Update and thanks!

I wanted to make a quick post to let y'all know that August was pretty dang busy but I am making progress on my outline (a necessity for any non-fiction book project, I believe) and on creating an "action list" of people to touch base with, possible field trips, and resources to seek out online and in person. Getting the chronology of Chuck's life straight is the next task on my list.

I've realized over the course of this what a huge project this will be--and that it will be taking me pretty far outside of my comfort zone. It will require calling up or emailing perfect strangers and learning to dig for facts in ways I've never had to before. I don't even know the names of Chuck's parents--how's that for a big stumbling block in an opening chapter about Chuck's roots? And there will need to be a very large amount of fact-checking to make sure everything lines up. I once read a non-fiction author's statement to the effect that 90% of a book of this type is research, and that it's surprising that the actual work of writing it goes so quickly when the research takes so long!

I wanted to send out a thank-you to the people who have found me and begun emailing with their own experiences, stories, and expressed admiration or love for Chuck and his dogs. As I just told one of you via email, writing a book is a long and lonely road. You guys keep me going. Thank you.  :)

Anyone who might know of a newspaper that would cover the Hawthorne, WI area other than the Superior Telegram, please feel free to drop me an email: littlehoboblog@gmail.com.

And now, back to work!

Proposed Field Trip: I definitely need to go to Hawthorne, and visit a county courthouse or other records resource where I can find out about Chuck's parents. The list of reasons to visit northern Wisconsin is growing!