A Quick P.S.

Happy Boxing Day!

For the very first time I actually went to a large department store on Boxing Day...however not an experience I'd be in a rush to repeat!

Hope your Christmas has been peaceful and healthy.

As promised I've uploaded a more recent photo of Pam and myself taken earlier this month.

My plan is to work on Madelaine tomorrow.. yes Pam, you heard right! As long as the day brings no unexpected interruptions, I plan to be here at my desk, revising. We'll see how that works.

Cheers!
Liz

Beyond Exhaustion!

That’s what moving house does to a body. Downsizing from a 2800 square foot house to a 2 bedroom apartment. Sorting and tossing, wrapping and giving away…and it never seems to end. I suppose getting older doesn’t help either! The last time I prepared for a move I wasn’t working full time and had the luxury of energy during the day to devote to the organizing and cleaning. Not to be this time!

Work is very stressful right now (do I sound like a broken record??) and so I find there is no peaceful interlude. Eight plus hours of slogging away mentally during the day, followed by an almost comatose drive home afterward. A quick bite to eat and then trying to get at least two hours worth of packing done before falling - totally wiped out - into bed…where the brain then kicks into gear and reminds you of a million and one things that still need to be done.

And amidst all this chaos runs the thought “you need to be writing…Maddy needs to get finished” Where is a good clone when you need one? I’m really looking forward to setting up my writing room and have organized it quite nicely…in my imagination! More room to spread out and be motivated to make the final push towards completion of Madelaine.

Speaking of writing reminds me that within a day or two I will need to disconnect myself from cyber-space – and will be anxious to ensure my computer survives the move and will re-connect smoothly at the new address. Much to my chagrin I learned my current internet level of service is not available in the same high speed format that I enjoy now and I’ve been downgraded to one level lower. Ask my co-author how happy I am about THAT little piece of news!

Well the pizza that was ordered for dinner this evening is almost gone, which signals I’d best turn my little-remaining energy to some more packing.

Before I forget I’d like to wish any American cousins visiting our site a very Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!!

I hope to be back soon once I’m settled in my new abode, in the meantime, I’m sure Pam will keep you all up to date if need be!

Cheers!
Liz

Ahh- ah - chooo!

Four weeks of coughing and NOW I get the head cold? Two doctor visits and a chest xray provide no information other than its probably a very stubborn virus and has to be waited out. I've never had a cough that's held on like this before. Seems to be on its way out and then returns with a vengeance....and just for more fun it seems a head cold is finally settling in. I see a trip to the drugstore for more cough and cold remedies and a ton of kleenex.

Pam has had a week of roller coaster emotions; she lost a sister in law very suddenly and is grieved that she is unable to make the trip to Scotland for the funeral - my prayers and sympathies are certainly with her and her family. Plus dealing with all the ongoing stresses at work.

But at least a highlight - she was able to chat with two favourite authors (Peter Robinson and Louise Penny) at a recent author's gathering down at Harbourfront in Toronto. And she was able to get Louise Penny to autograph my own copy of her latest book in the Gamache series, "The Murder Stone" - certainly now a prized possession of mine!


Pam had several photographs of her meeting with Louise, seen below.

Unfortunately the photos taken of her and Pam didn't turn out all that well, but I'm going to post this one as the best of the lot:

I wish I could have been there with Pam to meet Louise, but perhaps some day we will be able to meet at the launch of "Madelaine - Shadows and Light". Which of course is our priority to get finished ASAP!

Last night was Halloween, and like Pam, its not an event I care for. We did go over to our son's house to see the grandchildren's costumes: 5 year old Michael was a Transformer; brother Noah an adorable walking Pumpkin. 3 year old Makenna was a fetching Pirate Captain, with her curly blonde hair! and baby brother Max toddled about in a Turtle outfit.

Good news about today is that the clocks go back! Yeay - an extra hour of sleep...personally I just wish the powers that be would leave the time set at either Daylight Savings Time or standard time and be done with it!

Well enough rambling, time to get on with the day. Now where did I put that package of cough candies?

Cheers!
Liz

Madelaine - DRAFT #2 - Finished!

I managed to get through the rest of Chapter 18, all of 19 and the epilogue today!!! A hard day's work spread over a few hours. Unfortunately Pam is having computer woes and can't access her Word program to open up the revisions! So I guess she will have to take my word for it, that its done. Which of course means, Draft #3 is up next!

A very warm and humid day here today...my maple tree out front is quickly shedding multi coloured leaves! I fear the tree has seen better days and may have numbered days if the city sees its bare branches and sparse foliage.

And now I think I will treat myself to settling in my pj's and grabbing my latest book - "No Place Safe" by Richard North Patterson, and if I fall asleep after a couple of pages, then that's perfectly fine.

Halfway through the weekend - if only the work days would go this quickly - grrrrrr!!

Cheers!
Liz

FRIDAY!!!!!

"I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library! " Jane Austen

A love of words and of reading - what a blessing to be able to read. We have access to so many types of literature, authors, styles of writing. So many books, so little time! But here it is Friday and with it comes the implied promise of some "down" time, a chance to catch up on some reading, AND some writing! (Housework? What housework!)

This has been one very busy week at work - fighting fatigue most nights when arriving home, I know I've found it difficult to concentrate on the rewriting of Madelaine, but managed another Chapter last night.

Pam is fortunate to be starting a week's vacation time as of today, but she was pretty run off her feet today, trying to ensure last minute things are taken care of. I will be trying to cover a small portion of her duties next week, along with providing coverage for our manager who will also be away for a few days. Talk about fatigue - just thinking about what's in store next week already has me feeling drained. As relaxed as Pam might be able to get this coming week, I'm likely to be the exact opposite!

Still, right now its Friday and time enough to worry about all that come Monday! Tomorrow will be a family BBQ to celebrate my daughter Christine's birthday - hard to believe my 'baby' is 26!!!!

This is a long weekend for some fortunate enough to have taken Monday off, in addtion to our National Holiday on July 1 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA! For others, like myself, it means work on Monday, a day off on Tuesday, and then back for 3 days.

Well here's hoping some free time this weekend will provide the atmosphere for more rewriting of Madelaine..Pam is anxious to be writing again, and things are somewhat stalled right now until we can get Draft #2 completed...I'm hurrying as much as I can. I'm wanting to get on with Body Perfect as well, but of necessity its now on the back burner. We'll see what the weekend brings!

Enjoy it!

Cheers
Liz

BRAVO!!!!!!

Almost one year to the day, Pamela has brought the finishing touches to Madelaine!

She has just sent me the final 3 pages and I think she has done an awesome job of bringing closure to all of our characters and their situations.

We started this journey on June 10 2007 and I think this is a fantastic accomplishment.

The revising continues of course, but now we can also more fully concentrate on Body Perfect which is not quite near the finishing stages yet.

A great way to end the weekend and will make Monday almost enjoyable as we find a few moments during the work day to discuss this phase of Madelaine.

Hopefully Pam will add a few notes here to let us know how she felt about bringing “THE END” to our Madelaine.

Have a great week.
Cheers!

Liz

Yoo Hoo, THE END

Those are the most beautiful words. At least to Liz and I at the moment. Today I put the final chapter to rest of our dear Madelaine or whatever we will eventually call this our first book. Tuesday, June 10th will be the first anniversary of our journey in writing so I am glad we managed get those words on paper. THE END....although we both know it's nowhere near finished as the revisions are still a work in progress.

I have had a suggestion for the title from my sister Caroline. It will be considered with the rest when they are forthcoming!!No name , no glory.

This past week Liz and I had another brutal week at work and I have been feeling a little unwell. Taking it easy this w/e and feel much better.

While Liz is continuing to type the revision so that we can start all over again and look for hiccups I will continue with Body Perfect until it is time to do Madelaine again.
The weather is very hot and steamy and hope it cools by tomorrow.

Pam

A Small Break Needed!

It’s only page six! Page six of Chapter One of Madelaine. I finally had time this evening to start typing up our revision efforts of the weekend past. Almost as slow going as the process of revision – I have to keep fighting the temptation to just keep reading, and miss all our little changes and notes!

Pam has already moved on a couple of chapters with changes she feels need to be made, so once I’ve got the first couple of chapters updated, I’ll need to see what she has reviewed. If in agreement, then that will go back to the keyboard as well.

Pam left work early today – not feeling well at all – and hopefully she got some medication into her and was able to rest. Work is always so busy and it’s a sad thing when you feel guilty about having to take time off due to illness!

And I’m so exhausted when I get home. Here it is not quite 7:30 pm and I’m ready for bed! I’ve had a twitch under one eye for the better part of two weeks and its driving me nuts – of course people keep wondering why I’m always winking at them!

Well this break is over and I would like to get a few more pages cleaned up, so guess I’d better get back to it.

Enjoy your evening – I hope to be soon in bed, and reading a few more pages of Louise Penny’s “Dead Cold” – she has just finished writing her 5th novel in the series – amazing!

Cheers
Liz

Don't forget the....!

Packing for the weekend - you'd think it was for a week! Trying to remember all the important things for our "writing retreat" weekend. And seeing as the last minute items have to go in tomorrow morning before 5:30 a.m., chances are that something will be forgotten!

I don't think Body Perfect is coming along on this trip as we really want to concentrate on Madelaine - Pam has been finding some great reference books on writing/publishing - lots of good ideas and things to watch for. We definitely have our work cut out for us & how much we may actually get done remains to be seen. If the internet connection works for us, we may get an update published on here before we head home on Sunday.

We are going to be daring and wear running shoes to work tomorrow...something frowned upon and not in the official dress code list as appropriate attire! Well, seeing as we are travelling right from work tomorrow, I know I want to be comfortable. At least leaving work at 3 p.m., we miss most of the dreaded Friday weekend traffic and should have a good head start getting away from the Toronto area before the roads bog down.

Wish us luck and a safe journey - we'll check in back here at the earliest opportunity.

Cheers!
Liz

Summer Already?

What happened to Spring? My favourite season of the year, I love the spring, the warming temperatures, the rebirth of all things green and budding, the clean scent in the air. But, here it is not even the end of April and we have already had one smog alert day! The temperatures are reaching the mid and upper 20's (celsius) and I've already achieved a tan line on my arm from sitting outside at lunch yesterday!

Don't get me wrong, summer is OK, but not this soon! As I sit here, the robins are in full chorus outside - lovely! How sad I feel when I hear people complain that the birds woke them up! After the dead silence of winter, to hear their singing is such a treat - not something I would ever complain about.

Spent some time last night with our Madelaine, the process seems to be slowing quite dramatically now, and like Pam, I feel the ending deserves much thought and is not to be rushed. This is a time to wrap up loose ends and try and ensure the dots all connect. I don't want to be complacent and count on catching errors at the time of revising and editing.

So last night I sent Pam the couple of pages I managed to produce, just to let her know I'm not just sitting here doing my nails, ha ha! I think I got the jump start I needed and so will plan on carrying on with my part this evening.

This Friday evening will see my daughter and I take in a local production of "The Mikado", something I'm looking forward to! I love live theatre and it will be a new experience for Christine, and I hope it will be a positive experience for her.

This week at work, we learned that our department will be moving lock stock and barrel from our comfy home on the second floor to the ninth floor! Pam has just survived being part of the team overseeing the move of another group to that floor, and now she will be even more involved as she herself will be part of the move. And all this in two weeks time! But I get left behind, as the duties I have been involved with will be remaining on the second floor.

This will affect our random comments and thoughts on the stories which we have been able to do in passing throughout the day! Oh well, I'm sure we will work around it!

Well, time to wrap this up and contemplate what I will be paying at the pump this morning as I make my commute back into Mississauga! It's just been a tad under the $1.20 a litre mark, so I try not to let the tank get below the first quarter, not quite so painful as a full tank fill up - yikes!

Enjoy the day!

Liz

A Small Revision

Here it is, Sunday again. Seems I am getting into the habit of blogging here only once a week, must try and increase that a bit I think!

I believe Pam or I mentioned a while ago, we have another writing workshop coming up in a couple of weeks. This one will focus on writing and revising, so the timing is very good for us, seeing as we are getting that much nearer to the completion of Madelaine, if not both stories.

As an exercise for the class, we can bring a 1000 word example of our work, so Pam and I decided we would bring a sample from each story, she will focus on Madelaine and I on Body Perfect.

That led to a review of the first few pages of the story. The opening paragraph of Body Perfect is over in the side bar of our blog's front page. Below is what I worked on yesterday, tightening up some scenes and adding a little here and there.


The Porsche was traveling so quickly, he instinctively swerved to miss the bundle tossed from the rear of the speeding van in front of him. Checking his rear view mirror and watching the sack coming to rest at the side of the road, he wondered if it could actually be a body curled up in there, or just a large bag of trash, casually disposed of by an inconsiderate driver? How quickly the mind makes split second decisions. Should he keep driving and dismiss what he had seen, or stop and go back? If it was a body, he would have to call the Portland area authorities and that would mean a delay he could not afford. For if, he was even 30 minutes late, then the long anticipated partnership merger might fizzle to nothing and his business future would take a downward turn.

At this stage in his life, Paul J Barron was an extremely successful business man and he prided himself on his proven ability to think on his feet – making instant business decisions when necessary was his forte. So he could not dismiss what he had seen and knew as he slowed to a stop that his conscience would not let him drive on without investigating.

He dialed into his Blackberry and quickly informed his senior administrative assistant to use all her charm and delaying tactics to hold the Japanese delegation that would soon arrive at his office. The day was overcast and cool but for some curious reason Paul began to sweat. Was it fear of finding a body or, worse case scenario, a dismembered body? His imagination was running overtime.

"Probably just a load of old clothes someone had decided to offload,” laughed Paul shaking his head. This would be a good story for the guys at the club when he played golf on Saturday.

After three years in the Military, Paul had seen his share of dead bodies but this seemed different to him. He swung his car around and made his way back to the unmoving, large lump in the green trash bag. Staying in the car, Paul surveyed his surroundings. “Not one car on the road when I need one”, he thought to himself. To make things even more uncomfortable a soft rain started to fall. Paul stepped out of the car and made his way over to the suspicious mound.
A small branch lying nearby would provide the appropriate tool with which to test the contents through the plastic. “A pair of those disposable gloves would come in handy right about now”, he thought. The first gentle prod yielded a sense of softness within; a little more force and he met with resistance, and a tear in the plastic. There was not enough of an opening to see anything, so with no other alternative, he enlarged the hole. Instinctively, Paul held his breath and prepared to start breathing through his mouth.

“What the…?”

It was a body all right, but definitely not the human kind. Glossy jet-black hair spilled through the opening and it was clearly the crowning glory of an oversized doll. Stooping down to get a closer look, he marveled at the exquisite detail of the fully dressed, life-like creation. Its appearance reminded Paul of a Geisha, with its rich and colourful kimono and ghostly white face. In fact, the doll brought to mind Kimi, a girl he had once met in Japan. Paul began to fold back more of the plastic. He had never seen anything like this, not in all his travels. It seemed to be a unique, hand constructed doll, possibly expensive – but why had it been tossed from that van?

It would certainly make a very special gift once cleaned up a bit, and so Paul scooped up the doll and then got more of a sense of its size. “Must be almost four feet tall!” he thought in amazement, not only at its size, but its eerie similarity to a human body.

Turning back to his car with his new passenger, whom he was already mentally referring to as Kimi, Paul carefully laid the doll in the trunk, as he did not want to have to explain his new companion to the valet at his office building. Now that his breathing was back to normal Paul’s mind switched gears, thinking about the upcoming merger and what it would mean to him should things not go the way he visualized.

The traffic was light and he made good time. His mind on other things, Paul did not notice the silver Volvo slip in behind him as he entered the underground parking lot of his office building on SW Meadows Dr. The vehicle’s windows were tinted black so he would not have seen the two people who were watching his every move. He handed his keys to the valet, made some small talk with the attendant on duty, and then ran towards the elevator.

But, entering the elevator he pushed the button for the lower parking level instead of the topmost floor. He had made the decision to go back to his car and retrieve the doll. His assistant could have a good laugh at his new “girlfriend” and perhaps they could try to figure out where she came from.

His car had been taken to its reserved stall in the lower parking level and as he made his way toward it, he noticed two men approaching his sports car from the direction of the ramp. Not your usual car snatchers, or thugs seen lately and who had committed numerous car heists, especially with premium cars such as his Porsche. These men were wearing very expensive looking suits, but even at first glance, Paul felt threatened by them.

“Never seen these guys before,” thought Paul. They were moving quickly as if they were late, or didn’t want to be detected. Paul had entered the garage unnoticed as they made their way to his Porsche. At that point, the hairs on Paul’s neck were standing up as a wave of adrenaline rushed over him. He had the foresight to duck behind another car as one of the two men momentarily hesitated and began to turn in his direction.


So it will be with some excitment, fear, and trepidation, that Body Perfect come under professional scrutiny!!

Hopefully Pam has recovered from her social activities of last night! I had both my sons and their families drop in for a short visit, which was nice. Some video gaming time spent with 5 year old Michael, and computer time with almost 3 Makenna. And today I am off to a training seminar in Mississauga. As a side line to everything else going on in my life, I am venturing into being a consultant for Beauti-Control skin care products. Part of their initial start up package requires a day long training session and then the balance of the start up kit I ordered will be made available, as well as receiving access to a personalized web-page of my own. This will allow any customers of mine to order directly online. Oh, yes, I will publish a link here - not to miss any opportunities!

And having said that, its time to get off this computer and get ready for the day. I am getting picked up at 7 a.m. to be there for an 8 oclock registration. Hoping to be back home by 4...is that too late in the day for a nap??

Have a good one.

Cheers!

Liz

What Else is There to Say - MORE SNOW!!!!!

March 8

We are in the midst of a very major winter storm!! Ho hum, what else is new? Apparently the phrase 'major winter storm' does not have as much punch as it did about 6 major winter storms ago!

But truly today, has to be the worst of this winter! Its blowing around now and I see no one is even bothering trying to shovel - no point! So grateful I am that it is a Saturday, although it would most likely have been a legitimate snow day from work - otherwise by this time of day, I'd be booking an overnight stay at a nearby hotel close to work.

So other than snow, what else is news? The beginnings of a cold that threatened me earlier this week seems to have morphed into laryngitis - I have an interesting cough that accompanies it, starts out with a very good bark and ends upward on a little squeak.

And what is new with the children? I refer to Body Perfect and Madelaine, of course! Today I find not much flowing creatively, so have been tidying and organizing. If too much clutter surrounds me, either mental or physical, it really bogs down the thought process. The tidying and organizing concerns mostly Madelaine, bringing the Chapter Summary up to date, and consulting Pam on some ideas at the beginning of Chapter 18. Then some file back ups were in order. It may be time to send out a couple of completed draft chapters to our reading distribution list as well.

Both Pam and I are great fans of Louise Penny and left comments on her blog, she was so kind to respond quickly, offering encouragement to us both. Pam, have you finished reading Dead Cold yet?? (Is that a subtle enough hint that I am anxious to read it as well!)

So perhaps something to eat for dinner and then I will set myself back down here and see what words will flow -not "and if" either!

Oh and something else to remember - Daylight Savings Time comes into effect this weekend.

Cheers
Liz

Still Reviewing/Revising/ReWriting!

Feb 21/08

Well, I'm still at it! I have had some interruptions over the past few days, like work and sleep, which have slowed down the revision process!

I've just finished Chapter 12, and felt like I needed a bit of a break, so thought I'd see about an update here. It's been a challenge, but at the same time a very good exercise to go through. And just think, the same effort awaits with Body Perfect! First things first!

The re-write of Madelaine's family history has gone well I think. As well, I have been keeping track of the time line of the story. It became very easy to lose track of what day of the week we were supposed to be setting events in, but now we have that anchored. Again, for future writing efforts, it will be something to start with from page one!

I'm anxious to get back on course with both stories; as Pam mentioned in her last post, she has left me with a certain someone standing on a gangway with flowers and a toothbrush!

Other writing duties will be needing my attention this weekend. I put together a monthly newsletter for our workplace, with an e-mail distribution of about 250. So all the contributed articles need to be edited and put together before next Friday. I started on it last night, but would honestly rather be working on our novels in progress!

Back to it I suppose - at least tomorrow is FRIDAY!!! And just why is that shorter work weeks end up seeming even longer than normal??

Cheers
Liz