Yuck!

snow, strong winds, temps minus 4

Just so you know, the title of this post contains a typo.

Storm blew in about 2 hours ago. Not actually all that much snow, but dastardly strong winds. The mudroom (so appropriately named) door blew open and I didn't discover it until I went to take Trudy for her walk and check the mailbox. sitting in the living room, writing, I could feel a slight chill, and a draft. Little did I know the outside was piling into the house like marauders. And our heat was, understandably, fleeing.

but now we're sealed in tight. Or at least as tight as a united empire loyalist brick home gets.

March is a good month to be away from Quebec. As is, I have to say, April. Indeed, April might be a worse month here than even March. Only because of all the false hope. Each year we think maybe this really is it. Spring is here, for real. And each year our tender hope is crushed under yet another snow storm.

So one in mid-March is not exactly a big surprise.

I hear from some of your comments on yesterday's post that we're far from the only ones getting this storm. C'est la vie, I guess. And if we choose to live here, what can we expect?

The problem really is the transition months. Mid-March to mid-April. Mid-November to mid-December.

I'm thinking next year we might try to get to London for April. We've spent the month of April there in the past, renting a flat. But I found it frustrating to try to write when one of the great cities of the world was calling. Too many distractions. And when I was out enjoying London, I was frustrated because I felt I needed to be writing.

But I think I've matured enough in my writing and my process that fear, while always there, plays less of a role. Spends less time in the drivers seat. Yes - next April in London would be fabulous. And Michael's birthday is in April. It would be a fun way to celebrate.

As you see - I dream ahead.

Writing forging ahead. One foot in front of the other. I think it's going well...but then sometimes I feel as though while the word-count is going up, the story is not actually progressing. But I feel like that with all the books. And I might actually be right....and have to remember that with a first draft it doesn't matter. It will never be right the first time.

Issues like pacing are often, for me, more obvious and solved in later drafts - when I can see the arc. Right now the focus is on characters and plot. Getting those forged.

At almost 25-thousand words now. About a quarter of the way through the first draft. And when I finish the first draft I figure I'm about half way through writing the book. There will be at least four sometimes five, six or seven more drafts. But with each one the changes get smaller and smaller. Until it is just polishing. changing a word here or there. Things no one else might notice, but I do.

And still, without exception, when I read the final draft, after the books is out, I cringe, and wish I had just one more go at it.

Off to Montreal tomorrow...pat and tony and their one remaining dog, Filo, moving in to look after the house and Trudy.