Four More Sleeps.....

….and then we are off to Ottawa and “Bloody Words”. I’ve spent a lot of this weekend trying to decide what to pack and then of that what is absolutely necessary! The conference promises “reams of books” as part of our package, so there must be room left in the suitcase for that.

But even more difficult than deciding what to pack is deciding which items on the agenda we want to attend. Saturday has been booked in blocks, with 3 topics and/or speakers running concurrently. And so many of them are of great interest…how to decide which is of more benefit?

No question though about wanting to hear Louise Penny, that’s a given!

Hard to believe its June 1 tomorrow, the weather has been sunny but definitely cool. Not that I’m complaining, for I do not suffer gladly the humidity our Canadian weather produces starting anytime now. Don’t get me wrong, I love sunny days and warm temperatures, just keep the energy-sapping humidity away please.

And only three days of work this week. Fly into Ottawa Thursday afternoon and return Sunday evening..and THEN I can enjoy a whole week away from work.

My granddaughter will be 4 in a week’s time, so a shopping/lunch trip is planned on her special day with her mum to see what Nana can buy for the birthday girl.

The afternoon is winding down and there are still chores I need to attend to, so I probably won’t post until after Bloody Words, or if Pam has her laptop with her and we can get it connected, perhaps we will blog from the hotel.

Cheers!
Liz

Printed and bound. Yea!

What dreary weather we are having. One day is nice and then we have high winds and rain. The gardens look good of course. Everything is so green. My favourite colour.

Liz and I had a very emotional moment this week when I picked up the manuscript from the printers of Madelaine, all bound and looking like a book. Next month it will be two years since we started our journey in storytelling. I can honestly say that it has been so much fun and a great learning experience for both of us. Long may Jamie Tremain continue.
Madelaine is being read in the bound form by two friends at work whom we really feel will give us an honest critique. So far so good.... No we didn't bribe them.

Last night I finished the first draft of editing and revising Body Perfect. It is 20 chapters but not quite finished. After the conference we will sit down and see where we want to finish up and where we will go from here. We have been throwing ideas around when we manage a coffee break together but nothing concrete yet.Liz is still very overloaded at work so she is especially looking forward to the break.

Pouring over the program for "Bloody Words" has us dizzy. We are in for a jam packed three days and there are some super speakers and events. It will be hard to cram them all in as there are three events going on at a time.

Will keep you all posted about the latest in forensics and police procedural. At least Liz will tell you all about the Forensics as I am not sure if that is my forte.

Will write soon.
Slainte,
Pam

Excuses, excuses!

It's not so much writers block as .....any excuse not to do revisions or start something new. Life seems to be getting in the way at present. I can't even use the excuse that the computer is down. Not that Liz used that one as she really was tearing her hair out having no computer but she is up and running again. Maybe I just came out in sympathy with her.

This is Canada's Victoria Day holiday week-end. I think there are more Royalist in Canada than in Britain. Of course in Quebec it is Patriots Day not Victoria Day. Any day away from work is a good day for me.
I have been banished from my office as my eldest grandson uses it as his bedroom when he is here and I am sitting in my bedroom looking out at our cherry tree in full bloom. The sun has just gone down and I should be inspired, but I am not. The wind is very strong tonight and the trees are bent over. I love to watch this spectacle as it changes every minute. The garden is filling in nicely and the clematis looks very strong. So do the weeds. Too much rain.

I have been asked to watch "King Kong" with my grandsons but no, I will pass. I have a book I want to finish. I have read lots of mysteries but not thrillers and I picked up a book by Linwood Barclay. "No time for goodbye". He is one of the authors that will be at" Bloody Words". I am halfway through it and can't wait to find out the who , what, why and how. It is so well paced and very exciting. It's a genre I did not think I would like but I am now a fan.

Talking of genre. Liz and I have many discussions regarding this subject, trying to figure what genre we should write in. We hope lots of things will become clear to us at the conference.

Some black clouds have just rolled in and it is getting dark. I thought I would just curl up with my book now but noticed the bed does not have the clean sheets on it . Don't you hate that? But maybe you don't procrastinate like me.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and I will talk soon.

Pam

Short & Sweet

Happy Mothers' Day!

As Pam mentioned my computer is in a non working status, and is currently in for repairs...thanks to my good friend Rebecca for the loan of her computer to check my email and to quickly post a brief blog.

Spent a lovely afternoon yesterday for Mother's Day with my oldest son and his family. My other son and his family joined in along with my daughter. A barbecue had been planned, but the weather was too unsettled to sit outside. However barbecued meats taste just as great indoors!

Friday evening saw my oldest son, William, and I take in the new Star Trek movie..what a treat!! Its something we share in common and have made it our special time to share in any new premieres, This one was AWESOME! I have fallen in love with the early Star Trek all over again..the new "young" Star Trek cast have nailed their characters perfectly and the whole movie was a wonderful ride from start to finish...bring on more!!!

Well as I said, this would be brief and I must not take advantage of the time loaned to me, so need to attend to other outstanding email.

I'll be glad to be back online - hopefully no later than Friday - and finish getting ready for our Bloody Words in less than a month!

Have a great week.

Cheers!

Liz

The Spring Run-off

Where does the time go? By all accounts Spring has arrived as the grass is green and the trees are in leaf. The forsythia is on the wane and the cherry tree and lilac will be next. The hosta and the forget- me-not are competing with the perennial ground cover for space. It seems I remember more plant names than I thought.

Since receiving my new hearing aids a few weeks ago it is a lovely surprise to notice the outside noises. When I sit on the deck I have noticed woodpeckers, mourning doves and loads of grackles making a terrible racket. I thought I could hear traffic but my husband assured me that what I was listening to was the river rushing through the ravine. The spring run-off. I try to look for the positive in situations and it is a pleasure to take them out (hearing aids) and just listen to the quiet.

I have to admit I need quiet when I am revising. As I speak out the sentences to myself to make sure it sounds right as well as written, it is best done in a room by yourself. Body Perfect is getting the line by line editing that is necessary but it is so slow. Just started on chapter two but I will persevere. Liz has been finishing up Madelaine but her computer crashed a few days ago.
She is one frustrated lady. Hope she is back soon.

You have all heard of our friend Louise Penny whom we admire very much. Her latest book, "The Murder Stone" won an "Agatha" at the conference" Malice Domestic"on the week-end. Don't you love that name?
We are just thrilled for her and it is much deserved. If you have not read her work I suggest you do as they are beautifully written. Her fifth book is due out in October.
When we go to "Bloody Words" next month we will be meeting with Louise. I can't wait to pick her brain and hopefully learn lots about the publishing world from her along with a slew of other authors and editors.

We have our plane tickets so now we have to pack a suitcase. I just can't pack light. It is only three night but..... Who knows what one wants to wear the next day.
and we need lots of room for all the books we will be bringing back!!.

Talk again soon.

Pam

The Hangman

I have finished re-reading Body Perfect and now I am ready to start the revisions. It was exciting to read the story again after about six months hiatus as we finished Madelaine. From the beginning Liz has said that this could be a series. The characters are strong and could just as well move on to the their next case with no problem at all. I did not find much I wanted to change in the story and not much grammar and typo errors. We will see what my partner says and start work on the conclusion with a natural move to the next in the series.

What a learning curve this has been for both of us. I subscribe to oodles of magazines on writing and search the internet. Of course my library is full of help from different authors and editors but I find I learn the most from the books that I enjoy and now try to emulate.

The nominations for the Arthur Ellis Award. (Arthur Ellis is the nom de travail of Canada's former official hangman.) These awards are for the best crime novel in Canada and I am excited about three of them as I have met them personally at one time or another.

Louise Penny who we hope to chat with at the conference. She is nominated for her latest book " The Murder Stone". Wonderful book in the Armande Gamache series.

Linwood Barclay is a former Toronto Star humorist. He has been nominated for his second stand alone thriller called "To close to Home". His previous work was called "No time for Goodbye"and was the best selling novel in Britain in 2008. I will try and read his latest book before the conference. He was a speaker at the Elora Festival where I first met Louise Penny.

The other author is Maureen Jennings. I met Maureen at "Word on the Street". A super festival that they hold at Queens Park every summer where you can listen, meet and greet all your favourite authors and find all things literary. Maureen was manning a table with a slew of books all with her name on them. I bought one that looked interesting and asked some inane questions like, "How long have you been writing". Well it should have been obvious as she was very prolific. I was not familiar with her work. When I was at home that evening settling down to watch some television a series came on I had not seen before. It was the "Murdoch Mysteries".
Maureen is their creator.
Good luck to all of them.

Talk soon,
Pam

Sloughing off Slothfulness!

Slothful says she…well here’s my weekend’s activities.

Yesterday saw me off to the bank at 9 a.m. to take care of some paperwork. Then it was off to work for 4 hours of overtime. Sadly the 4 hours made only the smallest of dents in the volume of work awaiting us tomorrow. On Friday I likened the load to us swimming upstream in quicksand. While others have been loaned to us from various departments to help out, it still becomes so overwhelming to think we may never get on top of the volume of applications which need attending to!

I arrived back home just after 3 pm and without hesitation made my own dent…on my couch, where I drifted off almost immediately into blessed slumber! Awoke, took care of several loads of laundry; some vacuuming and dusting also cried out for attention. And then it was more sofa time. When I finally turned on the TV I realized I had been missing out on a Law and Order marathon day! One of my favourite television series, I catch it whenever I can. So after a healthy dose of the fictional workings of what man is capable of inflicting upon his fellow human (or maybe NOT so fictional after all) it was off to bed.

This morning I attended Church, afterwards went for lunch at a favourite restaurant overlooking the water and then back home. Put my laundry away…and wonder of wonders even ironed! In between, I have been tidying up Madelaine…we will be taking the story along on a travel drive when we attend the conference in June so want it in tip top, ready to go, shape. Because of course, surely there will be a connection made and a full manuscript needed at a moment's notice!

And now as Sunday evening draws to a close, the thought of work once again intrudes on all other thoughts. It will be another very busy week, both at work and personally. Never enough hours in the day to get through it all. At least I have started another of my famous lists to prepare for our Bloody Words Conference – what to take and what needs to be purchased!

Well, do have a good week! I’ll be back again, but probably not before my partner. She may feel she has been slothful, but in reality, we all need a good dose of that at times.

Cheers!
Liz

Sloppy and Slothful

I have been looking for a word that describes my state of being today.The best word to describe me is slothful.The dictionary says...disinclined to work...lazy. Yes, that describes me to a tee.
If it was not so late in the day I would have a nap but then I would never sleep tonight.

Gazing out the window onto a perfectly lovely Spring day just being slothful, watching fat squirrels chase each other up and down trees and loads of birds making a racket and fighting, (I think those squirrels got fat on the walnuts I had left over from baking,) My husband fed them over the winter. Cute little rodents but rodents they are. They had better leave my one and only tulip bulb that has just shown up. They have enjoyed the last bulb as I don't intend to plant any more.

I love gardens and flowers but .....it's so much work. My lilac and forsythia are in bud and my perennial beds are sprouting green shoots. Sounds like I know what I am talking about but that is about the extent of my repertoire. I do recognize roses and pansies and such but I am keen to keep planting perennials as they keep coming back for more sunshine every year.

To go along with the slothfulness, I am wearing....what can I say. I have been praying no one comes to the door or have any unexpected visitors as I am not fit for human edification. Hair needs washed and is pinned back, no makeup and the outfit baggy and ill fitting. I had to go out to the post office so I donned my sunglasses to hide behind, well they are huge, and ended up at the bookstore to read a bunch of magazines. Never met a soul I knew and when I checked my fellow shoppers they looked just like me.

Tonight I will get back to reading Body Perfect. I am now on chapter 10 and really enjoying the story. Seeing it with fresh eyes and don't find much I want to change. We will see what Liz thinks when she gets a hold of it.

Tomorrow is another day and I don't suppose the bank would like my sloppy and slothful ways so I had better pull myself together for another week at the mines.

Talk soon.

Slainte,

Pam

An evaluation

"Bloody Words" received the manuscript today for evaluation. Only three chapters but that is the norm. Roll on June when we will hear if our efforts have been worth it. I have two more to send in the mail tomorrow and then the waiting begins. We may hear in six weeks or six months or not at all. That is the nature of the beast.

This w/e I am starting back at reading Body Perfect to familiarize myself with the characters and the storyline as we have not looked at it for some time. This book is our real baby and we have a lot of fun with the characters. The conference we are attending in June should help us pull some of the finer points of police procedures together and learn some more about forensics and pathology.

The weather appears to be warming up but not quite bikini weather yet. Liz is still extremely busy at work. I am busy at work but... compared to Liz I feel as if I am on a holiday.

Talk soon,
Pam

Easter bunnies and babies

Happy Easter to all. Sunny and bright but still kind off raw. Had a busy w/e with family for dinner Saturday and four of my grandsons. Lots of fun and its always made special with a new baby. Baby Ryan who was born in November and weighed in at 3lb 4ozs is now a whopping 10lb 2ozs and is a delight, although I have heard that he has now found his lung capacity. Maybe I will wait until he goes to high school before I offer to babysit.
The picture on the left was taken quite a few years ago, in fact 41 years ago and just wanted to let you know the hair was not always grey/white.
I think I have the hang of the picture downloading, if that's the word. I won't bore you with anymore.

Today I was busy writing letters and getting the manuscript ready for the mail on Tuesday. Most agents only want two or three chapters. I hope the printers can do them in one day. My printer is on the blitz. We have a deadline of April the 15th for our submission to" Bloody Words" for evaluation.

I heard from Liz this morning and she was off to dinner tonight. She has another new cat and it is best if she describes him for you. LOL He is called NITRO. Oh maybe its a she. How sexist!!!

Lots have tomorrow off as a holiday but we are back at the mines tomorrow. Hope you all had lots of chocolate as no one would let me have any. Hmmp!

Talk soon,
Pam

Spring cravings

When it gets to this time of year I long for plants and flowers, so yesterday I treated myself to some tulips. It is also a time to crave asparagus and strawberries. Not that we can't get them all year round at inflated prices no less, but that they seem to taste different as well.
Yesterday Liz was supposed to spend the whole day with me but the paying job... was calling and she had to work overtime. However when she did get here we had quite a profitable afternoon before we tucked into a slow cooked pot roast and fruit crumble. Nothing like comfort food to...well comfort you.

We decided to go to the conference in June and hopefully the taxman will help us pay for this investment in Jamie Tremain.
Reading the first two chapters we still fiddled around with little words but we are definitely finished and it is being sent out to three agents this week. One American, one British and one Canadian. That will leave us free to go back to Body Perfect as it may be months before we ever hear from them. That is just the nature of the business. An editor will evaluate the manuscript at Bloody Perfect. Will tell you more about the conference when we get an agenda.

Easter next w/e and hope to spend time with a couple of grandsons. Not sure about the weather but as long as the sun is shining.

Talk later,
Pam