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

A Hard Day's Work

Finally, Pam and I had a full day together for writing and other catch up time today.  She arrived just before 9:30 and with less than an hour’s break for lunch, we kept working until almost 5:00!   Believe it or not, we only managed to complete two full chapters.  Thorough is as thorough does I suppose.  It may have only been two chapters, but we packed a lot of changes and corrections into them.  She has already reviewed the next ten chapters or so, and now I need to work through and make changes she has noted.   Is there no end to revising?   Don’t answer that!

As noted earlier I took the long weekend off – thank goodness for our fairly ‘new’ holiday in February – Family Day -  and did some sight seeing in Toronto.  It made a nice break and change of scenery.  The ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) was packed on Sunday, not so much there for the little ones to be interested in, but the Science Centre was a different story. Lots of ‘hands-on’ activities for them.   A birds of prey exhibit with magnificent live birds was quite interesting.  Turkey Vulture trivia – their mode of defence?  Projectile vomiting!  Or as the handler stated, “I’d rather be sprayed by a skunk”.  

An Imax film was playing  at the Centre – Tornado Alley.  Boy, talk about being the middle of a storm..wondered at times if the chairs would lift right off the floor!  Incredible film footage of nature at its most violent and unforgiving.

Yesterday I helped my son set up his own blog for movie reviews.  "UNeducated, UNexperienced,  UNestablished - Movies Reviewed Anyways"   A passion of his, he is now excited to see his opinions online and I wish him reels of success!

Tomorrow I need to tackle a long delayed chore – reorganizing closets and drawers.  Perhaps a burst of spring cleaning is in the air?  And then Friday I plan to devote entirely to Body Perfect.

The weekend is reserved for a sleepover with two of my grandsons – fun and energy will be the order of the day! 

So I’m grateful Pam and I had today because you can see how easily the days are filled.  We didn’t schedule another day but surely one won’t be too far in the future.  By then we should be closer to being ready for submission – keep your fingers crossed.

Cheers!

Liz

Dreams vivid and wild!

While Liz has been seeing the sights of Toronto on a much needed break from work I have been at the computer for three days revising until my eyes are burning. The sun is shining and it is a cold crisp day but it does not interest me. We are at the point in this journey of having the book ready for sending out to publishers where we eat and sleep the story. My dreams are vivid and wild. I wonder what Paul and Dorothy would be up to if I used my dreams for some of the action. Unfortunately they disappear too fast and I am sure I have lost a few good plots along the way.

A trip to Guelph is on the agenda this week to format the chapters and make some changes. I have finished Chapter 15 and may finish this afternoon.

I love this LOGO of the Bloody Words conference. We are booked to attend at the beginning of June. http://www.bloodywords2012.com/ We are looking forward to meeting other authors and readers and learning more about the craft.

I have had a notion to get a dog lately with lots of nagging from my grandson Riley. I am not motivated to go walking at all and I know that with any dog you certainly need to. Does anyone know anything about Portuguese water dogs or has one? This breed I find rather attractive, not too big and does not shed.

Did I mention that Liz is a quarterly winner in the Centre she works in at the bank? Well deserved. I am not sure how she gets it all done. What with the commuting, publishing a monthly newsletter for work and Jamie Tremain, she still finds time to see her four grandchildren. The busiest people get the most done it appears.

Managed to read a Harlan Coben book this week, “Gone for Good”. A master of the fast paced book .

OK, blogging does not count in my writing goal.

Talk soon,

Slainte,

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,

The Weekend Approaches

And so is a day’s worth of writing with Pam, if all goes well.   She will come my way this time and we plan to have a good session of revising.  We've received some expert advice and input, on the first thirty pages, which will be heeded.   We really want to make this book as good as it can possibly be and have it ready to enter into a writing contest before the end of April..we think we can..we think we can...we think we can.

The non-winter we are enjoying (apologies to snow enthusiasts!) continues.  Beautiful, but cold,  sunny and one day closer to spring.  No commuting delays or shovelling – what more can you ask of this time of year.

Work is busy, and my manager asked me to show a comparison of my duties from a year ago and how they stack up today...well no wonder I’m tired. I’m averaging 60% more of reports and other duties than this time last year!  And still somehow it all gets done – not quite sure how.   But oh..how much more I would love to spend the day writing!  

Pam and I are now “Skype-ing” two or three times a week and its a great help when we can’t have face to face get togethers. Hoping to get some time for that this evening.  But after supper and clean up, it takes real will power to force the brain to focus, when so often it would be great to veg in front of mindless TV chatter.

Saturday will be a busy day.  Badly needed hair cut first thing, then Pam will arrive around 10:00.  And later I’ll be having dinner at my oldest son’s home with his family.  Sunday will have to be a true day of rest – but some vacation time is just a week away.  Its a long weekend (Family Day on the 20th) and a weekend getaway in Toronto has been booked.  Great tourism deals this time of year – hoping to take in the Science Centre and perhaps Casa Loma..its been years since I’ve been to either.   And then the rest of the week I will be home – WRITING!

But for now its time to find something to satisfy the hunger cravings and keeping it healthy to boot.

Cheers!

Liz

Lovin’ it!

Six months into retirement and I am lovin’ it. I fought it, whined about it and trod very slowly with the idea of being home each and every day with my beloved. We still have a few kinks to work out but on the whole have reached a place where we each have our own space to work and now when we get together we actually listen to the other. We were always too busy and after forty five years we had stopped listening. Now over a leisurely breakfast reading the papers, (yes we still get two newspapers) we discuss the state of the world. We don’t solve any of these problems but just talking about them makes some of them appear to be not such a big deal anyway.

My husband supports my writing and that’s important to me and he is also a good editor. An artist of pencil drawings and portraits he did one of me years ago.... I haven’t changed a bit! And I don’t smoke. Really!!

The picture is not in a jpg format so.... help!!! I will try later.

As Liz mentioned in her last post we are quite gung ho about things happening this year. We are now members of Crime Writers of Canada http://crimewriterscanada.com/ or associates until we are published. Looking forward to the support of this super organization.

On my agenda today is some research and plodding along with a line edit before we enter a couple of contests for first manuscripts. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Lots of snow yesterday but the sun has been out all day and it is melting away. All the better for driving to meet Liz tomorrow at the office. I suppose she wants to show off her new net-book. The one that she can stick in her handbag. Such a braggart! But seriously it will help us put a few things together as her fingers fairly fly over the keys while I am still a two finger typist. I have other talents but that is for another post!

Talk soon,

Slainte,

Pam

Forecast - Blustery and Productive

Earlier this week I determined to set aside most of today for working on Body Perfect.  And for the most part  I've met with success.   The weather actually helped.  A blustery and snowy Saturday meant it was much easier to stay inside.  Add some freshly brewed coffee and that’s all I need in the way of motivation to sit and write. 

Pam and I are really in a “get her done” mode.  Some major revising of the opening scenes, including a newly written prologue. Name changes as mentioned earlier are not set in stone and are yet to be finalized, although I think we are closer.  We’ve been encouraged to enter a writing contest, deadline of April 30 and also want to have Body ready for a manuscript evaluation at Bloody Words.  The pressure mounts!

As a means to ensure more frequent writing and discussion get togethers, I’ve decided to purchase a web cam (hopefully tomorrow).  That will help give Pam and I more ‘face to face’ time if we can’t actually get together.  All to the good!

As I write, the aroma of a pot roast is drifting up the stairs..thanks to M&M its one of the easiest things going and tastes divine!  Not having to use time in meal preparation is always a bonus for me!

So for now, I’m putting my newly revised thousand plus words aside and will have a good supper.  Somehow I neglected to stop for lunch  - now that’s dedication!

Cheers!

Liz

Robert Burns Immortalized our Liz!

It’s January 25th in Scotland so as I write this here in Canada I can now say' Happy Rabbie Burns' day.

Liz was quick to get on the blower to let me know that a friend had sent her the poem by Burns called “Leezie Lindsay”. My writing partner was quick to point out –“I don’t suppose Burns has immortalized anyone called Pamela!! Well no, that’s quite true but I was called “Jamie” in high school as my maiden name was James. And as the Jamie in Jamie Tremain I did find a song by Burns called “Jamie, come try me”.


Chorus.—Jamie, come try me,
Jamie, come try me,
If thou would win my love,
Jamie, come try me.

IF thou should ask my love, 5
Could I deny thee?
If thou would win my love,
Jamie, come try me!
Jamie, come try me, &c.

If thou should kiss me, love, 10
Wha could espy thee?
If thou wad be my love,
Jamie, come try me!
Jamie, come try me, &c.


Leezie Lindsay
by Robert Burns

Will ye gang to the Heilands Leezie Lindsay
Will ye gang to the Heilands wi' me
Will ye gang to the Heilands Leezie Lindsay
My bride and my darling to be

To gang to the Heilands wi' you, Sir,
I dinna ken how that may be
For I kennae the land that ye live in
For ken I the lad I'm gaun wi'

Leezie, lass ye maun ken little,
If sae ye dinna ken me
For my name is Lord Ronald Macdonald
A Chieftain o' high degree

She has kilted her coat o' green satin,
She has kilted them up to the knee,
An she's aff wi' Lord Ronald Macdonald
His bride and his darling to be .


Many lovely lasses influenced Burns work, none more than his mother Agnes Broun. As Agnes is my middle name I feel immortalized as the lovely Clarinda. (Read below)
Robert Burns was born on 25th January 1759 and, naturally enough, the first of the fair sex to enter his life was his mother - Agnes Broun. It was from Agnes that Robert inherited his love of songs and rhyme as she would sing to him when he was nocht but a bairn on her knee. She had learned these songs while working in the fields as well as at the threshing. Many of her songs were learned from Will Nelson, her old boyfriend, singing them after him line by line until she got the tune right and knew all of the verses.

During Robert's sojourn to Edinburgh in 1787, he met with Mrs. Agnes Craig or McLehose, the daughter of a Glasgow surgeon and the wife of James McLehose, a writer in Glasgow. She was born in the same year as Burns and was living in Edinburgh with her two surviving children, having been deserted by her husband in 1780. They corresponded as 'Sylvander' and 'Clarinda' and their writings to one another could fill a volume on their own. These letters were written in impeccable English grammar and the use of the English language is outstanding. Some of Burns' finest songs were written with Clarinda in mind, the best known being -

Ae fond kiss, and then we sever;
Ae fareweel, and then for ever!
Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee,
Who shall say that Fortune grieves him,
While the star of hope she leaves him?
Me, nae cheerful twinkle lights me;
Dark despair around benights me.

You can just call me ‘Clarinda'

Slainte,

Pam Clarinda Blance

The Northern Lights and my whiskey marmalade!

I have returned from a visit to snowmobile country. I am not particularly an outdoorsy kind of person as I wimp out if it is too cold, but when you are wearing those suits just made for the weather it’s great. No matter that I looked like a blimp in an XXL size. I sat around a fire with a group of hardy souls outside hoping to get a glimpse of the Northern lights we were told would appear. After about an hour the kids were getting antsy and the fire was burning down so we took ourselves inside for hot chocolate.

In this part of the world, Kincardine on Lake Huron, there are probably more snowmobiles than cattle. I was staying at a friend’s lovely 1897 yellow brick farm house. No longer a working farm apart from a large vegetable garden, they are surrounded by Soy fields. But they have their priorities straight as they have planted grape vines with the intent on someday making a bottle or two. As we were celebrating four birthdays we cracked some store bought plonk instead. As a surprise my friend set of some fireworks that took us all by surprise, especially the dog. It took a while but we finally managed to coax her back inside.

Sunday morning I decided to write this blog sitting at the most amazing desk. It is a beautiful antique that is shaped in a semi circle. I have designs on this, but ... not for sale. It sits in the bay window of the dining room looking out onto a long driveway and then over fields with fresh layers of snow. I have not had breakfast yet and the sun looks cold, weak and bone chilling. I can smell the coffee and the bacon cooking. We are waiting on fresh arrivals to bring home made scones. Does it get any better than that? Unless it is the sauna I have been promised before we drive home! Nine for breakfast around a large country kitchen table. Bacon, eggs, home fries, toast with my whiskey marmalade, left over steak and onions from the night before and of course the scones warmed and dripping butter. With pots of good coffee and then conversation the guys and the kids were ready to go off again with the snowmobiles.

Not so the women. After eating as if we were diggers of ditches we talked a great deal about what sort of diet we should start...again.

I hope to get back here in February to spend some writing time. Not many distractions unless you count the occasional drive by of Mennonite farmers with horse and buggy. Or the red and yellow finches at the feeder just outside the window crowding the umbrella tree

Sun is up and it is brilliant. It doesn’t tempt me outside today and after helping with the dishes it’s off to the sauna before the drive home. Lovely.

What did I learn about writing this weekend?...Nobody is ever as serious about your writing as you are, so never ask friends to suggest anything regarding your work!

Meeting Liz after she finishes work tomorrow. Always glad to speak to her face to face to iron out any issues and in this instance it is the opening chapters we are attempting to change. And names. They are not agreed on yet.

Our snow is almost gone here as it rained all night but that’s always better for driving.

Talk soon,

Slainte,

Pam