Shadows on the Skagit

Writing tips

•  Write what you know. Each of us has a treasure trove of unique and priceless material gained from life, travel, careers, relationships, and many other things. 
• Let your imagination soar. Habakkuk 2:2 includes the admonition to ". .write the vision, and make it plain . . . " 
• Think big and out of the box. It has been said that what we can conceive and believe we can achieve. 

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The small logging town of Darrington in the Cascades mountains of western Washington, is known for its three rivers with Indian names. The Suiattle (Soo-attle) flows into the Sauk north of town and rushes into the mighty Skagit (Skadge-it) which continues north, then west under Interstate 5. It empties into Skagit Bay near Mount Vernon.

Some of my best memories are family drives when work, school, and chores permitted. We usually followed the Skagit River. My favorite spot was a bluff above a sharp bend.  Birch and alder trees gave way to fir, pine, hemlock, and cedar. Chattering squirrels played tag. Rabbits peered from behind flowers. Deer grazed in the open spaces. Birds filled the air with their music. Peace hovered over the land like a warm blanket. 

Each time we rounded the bend, I told my parents, "If I ever get rich, I am going to build a house here; a small version of Tara from Gone with the Wind."  My dream home was already planned, gracious, serene, with glistening white columns, ruffled window curtains, and an open door that welcomed both friends and strangers. . 

My logger father and teacher mother obviously knew how unlikely it was that my house would become reality  but they only said, "First things first," meaning "getting rich must precede hiring a contractor to build a miniature mansion."

Did I ever get rich? 

No, but I tried.  

Once Upon a Time . . .

 . . . a small girl put down her tattered copy of a beloved book and said, “Someday when I grow up I am going to write a book.” Her parents advised her to dream big, read as many books as possible, write many, many stories, and be ready for her ‘someday’ . . . even though they lived near a small town that produced timber, not authors. When she was eleven, the girl wrote to a radio give-away program. Letters aired earned whatever the senders wanted. A far-seeing mother saved this draft, a treasured keepsake written on cheap paper with a sputtery pen.

Darrington, Wash.

June 3, 1947

Dear Free for All,

I’ve heard of the “Gang” as you call them and if they can’t guess this, something is wrong. Because, it’s easy as pie.

Most of the children around here have bicycles, but I don’t have. Daddy goes up every day to fall timber (as we live in the heart of the timber country) and by the time he gets home, the store is closed. But if I had a bicycle, I could go to town and bring thing [sic] home in the day-time. Although there are lots of trees around here, money doesn’t grow on trees and neither do bicycles.

I’ve written before and so, Free for All, if you don’t send me a bicycle pronto,  I’m going to spend more money in postage writing to you than the bicycle costs.

If I won it, I would be the happiest girl in the Universe. There is one chance in a million and I’m taking it.

I wrote in on a quiz once and I won some money [$1.00 from a Sunday School paper] so I’m signing myself

The Lucky Girl

Colleen Reece

Weeks later a gorgeous blue and cream $60.00 bicycle arrived at my home; my first writing success.

  At age seventeen, I wrote The Staircase Mystery, Book One in a series designed to out-Nancy Nancy Drew and out-Hardy the Hardy Boys. After many persistent and unsuccessful submissions (typed on cheap paper with red underlining for emphasis--ouch) I received a glowing acceptance. For only $2000, my according-to-them outstanding book would be published.


The age-yellowed manuscript still sits on my closet shelf. When I want a good laugh, I take it out and read parts of it. Unworthy of publication, it still has a bright side. The plot, characters, and setting are fairly good. It is scary. Writing the book taught me invaluable lessons in planning and peopling. Most important is that I stuck to it and actually completed a 50,000 word novel. 

DId I build my mansion above the shadow-filled river? "literally" yes!



The six-title Juli Scott Mystery series,came decades later. Family-oriented, Mysterious Monday, Trouble on Tuesday, Wednesday Witness, Thursday Trials, Friday Flight, and Saturday Scare needed a special setting. It was time to start building the house that still existed in my mind. The isolated spot above the river was perfect as both a refuge and a hiding place for lawbreakers. My mansion became the Skagit Inn, owned by my heroine's Irish-immigrant friends. I rejoiced. At last I could spend time in my dream home any time I wished.

 

Juli has a Clue

back cover Friday Flight, Book 5

Heroine Juli Scott wants to be a mystery writer. In an attempt to comfort her after a shattering experience, Juli's mother gives her a cinnamon-brown stuffed bear named Clue. He sits on Juli's desk and is an important character in the series. He has a history.

While shopping one day during the writing of Mysterious Monday, I stopped and stared. A smaller version of the fictional Clue sat smiling at me from a display of stuffed animals. I bought him and gave him a home on the bookshelf in front of my Juli Scott Mystery series.

Note: The  series is so real that I no longer take the Skagit River drive. There are too many bittersweet memories. Dad, Mom, and my brothers have passed on. No inn stands on the bluff at the bend of the river. Despite sharing their joys, sorrows, hopes, and fears with me during the writing of the novels, Juli, Shannon, their families and friends aren't there to wave at me.

On the other hand--and there always is one--unlike many who dream, I was able to see my dream fulfilled. My house lives forever between the colorful covers of six treasured titles, patiently waiting for me to return again and again.

I do. 

Available at
Juli Scott Mystery Collection  (also available as single titles)