12 Sep How I Spent My Summer Vacation
Welcome back to my Saturday morning blog! I hope you had a healthy, restful but invigorating summer with lots of adventures.
Soon after I stopped blogging in the spring, Ted and I caught a plane to Paris and then a smaller plane to Nice where we spent three weeks from April 23 to May 15. We’d rented a small apartment with a balcony in a bustling part of the city, about a 15 minute walk to the Mediterranean. There were cafes/pubs at either end of our street and boulangeries around every corner. We used local transit and made several trips to towns along the Riviera – Eze, Ville Franche-sur-mer, Monaco, Antibes, Cannes – and two nights in Genoa, Italy. Only one day of rain and temps around 20-22 degrees every day. It’s a great way to explore this area of France. We got comfortable in our neighbourhood and didn’t need to cart our luggage around on day trips.
Nice Our wee balcony end of day
And back to writing. With Dundurn releasing Nobody Tell in January, I slowed my pace on the 5th Hunter and Tate manuscript, figuring to release it later in the summer rather than, well … now. I finished and edited early summer. It’s currently with my editor having been through two Beta readers who give it a big thumbs up.
I’ve also written two short stories for anthologies. A Capital Mystery 2 is currently available on Kindle with the launch a week Wednesday at the Metropolitan on Sussex Drive. Pre-registration is required, but I’d told the event has sold out. It should be a great evening. I’m slated to do a brief reading from my story “Stormy, Stormy Night”.
My second story is in Monsters, a Dundurn publication, which will be coming out in October. This anthology is not just mystery and contributing authors come from across the country. It’s currently available for pre-order on Amazon.
I hadn’t planned to do much publicity this summer but some requests came in and I couldn’t say no:-) In May, I was part of a mystery panel at South Keys Indigo, June had me at a church with Don Butler as part of Open Doors Ottawa and spent the following two Saturdays doing book signings at the Book’s Better in Smiths Falls and Indigo Gloucester respectively. One signing at Indigo Rideau in July and an event organized by T.J. Oliver at the Clocktower pub in Westboro and a Zoom visit to a book club in August. So nothing too heavy, but I managed to keep out and about.
Rideau Indigo signing, and with Lis Angus & Michelle Young at Indigo South Keys
In addition to the A Capital Mystery 2 launch next Wednesday, I’ll be at the Eastern Ontario Writers’ Festival at the Casselman Public Library, 764 Brebeuf Street, on Saturday, September 19 from 1 to 4 p.m. I’ll be sharing a table with Don Butler. It’s a large, highly publicized event and I’m looking forward to meeting lots of readers and other local authors. You can register for tickets on Event brite and be entered into a draw.
Then on Sunday the 20th, Katie Tallo, Tamara Miller and I will be on a panel at the first ever Smiths Falls literary festival from 10 to 11 a.m. It should be a great time with these two lovely women – we’re all thrilled to have been invited to this inaugural event. A huge thank you and shout out to Jennifer at the Book’s Better and to the town of Smiths Falls.
Lots more on my dance card in the upcoming months! You can track my movements on the homepage of my website where I keep the events up to date. Hopefully, our paths will cross along the way. Have a great week and see you back here next Saturday morning 🙂
