Gail Fraser's Blog

By the first of the new year, I was swimming a mile a few times a week and on the 3rd, returned to one of three golf clinics I attend at Hibiscus Golf Club (thanks very much, Mike Smuniewski).

And….. a few days ago, I printed out the first draft of BETWEEN LUMBY AND GOD. Okay, I admit to only holding the manuscript for the pic, but all 356 pages are there for the taking. And my editors are on board and patiently awaiting its completion.

So, the mountains of 2019 have been climbed and are now behind me. Looking forward, all in all I’m certain to the core that 2020 will be more extraordinary than I could possibly imagine.

As Christmas approached, my good friends Julie DeHaan and Brenda Parrot stepped in (again, pun intended), hijacked my house, unpacked Jim Shore and decorated for the season, for which I will be forever thankful. I, on the other hand, spent my days in physical therapy or focused on several Art Poulin puzzles, which became an addictive distraction. (Thanks, Honey, wish you were here.)

A very belated Happy New Year and Happy New Decade! I want to thank everyone for the get-well wishes in November, as well as the many Christmas wishes in December. It’s been an interesting 8-weeks, which I’ll recap (pun intended). Knee surgery was….. what can I say?

I have been absent for quite some time, and had always assumed that my blog followers understood my circumstances from visiting my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/gail.fraser.543). I was wrong about that, and now understand that many of you who have been so loyal to Lumby have been left in the dark. For that, I apologize.

Stepping back: March 31st of last year, Art Poulin, my husband, closest friend and business partner of 20 years, passed away, just eight weeks after being diagnosed with glioblastoma brain cancer. Immediately thereafter, I sold Lazy Goose, packed up my life and headed south to where Art and I were planning to live. Although the arc of grief was painful and exhausting, after about eight months, the clouds lifted enough for me to look around and start to get my bearings. Slowly, I began to rebuild a new life based on friendships, purpose and passions.

I now live in Naples, Florida, and am fulfilled and happy, although I always feel Art’s absence.  Every morning, I either long distance swim or golf, and every afternoon I am working in my office. Most of my focus has been on managing Art’s portfolio – his originals (www.artpoulin.com), his international licenses, etc – and meeting our contractual commitments. Recently, I have found time enough to blow the dust off my manuscript and reread Between Lumby and God. It’s about six chapters away from completion of the first draft. When done, it will go through rewrite and copy edit, and finally, publication. But at least it is now on my desk.

So, I suppose all I can say is that sometimes we are dealt cards that we never ever expect to be handed. And it’s devastating. In those times, we can only do our best to move forward, first in inches, and then in feet. I ask for your patience during this process.

Thank you for your continued loyalty to Lumby, and I hope to hear from you soon.

The Death of Reading is Threatening the Soul” by Philip Yancey – an outstanding, very true but very sad editorial in the Washington Post. Hope you all get a chance to look at it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/a...

 

The Death of Reading is Threatening the Soul” by Philip Yancey – an outstanding, very true but very sad editorial in the Washington Post. Hope you all get a chance to look at it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/a...

 

I just made progress on Between Lumby and God! So far I’m 95% complete on the Detailed Outline phase. Just about to start writing!

Between Lumby and GodPhase:Detailed Outline95%

IMO, I think this submission is really well done and is among my favorites thus far. Keep ’em coming! #lumbymeme #whereislumby

IMO, I think this submission is really well done and is among my favorites thus far. Keep ’em coming! #lumbymeme #whereislumby

Barbara B sent me an email yesterday asking about the 2017 editions of Lumby. Assuming she would have no objections, I thought I would share my reply:

Although I had a ten-year relationship with Penguin (now Penguin Random House) which published my first five novels, I was struck by an overwhelming sense of independence (okay, rebellion) six months ago and formally requested a “reversion of rights” for all my books…a legal process wherein a publisher gives all rights back …to the author. After Penguin agreed and we worked out the terms of our ‘divorce’ in sense, in February, Lumby was handed over to me hook, line and sinker, and I decided to republish under our own imprint (Lazygoose Publishing)

Clearly I did something very few sane authors would ever consider – walking away from the security (and operations, and production, and marketing…..) of a big publishing house. And although we’re still coming to understand the full “cost of freedom” (reaching all the bookstores and readers that Penguin had access to, for example) I now feel closer to, more inspired by and protective of Lumby than ever, as strange as that sounds. Now that all the titles are released and I have a chance to look back on the journey we’ve gone through this year, I’m happy (and really thankful I have a hugely supportive husband). Almost more important, though, is that I’m enjoying every minute I spend on Between Lumby and God….you can’t ask for more than that, can you