Staying the Course

I am closing in on a book project deadline. I’ve got about a month to finish my forthcoming sixth book, Sports Memories of Western Pennsylvania (Arcadia Publishing). I am just about to turn over a draft to my co-author, who will write the introduction and add his expertise to the photo captions.

In case you are wondering, writing a book is hard work. It sounds glamorous but there are moments during the writing process when you think you are never going to finish. For this particular book there is also a great deal of “busy” work. The book tells about western PA sports history through nearly 200 photographs. In addition to the research, I have to organize the photos into chapters, scan the photos, obtain permission to reprint some of the images, make sure they meet certain publication specifications, research and write the captions and introductory text to each chapter.

I am very close to completing this project and just need to stay the course. I look forward to seeing our finished product which will hopefully be out by the summer. This book is special to me-it is one I know my father would have enjoyed reading, and I am dedicating it to him.