Rain Dodging Update

By Susan October 14, 2021

Rain Dodging Update

Now that I am back from my summer travels and from the pain of oral surgery, I return to Rain Dodging final revisions. Here is an update:

Over the summer, my three Beta readers completed their task. Now, I am taking their notes ‘under advisement’ as I return to my final revisions before submissions to publishers. The first time through after the Beta readers finished, I knocked 20 pages out: Much of that involved citations within the book that my dear former professor advised to remove. (He said to rely on my bibliography instead, given the nature of the writing.) That is where I stopped when September travels began.

Truthfully, it has been difficult returning to my schedule, but I am almost caught up on neglected tasks on the farm. I know once I dig in, I will be entranced by the revision process once again. A priority is smoothing some of the transitions between present and past.

Rain Dodging lives!

Garden At Rousham, S.J Godwin, oil on canvas

Last updated on November 6, 2021

In 2006, researching for my last literature paper at Oxford, I stumbled onto the late 17th-century court of Queen Mary of Modena, consort to James II. I was intrigued because she had so many female writers in her court—rare for the 17th century. Before heading back to the states, I met with my professor, Peter McCullough, to discuss a book idea stemming from that research. Peter had stunned me with his compliment of my paper—“One of the most beautiful Bread Loaf papers I’ve read . . . The work of an artist by an artist.” He was encouraging about my book idea and later agreed to be one of my Beta readers. Rain Dodging follows my quest for a sense of Mary’s spaces, to breathe the same air, to imagine their lives, visiting palaces and manor houses in England and Scotland and exploring their sublime back roads. Rain Dodging is a kaleidoscope of memoir and mystery, a collage of images and events. As I travel through Britain, I take you on a journey through my life and into a 17th-century royal court. You'll watch the connections unfold, from tales of a troubled childhood to wild days of college and young adulthood, the music scenes in Los Angeles & Nashville, and to my growth as mother, teacher, writer, lover, and solo traveler.