I'm sitting at the Bob Shetler Recreation Area where I've been camped the past few days just north of Des Moines. I've spent the past two days exploring the area that I set the Team Manager series in. Overall, I did a pretty good job of describing the area, perhaps underplaying the beautiful miles and miles of corn and soybean fields, the rolling hills, and the beautiful towns.
In particular, the town I loosely modeled Bartley after was a lovely little town, though about three times the size that I described in Team Manager. It was a lively place with a museum, a big event--I think it was supposed to be a tractor parade--happening on Saturday, people walking around town, kids playing in the playground, and generally being a nice place.
I might say that it was so real, I expected one of my characters to walk up and say hi!
I also visited some colleges on which I based the experiences the crew is facing. One in particular is an incredibly beautiful campus, beautiful facility. It reminded me a lot of my own alma mater back in Indiana. The fieldhouse is undergoing some work that will improve environmental controls and will be ready to host my favorite women's basketball team in October. I've even upgraded my hotspot so I will have enough bandwidth to watch basketball all I want this fall!
Tomorrow, I'm moving camp 200 miles to Mississippi Palisades State Park in Illinois on the Mississippi River. I'll be spending this week exploring the area I'm basing my next series, the Photo Finish Trilogy, on. I'm looking forward to this since I have plenty of time left yet before release of the first volume, Full Frame, to make changes if I discover things I've either erred in or that are so cool I need to include them.
That will also include slipping back across the border into Iowa to visit two more of my favorite Iowa Div III colleges in Dubuque. I plan to follow all 9 teams in the American Rivers Conference this fall.
Development of the Photo Finish Trilogy is moving along well. Full Frame is getting its final proofreading unless I decided to change something significant. I've begun formatting the first few chapters and plan to start posting at the end of September. I'm deep in the first draft of Shutter Speed and expect to finish that draft by September if all goes well. Then I'll start the third volume, F/stop, as soon as I've finished the draft of Shutter Speed.
All told, I'm having a great and creative summer. Avoiding the most severe heat and thunderstorms so far. Have been pushed around a bit by wind on occasion, but not yet a problem. Enjoy the reading!