold Festival, Friend of the Winterville Library, trustee and treasurer of the Winterville United Methodist Church, volunteer with the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, and a volunteer in the Athens to Union Point Rails-to-Trails Collaborative. Quinn also served as a member of the SPLOST2005 Citizen’s Advisory and Oversight Committees.

Tickets:

ACHF Member: $12 / Non-member: $15

10 or more series tickets: $10. Pre-purchase 10+ tickets and make reservations later. No refunds.

Order forms are at www.achfonline.org

Please Note: Tours are generally limited to 25 people and paid reservations will be accepted on a first come/first serve basis. All sales are final. Tours will be held rain or shine. Please provide an e-mail address in order to receive tour updates, instructions and your order confirmation. No tickets will be mailed.

Questions? E-mail [email protected] or call 706-353-1801.

My advice? Get your tickets early!

The official publication date, August 25, 2009, is only 19 days away! Today I'm going to talk about chapter one. In my original version of chapter one, the final scene was much less clear. My editor suggested that, rather than obscuring the action, which is very shocking, I rewrite and allow the reader to "see" what happens. Doing this required me to actually reenact the scene with a friend, Kathleen McGuire. Then I recruited Eric Pozen, our former police to give me a gun lesson and re enact the scene yet again. It took me quite awhile to get this final scene just right, just as it was extremely hard to "be" an eleven-year-old boy throughout a 40,000 plus word book. I think I did okay. Tell me what you think after you read the book.

Today is day 20 in our countdown to the publication, August 25, of Gone From These Woods. In honor of today, I'm going to talk about the dedications page. Here's what it says: "This book is dedicated to the memory of my second-grade teacher, Dycie Hancock Schneider. Also to the memories of her first husband, William Campbell; her nephew, David Hancock; and my uncle, Terry Bailey -- three men who left this world too soon."

All four of the people I dedicated my debut novel to are dead. But they are remembered here in the Athens area where I live. Dycie Hancock Schneider was Mrs. Campbell, my second grade teacher at Oconee Street Elementary School. I remember her encouraging smile, pats on the back, and those Friday Bingo games in our classroom. She was the kind of teachers all kids should have. A few years after I was in her class, I heard that her nephew, David Hancock, had accidentially shot and killed her husband, William Campbell. That's all I knew about her real life tragic story until I visited her after my book was written and purchased by Random House, about three weeks before she died (at age 90). I had used the tiny bit of her story that I knew before that visit as a "jumping off point" or a spark to ignite my own fictional tale of Daniel Sartain, an eleven-year-old boy who accidentially shoots his beloved uncle, Clay.

The other person on my dedication page, Terry Bailey, was my own uncle who died at age 34 from complications of an automobile accident. Terry was suffering from terminal cancer at the time of the accident, which may or may not have been accidential. No one knows for sure. Several years earlier, when Terry was 23, he had survived a near-fatal bike accident on Baxter Street in Athens. I grew up with Terry, who became a counselor and assistant director of admissions at Columbus College. Since he was only five years older than me, he always felt like an older brother.

All these years later, I still miss Uncle Terry. What would he say about Gone From These Woods? What would Dycie, William and David say about Daniel Sartain's story? We'll never know. But I do believe they're all in my book in spirit. And I hope they approve.

One of the questions people ask me, when they hear I have a children's book coming out is, "How many pictures does your book have?" They seem to think that because GFTW is a children's book, it will be heavily illustrated. My book is a children's middle grade novel and is almost 200 pages long. Some MG novels do have illustrations, usually line drawings every now an then, but most MG novels have only the dustjacket art. So the answer to the question is one.

One day, as we worked together on the editing of GFTW, my editor, Michelle Poploff, emailed me and asked for my thoughts on the cover art. I told her I envisioned the main character, 11-year-old Daniel Sartain, standing in front of the woods. I suggested the lake in the book be visible in the distance and maybe a rabbit and birds. We both agreed that no gun should be visible on the cover.

A few weeks later, Michelle sent me the cover art. I was immediately captivated by the boy. He actually favors my nephew, Joe Sanger, who was one of the models for Daniel. At first I thought the boy's hair style might be wrong -- maybe too contemporary (my book is set in 1992). But when I looked back at some of my own son's photos from that time, I decided the hair was okay. I also wondered about the jean jacket, since I didn't "dress" my character in a jean jacket in the book. But when I looked back at my son's photos, again I had to admit that Daniel could have been dressed that way.

I was a little disappointed when I didn't see a rabbit on the cover or the lake and birds. Then my daughter told me to look closer. If you stare into the trees and sky area you begin to see subtle things there that are in the book. I'll leave it to you to figure out what those things are.

The real boy on the dustjacket is model Luke Kitson of Canada. The dustjacket artist is Blake Morrow. If you go to this website you'll see his bio and representive art, including the cover of GFTW. He has done other book covers. I think he did a wonderful job of illustrating GFTW, packing the whole essence of the book into this one illustration.

Over on Facebook, I've been counting down to August 25, 2009, the official publication date of my debut novel, GONE FROM THESE WOODS, by posting a note about the book each day. I've decided to move those notes to my blog. Here's my note about the book's titles.

My debut novel, GONE FROM THESE WOODS, wasn't always called that. The original working title was RABBIT SEASON. I changed the title to A SEASON FOR RABBITS after a writers' group member said that title reminded her of a Bugs Bunny cartoon (Is it duck season or rabbit season?). My final working title was D-MAN (Daniel's nickname in the book).

After Michelle Poploff, VP & Executive Editor of Random House Children's Books, bought my book, she suggested two new titles: MOUSE CREEK ROAD and GONE FROM THESE WOODS. I ran all these titles (mine and hers) by several different groups of children. One group was made up of kids who visited the Athens Regional Library where my fellow writers' group member, Jackie Elsner, worked as the children's librarian. Another group was a gifted English class taught by another fellow writer's group member, Susan Vizarugga (author of OUR OLD HOUSE and MISS OPAL'S AUCTION, Henry Holt) in Oconee County.

The results from young readers was mixed. No particular title won. I preferred A SEASON FOR RABBITS, but finally agreed to my editor's pick, GONE FROM THESE WOODS, which is a line right out of the book.

My very first booksigning will be Saturday, July 18, 2009 from 5:45pm to 6:45pm at the Harriette Austin Writers Conference at the Georgia Center in Athens. The booksigning is open to the public. Hope to see you there!

The projected date of arrival of actual hardcover Gone From These Woods books in Random House's warehouses is July 6! Hopefully, pre-ordered books will begin shipping soon after that.

Of course I'm excited about actually seeing my book in person. The advance reader's copy is not the actual book.

Here's some history on the creation of this novel. First, I spent about two years writing and rewriting the early drafts. During that time, I debuted the first chapter at my writers' group's annual joint meeting with the Augusta Writers in Washington, Georgia. There, Elise Weston, author of Coast Watchers, read the beginning of Daniel's story in her rich, southern accent, even pronouncing his last name correctly. (Sar-tain, rather than the quicker Sarten).

The last week of February, 2007, I attended the SCBWI Southern Breeze SpringMingle writers conference in Atlanta, Georgia. I listened to editors there read my first page and comment. It was Michelle Poploff's comments on that beginning, plus her presentations that weekend, that put the idea in my head to mail her the first few chapters.

After requesting the entire manuscript, Michelle bought Gone From These Woods on Friday the 13th, 2007.

Rewriting followed. And followed and followed. Yes, the saying "writing is rewriting" is so true.

Then production. Copyediting. First Pass. And more "passes."

The result is my debut novel, Gone From These Woods. Let's hope it's also gone from those bookshelves and in readers' hands soon.

I've never been a big fan of snakes. They slither. And crawl. Not to mention, they're cold-blooded. Who could love something with cold blood?

So of course I had a problem this morning when I stepped outside my backdoor and saw the big, gray snake staring back at me. The snake froze. So did I. For a few moments, I reconsidered my plan to walk by that spot in the yard to my car.

I looked again. The snake hadn't moved. Maybe it was dead? No, its little head was up and its snake body was in a slither position. Gray snake was considering his, or her, options.

I ran back in the house, through the dining room, and living room, and emerged out the front door.

That's when I saw black snake . . . in all his, or her, glory. Now this was a BIG snake, all stretched out across my driveway. And this one wasn't frozen. He wasn't as close either. So I ran to my car, crawled in, and shut the door.

Gray snake was still watching me from his spot near the back door. Black snake took his time as he crawled across the driveway, moving into the pine straw just as my CRV approached him. He was at least six feet long.

The last time my sister and brother-in-law visited from Tennessee, Ken (brother-in-law) came running into the house and asked me if I knew Phillip (my husband) had a pet snake in his shop.

"He's all black and crawling across a ledge over Phillip's workbench," Ken said. "I don't see how he can work in there. That's things' seven feet long!"

I believe Phillip's pet got loose. And I took pictures.

When I got home later today, the snakes were gone. Or were they? We do have a lot of bushes in our yard. And a snake-sized portal into Phillip's shop.

On July 17 - 18, 2009, the Georgia Center for Continuing Education in Athens, Georgia will host the sixteenth annual Harriette Austin Writers Conference. I'm a bit biased towards this conference since I'll be presenting two sessions there, "Writing for Middle Grades," and "Selling Your First Novel."

I'll be in good company at the HA conference. My editor, Michelle Poploff, from Random House, will be there, too, critiquing manuscripts and speaking about recent book acquisitions in her talk, "The Write Place at the Write Time." Author Evelyn Coleman, one of my favorites, will conduct a session on "Writing for Children," and will also be the dinner speaker.

Other presenters include Philip Lee Williams, journalist, poet, novelist and film writer. Phil, who has 13 published books, was my first editor at The Athens Observer, way back when, and I'm proud to also call him a friend. Anne Webster, a gifted poet with a new book, A HISTORY OF NURSING, Poetry, published by Kennesaw State University Press will also be there. Anne is a retired retired nurse, a fifth generation native of Atlanta, and the younger sister of author and poet Rosemary Danielle. Also Carol O'Dell, who has a book out called, MOTHERING MOTHER, and will teach narrative nonfiction.

Other presenters: Suzanne Adair, author of PAPER WOMAN; Judy Iakovou, author of the Nick and Julia Lambros mystery series and recently, a new book called BITTER TIDE; Todd Sentell, the first native of Georgia to publish a sports-related novel, TOONAMINT OF CHAMPIONS. Plus Haywood Smith, Bobby Nash, Ralph McInery, David Oates, Kelly L. Stone, Charles "Mike" Swanson (I had the pleasure of meeting him and Dac Crossley at the May 16 Marigold Festival in Winterville), Beverly Varnado, Alan Black, Susan Dansby, Lynette Eason, Juditj Geary, Alex Graves, and Milton Kahn.

In addition to all of those wonderful authors and experts, this year's Harriette Austin Writers Conference boasts an outstanding group of agents. There's Brandi Bowles of the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency; Paul Fedorko of Trident Media Group; Jacqueline S. Hackett, founder of Literary Works; Chip MacGregor of the MacGregory Literary Agency, Maya Rock of Writers House, LLC; and Katie Sulkowski, the Literary Brand Manager for Creative Trust, Inc. If you're looking for an agent, you have an excellent choice at this year's conference.

Other editors include Patrick LoBrutto, a favorite presenter at this conference.

The Keynote Speaker this year will be noted author Robert Vaughan.

If you are a serious writer living in the Athens, Georgia area, or you're willing to travel here, take a good look at this year's Harriette Austin Writers Conference. They've got a complete listing of the workshops, background information on the presenters, and all the details, including an online registration link, on the website now: http://harrietteaustin.org/default.aspx

Check it out. Last year I found an agent at the Harriette Austin Writers Conference. Who knows? It could happen for you!

On July 17 - 18, 2009, the Georgia Center for Continuing Education in Athens, Georgia will host the sixteenth annual Harriette Austin Writers Conference. I'm a bit biased towards this conference since I'll be presenting two sessions there, "Writing for Middle Grades," and "Selling Your First Novel."

I'll be in good company at the HA conference. My editor, Michelle Poploff, from Random House, will be there, too, critiquing manuscripts and speaking about recent book acquisitions in her talk, "The Write Place at the Write Time." Author Evelyn Coleman, one of my favorites, will conduct a session on "Writing for Children," and will also be the dinner speaker.

Other presenters include Philip Lee Williams, journalist, poet, novelist and film writer. Phil, who has 13 published books, was my first editor at The Athens Observer, way back when, and I'm proud to also call him a friend. Anne Webster, a gifted poet with a new book, A HISTORY OF NURSING, Poetry, published by Kennesaw State University Press will also be there. Anne is a retired retired nurse, a fifth generation native of Atlanta, and the younger sister of author and poet Rosemary Danielle. Also Carol O'Dell, who has a book out called, MOTHERING MOTHER, and will teach narrative nonfiction.

Other presenters: Suzanne Adair, author of PAPER WOMAN; Judy Iakovou, author of the Nick and Julia Lambros mystery series and recently, a new book called BITTER TIDE; Todd Sentell, the first native of Georgia to publish a sports-related novel, TOONAMINT OF CHAMPIONS. Plus Haywood Smith, Bobby Nash, Ralph McInery, David Oates, Kelly L. Stone, Charles "Mike" Swanson (I had the pleasure of meeting him and Dac Crossley at the May 16 Marigold Festival in Winterville), Beverly Varnado, Alan Black, Susan Dansby, Lynette Eason, Juditj Geary, Alex Graves, and Milton Kahn.

In addition to all of those wonderful authors and experts, this year's Harriette Austin Writers Conference boasts an outstanding group of agents. There's Brandi Bowles of the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency; Paul Fedorko of Trident Media Group; Jacqueline S. Hackett, founder of Literary Works; Chip MacGregor of the MacGregory Literary Agency, Maya Rock of Writers House, LLC; and Katie Sulkowski, the Literary Brand Manager for Creative Trust, Inc. If you're looking for an agent, you have an excellent choice at this year's conference.

Other editors include Patrick LoBrutto, a favorite presenter at this conference.

The Keynote Speaker this year will be noted author Robert Vaughan.

If you are a serious writer living in the Athens, Georgia area, or you're willing to travel here, take a good look at this year's Harriette Austin Writers Conference. They've got a complete listing of the workshops, background information on the presenters, and all the details, including an online registration link, on the website now: http://harrietteaustin.org/default.aspx

Check it out. Last year I found an agent at the Harriette Austin Writers Conference. Who knows? It could happen for you!

I live in a small Georgia town called Winterville. We have about 1,100 citizens here, give or take a Wintervillian or two. Starting in 1971, we held an annual Marigold Festival that brought thousands of people here and generated much good will while basically putting us on the map, so to speak. I worked on the festival committee and board for over ten years.

We discontinued the festival almost seven years ago when our committee dwindled to about five people. A few months ago we decided to bring the festival back. A new resident of Winterville, Emily Eisenman, headed up the new Marigold Festival and we relaunched the event on May 16. We brought back the Scholarship Pageant, parade, barbecue, arts and crafts and music, including the street dance featuring Danny Daniels and the Powerplay band. All over town, I've heard cheering and good comments on this rebirth of our beloved festival. To all who worked so hard to make this happen, I send out a great big thank you!

All of the characters in my debut novel, GONE FROM THESE WOODS, are fictional. But there are many "bits and pieces" of real human beings in most of them. Frank Hooper, the neighbor who lives on Hooper Gap Road, not far from where Daniel Sartain and his family live, is a good example. When I needed someone to drive up on Mouse Creek Road after Daniel emerges from the woods, I immediately thought of George Langdale, a man who died suddenly in 2003 and who was someone I encountered on many of my early morning exercise walks around my Winterville neighborhood.

George was a retired USDA soil scientist who helped pioneer no-till farming, a method that clears land using chemicals rather than turning the soil over before planting. Agricultural experts say George's no-till method is better for the soil and prevents erosion. George used this method of farming on Langdale Farm, a tract of approximately 70 acres of undeveloped land in my neighborhood in Winterville, just past the lake that was the inspiration for the lake in my book. This 70 acres was originally part of the Carney Farm, which also included my family's 3.62 acres.

In addition to being a soil scientist and farmer, George fought in the Korean Conflict and was a member of the famed Wolfhounds, a famous regiment that the movie and book, "The Thin Red Line," was based on. George wrote a book about his military experiences, too.

In addition to being a soil scientist and decorated soldier, to me George was the friendly gentleman who drove a battered old 1970s pickup truck up and down Carney Lake Road where I did my exercise walk each morning. As he motored by, waving and speaking to me out his open window, I would hear dogs barking in the back of his truck, which was covered with an aluminum camper top.

Sometimes George would pass me walking on the road and he would stop the truck and get out, waiting for me to catch up. We'd have an interesting chat about farming or the weather or his dogs. Of course, this would slow my exercise heart rate, but talking with George was worth it. During one of these visits, George told me to walk on his 70 acres of farmland anytime I wanted. The last day I saw him, he asked me if I liked turnips.

"Sure," I said. "And turnip greens."

"I've got some in a patch over there," he said, pointing toward his farmland beyond Carney Lake. "Help yourself to all you want. You'll need to bring a bag when you go to pick 'em."

I nodded and walked on and that was the last time I ever saw George Langdale. Two weeks later, he died. I'd been too busy to go pick his turnips and turnip greens or to walk on his farm. I'd been working on a book and had a magazine article deadline and many other things going on in my busy life. I had done my exercise walk each morning, and during each lap around the neighborhood, I'd glanced up the narrow road that crossed the dam to George's property, thought about picking greens and exploring the farm, then walked on.

One morning, not long after George died, I decided to walk across that dam. A couple of surprised deer scampered into the surrounding woods. To my left, past Anderson's lake (one of four in a row on the land near my house), I noticed a series of walking paths with road signs. The "roads" were named after George's army buddies. I walked up and down several of those paths, thinking about George, and wondering about the men he had honored with his signs and special walking lanes.

When I'd finished walking, I found George's turnip green patch. There were plenty of greens and turnips left there. But I hadn't brought a sack that day and I felt too sad to eat George's turnips and greens.

Later on, when I needed a neighbor character in what would become my first published novel, I decided to honor George Langdale by using some of his friendliness, his kindness, and his special essence in the character of Frank Hooper. It was my little way of saying, "Thank you for noticing me on my morning walks around the neighborhood. And thank you for being a Wolfhound and fighting for me and for remembering others in your book and on your special road signs. Thanks for offering the sanctuary of your farm to extend my morning walks. Thanks for the turnips and the greens."

George Langdale's farm will never be developed into a subdivision, thanks to his widow, Eugenia Langdale, who placed the farm in the Athens Land Trust program. This 63.6 acres of prime farm land in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia is protected through the Farm and Ranchland Protection Program of the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Athens-Clarke County Greenspace Acquisition Program funded by SPLOST. This conservation easement ensures that the land will be available for agricultural uses in perpetuity. An old railroad bed that runs through the farm may eventually become part of a walking trail that connects downtown Athens to the city of Winterville, where I live. And when many, if not all, of the few farms that remain in our county are gone, school children will be able to tour these peaceful, gorgeous acres where George no-till farmed and walked his military buddy lanes. I know all of this would make George smile. Who knows what he would have thought about being the model for a character in a children's book, along with his dogs.

I salute you, George -- and your dogs. You made a great Frank Hooper!

All of the characters in my debut novel, GONE FROM THESE WOODS, are fictional. But there are many "bits and pieces" of real human beings in most of them. Frank Hooper, the neighbor who lives on Hooper Gap Road, not far from where Daniel Sartain and his family live, is a good example. When I needed someone to drive up on Mouse Creek Road after Daniel emerges from the woods, I immediately thought of George Langdale, a man who died suddenly in 2003 and who was someone I encountered on many of my early morning exercise walks around my Winterville neighborhood.

George was a retired USDA soil scientist who helped pioneer no-till farming, a method that clears land using chemicals rather than turning the soil over before planting. Agricultural experts say George's no-till method is better for the soil and prevents erosion. George used this method of farming on Langdale Farm, a tract of approximately 70 acres of undeveloped land in my neighborhood in Winterville, just past the lake that was the inspiration for the lake in my book. This 70 acres was originally part of the Carney Farm, which also included my family's 3.62 acres.

In addition to being a soil scientist and farmer, George fought in the Korean Conflict and was a member of the famed Wolfhounds, a famous regiment that the movie and book, "The Thin Red Line," was based on. George wrote a book about his military experiences, too.

In addition to being a soil scientist and decorated soldier, to me George was the friendly gentleman who drove a battered old 1970s pickup truck up and down Carney Lake Road where I did my exercise walk each morning. As he motored by, waving and speaking to me out his open window, I would hear dogs barking in the back of his truck, which was covered with an aluminum camper top.

Sometimes George would pass me walking on the road and he would stop the truck and get out, waiting for me to catch up. We'd have an interesting chat about farming or the weather or his dogs. Of course, this would slow my exercise heart rate, but talking with George was worth it. During one of these visits, George told me to walk on his 70 acres of farmland anytime I wanted. The last day I saw him, he asked me if I liked turnips.

"Sure," I said. "And turnip greens."

"I've got some in a patch over there," he said, pointing toward his farmland beyond Carney Lake. "Help yourself to all you want. You'll need to bring a bag when you go to pick 'em."

I nodded and walked on and that was the last time I ever saw George Langdale. Two weeks later, he died. I'd been too busy to go pick his turnips and turnip greens or to walk on his farm. I'd been working on a book and had a magazine article deadline and many other things going on in my busy life. I had done my exercise walk each morning, and during each lap around the neighborhood, I'd glanced up the narrow road that crossed the dam to George's property, thought about picking greens and exploring the farm, then walked on.

One morning, not long after George died, I decided to walk across that dam. A couple of surprised deer scampered into the surrounding woods. To my left, past Anderson's lake (one of four in a row on the land near my house), I noticed a series of walking paths with road signs. The "roads" were named after George's army buddies. I walked up and down several of those paths, thinking about George, and wondering about the men he had honored with his signs and special walking lanes.

When I'd finished walking, I found George's turnip green patch. There were plenty of greens and turnips left there. But I hadn't brought a sack that day and I felt too sad to eat George's turnips and greens.

Later on, when I needed a neighbor character in what would become my first published novel, I decided to honor George Langdale by using some of his friendliness, his kindness, and his special essence in the character of Frank Hooper. It was my little way of saying, "Thank you for noticing me on my morning walks around the neighborhood. And thank you for being a Wolfhound and fighting for me and for remembering others in your book and on your special road signs. Thanks for offering the sanctuary of your farm to extend my morning walks. Thanks for the turnips and the greens."

George Langdale's farm will never be developed into a subdivision, thanks to his widow, Eugenia Langdale, who placed the farm in the Athens Land Trust program. This 63.6 acres of prime farm land in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia is protected through the Farm and Ranchland Protection Program of the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Athens-Clarke County Greenspace Acquisition Program funded by SPLOST. This conservation easement ensures that the land will be available for agricultural uses in perpetuity. An old railroad bed that runs through the farm may eventually become part of a walking trail that connects downtown Athens to the city of Winterville, where I live. And when many, if not all, of the few farms that remain in our county are gone, school children will be able to tour these peaceful, gorgeous acres where George no-till farmed and walked his military buddy lanes. I know all of this would make George smile. Who knows what he would have thought about being the model for a character in a children's book, along with his dogs.

I salute you, George -- and your dogs. You made a great Frank Hooper!

Okay. My blog name and my name are the same. Simple. Easy to remember.