Editing Book 8

overcast, some showers, mild, temps 14

But wow, was it cold last night. Instead of our regular duvet, we have at the cottage layers and layers of blankets....and flannel sheets (love flannel anything - if I could have had a flannel wedding dress, I would have). Very snug and cozy under the layers. we always leave the windows open to get a cross draft and awoke this morning almost seeing our breaths! Agony getting out from under the snug, warm sheets. I whispered to Michael a few times...'You have to use the bathroom....you have to use the bathroom'. Eventually it worked and he got up, and once up, he closed all the windows.

I rolled over, Trudy got up on the bed, and we snoozed. Until Michael came back and practically sat on top of us.

Time to get up.

Besides, we had to scoot out of there and headed into Montreal. Appointment to get the car 'winterized'. A term I still use, though the dealership assured us that was now long passed. No longer necessary, with all the improvements. Now it simply means putting the tires on. Left the car there and grabbed a lift back to our apartment in Montreal.

We love it here. Like having a vacation in a city we adore. Will head out for lunch soon. We walk everywhere when we're in Montreal. It's such an old city, by North American standards - and a fairly compact one....at least the core is. We can walk almost from one end to the other....but most of what we want is within an easy walk. Off either to the bistro or the terrace for lunch.

then will spend the afternoon working more on the editor's notes. Such a joy to be back at the monastery with Gamache and Beauvoir. To be among the humble, though murderous, monks. To hear their chants, and smell the scents of the wilderness and the rituals. It's called The Beautiful Mystery.

Someone, who heard the title, wondered if it had to do with Williams Disease. I'd heard of this disease - and actually saw a documentary about it....but my book is about Gregorian chants and the beautiful mystery that is music, and what it does to our brains, and our spirits. Williams disease is something else, but can also be very beautiful....as I understand it (and forgive me if I get it wrong, this does come from a position of some ignorance) Williams Disease describes certain children who seem to be born perpetually happy and trusting. Sometimes with developmental issues - but their main characteristic seems to be overwhelming trust and delight. this, you'd think, would be a very good thing. Imagine seeing the world and others like that? But it can lead to terrible abuses by others - and great distress when the children find themselves inexplicably hurt.

Apologies if I've oversimplified (which I'm sure I have) - and to those who have more intimate experience with it.

but, as I say, my Beautiful Mystery really explores music - and communication. And a few other issues.

Am now 200 pages into the manuscript, looking at the editors notes. As I've said, at this stage it's a wonderfully creative and collaborative process. We all want the same thing - for this to be the very best book it can be, and the best book I can write. And it gets that way with the help of the keen eye of editors, who know the books and characters, who know me, and who only want the books to be a huge success....and for you to absolutely love it as much as we do.

So, as with most things, it's a process. Often painful, often difficult, often an outright joy as something good becomes better. Which is what I hope and trust is happening here. Still, whatever happens, there is great comfort in knowing we have all done our very best. No matter what happens.

Off to Toronto tomorrow to celebrate my brother Doug's 50th birthday. Such fun! We had one celebration over Thanksgiving, when the whole family was there. And now another one on his actual date. Then home - to see how far the construction will have gone in our absence.

Hope you're thriving, and warm, and comforted. Speak soon.