Here you can follow the blow-by-blow account of my attempt to transform myself into a (regularly) published author.

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Published Works

updated November 2019

Outdoor writing

North Country Cache- essays covering Joan's first 2300 miles on the North Country Trail. Hikers and non-hikers will find it enjoyable. Click to read one chapter for free.
North Country Quest will be available soon-- the second half of the journey


Monthly column in the Ludington Daily News, "Get Off The Couch"
"Get Off the Couch with Joan" and are collections of 10 of these columns in one e-book with photos by the author.

Article in the Summer-Fall 2011 issue of Your National Forests, called "Sample and Savor the North Country."

Short-lived weekly column in the
Mason County Press, "Get Off The Couch- Explore Michigan"

Regular contributor to North Star, the magazine of the North Country Trail Association.
Articles appear in the following issues:

• excerpt from "A is for Asphalt" - October 2019
• cover photo - July 2018
• "Luna Moth" - July 2018
• "The Passing of Some Serious Trail Magic" - April 2018
• "Leave Poison Hemlock Alone" - April 2017
• "Poison Plant- What Does that Mean?" - January 2017
• "Pokeweed - Edible or Poisonous?" - April 2016
• "2600 Miles per Shirt" - April 2016
• "Just Go" - July 2015
• "White Pelicans" - April 2015
• "Eastward Ho!" - July 2014
• "Carolyn Hoffman- Inspiring Hikers since 1978" - April 2014
• cover photo - April 2014
• "Those Irrepressible Girls" - December 2011
• "Dayton: Did We Paint the Town Blue?" - October 2011
• "Why Stealth Camping is a Bad Idea" - October 2011
• "I Did it For the Patch"- December 2010
• "Southern Ohio- Technically There Are No Hills"- December 2009
• "Heart & Sole"- a feature showcasing volunteers ran sporadically from January 1998 to January 2007
• "Hiking the North Country Trail with Your Trusty Mouse"- October 2002
• "There's No Outsmarting the Damp"- October 2001
• "Baby Steps on the Giant Trail (2)"- July 2001
• "Baby Steps on the Giant Trail (1)"- April 2001
• "North Country Cache- The Early Steps"- January 2001
• "North Country Cache- Introduction"- October 2000
• "W2K"- January 2000
• "Breaking Ice Along the Road"- January 1999
• "A Thing About Trails"- April 1998
• "The Best of Winter Hiking... And the Rest"- January 1998

Writings about Faith

• Devotions for Hikers 2007 e-book, or print
Would You Dare? 1986
• articles in the anthology "Parents and Children"
• article in the anthology "The Christian Life"
• major contributor to the Life Application Bible notes

Mysteries
News from Dead Mule Swamp
The Hollow Tree at Dead Mule Swamp
Paddy Plays in Dead Mule Swamp
Bury the Hatchet in Dead Mule Swamp
Dead Mule Swamp Druggist
Dead Mule Swamp Mistletoe
• coming 2020 Dead Mule Swamp Singer
available at Smashwords, or Amazon, Kobo, B&N, and iBooks, and through Overdrive at subscribing libraries.

Children's Mysteries
The Secret Cellar
The Hitchhiker
The ABZ Affair
The Big Boss
• coming 2020 The Lonely Donkey
available at Smashwords, or Amazon, Kobo, B&N, and iBooks, and through Overdrive at subscribing libraries.

Short Stories

• coming December 2019 - an anthology of stories, essays and poems entitled Accidentally Yours.
• "Toby and Harry" is available at Twin Trinity Media, Smashwords, or Amazon
• "The Case of the Cautious Couple" appears in Short and Fun Stories, Volume 1 through Mercer Publications