Allyson Johnson

Pieces of my Mind

Archive for the category “Memoir”

01 Sep 2026
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The Publishing Journey – Step 12: The Agony of the ARC

My Advance Reader Copies (ARCs)have been ordered. I have one more chance to review the galley proof that was sent to the printer for ARCs before the book is sent for its final incarnation as a trade paperback. The instructions from my project manager are strict and stern:


Please be aware that this list of your corrections is your final round of egregious corrections. Now that you have your ARCs (or very soon will have them), this is a great time to make sure all elements are present, like permissions, author photo credit, additions to your acknowledgments, or to have any friends with a sharp eye review your book to catch typos only—we are past the point of discretionary edits or rewrites.

OK, I’ve read this text over a hundred times, and so have friends. How could there be any but the most trifling typos? (but what do they mean by “egregious corrections”? Does that mean I can only correct the bone-chillingly obvious mistakes?

Oops! One of my early readers notes a “continuity error” on page 207. Fortunately it’s easy to fix – just delete a couple of words.

Now for my final read-through

Rats! It seems like just a simple error – a plural subject instead of a single one. But on closer reading – did I confuse two different scenes? In one it’s just the heroine who makes this trip, in another she is with her family. Should some of what appears later be in this earlier scene?

In any case, it’s clear that I’m inconsistent with how the trip is made – does she go by streetcar, or by elevated train? Are there horse-cars at the end? I can fix the inconsistency, but there’s nothing to be done about where the details go – that would be a forbidden discretionary error.

Oh double rats! Here’s a redundancy that I didn’t see before. Can’t just delete one – and no rewrites allowed. Maybe a little bitty deletion – just one sentence- makes it less obvious.

(You note, dear reader, that I am being very cagey about these slipups – no pictures of red ink! I’m hoping that when you get The Three Lives of Mary Sutton in your hands these problems will be as invisible to you as they have been to me – up until now.)

Nicknames! So troublesome! Sometimes Mary Sutton’s younger brother is Jack, sometimes he is Jackie. Mary is sometimes addressed as [Spoiler Alert!]”Mrs. Nicky”, other times “Mrs. Nick.” Does it matter? Mostly I call my younger son “Daniel” but often he is “Dan”. If I am not consistent in my own life, do my characters have to be?

Happy me! My project manager has allowed all my corrections to go through. Only one small change to the dedications page and I’ll settle for near-perfection

And my ARCs are on order. They are shipping from Georgia. I have a contact at the New York Historical Society who would like to see one – she might be able to add Three Lives to a recommended reading list of New York – based historical novels. I am planning an ad campaign featuring prominent local citizens – at least one of those who has agreed to help me wants a hard copy. There are two local bookstores which I hope will order some copies when pub date arrives – they will each get an ARC. And I will need to talk to at least two local libraries. I guess I won’t have any trouble disposing of ten ARCs

The box has arrived! And the ARCs look very professional – Nothing to apologize for as an introductory example Hooray! But now the real work begins.

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25 Aug 2026

Day 5 on the Caminho: Rubaies to Valenca

Last segment in Portugal and just as lovely as the rest. Walking through rural villages, peering over walls to inspect blooming gardens, and the city of Valenca approaching.

After M had  been saying “Only 30 minutes to go ” for an hour and a half, we decided to take a taxi to our hotel from the Cafe where we were stopped for an ice cream break. It was all the way across the  city threading through the medieval gates in the  city wall and would  certainly have taken us at least an hour. 

 We stayed at one of the two hotels called Alojamento da Vila, this one with Golden added (Alogamento da Vila Golden).  It was the only time our luggage went astray (we used Top Santiago (www.topsantiago.com) because we didn’t include the last word on the label; but as they are two medieval blocks away from each other, not a big problem!  

This is a very nice hotel, excellent lounge area with free wine and snacks available as well as a good breakfast.  I would stay here again even if not on a walking holiday.  The city of Valenca is charming, worth a visit on its own. There is a cute dress shop just around the corner, several interesting craft stores, and a big public plaza with outdoor eateries.

Since our luggage is not here yet, I can’t take a shower (no clean clothes) or go for a walk (I have a small blister that needs treatment and I don’t want to put my boots back on). D has gone to see the city in her hiking gear while M and B go to retrieve our luggage.  

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21 Aug 2026

Day 4 on the Caminho (Cont.) Ponte de Lima to Rubaies

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Yes, we have been walking through vineyards and under shady grape trellises the past 2 days.

Beautiful views out over the vineyards of Galicia

This cross reassures us that we are on the Way. The path zig-zags down to the picturesque little church halfway down the hillside. At this point my toes are quite tired of being shoved into the front end of my hiking boots, so I delay to take a picture every chance I get. My super 5-toed sox did not get dry from last night’s washing and I had to wear my silk sock liners with wool sox dating back to my trek in Nepal fifteen years ago- so dated! D is heading down the path ahead.

Tomorrow I am going to lighten my pack by two punds by leaving my dop kit in my suitcase – M infected me with paranoia that the suitcases might get lost, but on today’s hike I begrudged every ounce. This was the steepest elevation over a boulder-strewn path – I was glad for my sticks but at some points I had to hand them to B and hug a tree to get around to the next portion. (The maintainers of the Way certainly do their best to maintain the authenticity of the experience!) At another point I tried to force myself up an unusually high step and with the pack on my back I almost overbalanced and fell backward.  I was VERY careful after that, leaving me trailing behind the other three with younger bones or less fear of falling.

Below – our first view of Valenca in the distance – we have a lot of valley to traverse before we get there~

We had made sandwiches from the breakfast offerings, plus fruit, so even though we were only “30 minutes ” from where Michele wanted to stop for lunch we took advantage of a bench and some rocks and picnicked. 

Further on we were delighted to find a little bit of California in Portugal – a drift of sunny California poppies!

Finally – arrival in Rubaies! Nice view out the window, two double beds with matelasse/embroidered coverlets, a shower with a tub so I can soak my weary feet (the blue nail is no worse)

We are to go down to meet B and M and share a glass of wine while we exchange photos – but since they have iPhones and D and I are of the Android persuasion I don’t expect much success.

We are to be picked up and transported to the best restaurant in town (probably the only restaurant in town) at 6:30 so I’ll have more to tell you when we return about 930 our time, 12:30 your time.

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18 Aug 2026

Day 4 on the Camino – Ponte de Lima to Rubaies



I slept wonderfully last night in Ponte de Lima – one melatonin + one ibuprofen for the aching quads and dorsal muscles did the trick. 

Leaving Ponte de Lima was hard. We took our time in the morning, and I had a chance to wander a bit along the river and discover some additional history. It seems that a Roman Army was in pursuit of some fractious Iberians who fled across the river. “After them!” thundered the General, but the soldiers refused. They believed that the obstacle was the river Lethe, and that if the waters touched them, they would lose all their memories.

The General swam his horse to the other side and from there called to each soldier by name, proving his memory was intact. The episode is commemorated by some steel monuments somewhat reminiscent of the card-soldiers in “Alice Through the Looking Glass.” The platoon is on one side of the river, the General harangues them from the other side.

It seemed Ponte de Lima was sorry to see us go also. There were lots of signs to attract the attention of pilgrims as we crossed the Ponte de Lima for the last time.

Coming next: Day 4 on the Camino (continued)

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11 Aug 2026

Day 3 on the Caminho Portuguese: Vittoria de Paies to Ponte de Lima

tarted off the day ust packing up for the next leg . I must confess, by he end of the first day of hiking I was grateful for a cozy bed, a dark room, and ibuprofen . Our lodging for the night did not include breakfast so we moseyed on down the road to a local pub, where some of the other customers drove up on tractors.

This was a much shorter day, eased also by the wonderful five-toed hiking sox that had been given to me by DM, and were highly recommended by some pilgrims on Day 2 who sympathized with our developing blisters. The 5-toed sox keep the toes from rubbing against each other, and the toenails you forgot to clip from slicing the neighboring toe, so all you have to deal with is the friction between your foot and your boots. We were heartened also by the many encouraging signs and markers we encountered on the way, including this stalwart pilgrim.

Ponte Lima was one of several towns along the way where we agreed we should have allowed more time. Our first view of the medieval bridge, still used for pedestrians to walk across the bridge, was only a hint of the interesting streets, shops, and historical markers waiting for us to explore.

In addition to the attractions of the town, M and B have two friends who have established residence in Ponte de Lima, and of course we shared dinner with them. M had hoped they would invite us to their home, a stone cottage which they had been renovating for awhile, but apparently the home is located an impractical distance from the town center and construction was ongoing so instead we met in a local bar on the other side of the medieval bridge from our hotel. On the way home, we were entranced by the lights outlining many of the features of the town, its church, and its bridge.

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04 Aug 2026

Day 2 on the Caminho – Barcelos to Vittorino de Paies

We woke up for our first day of walking to meet a drizzly morning. We were undaunted – each of us was equipped one way or another with rain gear – DM had a voluminous poncho which was parr of the swag from one of her cruises, I had my lightweight hooded gown courtesy of a Maid of the Mist tour at Niagara Falls, M and B had more elegant fitted jackets and backpack covers. D even unfurled her umbrella, but the rest of us decided to keep our hands free.

One of the few miscalculations M made in her planning was to have us start off with one of the longest hikes, Barcelos to Vitorino dos Paies. We started off through the center of Barcelos, which we had explored the evening before, spent some time in the suburbs, and finally reached open country. (M agreed later that we could easily have hopped a taxi and skipped the suburbs, though if you want to learn a country the suburbs count too.)

Along the way there were plenty of accomodations for pilgrims. We learned to be alert for the scallop shells in the pavement or bright blue and gold signs, whether to announce a meal opportunity or sanitary facilities.

After seven miles, (broken by lunch and snack breaks) we limped into Postela ready to sit and soak our feet. Despite two layers of socks I still had a blister forming on my left big toe and the toenails on both my little toes were turning blue.

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28 Jul 2026

Day One on the Caminho Portuguese- Porto to Barcelos

At Porto, the Caminho starts in front of the cathedral, looking out over the city. Here is where you pick up your empty Camino passport – filled with stamps from businesses along the way it might earn you a certification as a true peregrina. The symbol on the pylon is the official stylized scallop shell logo of the Pilgrimage. The arrow, of course, points the route, and within the small oval is the number of kilometers you have between you and your goal in Santiago. From one of many vendors about the place, you can purchase an actual scallop shell to hang on your backpack to let everyone know you are on the Way.

Following the advice of a Caminho Whisperer whom Michele consulted, we are taking the train through the industrial outskirts of Porto, and beginning our walk in Barcelos, a charming town about fifty kilometers along the way.

We are staying just across the river from the medieval walls and chapel of Barcelos, at the Top ‘Otel. This is a modern, sleek, brightly colored inn, whose only defect is a lack of elevators to carry us to our rooms on the top floor.

Barcelos is famous for its roosters, based on a legendary appearance of Saint James in support of a pilgrim falsely accused of theft and sentenced to hang. A medieval cross within the castle grounds illustrates the miracle.

The condemned man cries out to his judge who is eating a dinner of roasted chicken “As sure as I am innocent, that cock will rise and crow if I am hanged!” To everyone’s shock, the roasted cockerel did rise and crow, the judge rushed to the gallows and found that the pilgrim, though hanging, was not strangled: Saint James had appeared and supported his feet.

The man was cut down, the judge apologized, and the rooster became the symbol not only of Barcelos, but also of Portugal.

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14 Jul 2026
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The Publishing Journey: Step 11- First Pages

From my project manager:

Hi Allyson!

I’m attaching your designed pages here. They look fantastic! This is the time to do a thorough read-through of your first pages to make sure there are no formatting issues (i.e. the chapter numbers are out of order, there are line breaks where they shouldn’t be, etc.) You may also address any typos that have been missed in previous edits. Besides formatting issues, we are only accepting typo corrections as this point. You will be charged extra if your edits exceed six pages.

Ok, here we go.

Two title pages, is that right?

Oh dear, the second title page uses the same fonts as on the cover, but here the italic script part looks awfully fancy – curlicue girly-cue. Would look right if this were a Regency romance, but not for my rather gritty New York tale.

And now for the author’s disclaimer: “This is a fictional work, and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.” Wait, this is a historical novel! It has real historical figures in it – Augustine Palmer, James O’Neill – and they are drawn as true to life as my research could make them – this can’t be right!

Dedication to my grand-daughters – ugly spacing.

Shucks, they used the same girly-cue font for the “Chapter One” heading. It’s so fancy it’s almost illegible.

I like the way they used a little pause symbol whenever I indicated a change in time that wasn’t big enough for a new chapter – very elegant!

Aha! A line break where it shouldn’t be – just as I was warned!

Another formatting error – they missed a chapter change – here is Chapter Eight treated like a new paragraph!

How serious can they be about not making any changes in wording? Here’s a word used twice in the same paragraph – I’m sneaking in a synonym. As long as it doesn’t change the spacing or pagination it should be ok.

Oops! In an early chapter Eleanor says her son is “nearly ten” and in this later chapter he is “ten.” No birthday has been mentioned – change to “nine”.

My friend who has studied the history of the theater in New York has pointed out an error: Change “Rockefellers” to “Roosevelts”.

Some commas where they shouldn’t be; some commas missing where they should be.

Some additional word changes.

Under four pages of changes all told! But I can’t send these out as galley proofs with those two formatting errors. Hope the second round arrives quickly!

Next: the Blurb hunt continues

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26 May 2026

The Publishing Journey: Step 10 – Chapter Breaks

My final draft of The Three Lives of Mary Sutton has been proofread. (Yes, “Mellie” and “Melly” are the same person, as are “Micky” and “Mickey”. Standardize on “Mellie” and “Mickey.” No, the family did not move from 16th Street to 6th Street; that’s a typo. Yes, I know this speech by Mame is not grammatically correct, but that’s how she would have talked in 1877.)

Now comes the layout stage. How is the book going to look? I confess, I haven’t thought beyond the cover, but my project manager is full of questions.

PM: Do you have thoughts on how to divide the book?

AJ: It should be divided into three sections corresponding to the three lives.

PM: Where should the part markers appear? Before which chapters?

AJ: I had thought that there should be four page-breaks – the first introduction to Mary Sutton and then for each of the three lives there would be the start of a new page. If the designer thinks we need a separate page with just the  name and year to mark each section, that’s ok, though the first section is very short.

PM: I didn’t realize that you only include those section headers—there’s no chapter breaks at all. We can definitely keep it this way if you’d like; however, I wanted to note that the reading experience will be better for a reader if we have chapters. Let me know what you think.

[to myself: Chapters! It’s a story, it goes along. I indicated breaks in the story line by the standard Chicago Book of Style – no indentation for a paragraph that starts a new section. What more do I need? But if “the experience will be better for a reader” I’ll have to go for it.]

AJ: How would you suggest I break up the sections into chapters?  I did indicate breaks by extra spaces and lack of indentation – would each of these breaks be a new chapter?  Do chapters require numeration? Heading?  Would appreciate your guidance here.

PM: For the chapter numbers we’d just do “Chapter 1,” “Chapter 2,” etc. That said, I think that you have scene breaks too often for every single one to be a chapter break (it’d be like 90 chapters).

AJ: Please send me the cleaned up manuscript and I will submit chapter breaks.

PM: Here is the clean manuscript. Please do not make any changes to this document besides the chapter markers—and please do them in Track Changes as well.

AJ: Do I need to come up with chapter titles as well as numbers?

PM: No, just numbers is good, and I recommend that with historical fiction anyway.

[to myself: Whew! I had enough trouble coming up with a title for the book, and the PM didn’t care for it. No chapter titles!]

AJ: About how long should chapters be? In my first try at segmenting they are running from 3-8 pages.

PM: It’s up to you—I would say that chapter length can vary between 5–15 pages, but there are outliers, of course. I’d recommend pulling a few books off your shelf to see what others have done, but ultimately, it’s up to you.

[Some days pass. Trying to cut my book into smaller digestible pieces is like cutting your little girl’s hair for the first time. A snip here, a snip there…]

AJ: I wrestled it down to 29 chapters with an average length of nine pages and none less than five.  Hope this works.

PM: I’ll be in touch in the next couple weeks with your designed pages for your review. Safe travels!

[to myself: Done for now! I’m off!]

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Dear Reader: I’ll be out of the country for a bit, so there will be a hiatus in my posts. Hang on for the next step in the Publishing Journey!

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19 May 2026

What I’ve Been Reading: The Friend

A close friend dies through suicide, and the custody of his harlequin great Dane is forced upon the narrator. Like her late friend and mentor, she is a writer. Sylvia Nunez’s brief volume touches on many topics – what do animals experience? What does one owe to a dead friend? How does one deal with death? With grief? What is the role of a writer in presenting a world? Is writing worth the trouble?

Recently lost a close friend who was in the last stages of metastasized pancreatic cancer chose to take his own life (through Oregon’s “Death with Dignity” process). He planned his death well in advance and let his friends and family know. Now whenever I see an obit saying “he died peacefully at home surrounded by the love of family and friends” I’ll wonder if it was an assisted suicide.

I miss my friend, though we didn’t see each other often. He was a polymath, a gifted artist, a meticulous woodworker, a creative thinker and writer, a fascinating talker and persuader. It doesn’t seem at all sensible that the accumulated knowledge of a lifetime should just go poof!

I liked the role the dog played, as a silent companion in mourning. What does an animal know of death? We have the stories of Greyfriars Bobby who reportedly spent fourteen years guarding his master’s grave, and of Hachiko, who went daily to meet his master at the Shibuya train station for ten years after the master’s death. Is this behavior a testament to loyalty, an example of undying hope, or merely the force of habit? We can can only funble in the dark, imagining what happens in another creature’s brain.

I am a writer, so the views of other writers on the process are always interesting to me. I’ve come to believe that there are two types of writers. Type one is exemplified by Nunez’s narrator and her mentor/friend and maybe Ernest Hemingway and Virginia Woolf: writing is painful, torturous, words dragged out of you one by one, agonizing over every phrase. Each word must be true; the whole must beautiful. Writers block is a constant hazard; rejected drafts fill the wastebasket and litter the floor.  

Type two is exemplified by me, and maybe Neil Gaiman, Lee Child, and other writers of popular fiction. Writing is a pleasure, if there is a story I want to tell.  Gloria Steinem said “Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don’t feel like I should be doing something else.”  I agree with that. Though I often procrastinate, basically I want to tell the story. Yes, the tale should be shapely, it should have real characters, and if possible an arc of conflict and resolution. The story might not have a happy ending but the process of writing it doesn’t hurt.

In the last chapter of The Friend, Nunez shatters the wall of belief by imagining (or reporting?) an actual conversation with an actual friend who had an actual dog and was a failed suicide;  I think this shift breaks faith with the reader, who has gone along with the world Nunez has created, and then is told that it was all a trick. The device is a clever ploy quite suitable for a National Book Award winner though; those awards seem often to be given to authors who do tricks with time and space and the role of the narrator. I don’t care for those tricks; I find them confusing. I just want to tell the story.

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