QWERTY Trials

Another three day weekend is history, except I have the sore muscles to remind me how much gardening was accomplished – my brain can remind me of how much is yet left!  It is satisfying though to see some order where before there was an overgrown mess.  I know periwinkle’s quite pretty, but the stuff does grow like a weed and needs constant reigning in, as any recalcitrant child.   The sky now is overcast and hopefully some promised rain will give a boost to the newly planted flowers and shrubs.

The countdown is now on for Bloody Words – ten more sleeps.    Jamie Tremain will have a manuscript evaluation of Body Perfect while we're there and hopefully our skill and ability have grown considerably since the last Bloody Words we attended in Ottawa.

Last week I got out my NetBook, for something trivial I’m sure, and discovered I couldn’t get the password to work. Now, anyone who knows me should know how annoyed and disbelieving that left me.  I never forget passwords.  Between work, writing and other online sites, passwords do accumulate and I've a pretty good system in place to keep them straight and provide hints should they be needed.  So I was pretty much peeved off that I couldn’t find the right combination to unlock my NetBook-  which will be called up for duty at Bloody Words.

Off to my neighbourhood Staples I slunk to shamefacedly admit it appeared I couldn’t remember my password. Ah, the knowing looks that passed between the tech staff.  “You don’t understand,” I wanted to explain, but even to my silent ears I knew the plea would have been heard countless times before. I wouldn’t have believed it either.

“We’ll see what we can do, but it may mean re-formatting the hard drive.”

“Whatever it takes,” I said with a smile counting imaginary dollars in my head.

Picked it up after work today –  password free, no charge and no reformatting thankfully. Came home, booted it up.  Lovely.  Then wanted to send a test email to ensure everything was working.  My QWERTY had disappeared to be replaced by some random foreign language!  Letter ‘o’ was now a 6, the ‘k’ a 2 and so on.   The light dawned...it wasn’t that I didn’t remember my password – but not being able to see the keys pressed on the screen I had no idea what I was typing wasn’t what was showing up!  Vindicated!

Vindication was step one, restoration became step 2.  Searching ‘help’ on Windows proved fruitless, so I turned to my trusted font of all knowledge, Mr Google.  After a few intimate moments with him, the answer was revealed.

Fn key!  (Seems appropriate somehow)   That’s the Bluetooth Fn key – it was locked and in that state substituted QWERTY keys with other characters.  Fn + NumLock restored my keyboard.  Relief!

So now my little NetBook is all ready for Bloody Words and next week is vacation from work, so that should give me plenty of time to get ready as well – overpacking here I come.

We’re also awaiting results of the Poisoned Pen Press contest on May 31 – wouldn’t that be a great way to start off Bloody Words? Whatever the outcome – Pam and I are geared up to be positive and relentless in our pursuit to see Jamie Tremain on a bookstore shelf near you!

Cheers!

Liz

Everything Elementary!

This is the tenement where I grew up; 38,Broughton Street in Edinburgh,Scotland. We lived on the third floor with the second turret overlooking the Firth of Forth. Seven of us shared six large rooms, two with marble fireplaces, a stone floor in the kitchen that was both a dining room and a place for drying the laundry on the 'pulley'. A large black hob kept that one room warm, our legs toasting ( called fireside tartan) trying to keep warm. One toilet and no bath. No washing machine; that job was for Saturday mornings when my mother and sister and I would carry our baskets of laundry to the public wash house called the 'steamie'. Two of the rooms were completely round, even the doors were beveled. At that time the brass pulls and name plates were in evidence at the main door and they would jangle all the way to the third floor as we opened the door to visitors. Mid century security!When I lived there before immigrating to Canada the stairs to the third floor were very worn and the 'close' or hallways still had gas lighting.

These buildings are part of the New Town of Edinburgh (1765-1850) as opposed to the Old Town which was 16th -18th century that included Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace the Queen's home when she is in residence. The architecture is neo-classical /Georgian period. Both the old and the new town are now Unesco World heritage sites.

My father rented this flat for the princely sum of 10 shillings a month. Mind you, there were absolutely no amenities and pleas to the landlord to fix the holes in the roof went unheard. That's when the wallpaper would start slipping off the walls after it had rained. Edinburgh is known for rain!  I believe these flats now sell for upward of 300.000 pounds. I'm sure they've added a bathtub and some central heating!

What had me on a nostalgia trip was researching Sir Arthur Conan Doyle author of Sherlock Holmes. When travelling Google earth to find a picture I was reminded of my own home that was a five minute walk from Picardy Place. I must have past the house hundreds of times but never registered the significance.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's birthplace, 11,Picardy Place, Edinburgh 

The Conan Doyle pub and St Paul's and St George's church where I  married in 1966.

I'll tell you some more stories of #38 another time.

Slowly getting into our new book and gearing up for the Bloody Words conference at the end of the month.

Enjoy this wonderful spring weather and the Victoria day holiday.

Talk soon,

Slainte,

Pam

And We're Off!

A good morning spent with Pam today outlining and getting to know the new characters for our next adventure with Paul and Dorothy.  We've learned so much since we put together Madelaine – Shadows & Light.  Being organized this time will hopefully keep us on track and avoid unnecessary re-reads.  I've put together a spreadsheet  to track character biographies, events, names and places, etc..

We spent a good deal of time today rounding out the main characters and getting a feel for them.  Pam ‘interviewed’ our protagonists Paul and Dorothy to better understand their likes and dislikes and more of what makes them tick.    As well we think we’ve decided on the victim(s), crime and method for this tale.  What fun to be back at something new!  Now we get to start putting it all together.

It’s likely the next time we meet up will be at Bloody Words – seems it’s just around the corner now!

Tonight we’ve been promised a supermoon – the biggest and brightest full moon of the year  - you might feel a little crowded as it will only be about 357,000 km from earth  - about 30,000 km less than its average distance at any other time.  This means it should appear about 16% larger and 30% brighter than other full moons.  Where did I put my measuring tape???  Not being one who stays up very late, I’ll try to catch a peak before hitting the hay in a couple of hours.

Supermoon or not, I have several pages of handwritten notes from today which need to be transcribed to the aforementioned spreadsheet, ideally while I still have the excitement and enthusiasm to go along with it.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Cheers!

Liz

Embracing Mental Health Recovery

This is Mental Health Week.

Last evening I attended an event at the Burlington Convention Centre for Mental Health Awareness in support of SUPPORT & HOUSING HALTON and T.E.A.C.H...( which provides peer support throughout Halton for individuals 16 years and older who live with or have lived with mental health challenges). 

 This was a cocktail, dinner and silent auction affair and as my microphone/ receiver gave up the ghost before I left home I was not sure if this would be a waste of time for me. However the audio arrangements were excellent and I had no problem hearing everything they had to say. Wine was at the table and a cash bar was busy as we were introduced to the Mayors of Oakville and Burlington. It’s always good to have their support at these events.

The first speaker was Lorraine Sommerfeld who is a columnist and humourist I greatly admire. She writes weekly for the Globe and Mail and the Hamilton Spectator with regular spots on CHCH TV's Live@5:30.  Mother of two teenage boys I have always enjoyed her humour and hearing of her escapades.

The second speaker was Margaret Trudeau who is a celebrated Canadian and Mental Health Advocate.  Unless you have had your head in the sand for the last 30-40 years we have all heard the stories of Margaret’s life with Pierre and her partying with Mick Jagger. This mother of five, writer, advocate for mental health recovery and excellent speaker made more than a few people sit up and listen in the crowded convention hall last night.

What do these two women have in common?  They both suffer from the disease we know as Bipolar disorder or Manic- depressive disorder as Lorraine prefers to call it. She says, ‘it’s much more colourful and descriptive’. Both admit to being drama queens which is part of the outcome of the manic phase. They were both bluntly honest with the grace and fortitude that they’ve needed to cope with this disease and always being thought of as “different”.

Margaret gave a good account of how this disorder manifests itself, including her own struggles coping with it throughout her life.  Lorraine and Margaret are survivors and deal with everything in life and with their disease with a great deal of humour. A lesson  for us all.

We wish then well as they embrace their recovery.

Margaret Trudeau’s third book “Changing my Mind”  can be purchased at your local bookstore.

Check out Lorraine Sommerfeld’s two weekly syndicated columns. Motherlode and you can reach her at http://www.lorraineonline.ca/

All in all a good night. Very good dinner, excellent company and great guest speakers.

Talk soon,

Slainte,

Pam

The Nose knows......

How much does a crime/mystery writer depend on the five traditional senses?

As I am a few decades into my dotage you would assume that at least some of the five traditional senses are waning or gone.  Touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing are the five areas of perception or senses.

 See: detect images of visible light on photoreceptors 

 Born with a lazy eye, I have worn glasses since I was two. Everything, from the National Health pink plastic frames with wires that wrapped around your ears to cat’s eye shape, square and nerdy and granny glasses. Then bi-focal and tri focal, transitions and everything in between. After the cataract surgery I loved to inform everyone about my new ‘implants’.

Hear: "auditory" or "aural”

The women on my mother’s side of the family, namely my mother, sisters and I have hereditary nerve deafness that only manifests itself when we became older. In my case my thirties and so hearing aids came to the rescue. With the new digital aids and personal microphones we all manage quite well. At least we were spared carrying around a trumpet that granny used.

Touch: Somatosensory system

Touch is the most necessary of the five senses. The desire for touch is stronger than any other desire. Think of a new born baby and how it bonds with mother skin to skin when it comes out of the womb. I asked an elderly lady what she missed most about getting older and her answer was, ‘The feel of another’s skin next to mine’. So make sure you hug an elderly person today or give a hand or foot massage. How else would we feel pain, heat, cold or love than by touch. No wonder massage therapy is on the rise.

Taste: gustation

My favourite taste is a few squares of the best dark chocolate, about 80% cocoa. Yum. Oh, and many more. Sweet, bitter, sour, salty, and Umami (Meaty or savoury). My personal preference is sweet or savoury.

Further sensations we detect with our tongues and receptors in the throat are calcium, coolness, dryness, fattiness (yuck), numbness, temperature and spiciness.

Smell: Olfaction

Smell to me goes hand in hand with taste as any cook will tell you. According to Wikipedia (where I gained my knowledge on the senses) women have a stronger sense of smell than men. I could have told you that!  My mother lost her sense of smell after my younger brother was born and with her hearing loss we had many a burned meal. Try it for yourself. Plug your ears and nose and do a big fry up. We depend on both those senses when making dinner.

What has this exercise to do with crime writing or any kind of writing?  Everything.

Quoted from a favourite book. ‘Out of Africa’ -Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen)

When in Africa in March the long rains began after four months of hot, dry weather, the richness of growth and the freshness and fragrance everywhere are overwhelming. Smell

But the farmer holds back his heart and dares not trust the generosity of nature: he listens, dreading to hear a decrease in the roar of the falling rain. The water that the earth is now drinking in must bring the farm, with all the vegetable, animal, and human life on it, through four rainless months to come.

The old women of the farm were all good friends of mine. I saw less of them than of the small restless totos, who were ever about my house, but they had agreed to assume the existence of a particular understanding and intimacy between them and me, as if they were all aunties of mine. Sight.

After the grasshoppers have passed and have gone toward the horizon like a long stream of thinning smoke, the feeling of disgust at your own face and hands, which have been crawled upon by grasshoppers, stays with you for a long time. Touch

Well you get the idea.

Using all the senses becomes paramount in crime fiction. Descriptions of what you hear and see help the reader get involved in the story. The smell of the dark dungeon like room that the captive is incarcerated reeks of body sweat and fear. The pain inflicted by his tormentor made him bite his lip until he could taste the blood.

Liz and I have started plotting our next book and building character sketches. Next Saturday we plan to meet for a celebratory breakfast and writing session.

Don't forget next tuesday May 1st until the 31st is Crime writers month on Canada Writes.


Talk soon,


Slainte,


Pam

A Renaissance Woman

This 95 year young beauty gave me a history lesson of the High Park area of Toronto this past week. We drove around the park to see the Sakura Cherry tree blossom, have lunch and a visit. Bertha regaled me with stories of her youth and her association with High Park. She was born in the area in 1916, and as we meandered through streets choked with cars we saw many houses that she has lived in or to ‘quote’, her old stomping grounds. She indicated 'that things had changed quite a bit.' She pointed out landmarks and mentioned girls she had gone to school with and noted that some things don't always change for the better! The depression and massive unemployment as had WWII made an indelible impression on her life.

A renaissance woman if ever I knew one, Bertha is wonderful company. Continues to run her own life, keeps her own apartment and still drives her car. She likes to help her 'elderly' neighbors by picking up their groceries.

My friend of forty five years has always been a fashion plate and worked in the industry until she was seventy five. When I picked her up this week she was sporting a very fashionable Jones of New York jacket with her pink lipstick matching pink gel nails. She was not impressed by the jeans I was wearing! Rarely using glasses especially in pictures, 'they make me look old' she reads a daily newspaper and keeps up to date by reading Zoomer and Macleans magazine. She couldn't wait to tell me that Macleans informed her ' ninety is the new sixty'. In her case I believe it.

**** Body Perfect**** alert. Unless an editor would like us to change a few things before publishing our baby we can finally say it's finished....I think. Are writers ever satisfied with their work? As of today Liz received confirmation of BP arriving at Poison Pen Press to be judged for a contest. It certainly forced us to finish it having a deadline. Whew! Now on to the next book. Very exciting to start fresh on a new story wondering how our characters will evolve.

And now on to query letters and agents and publishers. We'll let you know what's happening.

Talk soon,

Slainte,

Pam

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