home

rian, sleet, rain, wind, rain - temps hovering around freezing

But who cares??? We're home!!!

Arrived back mid afternoon yesterday. Had lunch on the way down with our friend Louise, in Granby. She's doing amazingly well. It's been just over 2 months now since Jacques died. We felt just awful about having to leave her so soon after - but we tried to keep in touch via email and phone calls - but it's not the same. Luckily she has other close friends who have been there for her every day - including our mutual friend Louise. (Yes - another one!)

Then visited Joan in the Cowansville hospital - she's also doing great after her second hip replacement.

Then....then...home! The place looked amazing. Cheryl must have slaved to get it so sparkling clean, and hardly any fire damage, or evidence of the biker parties they threw. (We kept getting very funny messages from Gary and cheryl describing debauched parties and catastrophic damages - at least, we presumed they were funny - happy to get in and have that confirmed)

Sunday morning Michael and I went off to Nick's in Montreal for breakfast. As I slid into the booth (not our regular one) I was confronted by a haggard looking old woman - then I realized it was a mirror! I was stunned. It looked as though I'd fallen from a great height into a bucket of wrinkles.

Eyes all puffy and, yes, wrinkled. Hair gray and quite wild...not pleasingly touseled, but sort of demented. Skin blotchy. Eyes dull.

The bright lights didn't help, but unless I want to become nocturnal, this is pretty much the lighting of life. Broad daylight. Now I know why they call it 'broad' daylight. I looked like an old broad. It should be changed to old broad daylight.

Normally this wouldn't matter all that much, expect that I have a photo shoot tomorrow. Gary's coming over to take pictures to accompany an article in the Globe and Mail. I'm afraid I will look like a crease. Oh well. Happily most people don't care what writers look like. In fact, the more demented the better. So, this could be considered good news.

Was looking forward to a completely quiet day. We asked everyone to maybe just pretend we're not home until tomorrow. And it worked well until 8am - when I realized I'd forgotten to get milk. Then discovered the Beetle convertible had a dead battery. So by 8:30 I was driving what Michael calls the 'real' car into the village for milk and Michael was calling the CAA for the toy car.

By the end of the day (now) we've returned all the phone calls, opened all the mail (including an odd invoice - someone seems to think I ordered 56 copies of The Canadian Railway Trilogy by Gordon Lightfoot....unless, Gary and Cheryl....

And we've done a load of laundry...and boosted the car, of course. Not exactly the quiet day we'd yearned for. But there's a huge difference between having to do something and choosing to do it. I'm sitting in the living room, in front of the fire, having opened the mail, read two newspaper and have Bach's concerto for violins playing.

The photo above shows Trudy with her 'bone', Michael, the gray day outside - and the beautiful flowers Cheryl and Gary left on the kitchen table. How wonderful it is to be home. But even better, how wonderful it is to be home with friends.

Oh, and had wonderful news about the novella, THE HANGMAN. It was written, as many of you know, for GoodReads, to help promote literacy for adults - so while the Gamache and Three Pines story is, I hope, complex - the style is clear and simple...for adults learning to read. Well, the publisher is in Alberta and she submitted for the Alberta Reader's Choice awards and it has been longlisted! Another GoodREads author, Gail Anderson-Dargatz's book THE STALKER, has also made the longlist! How exciting that books aimed at emerging readers can also be considered literature. Excellent!!!

And - I was just about to hit 'publish post' but Michael came in with the news that AudioFile Magazine in the US has named BURY YOUR DEAD one of the top 10 audio books of the Year!!! This is a huge honour for me - but mostly it's a reflection of the brilliance of Ralph Cosham, who is the reader.

Absolutely wonderful news!!!

Well, this is what happens on quiet days.

The Brutal Telling - audio

partly cloudy, cold, temps 4

I think maybe the lilac have survived! Not sure about the peony, and we just heard there's a hard frost expected for tonight. Oh well. It's not the worst thing if we go a year without the flowers, just as long as the bushes etc survive. And I think they will.

Had FAB news about the audio book for The Brutal Telling. Audiofile Magazine has given it a great review, and the prestigious Earphones Award. Here's the review...

THE BRUTAL TELLING
Louise Penny, Read by Ralph Cosham • Unabridged • MAY 2010
Blackstone Audiobooks • Trade Ed.
Blackstone Audiobooks • Library Ed.

This delightful listening experience involves Chief Inspector Armand Gamache as he investigates the murder of an unidentified elderly man in the Quebec town of Three Pines. The story involves the shocking discovery of priceless European treasures that disappeared during WWII. This French-Canadian cozy is infused with humor. Ralph Cosham delivers a delightful accent for Gamache and invests all the characters with small-town likability. His droll presentation displays special empathy for the town eccentric, anglophile Ruth Zardo, and her duck, Rosa. Dry wit and a love of language are evident in this well-crafted mystery. S.C.A. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

And - Booklist has named the audio version of The Brutal Telling one of the top ten audio mystery books of the year! Ralph Cosham, who reads the books. Congratulations, Ralph!!!

There was a flurry of concerns a week or so ago when it became apparent that there was a problem with the next book. The audio version of BURY YOUR DEAD is being done by another publisher and they'd chosen a different narrator. Everyone objected and they realized that they could not do better than Ralph! I think each audio publisher has their own informal 'stable' of actors, and they thought to go with one of their own...until their heard Ralph. And realized he'd been lauded for his readings of this series, and others.

So - double yippee.

So far I've spent all of today in my sweats in front of the fireplace (dear lord, we still need it...snow has stopped falling but it is still on the ground!!)

The goal today is to find a place to stay on the Sunshine Coast of BC when we're there for the Sechelt literary festival. While at the fest they look after our accommodation, but Michael and I decided we'd like to go a few days early and explore this gorgeous part of British Columbia. But we can't find a place to stay! I think the fact I like luxury and peace and privacy (and a spa) might be limiting the choices. But might as well try. Worst case, we just stay for a few days in Vancouver - which is also gorgeous.

So - a no-lose.

Be well - speak to you tomorrow.