A Shout Out to The Commons Book Club, Part III

This is the most awesome gift a writer can receive in the mailbox. I received a note from a dear friend recently who informed me that her book club had selected Tiger Hunting for their second read.

"Dear Tracy, Did your ears burn the afternoon of March 19th? Your book, Tiger Hunting, was the subject of our second book club meeting... all agreed they enjoyed your writing, but had some questions..." 

As I am composing my letter in reply, I thought I'd share the answers.

Question #3: How did you include local references so well?

I debated long and hard about placing Tiger Hunting in a real town. Dodge City is my town, after all—I was born and raised there—and I wasn’t sure how the natives would feel about me taking liberties with the culture and character of the city. I lived near Dodge City from birth until age 18, and lived there again from age of 27 to 33. I finally decided to embrace the “write what you know” theory. I placed the characters in Dodge City, and much of the early action in the story takes place in my own childhood stomping grounds south of Dodge City. In truth, there is a lot of fiction and reality mixed in the story, as far as time and place. The Dodge City of the 1980s rings much more true than modern Dodge City, and the Dodge City of Tiger Hunting is probably more stereotypically small-town Kansas than the actual place. The places in the story are a mix of real places, slightly altered places, and completely made up places that I chose to make a part of the city anyway.

“So,” he broke the silence. “Want to go try out the new coffee place with me on Wyatt Earp? Had you heard we’re getting civilized? Cup O-Jones. It’s a coffee house. Just like you had in Lawrence. Like Houston. Like on that television show, Friends.”

Wyatt Earp, absolutely a real place in Dodge City; Cup O-Jones, darned near the real thing. 

See Question #1, Question #2.

A Shout Out to The Commons Book Club, Part II

This is the most awesome gift a writer can receive in the mailbox. I received a note from a dear friend recently who informed me that her book club had selected Tiger Hunting for their second read.

"Dear Tracy, Did your ears burn the afternoon of March 19th? Your book, Tiger Hunting, was the subject of our second book club meeting... all agreed they enjoyed your writing, but had some questions..." 

As I am composing my letter in reply, I thought I'd share the answers.

Question # 2: Could a tiger really hide in that area?

If you know western Kansas, you know that it is flat as a pancake and the sky goes on for miles and miles. It’s hard to imagine any animal hiding for long, but especially hard to imagine a tiger who is nowhere near a native. The county is sparsely populated, however, and I’m drawn to consider the stories of mountain lions I’ve heard over the years. They are rarely seen, but often talked about. The Kansas park service, in fact, claimed until quite recently that they didn’t exist in the state.

This may be one part of the story where a little suspension of belief is required… Or perhaps there will one day be an extended version of Tiger Hunting, from another Kansan’s perspective, that explains a little better how a white tiger was able to disappear south of Dodge City successfully and for so long.

That’s a story that may or may not be in the works, depending on which day you talk to me.

Suddenly, goosebumps rose on my arms and I stopped. I felt her watching me before I even lifted my eyes from the dirt on the toes of my once white tennis shoes. She was standing right in front of me, maybe 15 feet away. She was panting, her tongue hanging out as if she shared my thirst. This was western Kansas, after all. It’s not as if there were abundant ponds and streams dotting the landscape. I held my breath and stood absolutely still. My hands gripped the handlebars of the bike so tightly my knuckles started to ache. Her piercing blue eyes remained focused on me as if assessing whether or not I provided an answer to her own hunger and thirst issues.

See Question #1

A Shout Out to The Commons Book Club in Enid, Oklahoma

This is the most awesome gift a writer can receive in the mailbox. I received a note from a dear friend recently who informed me that her book club had selected Tiger Hunting for their second read.

"Dear Tracy, Did your ears burn the afternoon of March 19th? Your book, Tiger Hunting, was the subject of our second book club meeting... all agreed they enjoyed your writing, but had some questions..." 

As I am composing my letter in reply, I thought I'd share the answers.

Question #1: Could anyone ride a bicycle so far?

As someone who grew up in rural, western Kansas, I did spend many summer days riding bicycles with my cousins. The sanded roads were sometimes a challenge. More than once, I recall riding fast and losing control when hitting an unexpected sand ridge. One time, I actually spilled my bike and my cousin Dawn rode right over the top of me, the bike and all. There was about a quarter mile between our houses and who knows how many miles we tallied in a week, riding back and forth, up and down the hill. There was an Amish graveyard 3 miles west of our house and on a clear summer’s day, we would sometimes pack a picnic lunch and ride all the way there and back home again.

That said, until I moved to Emporia (as an adult in my 40s) I don’t think I would have ever thought to put a character on a bicycle and send her more than a couple of miles. In Emporia, however, I was introduced to a little event called the Dirty Kanza. This event started in 2006 with a handful of friends who thought it would be “fun” to challenge themselves to a 200 mile bicycle ride through the Flint Hills. The event has grown each year and is now considered one of the premier gravel bicycle races in the country, and maybe the world. I have gotten involved as a member of the farmers market, where I am the manager. Each year we have held a fundraiser the evening before the event where we feed these riders and their crews. More than 1,200 people are expected to ride this year. We have already received ticket orders for the fundraiser from as far away as Hong Kong and London. They have riders registered from 49 US States. 

So I guess Jeni’s bicycle ride in Tiger Hunting, though she was inadequately prepared, was inspired by the memory of summer childhood bike rides with my cousins, and the amazing treks I’ve witnessed here in the Flint Hills as an adult. 

Is it possible to ride as far as Jeni rode? Absolutely. 

Can I ride that far? Probably not. My husband has been undertaking 50 mile regularly, however. In fact, he and my daughter plan to participate in the Cottonwood 200 on Memorial Day weekend, which is a three-day, paved road ride from Topeka to the little town of Cottonwood Falls and back up again. 

It may sound crazy, but it’s true. 

It wasn’t a terribly warm day for May, but the sweat ran down my face in rivulets, the salt started to sting my eyes.

“Turn around now,” the voice inside my head said.

“Keep riding,” another voice argued, more persuasively.

I pedaled and pedaled. The more the muscles in my legs protested, the harder I pushed myself. I covered mile after mile, until I began to consider that the tiger hunters were probably still out this direction. The thought of a potential run-in with Joe was more than I could handle. We’d been a few miles east of the highway last night when we had heard the tiger roar, so when I reached the next dirt road, I steered my bicycle to the right.

Age Three

Olivia, Age 3

Twice this month I have had the pleasure of hanging out with people in their third year of life. First it was the granddaughter of one of a friend (our friendship dates back to the second grade). Then I got to spend a long weekend with my niece and her brothers (ages 5, 9, and 12). I have to say that it is hard to be around a three-year-old and not ache – just a little bit – for all the wonder that is wrapped up in life as it is experienced at that age. It was such a brief moment (like all moments) in the lives of my own children, and as the former mother of three-year-olds (three times!) I remember that it could be as exhausting as it was wonderful. When you are three, every moment is full of potential.

At three, it is so easy to experience joy, frustration, exhilaration, impatience, love, anger, awe, and confusion deeply. It is so easy that one might feel all of these, and more, within a matter of minutes. Without the filter that comes with additional years and experience, three is still able to hug freely and with all its might. Three still has the energy to run every step that others walk, and when three is tired of running, it gets carried or takes a nap. Three can cry and laugh with equal vigor. Three is still delighted by the pictures in a book, yet also beginning to appreciate the story.

I love three. I feel profoundly fortunate to have caught these special moments with these two young ladies who will likely be months or possibly even years older the next time I see them.

If I could save time, I’d keep a spare bottle for every three-year-old I’ve encountered. 

 

Taking My Own Advice

A friend today said something about getting his stuff together so he could get his book published. I immediately answered, "Don't let getting your stuff together get in the way of publishing your book. If you wait until your life is in order, the book won't ever happen."

I continue to think of my book (published just over a year ago now) as something of a leap from the high dive. I may not have taken the most graceful way down, but at some point I felt that simply jumping was my only option. It was becoming quite clear that lingering on that platform with all the other want-to-be authors could become a lifestyle.

I took the plunge, and I've made a list of dozens of ways I could have done it better. Book number two should be easier, right? Just another opportunity to learn more lessons.