After a little consultation, I’ve opted for two books. You could tell by my last post that I was leaning that way anyways. The reality is that as a “first time” author, publishers are not likely to bet on a book at is 130,000 words long. They much prefer memoir in the 70,000-80,000 range. Plus, two books allows me to go deeper on Canada – making my book not only a travel adventure but also a book that can sit in the Canadian shelves. 

The other benefit is that I’m much further along with the Canadian book. 

I got some feedback on my book description. In the description, I say “we realized we were not getting any younger,” which of course is cliché. I should have realized that and chosen another way to say it. 

Here is an updated description of the series:

Going East, is the true story of a 16-month adventure I took with my husband, Scott, when we were in our late thirties. If we waited, I was afraid my health would fail me. We walked away from our high-tech careers and set off to explore the backroads of Canada at the pace of bicycle travel. Realizing one summer wasn’t long enough to explore this huge country, we broadened the scope of our trip to include travelling around the world without airplanes, leaving from Ottawa and going east until we returned home. 

Going East Across Canada: An Unconventional Bike Ride tells the story of the two summers we rode over 10,000 km across the backroads of Canada, including a three-week ride around Lake Ontario. In 2008 we cycled from Ottawa, Ontario out to St. John’s Newfoundland via the Labrador Coast Highway, which at the time was incomplete and unpaved. In 2009, we rode from Victoria BC back to Ottawa, Ontario taking a northern route across BC, riding across the middle of the prairies, and then through Northern Ontario. This is a book about Canada and all we discovered as we experienced the less travelled parts by bicycle. 

I’ve also been working on a chapter-by-chapter description of the book which is both part of a book proposal, but also a really useful guide to help me focus my writing. 

Since the MFA focuses on 5,000 word submissions, over the last year, I had been focussing on 5,000 word chapters or sections of the book. This time, I wrote a shorter section of about 2,500 words. I found that process worked a lot better for me. It allowed me to write and edit several drafts and come to something a lot better than if I had tried to write twice as much before editing. Since the blog is really my “first draft”, I don’t need to spend the time just getting things out of my head. Rather, I need to look at what I have and focus on telling a better story. I’m glad I’ve figured out that focusing on a slightly smaller segment helps me write better and feel like I’m making progress.  

More to come.

Any comments on either the series description or the Going East Across Canada description?