Proof

beautiful sunny day, cool - temps 6

heavy frost on the ground this morning. temp minus 1 when we left for birthday breakfast with Cheryl. Such a fun time. She just turned 50...and I'm turning 52. Wonderful to have a friend going through exactly the same things, same issues, as I am. Feeling in many ways stronger, more confident - but also questioning alot of things in our lives. And in ourselves. And how to become better people. And still be true to who we are. When to bend and when to stand firm.

A life-long learning, at least for me.

so it's always wonderful to speak to Cheryl, who is funny, kind, thoughtful - and honest about how she's feeling.

Dropped by the guest cottage later in the afternoon - the new balcony is looking spectacular. Had to climb a ladder to get up. then walked out onto the dock and almost fell through. Gary...are you listening? (or even reading??) the dock needs replacing!!!

I'll tell you, this guest cottage - if anything can go wrong, it will. do you remember last autumn when suddenly the septic tank needed replacing and michael fell into it? Between Michael and Trudy it's no wonder guests prefer their own separate home.

Busy day. had a conference call about the US cover for Bury Your DEad. VERY exciting. Can hardly wait for you to see it.

And the Advance Readers Copies (ARCs) of Bury Your Dead will be ready soon! I'm going to give two away with the May newsletter and every subsequent newsletter until publication in September. Good luck.

Between calls and emails (trying to set-up Canadian tours as well and have just been invited to the International Festival of Authors in Toronto) I managed about 12-hundred words today.

And then Michael said he had a tooth ache. So we called the dentist in Montreal and tried to book in for today, but could only get tomorrow at 4:30. In Montreal. But I have a big interview with VITA magazine (the French equivalent of MORE Magazine) tomorrow at 2pm. here.

I wrote Annick, the lovely woman writing the article and asked if she could come earlier, and explained why. She very kindly wrote back to say she can make it another day. So we've re-scheduled for April 28th - just before we head to Washington for Malice domestic.

Finished the page proofs last night - and today I sent off an email with all the corrections. SO theilled to have that done. Always a huge job.

So - will write tomorrow morning, we'll hop in the car (Pat and Tony will come and sit Trudy) - and head to the Mtl apartment. We've decided since we'll be going to Burlington, VT for dinner Saturday to celebrate our friend Susan's birthday (and staying the night) we might as well stay in MTL and drive directly down on Saturday.

Logistics.

Didn't worry about the bear yesterday. By the way, that 'Someone's been sleeping in my bed...' line from yesterday's blog came from Gary who guffawed when I told him my fear that Smokey would get into the house, and come gunning for us.

Be well - might not blog tomorrow, but will try to get back to you on Friday.