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Creating a Book: In the Range of Fire and Ice · Street Smart Naturalist

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  SPEAKER_00: Greetings.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is David B.
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  SPEAKER_00: Williams and the podcast of my newsletter,
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  SPEAKER_00: The Street Smart Naturalist,
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  SPEAKER_00: Explorations of the Urban Kind.
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  Every week I share my observations and adventures with the
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  human and natural world
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  SPEAKER_00: around Seattle,
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  SPEAKER_00: Puget Sound,
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  SPEAKER_00: and the Pacific Northwest.
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  SPEAKER_00: Today's episode focuses on how my next book came to be.
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  SPEAKER_00: To learn more about my work,
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  SPEAKER_00: please go to my website, geologywriter.com.
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  You will also find a link to my Substack newsletter and my
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  previous five years of
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  SPEAKER_00: newsletters,
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  SPEAKER_00: as well as just images tied to this week's episode.
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  SPEAKER_00: Thanks again for joining me on this adventure,
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  SPEAKER_00: and welcome to Podcast 63 of the Street Smart Naturalist,
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  SPEAKER_00: Creating a Book in the Range of Fire and Ice,
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  SPEAKER_00: February 19,
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  SPEAKER_00: 2026.
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  SPEAKER_00: Nearly four years ago,
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  SPEAKER_00: I sent a short email to my friend Emily White,
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  SPEAKER_00: acquisitions editor at Mountaineers Books.
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  Might you have 20 to 30 minutes to chat about a book idea the
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  next week or two,
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  I ask.
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  Thus began a relationship for the book that has become In the
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  Range of Fire and
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  SPEAKER_00: Ice,
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  SPEAKER_00: A Human and Natural History of Washington's Cascades,
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  SPEAKER_00: which Mountaineers Books will publish in 2026.
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  SPEAKER_00: September, that is.
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  I bring this up now because I turned in the page proofs of the
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  book last week.
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  SPEAKER_00: In case you didn't know,
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  page proofs are basically the first time an author sees a book
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  laid out as it will
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  SPEAKER_00: be when published and basically the last time an author can make changes.
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  I thought I'd follow up by giving a bit more of a
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  behind-the-scenes look at the
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  SPEAKER_00: creation of the book.
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  SPEAKER_00: Before starting on this manuscript,
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  I had been planning an on-the-ground look at how climate change
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  was playing out in
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  SPEAKER_00: the Pacific Northwest.
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  SPEAKER_00: I had spent several months interviewing scientists,
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  SPEAKER_00: but could never figure out an angle that worked.
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  SPEAKER_00: Finally,
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  Marjorie and I were on one of our regular evening walks around
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  the neighborhood
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  when the idea of a book about the human and natural history of
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  the Olympic and
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  SPEAKER_00: Cascades popped into my head.
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  I remember wondering why it took so long to come up with such a
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  simple idea.
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  it would make a fun and logical follow-up to Home Waters,
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  my book about Puget Sound.
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  I quickly realized that covering both mountain ranges didn't
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  make sense,
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  so narrowed my focus.
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  SPEAKER_00: I then spent the next several months discussing the idea with friends,
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  SPEAKER_00: scientists,
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  SPEAKER_00: and historians,
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  SPEAKER_00: basically anyone who had talked to me.
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  SPEAKER_00: Writing is a funny thing.
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  I have two writing pals who will not talk about their
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  in-progress books at all.
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  SPEAKER_00: whereas I'll blab away to anyone who will listen.
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  SPEAKER_00: I figure it's a good way to see what excites people,
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  SPEAKER_00: plus friends often ask great questions that lead me to new insights.
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  SPEAKER_00: During this time, I had my first chat with Emily about the book.
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  She was supportive and encouraging,
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  as well as offering good suggestions for topics.
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  SPEAKER_00: I also just want to be clear.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is a privilege of having worked with Emily for more than a decade,
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  and having become a good friend and not something I could have
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  done early in my career.
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  SPEAKER_00: Once I had narrowed down my topics,
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  SPEAKER_00: I spent the next two and a half years doing what I love best,
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  SPEAKER_00: going out in the field,
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  SPEAKER_00: either by myself,
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  SPEAKER_00: with margarine friends,
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  SPEAKER_00: and or with researchers.
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  SPEAKER_00: I hiked, backpacked, and car camped.
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  SPEAKER_00: I carried baby fish and released them in a high country lake,
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  SPEAKER_00: picked and ate many,
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  SPEAKER_00: many huckleberries.
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  tagged along with Wolverine researchers as they retrieved and
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  set out remote
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  SPEAKER_00: cameras,
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  SPEAKER_00: hiked to many fire lookouts abandoned,
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  SPEAKER_00: in good shape,
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  SPEAKER_00: and long gone,
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  SPEAKER_00: found the stomach and viscera of either a mountain goat or deer,
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  SPEAKER_00: hiked into the crater of Mount St.
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  Helens,
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  and got to see National Park Service rangers deliver clean
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  backcountry toilets.
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  For the most part,
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  I focused my field time on whatever chapter I was writing.
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  SPEAKER_00: My style is akin to my college career.
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  SPEAKER_00: I went to school where we took one class at a time.
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  Each block lasted three and a half weeks with a short break
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  between classes.
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  SPEAKER_00: I still write on the block plan,
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  doing all of my research and writing and finishing the chapter
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  before proceeding to
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  SPEAKER_00: the next chapter.
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  I even sort of eat this way,
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  eating all of one item on my plate before moving to something
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  else.
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  SPEAKER_00: I sent the manuscript to Emily in January 2025.
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  SPEAKER_00: Her response one month later was wonderful.
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  SPEAKER_00: What a treat to spend this rainy weekend learning about the Cascades.
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  SPEAKER_00: Even though I've spent so much time in these mountains,
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  SPEAKER_00: your manuscript makes me realize I hardly know them at all.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now the fun began.
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  SPEAKER_00: First step was a development editor,
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  SPEAKER_00: basically someone who would take the big picture view,
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  SPEAKER_00: offering a fresh set of eyes on structure,
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  SPEAKER_00: themes,
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  SPEAKER_00: and voice.
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  SPEAKER_00: The return manuscripts markups ranged from simple fixes,
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  SPEAKER_00: such as inserting a missing word,
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  SPEAKER_00: to kind comments,
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  SPEAKER_00: laugh out loud,
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  SPEAKER_00: love this coinage,
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  to questions and suggestions about adding more information
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  about myself and people
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  SPEAKER_00: I ventured out in the field with.
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  SPEAKER_00: Next up was copy editing,
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  SPEAKER_00: punctuation,
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  SPEAKER_00: spelling,
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  SPEAKER_00: consistency,
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  SPEAKER_00: formatting,
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  SPEAKER_00: sentence tightening,
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  SPEAKER_00: questions about specific word use,
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  SPEAKER_00: fixes of redundancy,
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  SPEAKER_00: that sort again.
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  SPEAKER_00: Once again, I was pleased with the changes for the most part.
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  SPEAKER_00: In the tally of revisions,
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  SPEAKER_00: which totals in the thousands,
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  SPEAKER_00: these rounds of editing are not for the faint of heart.
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  It's always a shock when I open the document and see the
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  highlights and red lines and comments.
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  SPEAKER_00: Plus,
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  there's always some comment or correction and copy that annoys
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  me and makes me say,
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  SPEAKER_00: what the hell?
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  SPEAKER_00: You have to be insane.
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  I have learned to pull back at this point and give the document
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  and my nerves a rest.
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  SPEAKER_00: When I return and read through more carefully,
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  SPEAKER_00: I usually see the clarity and concern in what the editor has done.
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  SPEAKER_00: After all,
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  SPEAKER_00: the goal of the developmental and copy editors is to improve my writing,
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  SPEAKER_00: to help me be clear and to find mistakes and consistency.
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  SPEAKER_00: They are not ogres plotting my downfall.
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  Despite all of the changes and the fact that they indicate that
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  what I thought was
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  SPEAKER_00: well done was in need of some good editing,
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  SPEAKER_00: I like this process.
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  SPEAKER_00: I know that these rounds of editing are the polishing phases,
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  SPEAKER_00: removing the rough edges and honing the book into shape.
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  I always like to think that the edits help to take the book up
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  to another level.
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  And I definitely know that they eliminate my errors in
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  punctuation and spelling,
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  SPEAKER_00: though occasionally facts slip by,
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  such as the time I had three different dates for the Denny
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  Party's arrival in
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  SPEAKER_00: Seattle.
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  SPEAKER_00: I finally caught that error in the final round of proofreading.
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  I can only hope that I,
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  or we,
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  haven't missed any similar egregious errors.
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  SPEAKER_00: But I also know there are mistakes in the book.
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  SPEAKER_00: There always are.
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  Even though I have turned in the page proofs,
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  my work on In the Range of Fire and Ice continues.
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  SPEAKER_00: Captions,
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  SPEAKER_00: final details on images,
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  SPEAKER_00: blurbs,
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  SPEAKER_00: ploof readings,
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  SPEAKER_00: and then another completely different process begins.
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  SPEAKER_00: Marketing, which lasts long after the book is published.
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  SPEAKER_00: As I've said above,
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  SPEAKER_00: Writing a book isn't for the faint of heart.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is also a privilege.
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  I love doing what I do and feel incredibly fortunate that I get
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  to spend my time
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  SPEAKER_00: research and writing about the natural world.
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  SPEAKER_00: Once again,
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  SPEAKER_00: this is David B.
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  SPEAKER_00: Williams,
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  SPEAKER_00: author and voice of The Street Smart Naturalist,
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  SPEAKER_00: Explorations of the Urban Kind,
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  a weekly newsletter and podcast focusing on the human and
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  natural world around
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  SPEAKER_00: Seattle,
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  SPEAKER_00: Puget Sound,
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  SPEAKER_00: and the Pacific Northwest.
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  SPEAKER_00: If you'd like more details about my books,
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  SPEAKER_00: walks,
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  SPEAKER_00: and talks,
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  SPEAKER_00: and a link to sign up for my newsletter and podcast,
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  SPEAKER_00: check out my website,
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  SPEAKER_00: geologywriter.com.
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  And don't forget to slow down,
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  pay attention,
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  and enjoy the world around you.