New Word: Skypeing

Quoting Burns is becoming a habit of mine but it is so fitting.

"The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley." Or in plain English (The best laid schemes of mice and men / Go often askew.) I am sure I have used the quote before so forgive me. Liz and I were so looking forward to a day of rewrites as we have been on a roll of late. Getting some advice from friends who are knowledgeable about the business has put a spark in both of us and the writing is flowing much better.

Friday evening came dire warnings from my husband about the snowstorm that was imminent. Snow, ice, freezing rain and cold. Yes, it did snow and it was about -13 in the morning, but what has happened to us? Canadians I mean. We are turning into a nation of wimps. I never used to have this fear of driving in all conditions. I learned to drive and received my license in December so it has never fazed me. Now before you say it... It’s an age thing, well I think maybe it is the age of the car my husband is worried about. Ten year old Hyundai with 300.000 kms and no snow tires!! Time for new wheels.

I called Liz first thing Saturday morning. Not to worry, we can Skype she says. Not quite the same but it helps. Then she had the cheek to eat all the treats in front of me that she had bought for us to nibble on while we worked!!

We did accomplish quite a bit and I left Liz to make the corrections of my editing. By 2pm the sun was blazing and it turned out to be a beautiful day but I did hear the hwy's were icy and slushy so I was actually grateful to be inside to finish the latest from Peter Robinson. www.inspectorbanks.com/

His new book is a departure from the Inspector Banks series. I enjoyed the way this book changed from the main protagonists point of view to a journal kept by a woman who was hanged in the 50’s when she is accused of poisoning her husband. The journal was written when she was a nurse during WW2. His descriptions of time and place were very familiar to me and I always enjoy his references to music which are a recurring theme in his books. Very enjoyable.

Liz and I are always on the lookout for other writing collaborators whom we can learn from. My Writers Digest magazine www.writersdigest.com/ this month has just such an article. They feature an interview with the best selling thriller writing team Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. http://www.prestonchild.com/ It was very reassuring to find that others work as we do. It is not for everyone but it has been successful in their case.

Liz and I have a tentative date for the 22^nd of the month but in the meantime we will be Skypeing. Don’t suppose she kept me any of those chocolate cookies!

Talk soon,

Slainte,

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

Ghosties & Goblins

It seems to get longer and longer between posts but life gets in the way sometime. I am at home today as a day of bereavement for my sister-in law who died suddenly Sunday morning. I was going to try and make the funeral in Scotland but my husband pointed out that we had let our passports expire. Lesson learned. I will visit with my brother next year, but my heart and thoughts will be with them all this Saturday.

Liz is back from her much needed break but is still nursing a very bad cough and is into the fray at work. She is moving in the next month so I am not sure how much writing she will manage as packing boxes and all that a move entails will be foremost in her mind. Life certainly takes twists and turns sometimes.

The editing is coming along and Peter is working on Chapter 12. Not finding a great deal to change and that makes me very happy. When Liz revises the last few chapters we will be ready to format and make editing changes and then it will be done. May send to the printer to be bound so that we can have an original copy each.

Earlier in the week I went to the Harbourfront ,International Festival of Authors in downtown Toronto. It must have been the coldest night of the year so far.I walked from the train Station to the venue ,with the cold wind almost knocking me off my feet and chilling me to the bone I wondered what I was doing there all by myself. And why did I not drive? Especially since I was not sure where I was going and lots of strange characters around at night.

I made it with nose running and no feeling in my feet or hands but it was worth it.
Standing in line for my ticket was a guy I recognized and when he moved away I turned and introduced myself to Peter Robinson, one of the greatest writers of crime fiction with his Inspector banks series. Chatted for a few minutes and then he was pulled away by his adoring public. he has a new book out but the name escapes me.

I had gone specifically to hear Louise Penny read from her latest book "The Murder Stone" and there she was standing chatting with her husband Michael and another couple.
Again, I introduced myself. Don't know what she thought. Still blowing my nose and trying to get the blood back into my hands and rattled on about how much I was enjoying her book. Although we have had a correspondence before and she had critiqued our book she was having a hard time remembering who I was. She meets so many people. Well it came to her eventually when I said Jamie Tremain. Ah Ha. The magic words.

The evening was very interesting. One poet and four novelists of crime fiction. Louise speaks so well and she was the only one that I completely understood. She was a CBC journalist on Radio for 20 years so her voice carried. Such a striking woman and we had a nice chat later. Took some pictures and hope to put them on whenever I figure that out. I picked up a copy for Liz and she signed both for us.

The walk back was not as cold as the wind was behind me. I missed the street car and did not have enough cash for a cab. Had to wait 40 minutes for the train and Peter picked me up at 11.30pm. Past my bedtime but the whole evening took my mind off the sadness I felt about my brothers loss.

Today is Halloween and I am being a humbug about it. I will keep the lights out as I am not in the mood for ghosties and goblins. Tomorrow is a visit to two of my g kids in Barrie and I will help them eat the chocolate candies they receive tonight, if there are any left.

Have a good w/e.

Pam

Rainy Sunday

"A good book is like an unreachable itch. You just can't leave it alone" Laura Bush

Well its not Monday, yet, but it is raining. And turning out to be a great day for writing. Its cool and damp - after some of the humidity recently endured, its refreshing to be dressed in longer pants, socks and a hoodie! A cup of tea on my desk, music in the background, and rain softly falling outside - all that's missing is a fireplace. For me, this is very condusive to writing, and so the third draft of Madelaine is before me, and I'm in the midst of Chapter 4.

After over a year of thinking the title "Madelaine" may not be enough, here is the revised title (for now at least!) - MADELAINE - Shadows and Light. However, I know Pam and I will always refer to our "baby" as just Madelaine, or even Maddy.

We've been emailing back and forth this morning - I don't think she is much looking forward to returning to work tomorrow. Can't say that I blame her!

Isn't that a great quote by Laura Bush ?- and to that end I have just started a novel by Peter Robinson - Aftermath. It's got me hooked right from the start and so in keeping with the day, I'm also itching to get back to the grisly and horrendous case Inspector Banks now is in charge of, so after this I think I will take a break from the computer and curl up for a good read!

Cheers!
Liz