28 Nov November Projects
Good Saturday morning. Another busy week just zipped by. We’re into the last week of November, which is a bit mind-blowing. Three weeks until Christmas, such as it will be this year.
I buckled down this week and got working on my manuscript, clocking in at 55,000 words. My writing follows such an odd process, but one I’ve come to anticipate. I start off slowly, take breaks, fuss and settle in. Write a bit. Take more breaks. Along about the 40,000 word mark, I start to pick up speed. By the time I’m at 55,000 words, I can see the end far off in the distance and I’m raring to get there. This is the fun part 🙂
I recorded a new interview this week with an Ottawa author named Barry Finlay. He’s led an interesting life since retirement, including writing several books, and I hope you’re able to watch the video when it is posted on the Crime Writers of Canada Youtube site, probably later this week. Vicki Delany interviewed me last week and this video was posted on Thursday so you can watch it now. I have five more authors lined up so subscribe to the channel and follow along!
So the weeks have been going so quickly that for the first time, I forgot it was my week to post on 7 Criminal Minds blogspot. I realized at five o’clock that night that it was my turn. I sat down and hammered out a post … short but sweet.
I’ve done most of my Christmas shopping this year online. Last year, I bought nothing online. I miss being out in the stores this time of year, actually liking the hustle and bustle and decorations. I’m not sure I spent any less in the end either. I’m hoping to get back to normal next year. We aren’t planning any get-togethers this holiday season although our daughter Julia and her dog plan to come stay for a few days through Christmas. We’ll likely raise a glass with a few neighbours in someone’s backyard with a fire pit going, but that’s the extent of the socializing, and even that at a distance. I hope that we never take for granted how much being with people means to us. Giving hugs. Sharing a meal inside. Sitting next to each other with a cup of coffee. This pandemic distils down what’s important in a crystal clear way.
Time for coffee and getting this day underway. Five women in my bookclub are coming by this afternoon to meet outside. We have three fire pits to huddle around, well spaced out. Let’s hope the cold rain holds off. I much prefer the snow to this messy weather but Mother Nature doesn’t consult with me before choosing what to throw at us. That’s what happens when you get a job for life 🙂 If you want to read a book in which winter is a real cold, snowy season like in the good ‘ole days, In Winter’s Grip could be the ticket….I might send a copy to M.N. to jog her memory.