Out with the old year and in with the new!

I have been giving this post a lot of thought. 2011 has been an exceptional year in the sense that madness appeared everywhere. Uprisings around the world and dictators dethroned. The miseries of dealing with an earthquake/tsunami; along with extreme weather everywhere. (One of my favourite towns, Goderich, on the Bruce Peninsula in southern Ontario, was decimated by a tornado last August.) Monetary woes have affected many parts of the world and if the pundits are right it is not going away anytime soon. I could go on and on about the hardships, but in my own world things were balanced by the birth of five babies to friends and family. There is nothing better than a new baby to keep everyone smiling. We attended three weddings and it was great to see that love and commitment is still alive. There was also the death of a few friends in our immediate family who will be sorely missed.

The past year was also a year of celebration. Milestone birthdays and my retirement. I am finished, I think, of my period of adjustment to this very different way of life. It is what I dreamed off. Finally having the time to concentrate on writing and doing the things I want to do. Yesterday I visited Liz at my old office for lunch and we were joined by two friends. I was going to visit my old office but I felt it was time to step away and get on with the rest of my life. Liz and I made a few dates for our get together in a few weeks.

The Bloody Words conference in June is big on our agenda. http://www.bloodywords2012.com/ also joining Crime Writers of Canada. http://www.crimewriterscanada.com/ The push to have our book Body Perfect is officially in high gear, so watch this space for news.

Santa was good to me this year as usual but receiving gift cards to Chapters is among my favourites. It took me three days to read Louise Penny’s A Trick of the Light. Brilliant! If you have not read this author I advise you to get a copy of her seventh novel. http://louisepenny.blogspot.com/ I also read The HELP. By Kathryn Stockett. Another book that was hard to put down. Look forward to seeing the movie.

On my bedside table is the third in the series of Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. As I am a knitter I picked up the first book as general interest and found the characterization was terrific. Not usually the genre I read but good writing is good writing http://www.katejacobs.com/bio.html

I also have Getting Rid of Rosie by Lynda Simmons. Lynda is my college instructor in novel writing and she has another book out I will get to shortly called Island Girl. http://www.lyndasimmons.com/

Liz and I hope to get together with another Oakville writer, the indomitable Melodie Campbell in the near future to pick her brains. Her latest book is Rowena through the Wall. http://www.melodiecampbell.com/Home_Page_2YMR.html

Thanks to everyone who has supported us in our writing efforts this past year. Jamie Tremain wishes you all the best of everything in 2012.

Happy Hogmanay. Google it if you don’t know what it means!
Talk soon,
Slainte,
Pam