07 Oct Celebration Time
Thanksgiving weekend always feels like one of hope as we gather around the dinner table with family and friends and share a meal made from autumn bounty. For our family, we’ve rarely had a Thanksgiving supper with our entire family since both girls curled competitively and were usually away. We adjusted by having a meal with whoever was around, including neighbours and friends. I’ve enjoyed cooking a turkey and making pies most years, but this one will be different again … I’ll let you know next Saturday what and where Ted and I will be celebrating, but Sunday marks our wedding anniversary and we have something special planned!
I’ve plugged away at writing tasks this week. Sunday morning, Lauren Iibury of Roma Reads Publishing in Britain interviewed me for her podcast. It was an enjoyable half hour and I was able to think on my feet since I had no idea the questions ahead of time. I’m not sure when my interview will be posted but will link to it once it is.
Monday, I posted on 7 Criminal Minds blogspot, and you can read my take on reading and writing scary stories here. Also on Monday, I sent my latest manuscript to my editor Allister Thompson and now eagerly await his feedback.
I spent another morning drafting a post for Shepherd’s – they contacted me last year to write about the best characters in crime fiction series. (Here is the link to my answer), and this time, they want my top three reads for last year. Happily, I’ve been keeping track of books read, although coming up with just three was difficult. More and more, I find that comparing books and saying which is better than the other is a hard and sometimes unfair exercise – in effect pitting books against each other. Maybe it would be better to put them in recommended or not recommended categories? Not sure since the books I enjoy might not be the ones someone else enjoys. This extends into contests and many lists that say ‘book of the year’. Did you know that each contest has a submission fee and the author or publisher has to send books (usually three) with postage, which isn’t nothing these days. So the winning choices are limited to books submitted and not all the books written in whatever category during a given year. This might seem obvious, but it’s something to consider.
Also this week, I read a Miramachi Reader review for the first time for a Butterfly Kills review that I find intriguing and dare I say powerful. The best part is that the reviewer says she’s hooked to read more of my books 🙂
And finally this week, I spent some time on the business side of writing, catching up on some behind the scenes stuff, trying to keep tasks from piling up.
So, all in all, a more productive week than the one before. I’m getting closer to starting the first chapter of book four in the series as I’ve been rolling ideas around in my mind. It has been good to spend a few weeks recharging but I’m ready to get back at the keyboard.
Happy Thanksgiving, my Canadian friends and Happy Columbus Day to those south of the border. Here are a few photos from autumns past to brighten this rainy weekend.
