13 Apr An Eclipse & Fatal Harvest Release — Two Big Events This Week!
A busy week.
Last Saturday, I curled in a fundraiser called Curling for a Cause with Ted, my daughter Julia and son-in-law Robin (married to Lisa). All told, we raised $12,000 for the Cancer Society, including over $800 raised by raffling off a name in my next book. The winner is Carmen Abela,(how great a name is this?) and here we are pictured after twelve ends of sweeping and throwing rocks. We earned the right to look tired and dishevelled. Carmen is hoping to be the killer, but I can say with certainty … probably not, but one never knows 🙂
Sunday, I met Charlie Senack at a coffee shop in the Glebe for an interview for Kitchissippi Times to mark the release of my 25th book. We then wandered around Bank and Third so Charlie could snap a photo to go with the article. The Glebe is the setting for some of the action in my Hunter and Tate series as Ella Tate lives in an apartment/house at Percy and Third. Always a pleasure to catch up with Charlie – he has to be one of the busiest reporters in the city!
Monday was spent chasing the total eclipse of the sun. The phenomenon certainly caught the public’s imagination as people gathered along its path wearing special glasses to prevent eye damage. I can remember another eclipse when I was quite a bit younger. My mother took us to a neighbour’s and we sat in their living room with the curtains drawn. I had planned to do much the same this time until my neighbour Carol convinced me it would be much more fun to go to their cottage outside Perth with a picnic lunch and a bottle of Prosecco. I aimed my camera at the sky without being able to see through my glasses — the photo below doesn’t really capture the eclipse, but it’s suitably spooky. We rounded out the day with dinner at the Ashton Pub, which happens to be in my next book, Fatal Harvest, now available in paperback from Amazon with the ebook version on sale everywhere on Monday.
On the writing front, Fatal Harvest received a good review in The Glebe Report yesterday. You always look for a take-away quote, and here is the one I found: “…Chapman delivers her trademark twist. You may think you know what is going on. But you don’t. As with the earlier books in this series, the plotting is strong and the character development consistent.”
I didn’t write as much as I had hoped this week, what with curling and the eclipse, but I reached 49,600 words. I was also working to get my bookkeeping completed for the taxman, and this chore took quite a bit of time. I figure I have another hour or so and it will be done for another year. Man, I hate tax time.
So, back to the keyboard this week. I’m starting into the last section of the manuscript and feeling my way forward. All the plot lines are coming together and the climax is imminent. Some days this writing gig is a lot of fun.