The final chapter of THE GREAT CONNECTICUT CAPER, a serialized MG mystery, went live last week! Have you all been reading along? I read it aloud at the breakfast table as soon as I saw it was posted, and I thought it did a perfect job of pulling all the clues together and wrapping up the Caper. Later that day the whole family packed up and took a trip to Gillette Castle (which went missing and was a focal point of the Caper) to celebrate at the Mystery Solved event.
I decided not to participate in any kind of official capacity, so it was great fun just getting to be there and watching The Boy take part in a bunch of the activities. And there was a lot to do there, from painting and coloring to making (and eating) marshmallow castles. Plus there were some really fun read alouds…and ya know, the castle and the gorgeous scenery at Gillette Castle State Park. Plus I got to catch up with many of the Caper contributors and meet a few in person for the first time.
The Caper turned out to be a really fun project to be a part of. It was a nonpaying writing job, but it paid out in a lot of other ways, both financially with some workshop opportunities and in non-monetary ways with networking and some unique, fun opportunities with Caper events. It was cool to work with so many other creators on one story, definitely something I had never done before and would consider doing again.
I have really been cutting back on projects that aren’t my main focus (like my own WIP), particularly ones I do for free, but I’m really happy I took a chance on the Caper (and that they offered me a spot as an author!). I think you have to say no sometimes, but it’s good to try new things and stretch your creative boundaries. It was also great fodder for the blog (you can check out all the Caper related posts here).
Have any of you said yes to something that was an unknown and reaped the benefits? Or maybe you said yes and wished you hadn’t (I’ve had that happen as well)?
