Writing a Book is like Climbing Mt. Washington

A week after we made reservations for campsites and doggie daycare, my Achilles tendon started hurting. It was the third week of April and the trip was at the end of July, so I thought it would heal in plenty of time.

My inspiration to climb Mt. Washington, the highest peak in New England with notoriously bad weather, started over five years earlier when I read the book, Following Atticus, about how a middle-aged man with a schnauzer climbed all of the 48 mountains in New Hampshire over 4,000 feet, twice, in the winter. If he could do it, I figured I could at least climb the notorious mountain during the summer—or so I thought.

My Achilles tendonitis wasn’t getting better after several weeks of resting it, although it wasn’t getting worse. I ordered one type of brace, then another, then I tried a specially designed heating pad and topical rubs—nothing helped.

In the middle of June, my husband and I hiked along North Sylamore Creek in Arkansas on a rocky trail for about an hour in the ninety degree heat. My ankle felt a bit irritated during the hike, but afterwards, I could hardly walk.

I needed a doctor. She prescribed physical therapy, which unfortunately wasn’t available until July 12^th—a week before our trip.

After three visits with the physical therapist and following many exercises, our vacation began. I brought five pairs of shoes since some that worked one day, irritated me the next. I brought my laptop, two books, and a bunch of paperwork to keep me busy if my husband had to hike without me.

We started small, on wide, fairly level trails on which we could take Buffy, my old, blind Cocker spaniel, in her stroller. My foot felt okay, but had some twinges of pain. I wore my brace the entire time. Then I hiked up a small mountain during a two hour hike by myself, while my husband stayed in camp with Buffy. About twenty bouts of pain occurred in my Achilles tendon, but they lasted only a few seconds. A few days later, while Buffy was in doggie daycare, Mitch and I hiked up a small, but much steeper mountain for about three hours. My ankle felt fine.

The weather was perfect the day of our climb up Mt. Washington. Buffy got to doggie daycare shortly after they opened at 6:30 a.m. and we planned to pick her up before they closed at 6 p.m. since the average climbing time was about eight hours. We figured we’d be a bit longer since we are older and out of shape, at least for hiking up mountains.

One mistake was choosing the cheaper parking lot. The farther one was free with our National Parks pass, but it added 0.8 miles to the already long 9.3 mile hike of the Ammonoosuc Ravine to the Jewell trail loop. The trail along the Ammonoosuc River was wonderful with several waterfalls, although it got quite steep and required scrambling over rocks near the top. Mitch had to stop more often than me to catch his breath. Surprisingly, my Achilles tendon didn’t bother me at all.

Due to the time and the effort, we decided to split up for the final push up Mt. Washington. I made it to the summit and waited in the long line to get my picture taken.  Tears filled my eyes near the summit. Even a week before, I thought I couldn’t do this hike because of my Achilles tendon. Somehow, with the right stretches and physical therapy, I did it.

In total, it took 11.5 hours and poor Buffy had to spend the night at doggie daycare. My knees were sore for many days afterwards.

How is this hike like writing a book?

• The idea slowly brewed inside me after reading Following Atticus.

I finally started writing my memoir in 2012 after I had thought about it for close to a decade. My memoir is about one of my dogs who greatly affected me. Although I had written technical papers for my environmental consulting job, I struggled with telling Kaylee’s story. My first draft took only a dozen pages. Every sentence was an effort.  I didn’t know how to write a story.

• Get professional help – as much as you need

I took many classes, from the local community college, from Writer’s Digest, and others. Slowly, I got better.  I paid for reviews for ten or twenty pages at conferences and at workshops, but I needed someone to read the whole thing and help me figure out my starting and ending points. I hired a developmental editor. She gave me great advice, but said my book wasn’t ready yet for publication. This was in 2019.

• Keep up the effort, work steadily toward your goal

I joined a critique group at Off Campus Writers Workshop, but they only reviewed 20 pages a month. It took over a year to get though it, but they gave me great feedback.

• Overcome obstacles

The pandemic hit and teaching my college classes became quite complicated. Then the school transitioned to a new learning management system and encouraged us to take semester long classes on how to teach online. My writing came to a standstill with the new demands of teaching.  Not until May of 2021 did I start working on my memoir again, after I made a $10,000 commitment to a writing coach and training sessions – a literal kick in the pants—but it saved my book.

• Don’t give up. See it through to the end.

Several publishers and agents said my 102,000 word memoir was too long. So I worked at cutting, and then cut some more. Without removing any major scenes, I got the word count down to 84,000—the sweet spot for publishers.

My memoir was copy edited. Currently, an agent who said she is very interested in representing me is reviewing it. Hopefully she will and can sell it to a publisher. If not, I may use a hybrid publisher.

• Waiting

My memoir is currently waiting for several agents to respond, one of whom had said she was very interested. But until I have a signed contract from a publisher, who knows what might happen.

Sending my book off to my potential agent felt like reaching the summit of Mt. Washington. But I know there is still the path down the mountain, to do all the edits and extras needed to finally get the book published—much like the long descent down the mountain. I just hope my knees and my Achilles tendon can handle it.