“I watched in horror as the small green cocoa leaf fluttered to the ground. Quickly and quietly, I bent over and put it back with the other two leaves in my outstretched left hand. I stood up and peeked over at the shaman out of the corner of my eye. He was staring right at me.”

Still under the weather at the summit of Salkantay Pass, Peru. (Photo: Brad Kopp)

Writing it Down

There you have it – the first excerpt from my upcoming e-book: “I’ll Never Pee in the Woods Again.” It is a collection of travel tales where not everything goes exactly as planned. The excerpt above is from the story of a misadventure on a multi-day hiking to Machu Picchu, Peru.

I’m putting these few words out into the universe for a reason. Hopefully a few people will read this post and I will have some accountability. This e-book is still a work-in-progress, but I’m excited to finally get around to finishing this tiny treasure. My problem is… SQUIRREL!  I get distracted far too easily. Writing these words down forces me to focus and get this done. You will hold me to it, right?!

Finding Focus

My freelance writing path has been full of detours. For the past eight years, I’ve kept busy writing books, children’s non-fiction for educational publishers. A lot of books. Over eighty-five titles in all. Paying jobs came before creative work. I penned a few travel adventures, but they were few and far between. Time flew by and I found myself with little time or energy for personal projects, such as a short, but sweet, e-book of travel tales.

This year I’ve made a promise to myself to finish a couple of writing ideas that have been shelved for far too long. I’ve cut back on my educational book commitments and am making time to work on projects that I really need to see through to completion.

Evolution

The original idea for this book, first voiced almost nine years ago, was called “Wild Ice and Other Travel Adventures.” It was series of tall, but true travel tales.

The current e-book is still all about travel adventures, but with an extra dose of mis… misadventures, that is. The “Wild Ice” story in the first rough version was simply too short and unrelated to work. It had to go.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t share a condensed version with you here!

Wild Ice

Heading out from the logging road parking lot with burgeoning backpacks, we laughed as we struggled to keep up with the excited chatter of a five-year-old girl proudly wearing her pink and purple pack on her first overnight hiking trip to Lake of the Hanging Glacier in British Columbia.

We wound our way through the forested trail alongside Hell Roaring Creek, up switchbacks and across avalanche slopes before finally ending up in the subalpine meadow campground.

The chatter continued.

After setting up our tent, we strolled the half kilometer or so up to the lakeshore. The massive rock faces of the Commander and The Lieutenants stood guard silently at the end of the milky-blue lake. Jumbo Glacier flowed over the mountaintops and down the valley, one finger reaching into the water. 

Our happy camper was captivated by the icebergs bobbing in the lake. Suddenly, she was silent.

“Do you want to try a piece?” her dad asked.

“Ohhhh… yes, please!”

Finding a longer stick in the avalanche debris littering the shoreline, he rolled up his pant legs and waded out in the frigid water. Slowly, but surely, he started to pull a small berg closer to shore.

Our little girl was dancing beside me, hopping around on the rocks like a kid at their first sock hop, barely able to contain herself.

“Why are you so excited?” I asked.

“Because… I’ve never had wild ice before!”

Putting Passion First

Wild ice – it’s pure, unfiltered joy. It’s trying something new. That’s what I’m doing. I’m writing something that I so passionate about that I’m willing to learn how to create my first e-book to see it published. I’ve been going back to school, taking online courses to learn how to get it done.

I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a bumpy path, but that’s okay. I promise to pop in from time to time and update you on the progress and successes and failures along the way. I’ll share the process of what works, what doesn’t, and why. I’ll chatter away like a five-year-old on a travel adventure.

Will this e-book sell?

Will I ever see a penny for my efforts?

I don’t know.

What I do know is that I’ll be honest about the journey. If you’ve ever thought about publishing your own e-book, stay tuned for tips, tricks and insight learned along the way.

Enough About Me, What About You?

What writing project do you need to dust off and get working on again?

What is holding you back?

What is your wild ice?