14 Dec Some Wrapping Up
Ten days till Christmas Eve! I like the lead up to the big day although it can be stressful, shopping and planning meals and decorating. I’m almost done shopping and spent an afternoon wrapping gifts. Ted and I also made our annual trip to the LCBO to replenish our liquor cabinet for the holidays – one of my favourite outings of the season. We have two Christmases – one with our oldest daughter Lisa next Saturday and then the actual day, which we will spend with our youngest Julia and her partner’s family as Lisa and her husband join his family. It’s not actually as complicated as it sounds 🙂
To kick off the season, Barbara Fradkin and I were guests of Capital Crime Writers at their annual dinner at Capone’s restaurant. It was a lovely evening as I saw some people I hadn’t seen in a while and met some new members before we gave our talk. We interviewed each other with a focus on our writing process and the publishing world since we were speaking to fellow crime writers. The evening was relaxed and fun and turned out just fine. If you are an aspiring crime fiction writer living in Ottawa, this is a great group to join for support. They have some interesting guest speakers at their monthly meetings, including police officers and other subject experts, such as psychologists and private eyes. I learned a lot from these meetings over the years.
I’ve continued to take a break from writing this month although I have to admit that I’m missing being at the keyboard. I’m hoping to have some feedback on my manuscript from at least one of my readers soon after Christmas so that I can get back at it. Â I’ll work through some ideas in the meantime as I narrow in on my next project. Lots of time though to figure out what I want to do next. While I’m at loose ends, I’ve actually started cleaning out my office, shredding a full bag of documents. Still a ways to go so hope I can keep the momentum going (I’ve already tired of it.)
On Thursday, I made another guest appearance on 1310 News The Power Lunch. Sitting in the waiting area with the other guest, we realized that Andrew Scheer had stepped down as Conservative leader minutes before and knew that we would be pre-empted. The host Mark Sutcliffe juggled the live speeches in the House of Commons with our interview, so rather exciting to experience live breaking news. Mark decided to go from a four-hour daily show to one hour a day in the new year so The Power Lunch will not be the same format as now. My days as a news commentator could be drawing to a close 🙂
Well, another cup of coffee and then get this day underway. We woke up to a nasty, rainy, windy morning so this will be a good day to start the Christmas baking. The steady downpour is supposed to turn into freezing rain tonight with cold and snow tomorrow … a typical wacky December weekend in Ottawa. I might have to hibernate under a blanket until Monday.
Stay dry my friends.