Road Trip! 2014 is the year of Alaska on the Go

Nice shot, yes? Enjoying a summer day at Timberline Lodge in Oregon's Mount Hood Territory.

With the final AKontheGO.com summertime trip in the record books, it's time to start thinking about 2014. This is not entirely unusual, friends, since by Christmas I usually have the coming year all plotted, planned, and reserved. 2014, however, will be a teensy bit different.

We're going on a book tour.

We love road trips. 

Alaska on the Go: Exploring the forty-ninth state with children will be available in better bookstores (or the back of my car) by next spring, and with the boxes o' books comes the inevitable road and/or air tour to sell them. Good thing we like to travel.

University of Alaska Press  will handle the biggie destinations, and a tentative schedule will be released as soon as the final publishing date is announced, but we need your help to fill in a few extra days and places, because, gosh darn it, I hate to waste highway time.

home.comcast.net

Outside of our home state of Alaska, discussions have begun with folks in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada; Seattle, Bellevue, Bellingham, Granite Falls, and Issaquah, Washington; Portland and Bend, Oregon; and Durango, Colorado. Anybody down in California want to meet us, receive a signed copy of the book, and talk Alaska family travel? How about our Southern readers? We'd love to meet you, too!

Maybe a group campout? Book-signing under the stars, now that's something special!

Interested? togoak@gmail.com is the place to find me.

~EK

On Summer and Writing

Kayaking Fox Island. Ahhhhlaska.

Pardon the absence, but I've been having summer. Delicious, watermelon-splattered, sunburned, real-deal Summer. Alaska has missed out, these past few years, and we are duly obligated to spend as much time outdoors as possible. My son leaves the breakfast table in a hurry these days, anxious to meet up with the Evergreen Street Biker Gang and another morning of tag, races, and the cheap yard sprinkler I bought on sale last non-summer. Hubster and I spent a weekend at secluded Kenai Fjords Wilderness Lodge near Seward. Life, in a curvy sort of way, is pretty good right now.

Not a bad draft, I think. 

Web Guy came through with a set of spectacular maps that impressed the UA Press production editor, and we met a few weeks ago for a final viewing and the official send-off. According to the "Steps in Process from Proposat to Book" sheet, still hanging above my desk, we are now in the phase of "Manuscript Copyedited." In a few weeks I should be seeing the framework of what will eventually be "Alaska On the Go: Exploring the 49th state with children."

Then, summer weather or no, I'm back at the desk, feverishly reading and reviewing and changing stuff for the final time, and working on a cover.

UnCruise. I do it.

In the meantime, I'm off to southeast Alaska as the host of a Kids in Nature trip with UnCruise Adventures, a small ship cruise line based in Seattle. Seven days in Glacier Bay, Alaska, with no internet, no phone, and no deadlines.

I can deal with that. Oh yes, indeed, I can.

Thumbs, Twiddling

Lots of things happen when you send a book to the publisher.

The tax receipts get organized.

The house suddenly gets a lot cleaner.

The family dresses up like vegetables and animals and goes running.

The writer's eyes uncross.

However, other, less productive things, tend to happen as well. Anxious moments in front of the computer, double-checking the "sent mail" tab to make sure the manuscript did, in fact, reach its destination. Bordering on obsession, this multiple-times-a-day checking is wearing out my keyboard, and my husband's nerves. Sorry, dear.

There's also a lot of thumb-twiddling. Oh, I have a lot of projects awaiting my attention, some really great ones. But with the Timeline to Publish tacked to the wall directly above my desk, it's hard to ignore the fact that a 95, 000-word book is at this moment being copied and sent to the members of Publishing House's advisory board. Holy crap.

The good news is that I wrote a book. A whole book. I met a great acquisitions editor, who really likes this project and how I framed the combination of ancedotal experience and honest how-to instructions about bringing kids to Alaska.

I heard yesterday at a tourism forecast luncheon that a million people are expected to visit Alaska via cruise ship this summer. Just think how many of them might buy a book about family travel for a grandchild's parent, or rethink the wisdom of leaving said children or grandchildren at home for a lack of information about Alaska and kids. Almost blows the mind.

And re-crosses my eyes.

Calling All Kids! Alaska On the Go Needs YOU!

I'm so almost there. Just a few more places, a few more tweaks, a few more long nights, and this thing is on its way to Editor.

In an effort to make this not only an informative exploration of Alaska with kids, but a fun read, I've decided to add one more cool feature - voices from kids, themselves.

Called "KidSpeak," and similar to to the ParentPoints concept provided by willing grownups, KidSpeak will be real-life, honest, and hopefully endearing accounts by kids about their favorite Alaska stuff. Any stuff is acceptable; activities, restaurants, clothes, airplanes, fishing.....my only requirement is that it comes from their precious little hearts and mouths. There is NO age limit; any child who can utter a sound is welcome to contribute (although mom or dad may have to translate for me).

Specifically, I need KidSpeak about the following subjects: 

Favorite activities when it's summer, winter, and in between

Fishing quotes

Wild animal quotes (favorite/non favorite)

Weather

Driving on road trips (strategies/tips from big kids would be great, too)

Favorite restaurants (anywhere in AK)

Cruising (day cruising, and multi-day cruises)

Interested? Send me your kids' quotables, their first names and ages, to: togoak@gmail.com. 
Deadline to contribute is Friday, September 28.

Danke!

EK

Parents Know Best: Have a ProTip?

Excitement about Alaska On the Go: Exploring the 49th State With Children is building. What's the best part? The role other parents will play in the ultimate success of this book.

It's of paramount importance to feature real, live Alaskans deep within the pages of Alaska On the Go, so other parents don't end up wondering about, and wandering around our state only thinking they know what they're doing. They will know, because other parents will have told them.

Parent ProTips - that's what I'm calling these little breakout boxes scattered throughout the book. Insights, helpful ideas, thoughts, and funny stories about traveling the highways and byways of Alaska with children. From camping to packing, Alaska's moms and dads have sent me their favorite experiences and most excellent advice, and this book will be better for it.

Currently, I'm searching for parental wisdom in the following areas: 

Prince William Sound, Valdez, Cordova, and activities thereabouts

Denali National Park and surrounding environs

Fishing

Far-flung Alaska adventures, including bear-viewing, fly-in fishing/camping, backpacking, and Bush Alaska trips

Have a thought to share? I'd love to hear about it. Typically, Parent ProTips are short; two or three sentences are sufficient. Shoot me an email at togoak@gmail.com if you have a great story or idea. We'll build this book together!

Holiday Roads......My Favorite Part, So Far

I've noticed that writing a guide book can be a little tedious <yawn>. Even though Alaska is the most gorgeous, spectacular, interesting place on earth, writing about the same set of facts, albeit in a different location, can cause a lack of motivation.

"Stay at XY Hotel; they offer rates from a million dollars on up...." Try writing that sentence a few hundred times and see how interested you become.

Now that I've finished the first round of southcentral Alaska, my brain needs something else to keep it amused, so I decided yesterday to head in a different direction: ROAD TRIP!

I love road trips, always have. Even as a child, I'd be the first kid to hop aboard the VW Bus for a journey up or down the highway. Even now, I love the thought of tooling Alaska's two or three major arterials with no particular destination in mind. It's the perfect section for a slightly-spring-fevered writer.

As daylight begins to filter through the filmy clouds over the Chugach mountains, this morning, it's terribly difficult not to throw my son, the dogs, and a backpack or two in the car.

Focus, EK, focus!

Writing a Book? Don't Forget a Time Out

Two weeks since I've posted updates on The Book? Oops.

"AK Fam" had to go to Hawai'i, where I spent little time on the laptop, or indoors, even.
I didn't even write much for AKontheGO, but as the week turned into 10 days, and my fingers didn't so much as brush the keyboard, a few things became clear.

1) It's okay to take a break.

2) After said break, my brain is refreshed and ready to attack the next section of The Book.

3) My family is always more important than writing.

"You're Writing a Book? Great. When?"

That's what my husband said when I mentioned, over a glass of throaty Merlot, how much I would like to write a book. A guide, actually. A guide to exploring Alaska with children, specifically.

Hubs' very valid question of "when" came at our return from two weeks aboard the Alaska Marine Highway System, where we relaxed and recreated 24-7 the Inside Passage of southeast AK. Our (okay, my) website and blog, AKontheGO, had seen a fine year of increasing attention by the travel powers-that-be; people who see the value of stroking a family travel writer to encourage intrepid parents about their own immersion into the 49th state beyond that which cruise ships advertise (and I adore our cruise industry).

But my spouse knows me well, and understands writing is akin to breathing for his wife, so he poured another glass of wine, settled himself in a deck chair, and said "Tell me about it." Three hours later, I had a concept, a few ideas for publishing, and three pages full of scribbled notes.

I timidly approached a former editor whose "AWESOME!" response gave me hope. I sketched an outline (and promptly became discouraged at how many pages appeared for one book), and began to mention to certain circles my plan of action.

People cheered, they high-fived, they poured more wine. I found an editor whose calm and professional personality belies my slightly frenetic, OCD one. I created a writing schedule, cleaned out my office, and frantically began contacting my travel industry peeps.

So here I am. And now, here you are, following along. This is the place to ask questions, give me feedback, and offer your best suggestions when I ask "Have you ever been to....?" or "What's your favorite family-friendly restaurant in.....?"

"Alaska On the Go: Exploring the 49th State With Children" is a big idea in a big state. Somehow, though the two seem to fit.

Bring it on.