Tuesday 8 November 2011

A Perfecter Day!




sunny, very mild, temps 10

A stunningly beautiful stretch of days here in Quebec. Way milder than usual. Michael and I are at Hovey, and we spent the morning, after breakfast, sitting on the wide verandah with a coffee and the newspaper. Bundled up, but sitting in the sun and loving the fresh air and peace and quiet.

This morning for breakfast we had an omelet with melted brie, sauteed mushrooms, stewed apples and honey. With bacon and sausages on the side. I took a photo of it...oooops. Jeez, in the short time it took to describe it, it's gone! Michael?!

Speaking of Michael - there's a photo of him and Francine, at breakfast. the other shot is the salad I had for lunch yesterday. We took my beetle in to the dealership to get the winter tires on (though when it's this mild it's hard to believe winter will truly arrive - how soon we forget just a week or so ago!) then headed to Hovey yesterday morning in time for breakfast...then met Danie Beliveau of Tourisme Estrie (eastern townships) for lunch. She had a proposal she wanted to make.

She'd like to create a special Three Pines tour of the townships, based on places that have inspired the books. Very fun to think about...though as I said to Danie, the problem is that so much of the books really is fictional...my ideal. But quite a few places have been mentioned, and have inspired the feelings of the books. So we're considering it. The tour would be self-directing....letting people download it in English or French from the tourism site, and provide a map and some suggestions.

This has been a wonderful day or so at Hovey Manor...not just intrinsically beautiful - but we received some fabulous news!

Yesterday, A TRICK OF THE LIGHT was named one of the Top Ten Crime Fiction books of the year by Publishers Weekly.

Today, A TRICK OF THE LIGHT was named one of the Ten Best Mystery/Thrillers of the Year by Amazon.com.

Yipppeee!!!

And, yesterday afternoon, I finished the final editor notes on THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY - and sent it off to my New York and London editors. Phew!! How lovely to do it at Hovey.

So much to celebrate. Wow. And finishing the editor's notes brought it home to me yet again (though I have to say, I'm keenly away of this all the time) that this is a team effort. The writing, the editing, the cover design, the publicity, the tour, and the readers. you're the ones who bring the characters and the books to life. We share these honours.

Well, back to doing not much of anything here at the Manoir. Hope you're enjoying your day.

8 comments:

leni said...

I think it is appropriate that I am reading "A Trick Of The Light" as I look over what you wrote. I am jealous over your breakfast;-)

I just wanted to say that I thoroughly enjoy your books. Your writing is lyrical and I find myself re-reading a page just to chew on the words slowly. One such passage was when Clara 'wakes up'. Yum yum.

Will be anticipating the next one.


Thank you.
Leni Siddiqi

Anonymous said...

Hi Louise, yes, we are enjoying great weather in Montreal as well.

The Three Pines Tour is a wonderful idea since it can boost tourism in the Eastern Townships and promote the Gamache series at the same time. Will it start or end in one of the local bookstores where the participants could get a stamp "tour completed" and maybe acquire one of Louise's (signed) books?

VT

Nancy said...

Your Michael looks in his photos to be a good natured fellow. With the breakfast you described, who wouldn't be?
I'm so glad that you are collecting awards for the Three Pines series!

Anonymous said...

In 2000 we traveled to England. My partner asked what I wanted particularly to see and I answered "St. Mary's Mead." She did a ton of web search and discovered that Miss Marple series was filmed in Nether Wallop. Yep, went there, got the tee shirt.

Now I am ready for a driving trip to all of the permutations of Three Pines. Thanks in advance.

Ann in Rochester

Barbara said...

A Three Pines tour is a brilliant idea. I would definitely drive to Quebec (which I have never seen) to take the tour.

lil Gluckstern said...

Congratulations, I wonder if you will walk away with all those awards and more. Just a wonderful, moving book. Great food, great rest, great news, and Michael-what a day!

Colombine said...

Félicitations pour les nominations Louise! C'est super!

Quand on sait ce qu'est écrire, on accepte la reconnaissance avec plaisir.

A "Three Pines Tour"... quelle bonne idée!

À bientôt!

Famille Gerdel said...

Alors là, mes félicitations Louise pour tout ce succès de librairie: chapeau!

Dire que j'en serai bientôt à la lecture de ton premier livre. Bien oui, il me faut bien commencer par le début! ;-)

Pas mal l'article de presse paru dans Cyberpresse, ce matin. Tu es déjà une excellente ambassadrice de Québec.

À la reparlure!

Anne
Ville de Québec
(50 ans)

Article de presse: http://www.cyberpresse.ca/le-soleil/actualites/la-capitale/201111/12/01-4467311-vivre-en-anglais-a-lombre-des-remparts.php?utm_categorieinterne=trafficdrivers&utm_contenuinterne=cyberpresse_B4_en-manchette_2238_section_POS2