A chilly but pleasant day

blustery, light flurries, bitter cold, temps -2


It feels far colder than it is - I think it's the wind. Took the dogs around the pond this morning and it was fine, then tried at noon and only got as far as the water, tossed the ball a couple of times, cried, poop! Pee! at them, gave them a cookie then scaddadled back home.


To the fireplace.

To Pat's homemade parsnip soup, like velvet.

To the warm laptop - and THE BRUTAL TELLING.


Am now at page 399 - out of 530. Need to finish by Thursday when I head to Quebec City for an event at this fabulous bookstore there called La Maison Anglaise. That's at 7pm on Friday. Though I have a CBC interview at 5pm. Then back to Montreal the next day to do a signing at the Salon Du Livres - the massive Quebec bookfair. That's on Saturday from 2-3. Then have to rush home, pack and head to the airport for the evening flight to Paris.


Can hardly wait, as you might imagine.


But between now and then I need to finish this polish. It's going well. Infact, I'm really enjoying it...both the book and the process. As those of you who have been reading the blog for the past year know - there have been times with this book I've just wanted to throw it, or me, off the roof. It's been, alternately, brilliant and a pile of crap.


So hard to tell the difference when it's the censurous little voice in my head doing the telling.

But now I see the shape of it, the structure, the characters. I see them and feel them, follow them. I can see the bumps that need smoothing, the slow parts that need zipping up, or taking out. But it really is fine-tuning at this stage. Phew.


Had a wonderful parcel waiting for us when we got home yesterday...it was a quite large box and inside were two cocktail glasses, heavy, elegant, and etched with three pine trees, then underneath were the words, Three Pines.


They were - and are - stunning. And inside was a card from Donald Pile and Ray Williams. They're award winning celebrity travel columnists...syndicated in gay publications across North America. They'd heard of Three Pines and written to tell me some of their readers had told them about the books...so I sent them a couple. And now we're making tentative plans to meet in Maine in mid-June. Who knows, but they sure seem like extremely kind, very interesting people.


As you can see one of the very unexpected and delightful gifts of having books published in meeting people I would never normally meet. And seeing how much kindness there is out there.


Am off - the bath calls, and I for one can never resist.