Knowlton Wordfest

mixed day - some bright sunny periods, then heavy rain. Laundry on the line - of course. Still, our clothes have seen worse things than rainwater. Temps 25

Geo-thermal is finished and working brilliantly!!! In fact, it started working immediately - that was a week ago. Phil, from ClimaPur, pressed a button and within a minute we could feel cool air. for the first time ever, our old farmhouse had central air! Though clearly that wasn't the reason for putting in the geo. Actually, there were a few reasons. We wanted to be more responsible, and energy efficient. We had oil heat and that's just expensive and polluting, especially compared to hydro or certainly, geo-thermal. And we also wanted to not worry about what was happening in the world. To be so dependent on dictators and oligarchies. Multi-nationals.

But - get this - within a minute of the geo being turned on...there was a massive power failure! Caused, we were assured, not by us - it was county wide. And lasted 12 hours. So much for geo. or anything.

But when the electricity came back on, so did the air conditioning. Mostly, of course, we want it for the heating in the winter.

In doing research on geo I read an ad that said, 'We turn dirt into heat'. and that's what it does. Takes cool, or heat, from the earth and uses it in our home. For about the price of running a refrigerator.

Of course, the initial cost is huge. But we figure if we live another 93 years, we'll have it paid off. (actually, in our case, the geo will have paid for itself in 4 years.)

Del, Lise's wonderful husband, came by with his team on Saturday, and smoothed out the earth, put down good soil, and seeded. In a few months we don't even know it's happened.

That's the plan.

Editing going well. Up to page 125 - out of 290. Dropped almost 5,000 words so far. Want to drop another 5,000. But right now the goal is the best book, not the shortest.

The big event this week is the literary festival in the nearby Quebec village of Knowlton. it's regularly voted one of the prettiest in Canada. It's just lovely....and one of the inspirations for Three Pines - though Knowlton is much bigger. And exists.

This coming weekend is the second annual WordFest. And what a thrilling line-up!!! Shelagh Rogers is coming....she one of the most prominent Canadian journalists and radio hosts with CBC. She was just given the Order of Canada. Her programme is called The Next Chapter, and is about books. She'll be staying in the guest cottage, with susan. they're good friends. And shelagh will be doing a number of events at WordFest.

Some of the other guests are: kathleen Winter, who wrote the hugely successful book, Annabel, which was shortlisted for, among other things, the Governor General's Award for Literature.

Anne Fortier, who wrote Juliet.

Kim Thuy - who'se first book, Ru, won the Governor General's Award as well as the grand prize at the 2010 Salon du Livres in Montreal.

Sheree Fitch is a massively talented and successful writer of children's books. she's also a poet.

And there are all sorts of other great literary guests.

I'll be doing two events. on Saturday afternoon, between 4:30 and 5:30, I'll be interviewing the magnetic Kevin Tierney. He's a screen writer and film producer/director. He produced and co-wrote the highest grossing film in Canadian history, Bon Cop, Bad Cop - which is hilarious! His latest film is about to come out and is called French Immersion, co-written with one of the most prominent and successful Canadian screenwriters, who also happens to be a neighbor here, Jefferson Lewis.

Kevin and I will take the stage at the Old Masonic Hall, at 79 Lakeside, on Saturday. It's a ticketed event, as most are.

and on sunday night I'll be giving the keynote talk at the Peter Gzowski dinner for Literacy, to wrap-up WordFest. Shelagh will be the MC for the evening.

If you want more info, or tickets, you can call Danny and Lucy at Brome Lake Books in Knowlton - 450-242-2242 or email them, blb@b2b2c.ca

In fact, Michael, cotton and I are having dinner tonight with Danny and Lucy and the kids. Looking forward to it.

speak soon - hope you're thriving!

Geo-thermal

mainly sunny, hot, temps 29

Beautiful day! Lots of deer flies...annoying little bug***s.

I spent the last two days (one night) at the spa Eastman, to celebrate our friend Louise's 50th birthday. We had a blast. Massages, walks. A lecture last night on reflexology. This morning Louise helped me practice for two french interviews today. A TV interview - which was very fun, but very stressful - and a radio interview, with Radio Canada - with two other authors, Johanne Seymour and Andre Jacques. Both write crime fiction. So that was easier...others to take the burden.

enjoyed both a great deal! One of the great things at this spa is that there were no TV's or phones in the rooms, and guests were asked (told) not to use cell phones, laptops or blackberries in the public areas. Unbelievably relaxing to not even see them. But - for the first time ever - I forgot my blackberry at home...and so had no way to contact Michael, since there were no phones in the rooms! Luckily Louise has a cell and she lent it to me. So a couple of calls a day...a nighty-night and a good morning.

Felt very strange.

This afternoon I headed home to Michael and the chaos. It actually wasn't chaos, it just appeared that way. the geo-thermal is going in and I have to say, it's not exactly like a calm walk through the forest. there were two massive earth diggers, men laying piping, others draining our old oil tanks and others removing the old furnace - to be donated to a family who needs one. Poor Michael was here all day yesteday and reported that it was extremely stressful. I arrived home mid-afternoon and immediately lost all benefits from the spa.

It was seeing our beautiful lawns dug up, And the noise. Wow, does that wear fast. Still, there was nothing we could do except trust. And by 7pm, the diggers had left, having filled in the holes and leveled the earth. Quiet was restored. And phil and rob were working in the basement, to get it all hooked-up.

We were hoping to be finished today - but something sprang a leak and they realized they just couldn't finish tonight. So they went off to the guest cottage - and now I finally get a chance to sit down and write you.

You know, this is all wonderful...but when we yearn for peace and quiet and find both shattered, it gnaws away. Still, I'm very lucky to have good friends to celebrate birthdays with...and the chance to go to a spa. And the chance to put in geo-thermal.

Tomorrow it's back to editing. had some thoughts while away. I think they'll work. We'll see.

Oh, Danny and Lucy at Brome Lake Books are having some trouble with their computers and other stuff - so if you're trying to order the vive gamache mugs and either haven't heard back or are waiting for them, they asked me to ask if you'd mind holding tight for a few days until things get sorted out. They also asked me to tell you not to worry - they'll get to all the emails and orders and the mugs will be sent out asap.

we're starting up the geo-thermal tomorrow morning....I'll let you know how it goes. Fingers crossed!!!

In the beginning...

snow squalls, chilly, temps minus 5

Well, now the sun is almost out. A few minutes ago we couldn't see the pine tree just out the back window, for all the snow.

Started Book 8 today. Was expecting and planning to start yesterday - first of March - but then I remembered Deanna was coming to clean and we generally try to be out of her way. Besides, hard to concentrate when all I hear is a vacuum. So we arranged to do errands etc.

But then turns out Deanna's week is next week! D'oh. I hesitate to suggest this was my subconscious looking for one more day of vacation - but if there's one thing on earth lazier than my conscious, it's my sub-conscious.

But here we are! Just finished writing for the day. Always momentous - that first day. I had set a goal of 500 words. Ended up writing just over 900. Feels good. First go a little rough...but I read and re-read and smoothed. And now I like it. Will re-read it tomorrow before starting on the original writing for that day. I find it's important not to get caught up in editing, at least for me. I can smooth and polish and edit for days and weeks and months, ending up with the finest 1000 words you've ever read...but no closer to actually writing the book. For me, editing can be an escape - I can hide in it. Kidding myself I'm being useful, when all I'm doing is running on the spot.

Some people can do it. I can't. For me I need to just keep pressing forward. I read over the work I did the previous day, do some editing and polishing - mostly to get myself back into that world. Then I need to write original text. One small foot in front of the other.

Each book, I realize, has different needs. The previous book - which is at the publishers and will come out in the US and Canada in the fall - is called A TRICK OF THE LIGHT. With that I felt I needed to just get that first damned draft done. No matter what a dog's breakfast it was. And, heaven knows, it was a bit of a mess - that first draft. But that's what editing and second and third and fourth drafts are for. I'll never get it right at first.

But other books - like BURY YOUR DEAD for instance, and this book, I think - I have a better idea initially where I'm going and why - and the themes. And so I plan to write a little slower but a little surer. I suspect the book, and the drafts, will be finished about the same time - they always are - and sent to my agent. But with the '1,000 words a day or more' books the second drafts contain more substantial changes. The '500 words a day' books take longer, but perhaps need fewer changes in the re-writes.

But, honestly - all my first drafts are messes. And while I give myself permission to write only 500 words a day, I really am more of a sprinter. I dash forward....and then go back and clean up the mess. It seems to be in my nature.

So - check back with me in 2 months and we'll see where I am. I'll probably have forgotten all about this newfound insight and will just be bumbling along, at speed.

I find a first draft generally takes 3 months, depending upon how many interruptions I have in that time. All of which I've agreed to. Every year I promise myself to turn down everything in those 3 months, and every year I seem to end up with even more commitments. This year, while april and the beginning of May are quite full - at least March is almost empty. yay.

Michael and I have decided to investigate geo-thermal. We had arranged for someone from NextEnergy to come on Monday - before I'd started writing - to look at the house and give us an idea of what it would cost, what would be the advantages environmentally and economically - and what would be the disruptions. But there was a huge storm - freezing rain, snow, winds yuck! So we re-scheduled for this afternoon at 2. We'll get a few quotes then decide.

At the top, by the way, is a photo of Trudy I took from where I was writing. For three months, as I write, when I look to the right I see the fireplace, lit. If I look to the left I see Trudy with some stuffed toy in her mouth - waiting for me to do something important. Like play.

A small world, but a good one.

Hope you're well. Thanks for coming along as we start Book 8.