Thursday, November 10, 2011

Children's Books Connected with 250th Anniversary

I'm writing several children's books that I realize can be connected to Plymouth's 250th celebrations.  Maybe this will be the incentive I need to get them finished...this along with the possibility of school programs.

Sarah Jane's Daring Deed already is a published story in my children's anthology and has appeared in four children's magazines.  Now I'm converting it into a picture book that also could be used as a coloring book.

The other, Journey to a New Home  (or perhaps simply Losing Lucy), involves traveling to a new home in the wilderness.  The main setting includes a stagecoach inn where I once lived in Plymouth.  (Of course, I didn't live there in stagecoach times!)  But I imagine a family who stayed overnight.

I'd tucked the draft for that one away and have only just found it...in time to work on the story for the 250th celebration.

Babe Ruth Comes to Town also is in draft form, but I've rewritten it several times and now am starting on the illustrations.  Babe Ruth and other Red Sox players came to the D & M factory to get their baseball gloves in the earlier days of the 20th century.  After hearing a friend tell about being a boy in those days and seeing Babe Ruth, I thought the incident could make a story.

Another of my children's stories involves the Old Man of the Mountain in Franconia Notch.  It's not Plymouth history, but is set in NH.

Now to finish them in book format!

Plymouth's 250th Anniversary History for School Programs

I've been so busy lately that I've done no more than think about my commemorative book.  However, I did meet with a friend who is involved in the 250th Anniversary planning and ran my book idea by her.  I was pleased to get her input.

We're also discussing my going into the area schools with programs concerning the town and its history.  What slant should this take?

  • NH History...in the fourth grade curriculum
  • Local town history, which some 3rd grades study
  • Writing and researching history
  • Turning history into fiction stories
  • Interviewing people about their memories
  • Finding out family history as it applies to the town.
  • Creative writing
It's such fun to brainstorm and see in which direction I can go with these programs and my writing.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Categorizing My Book Entries

As I've been going through my list of history columns about Plymouth, NH for my book, tentatively titled, Plymouth of Yesteryear  (A Collection of Articles about Plymouth, NH's History), by Mary Emma Allen, I've been breaking them down into categories.

This should help me determine how I'll organize my book.  The columns/articles seem to fall into the following groupings.  Perhaps I'll combine or add new ones.

People
Places
Houses
Old Roads/Trails
 Events
Covered Bridges
Industries
Education
Organizations
Snow Bowl/Skiing
Books/Newspapers

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Illustrating My 250th Anniversary Book

I'm working on some illustrations for my 250th anniversary book about Plymouth, NH.  I'm also looking to find the negatives for photos I took when writing the original newspaper columns and magazine articles. 

I've discovered, the more I do it, the more I enjoy sketching for my books.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Editing Commemorative Plymouth, NH Book Material

After printing off a list of the columns I've collected so far for my commemorative book, I began editing.  I'm deciding which ones are repetitious, which should be included and which should be cut or left in their entirety. 

Now I'm trying to fathom an order for them...topical or chronological. 

Do I find photos to include?  I think I still have photos and/or negatives that I took to accompany some of the columns.  Do I make sketches?

What should I use as a cover?

Any suggestions?

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

250th Anniversary Ideas for Commemorative Book

Some of the columns and articles I'm dug up from my files concerning the history of Plymouth are listed below.  I'm reading through them to determine whether to rewrite or use them as they are.  Probably I'll have to edit many of them, perhaps making them shorter.  As I searched among my writings, I discovered I have even more than I thought about Plymouth's history.

  • Writing for this Paper
  • Following the Historic Coos Road
  • Tradition of Town Meetings
  • The Early Roads of Plymouth
  • Plymouth's Early Pottery Industry
  • Plymouth's Pottery Industry
  • The Mayhew Turnpike
  • Plymouth's Rich Mill History
  • The Rutherford House No More
  • Plymouth's Early Institution of Higher Learning
  • The Congregational Church Bell
  • Bells of Plymouth
  • Baseball Lore from D & M (Draper Maynard)
  • Old D & M Catalogs
  • Col. David Webster of Plymouth
  • Tidbits from Stearn's History of Plymouth, NH
  • Historical Markers Dot Plymouth Area Landscape
  • Plymouth's Old Cemeteries
  • The Russell-Colbath House
  • Fox Pease Family Has Long Plymouth Heritage
  • Capt. Harl Pease, Jr: a Plymouth Hero
  • Plymouth's Historic Library
  • Young Ladies Library Association
  • The Pemi Women's Club
  • Christmas in New England
  • Christmas at Clarkland
  • New Hampshire's "Connectors"
  • The Plymouth Court Houses
  • Daniel Webster's Plymouth Connection
  • 60 Years of Theater History
  • Covered Bridges in the Valley
  • Pemi-Baker Region Covered Bridges of Yesteryear
  • The Historic Whittemore Farm of Plymouth
  • History of Your Home
  • The State Fair Tradition
  • Hawthorne's New Hampshire & Plymouth Connection
  • Plymouth Once "Snow Bowl" of New England
  • George Clark and the Boy Scout Drinking Fountain

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Searching for Articles for my book

I'm going through articles I've written since the late 1970s for local newspapers about the history of our town.  They were very popular in my "Up & Down the Valley" column, so should be of interest, with some editing, for a book commenorating the 250th celebration of Plymouth, NH.

Among these articles/columns I've found:
  • History of various houses
  • Founding of the town
  • Early settlers
  • Inns
  • Railroads
  • Early roads
  • Early industries
  • Prominent families
  • Interesting landmarks