Drafty In Here!

After three months its finished – well the fifth draft, at least,  is done of Body Perfect.  As mentioned before Pam and I have put ourselves under the gun to submit Body Perfect for a contest before the end of April.   I vowed to have the version complete by the end of this weekend and earlier this morning dispatched it to Pam for her to review.  We plan to get together in mid April  for any final tweaking..and then send it off!  When that’s done, I’m putting Body Perfect on a shelf for at least six months!   Well, unless a publisher wants it re-worked of course.

We have learned so much with this story and both of us feel we’ve honed our skills immensely – not that we’re perfect, but progressing.  And are anxious to jump into our third story – with lessons learned.  

And then in a few short weeks it will be time to attend BloodyWords!  Exciting and glad its closer to home this year.

The past few weeks have been tiring to say the least.  Work eight hours and then come home and log on to keep going with Body.  Perhaps now life will settle somewhat and I won’t feel as guilty if I want to waste an evening on Facebook!  Today has basically been a pajama day in order to get the draft complete.  I rewarded myself with a viewing of new-to-video “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”...great movie, but long!  Very true to the book, but even at 2 and ½ hours couldn’t include everything.   I think I’d like to watch it again, just not today.

Speaking of Facebook, does anyone like the new Timeline concept?  When I logged on to our JamieTremain page, I had to update it and find a new cover photo – hope Pam approves!  But I find the Timeline hard to follow at times – oh well that’s progress I suppose.  While Pam reviews Draft Five, I plan to go over it and ensure we have our timelines in order – at least that’s one that makes sense to me.

Weekend’s half over –  do enjoy what’s left.

Cheers!

Liz

My own "Bony Pete"

Spring in the book world is very exciting with the slew of new books and author events everywhere. The CBC bookie awards will be announced April 5th but in the meantime you can vote everyday for your favourite author. http://www.cbc.ca/books/2012/03/the-second-annual-cbc-bookie-awards.html I am torn with a few of them so it will be interesting to see what the outcome is.

I finished Peggy Blair's debut novel Beggar's Opera in two days. I predict Inspector Ramirez of the Cuban National Revolutionary Police will be a cult favourite. Loved the pacing and all the twists and turns. No pressure Peggy but this fan is waiting to read more about Ricardo Ramirez. Excellent read. check her website. http://peggyblair.com/

I am working on a short story and I have a deadline of April 15th. And it's not coming together as it should. Only 5000 words.....That's whats wrong. I need more words, more time, more inspiration and the weather is not helping. Its beckoning me outside. Tomorrow I'll take the laptop and sit at an outdoor cafe and then I'll have no excuse.

I should say we, as in Liz and I. Perhaps she will be full of inspiration on Saturday when we get together for the day to finish Body Perfect. The short story is for the Bony Pete short story contest http://www.bloodywords2010.com/BW10-story.html.

The name BONY PETE is causing me to giggle as my husband is called Pete and to put it delicately.. he has no fat on his body. My greatest ambition is to weigh less than he does! The Bony Pete in the contest is the coveted statue of a skeleton. There really is no resemblance!.

If I am not writing this week I will be immersed in R.J.Harlick's "A Green Place for Dying". I'll review later.

Blogging is an easy excuse for not writing so......

Chat later,

Slainte,

Pam

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Unbelievable – March 17^th in Ontario and we’re enjoying early summer weather!  St Patrick's Day celebrants might be downing their green ale outside today – shorts seem to be in order.   Grass is turning green, bulbs are up and trees are budding – but I’m not taking my snow tires off just yet.  Love having windows open and a gentle spring breeze flowing through the house.

Writing update – Pam and I have submitted our 30 page evaluation of Body Perfect to Bloody Words.  The next item on our to do list – finish editing the final draft of Body Perfect before the April 30 deadline for a contest submission to Poisoned Pen Press.   We both agree that we are dangerously close to not wanting to read any more of this story so we must really push to get it done.  Most of the pushing needs to be done from my keyboard as I continue with the tidying up of the manuscript.   Its a challenge for me during the week; recent demands at work have left me feeling pretty exhausted at day’s end.  But with no winning lottery ticket in sight, there’s nothing for it but to suck it up and soldier on.

Enjoyed a lovely lunch with my daughter Christine earlier today – nice to have an afternoon with her.  She is in the process of moving to a new apartment and I got a tour of the location she is about to call home.  She will be farther away from me, but closer to her work, which is a blessing for her.

Tomorrow afternoon will be a family celebration of March birthdays. Grandsons Michael and Noah marked their 9^th and 5^th birthdays respectively earlier this month and my daughter in law’s birthday was on the 12^th.  And as Pam mentioned tomorrow is mine.

     *****Phone rang while I was writing – tomorrow’s festivities are now being postponed until next Sunday – poor Noah is down with strep throat and big brother Michael is showing signs of it developing.  Poor guys..that’s a miserable infection – I hope the antibiotics will do their job in record time.

So I guess now I will take advantage of unexpected free time tomorrow for revising.  Pam and I are scheduled to have a day together on Saturday the 24^th so it would go great to have as much done as possible..even dare I hope it could be completed?  Keep your fingers crossed.

Happy St Patrick’s Day - May your day be touched by a bit of Irish luck, brightened by a song in your heart, and warmed by the smiles of the people you love.

Cheers!

Liz

To Hell with the Windows!

Amazed as we all are the early spring; 16-19 degrees and brilliant sunshine, the pessimist in me balks at the mess the garden is in and how dirty the windows are showing up. Do I get out the chamois and clean or wait until we have another down pour? Do I rake last fall’s leaves that are stuck around the roots of the bushes or just hope that a good strong wind will come and blow them away?

I think I answered my own questions. I lean toward the wait and see even though my daffs and grape hyacinth are peeking through and the forsythia is budding. In Canada we traditionally still get a frost in May. Planting of summer annuals are on hold until after the Victoria Day week-end. Yes, we celebrate Queen Victoria’s birthday here in Canada.

Glad I got that decision out of the way! This week is the March break and the kids are out of school. One grandson is in the Dominican Republic with a group from his school staying at a mission and helping build houses. Great experience for him and we are so proud of him. Westyn is thirteen. Riley the oldest is sixteen and his cousin Aidan is nine. My husband and I took them to the Royal Ontario Museum for the day and the old folks are still recovering. I have shin splints from all the walking and I have witnessed grandad hobbling a bit although he would never admit to it. The ROM building is a wonderful blend of old and new architecture. I have not been there for thirty years and with all the interactive exhibits, this is not the stuffy museum of old.

Another grandson Damian who is six is at day camp and three year old Ryan has stayed in daycare while Mum and Dad do some furniture moves and decorating. Everyone is healthy and happy. How lucky we are.

Liz and I met yesterday to update some paperwork. Then we arranged to meet for the day next Saturday to finish the manuscript to enter a contest. We also threw around some ideas for the next book. This is the exciting part when we start to put it all together.

Birthday greeting are in order to my writing partner this w/e along with two of her grandkids. I think we should have a Jamie Tremain convention or at least a picnic as there are so many of us.

I’m off to the pharmacy for allergy meds now that the trees are budding. Do some mailing at the post office and then the book store. A chair in the sun has my name on it so I will enjoy this freaky weather while it lasts. To hell with the windows!

Happy Birthday Liz.

Slainte,

Pam

March Madness

I am staring at the blank page. I should get back to the editing but needed a break. When you start a blog I feel one must keep writing, but.....I’m clean out of topics.

I missed the Oscars, they’ve been and gone, Downton Abbey is covered by others on FB, I don’t watch Survivor and the phenomenon that is Stieg Larson's books; they're still on the best seller lists. I do recommend them and I’ve read that they’ll be issued as graphic novels later this year. Denis Mina is one of the authors of this collection. http://www.denisemina.co.uk/

Let’s see, do you need an other take on the weather? The fact that it was seventeen degrees two days ago and this morning I woke up to snow!!! But the sun’s shining.

On my reading list this week are two books from authors who are members of Crime Writer’s of Canada. www.crimewriterscanada.com/

R.J.Harlick “A Green Place for Dying,” RendezVous Crime rjharlick.ca/excerpt_greenplace.htm This is the fifth book for Robin in her Meg Harris series.

Peggy Blair 's “The Beggar’s Opera” Penguin Publishing, is a mystery/ thriller set in Cuba and a debut novel for the former lawyer, now real estate agent. peggyblair.com/


I’ve read great reviews of these books so I look forward to reading them as soon as Liz and I have our manuscript of Body Perfect in top shape. We’re halfway through the process so we’ll keep plugging away.

Weather newsflash: Blustery and snowy about 30mins ago but now brilliant sunshine. Temp 2 degrees. Go figure!

The March break starts today. Airports and highways will be jammed with vacationers. I offered to take two of my grandsons to the R.O.M. That’s the Royal Ontario Museum in downtown Toronto. I must be mad. The line ups, the noise and you need a mortgage for the price of admission. Oh, yes I’m a senior now! I can save $2.50. The exhibition is the MAYA: Secrets of an Ancient world. Maybe I will get ideas for writing there.

Ok, back to the editing. It’s quite exciting when you see on paper, after many attempts to have your words the way you meant to say them. It is quite a process as by now our words have mingled and we are not sure who said what.

Liz also has two of her grandchildren this weekend l so if we recover we'll talk soon.

Slainte,
Pam