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Book Camp Life

Book Camp 2020, Day 11

Today is day 11?! What?! That means we need to have this wrapped up by tomorrow. Sure thing. [Nervous laughter here.]

Today has been an impromptu cosplay day. Basically we just pulled together some random stuff and put it on.

You can’t see the nails or all the hair stylings. The tattoo was washed off quickly. Maybe we’ll make cosplay part of the plan for next year…

Also impromptu were the scones safely delivered by grandma and grandpa. So yummy! The scones, not the grands. No touching, even if we got a MITE close for the pic.

As I write, the intern loads the dishwasher. A writer adds words. The marketer works on design. The art director worries over a map. The editor scours all the words.

I crashed last night well before smores. Apparently they were delicious. The butterbeer sits ready in the freezer for tonight. We have greatly diminished our snack stock.

The movie series is finished. We’ve had a day to live in pajamas and a day to live in someone else’s clothes. We’ve experimented with new software like Scrivener (not new to me, kids), Inkarnate, and Procreate (also not a new one to me). We’ve mailed camp letters and drawn pictures and walked tens of thousands of steps around this place.

We’ve fought and counseled and forgiven and made book camp better.

Now all that’s left to do is finish.

What a small word with such a big meaning. Finish.

To get to the end. Of the story. Of this phase of work. Of camp. Of living together. Of forts and late nights and camp foods.

How do we get to the end now, when we’ve only just settled to a mellow pink-orange glow of work and fun?

We will do. And we’ll be sad in a happy sort of way. Mostly, we’ll be happy in a happy sort of way. To spread out. To see parents, for two. To sleep in own beds, some of us. To get to routine as the gears crank toward school.

But first some other things must get to the end! A story! A book jacket. A map. Edits. A press kit. A marketing plan.

Let’s go!

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Book Camp

Acrid, Astringent, & Often Disagreeable–Book Camp 2020, Day 10

And this time it’s not interpersonal conflict!

Today we spent a fair bit of time brainstorming story titles. We came up with MANY. Narrowing to six, we sent to the parents and grandparents. They tied in their choices and greatly disliked the clearest (but not unanimous) favorite.

We brainstormed more. Tried one more with the ‘rents. It was not adored.

At some point we fell into “bitter” and searched definitions. That’s where the blog title today came from. I think it would make a terrific story title. Bonus: it accurately describes specific pieces of Book Camp this year. So many meanings!

Plus, it’s just fun to say.

Alas! I could get no takers. So we set aside the titling.

Two maps were drawn today with Inkarnate. A front cover was nearly nailed down. A press kit was two-thirds completed. And the story is just over 9,000 words. Our aim is 12,000.

It’s been a calm day. Mostly. Uproarious. But mellow. The kind of day that makes you think it could go on forever.

But it won’t. And we wouldn’t really want it to. It would dull the specialness of the time together if we were never apart.

The fort is trashed. The snack bar emptied. The work scattered throughout our encampment. Without our intern, Twiz, we’d be utterly lost.

But we’re happy. Our hearts are full. Our wills are unified, even if our titles aren’t. A good intern can make a world of difference!

Here, have a sweet puppy and A.D. photo from last night, after the not-so-littles went to beds.

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