As I posted on Face Book  Sunday evening, Marie and I made an emergency trip to Washington to help our daughter pick out a puppy. They lost their old dog, Cochise, a few weeks ago.  Cochise used to be be our dog, but we sent him north a few years back because we away from home so much.

In my former life I was a dog trainer. Picking out a dog isn’t easy. If you make a mistake you will be living with it for the next 12+ years. Cochise was an Australian cattle dog, my favorite breed, but my daughter decided to change it up a bit and get a lab.  Good choice.  They’re wonderful dogs.  And we found a 12 week old female, which they named “Peaches,” or “Peach,” according to grandson’s #3 and #4.  Picked up the pup from a nice couple about 80 miles south of my daughter’s.

Zipped back down to the farm yesterday morning and got back to work on the books, which are going well.

Contractor is here today putting the last touches on the bathroom remodel.  Shower door arrives on Thursday, supposedly.  After that the project will be finished, essentially.

Just a quick note for those who live in Oregon.  I will be speaking at the Newberg Public Library.  Hope to see you there!  Here’s the information…

Author Roland Smith @ your library!

Author Roland Smith will join us at the library on Tuesday, June 22nd from 6:30-7:30 p.m. to talk about writing and autograph his books. (No registration or tickets required)

Sign-up for our Roland Smith book club on Saturday, June 19th and get a free book while supplies last.

For more details please email korie.buerkle@newbergoregon.gov or call 503 537 0304.

I just got the latest update for “I,Q Book Two: The White House.”  The book will shipped from the printer on June 25th.  It will be in the publisher’s warehouse on June 27th.  It will be shipped to book stores on June 28th or 29th.  This means the book should be in bookstores, and online, in early July.  You can pre-order it online at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Powell’s Books.  Now you know what I know.

Early next week I will be posting here, Chapter One of the book, which is called “1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”

Stay tuned!

The Book Whisperer, a.k.a. Donalyn Miller, has completed yet another incredible year with her fantastic readers.  Her 92 sixth grade students read 5,240 books this year, which is an average 57 books per reader!  You can follow her blog here.  And teachers and parents, if you haven’t read “The Book Whisperer” you need to do so.

Heavy rain moved into the Portland (Pourland) area last night, but it’s clear this morning.  It doesn’t make much of a difference to me, because I’m in my office writing.

The downstairs remodel is coming to a slow end.  I’ll include some photos here when everything is back in place.  It will be great to have nothing more to do to the house…  Ha!  There are always things to do.  But it will be nice not to be “doing” anything to the house over the summer.

And the grand experiment continues…working on more than one book at a time.  So far, I’ve restricted myself  to working one book on one day, not switching between books on any given day.  Two are started and I may start a third today or tomorrow.  Again, don’t do this at home!  It’s dangerous territory.

Do you remember way back when (a few weeks ago) I posted a “Cryptid Hunters” Face Book Contest?  Well, here are the books.  And you might notice that there are now 15 copies on the stack.  I’m adding the extra five copies in honor of the fact that we’ve now passed the 2,500 mark on the Fan Page, for which I’m very grateful.

If you forgot about the contest, or missed it, here’s the original post, which was actually written at the Anchorage airport as I was waiting for a flight.  Spread the word.  Good luck!

CONTEST! Here’s how it’s going to work. I am going to randomly pick 10 fans when this Fan Page gets to 5,000 people. I will mail the 10 (now 15) winners a “signed” hardback copy of my novel CRYPTID HINTERS because I just happen to have a stack of them in my office. I will list the winners on this page. Good luck! http://www.facebook.com/Roland.Smith.Page

I’ve been asked many times:  “How many books do you work on at one time?”

My answer has always been:  “One.”

This summer I’m going to change that up.  I have several books under contract, and I’m going to work on four of them simultaneously.  I’ve already started two of the books, and in the next couple weeks, all four will be rolling.

I don’t recommend this to someone who’s writing their first or second novel.  The chances are that you will eventually have a pile of unfinished books stuffed in drawers.  When the writing gets tough (which it does everyday BTW… forever) new writers are tempted to switch their attention to a new story, and if they do, somehow they never get back to the previous attempt.

So why am I trying this?  I’ve written over a dozen novels and I know how to finish a novel.  (In fact, one of the differences between an “author” and a “writer” is that an author finishes what he or she is working on).   Writing doesn’t get easier (In fact, I think it gets harder because your standards and expectations increase).  But one thing you do get better at, with experience, is keeping story lines separate in your head.   This includes your various character’s voices and their Point of View within that story.

When I’m on the road, with hotels, airplanes, speaking, and meeting people, it’s all I can do to keep one book going.  At home, the only thing I really have to do is find my office, sit down, and write.

I tend to “fiddle” with stories, even when I’m only working on one story.  I take it out and correct a sentence, or a word here or there while I’m in the middle of doing other things like hanging out with the grandsons, or watching a movie on TV.

I’ll have four books to fiddle with over the summer and I’ll keep all of you up to date on this bold experiment as it progresses.

Home sweet home… I’ve spent the last couple days writing and getting organized for the work over the summer. I thought it might be fun to give you a virtual tour of my office. I’m always interested in writer’s and illustrator’s working spaces. You can view the tour on YouTube by clicking the photo.

I took a short blog break after 14 weeks on the road. Headed up to hang out with grandson’s #3 and #4, and Niki and Derek, for a few days. I havent been up been up there in 6 months and it was wonderful to see them! I did not take a break from writing though. I managed to get in a few hours everyday.

And in case you’re wondering I’m not going to tell you what I’m working on. But I can tell you that IQ2 The White House has “gone to press” which means that it has been sent to the printer and with luck it will be in stores in 3 or 4 weeks. They are printing it in paperback and hardback at the same time. I will let you know when it is on the shelves.

Just a reminder for those who might have missed the post. I’ve set up a Face Book Fan Page. You can access it here: Just hit the “Like” button on the top of the page and you’re on. No friend confirmation needed. And I have a contest on the page. I’m going to give away 10 hardcover signed copies of Cryptid Hunters when we get to 5,000 fans. We’re almost hallway there!

The last school visit of the year. And it was wonderful to spend it with my dear friend Linda Kehm and her husband Bill at Lakeside Elementary in East Grand Rapids.

Aside from being a super principal, Linda runs Literacy Compass. She is abosolutely committed to spreading the word about the importance of reading and it shows in her incredible students and outstanding faculty. The K thru 5 are reading fanatics!

We popped over to East Middle School to do a program for about 100 Students. Many of them are former pupils of Lakeside Elementary. Some of them gave up their lunch to hear me speak.

A great end to a fabulous year of school visits. Thank you all for inviting me to speak at your schools!

I was at Mt. Airy Middle School today with my old friend, librarian Pam Lichty. I think this is my third visit to her school. I spoke to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders using Keynote on my iPad, which worked absolutely perfectly.

Another fun school visit! Thanks Pam!

After school Pam drove me to BWI to catch a flight the Grand Rapids where I’m speaking tomorrow.