torrential rains, temps 18
An absolute deluge today...but we're happy for it. Lovely, misty, mystical evening. Rain stopped, and everything is fragrant. The roses are just coming out and there's the faintest scene of them in the front garden.
We went off to VW in Sherbrooke last night - Walter drove me in his beetle convertible - top down - and Michael followed in his car. It was SO exciting. I can't remember the last time I was this happy about a car - except maybe my very first, which was also a VW convertible. But it was a rabbit. Bright red. Manual. I bought it sight unseen in Thunder Bay...I was in Toronto and about to start my very first professional job - co-hosting the morning show in Thunder Bay. I was 21. I got off the plane and took a taxi to the car dealership. Picked up the car - and then remembered. I don't drive standard. But at 21, who cares?
It leaped and stalled and lurched its way off the lot. I'm sure I saw the salesperson turn away in horror.
Took me weeks to figure out how to get out of second gear.
But I adored that car. Drove it well in to fall with the top down. Ecstasy. Finally sold it years later in Quebec City. By then it was a wreck - the windshield washers wouldn't turn off...there was a tear in the roof from where someone had tried to cut it to break in. The poor thing was on its last legs. But I still loved it.
And by this time tomorrow I'll have another VW convertible. but this time a new beetle. A powder blue. Fabulous. We got home about 10:30 last night. Exhausted but delighted.
Been emailing with Michael's wonderful sister Carol, in London. Her first car was one of the original beetles...here's one of her emails from today...(with her permission)
Yes, I had a beetle, but it had its problems. In the end it was what I had told them all along but they wouldn't believe me. It had water in the petrol tank. I would drive up north to ski and it would conk out or just go slow and then speed up and then go slow until it drove me mad. I sent it in for servicing and ended up with VW taking a keen interest in this knit of a
woman who was calling them out of false pretences. At one point they came all the way up to St. Agathe and, of course, the car worked a dream while they were there and as soon as they had left, literally, it started its little game all over again. I had to threaten to paint lemons all over it before they took it in and actually lent me another car for a week (which I managed to back into a telephone pole giving the back bumper a dent). When I picked it up I asked them what they had done. With sheepish faces they said that all was well. How well? Well, a new petrol tank. Oh, yes and where is it? Well its up in the top of our work room. Can I see it - I just want to see the rust. Well, yes, there had been some water rusting up the petrol tank.... After that it was a dream car and I loved it. I could manage to change gears without using the clutch if I got the revs right, but
don't please try that one. Yours will be known as the 'powder-blue-blondie-with-no-roof-on-top - and nobody will be able to steal it 'cause there won't be another around! What fun you will both have!
Writing today has been distracted...stop start. So far only 2 pages done...yikes. I like what I've done but this is really, really slow. Still, trying not to worry. Better at this stage to be good than to be swift. I think I'll be working until midnight! Oh well - I have a used VW powder blue new beetle convertible. How bad can life be???
Tomorrow is a busy day. Writing in the morning - the a photo shoot for Vita Magazine - a french mag - then off to Sherbrooke to pick up the car!!! Yippee. You can be sure I'll have a goofy smile on my face for the Vita photos!
Showing posts with label Carol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carol. Show all posts
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Ghost cookies and Afternoon Tea
driving rain in am, then clear skies, lovely evening - full moon, temps 14
Still very mild - except in the flat which managed to be quite cold! Last night I boiled up a couple of hot water bottles (we'd brought them from Canada - the first things we pack when coming to the UK, even in summer, are the hot water bottles and long underwear.) How yummy to lie in bed, reading The Times with a hot water bottle at the feet. And London outside our window. Actually, there were fireworks last night for a reason that escapes me. We looked to make sure they were fireworks and not something else...sure enough, burst of colour. At 11pm. Now, November 5th is Guy Faulkes day - commemorating a man who tried, and failed, to blow up the British Houses of Parliament centuries ago. The Brits do fireworks then - but that's a few days away. So we're baffled.
Had breakfast at home this morning...fruit...but couldn't figure out how to run the coffee machine. Very frustrating. So I brewed some tea and after breakfast while I settled down to edit Bury Your Dead Michael went off and got us some coffees and the biggest pannetone I've ever seen. he says it followed him home from a bakery on the King's Road, but I don't think I believe him. But we took it in and it has found a good, though temporary, home with us.
Bury Your Dead in manuscript form on my laptop is 500 pages (it will be a lot less in book-form). So I've set a goal of 100 pages a day. We'll see how it goes. I've learned that I am very goal oriented and do much better if I set one. The downside to that is that I am also very competitive - with myself. So if I set a goal of 100 pages you know I will do 150. Actually, today I did about 105. Might possibly have done more but we wanted to visit Michael's sister Carol.
She and her husband David live just off Sloane Square which is about a 7 minute walk from us. Very fun to be this close. Carol, you might remember, had a serious operation on her spine three weeks ago...then they discovered she needed a pacemaker, then they discovered - in quite dramatic fashion - that she was allergic to morphine. they found this out when she started raving about Kevin Spacey being on the other side of the moon. What seemed most unlikely about that was David's conviction that she'd never heard of Kevin Spacey. She became - in David's words after the fact - a nutter for three days, then slowly regained herself. We can laugh about it now because she's home and on the mend and looking great...but it was scary at the time. Horrible.
So off we went to visit Carol and David...taking along a copy of The Brutal Telling, two bags of jelly beans (Carol's favorites) some chocolate for David and some gourmet meals. After visiting for a while we headed out. Miochael, dear one, had already bought me what they call here an 'oyster card'...it's actually just an ordinary credit card type thing, but for the transport system...you put money on it and swipe it when you get on a bus or the underground. When my wallet was stolen that was one of the things in it...my old oyster card. But we dropped by Peter Jones in Sloane Square to get a new wallet...then up the street to Harvey Nichols, since it was now 5pm and we hadn't yet had lunch. And Harvey Nichs has a wonderful, fun, Japanese suchi bar thing with a conveyor belt. Our idea of heaven. We sit there and like a Disney ride, small dishes of suchi and other Japanese food conveys by. Great fun.
Got there, though, and it was closed for renovations...so we plopped ourselves down and gave ourselves over to temptation in the 5th floor restaurant. Yet another Afternoon Tea...with cucumber sandwiches, crayfish sandwiches, ham and egg, scones with clotted cream, and tons of delicate pastries. It was bliss!
Then the long walk home. We could have hopped on a bus but after that we figured we needed to walk. With the time difference it gets dark really early...about 4:30...so it was pitch black 0 except for this wonderful, stunning, full moon.
How lovely it was to walk hand in hand with Michael through Knightsbridge and Chelsea - tummies full of Afternoon Tea - to our flat. And now we're home...a glass of ginger beer poured and The Times waiting.
Had a call from Rona - John's daughter-in-law. they'd hoped to get him into a hospice today, but he took a turn and now they dare not move him. Frankly, he has far exceeded expectations. the will to live is strong, as is his heart. Everytime they tell the family to say goodbye, John rallies. I remember when my father died the same thing happened. It became a bit of a joke in the family...a hobby...saying goodbye to Dad. That and the fact that since he died around Halloween (this time of year, of course) my brother Doug who was 10 was asked to go out and get cookies so we had something to offer people coming back to the house after the funeral. Doug - a nice lad but perhaps not very bright - bought cookies shaped like ghosts. This is also where the family rumour (started by Rob and me that night) that Doug is adopted comes from.
Tomorrow we plan to go to the Royal Academy - one of our favorite galleries in London - then I'm meeting my agent, Teresa at the Ritz. How fun is that?
Be well - and thank you for all your good wishes...one person described it as placing us in the Light. And John, of course. And now I return the favour - placing you in the light. With thanks.
Still very mild - except in the flat which managed to be quite cold! Last night I boiled up a couple of hot water bottles (we'd brought them from Canada - the first things we pack when coming to the UK, even in summer, are the hot water bottles and long underwear.) How yummy to lie in bed, reading The Times with a hot water bottle at the feet. And London outside our window. Actually, there were fireworks last night for a reason that escapes me. We looked to make sure they were fireworks and not something else...sure enough, burst of colour. At 11pm. Now, November 5th is Guy Faulkes day - commemorating a man who tried, and failed, to blow up the British Houses of Parliament centuries ago. The Brits do fireworks then - but that's a few days away. So we're baffled.
Had breakfast at home this morning...fruit...but couldn't figure out how to run the coffee machine. Very frustrating. So I brewed some tea and after breakfast while I settled down to edit Bury Your Dead Michael went off and got us some coffees and the biggest pannetone I've ever seen. he says it followed him home from a bakery on the King's Road, but I don't think I believe him. But we took it in and it has found a good, though temporary, home with us.
Bury Your Dead in manuscript form on my laptop is 500 pages (it will be a lot less in book-form). So I've set a goal of 100 pages a day. We'll see how it goes. I've learned that I am very goal oriented and do much better if I set one. The downside to that is that I am also very competitive - with myself. So if I set a goal of 100 pages you know I will do 150. Actually, today I did about 105. Might possibly have done more but we wanted to visit Michael's sister Carol.
She and her husband David live just off Sloane Square which is about a 7 minute walk from us. Very fun to be this close. Carol, you might remember, had a serious operation on her spine three weeks ago...then they discovered she needed a pacemaker, then they discovered - in quite dramatic fashion - that she was allergic to morphine. they found this out when she started raving about Kevin Spacey being on the other side of the moon. What seemed most unlikely about that was David's conviction that she'd never heard of Kevin Spacey. She became - in David's words after the fact - a nutter for three days, then slowly regained herself. We can laugh about it now because she's home and on the mend and looking great...but it was scary at the time. Horrible.
So off we went to visit Carol and David...taking along a copy of The Brutal Telling, two bags of jelly beans (Carol's favorites) some chocolate for David and some gourmet meals. After visiting for a while we headed out. Miochael, dear one, had already bought me what they call here an 'oyster card'...it's actually just an ordinary credit card type thing, but for the transport system...you put money on it and swipe it when you get on a bus or the underground. When my wallet was stolen that was one of the things in it...my old oyster card. But we dropped by Peter Jones in Sloane Square to get a new wallet...then up the street to Harvey Nichols, since it was now 5pm and we hadn't yet had lunch. And Harvey Nichs has a wonderful, fun, Japanese suchi bar thing with a conveyor belt. Our idea of heaven. We sit there and like a Disney ride, small dishes of suchi and other Japanese food conveys by. Great fun.
Got there, though, and it was closed for renovations...so we plopped ourselves down and gave ourselves over to temptation in the 5th floor restaurant. Yet another Afternoon Tea...with cucumber sandwiches, crayfish sandwiches, ham and egg, scones with clotted cream, and tons of delicate pastries. It was bliss!
Then the long walk home. We could have hopped on a bus but after that we figured we needed to walk. With the time difference it gets dark really early...about 4:30...so it was pitch black 0 except for this wonderful, stunning, full moon.
How lovely it was to walk hand in hand with Michael through Knightsbridge and Chelsea - tummies full of Afternoon Tea - to our flat. And now we're home...a glass of ginger beer poured and The Times waiting.
Had a call from Rona - John's daughter-in-law. they'd hoped to get him into a hospice today, but he took a turn and now they dare not move him. Frankly, he has far exceeded expectations. the will to live is strong, as is his heart. Everytime they tell the family to say goodbye, John rallies. I remember when my father died the same thing happened. It became a bit of a joke in the family...a hobby...saying goodbye to Dad. That and the fact that since he died around Halloween (this time of year, of course) my brother Doug who was 10 was asked to go out and get cookies so we had something to offer people coming back to the house after the funeral. Doug - a nice lad but perhaps not very bright - bought cookies shaped like ghosts. This is also where the family rumour (started by Rob and me that night) that Doug is adopted comes from.
Tomorrow we plan to go to the Royal Academy - one of our favorite galleries in London - then I'm meeting my agent, Teresa at the Ritz. How fun is that?
Be well - and thank you for all your good wishes...one person described it as placing us in the Light. And John, of course. And now I return the favour - placing you in the light. With thanks.
Friday, 16 October 2009
Bouchercon
cloudy, rain expected, temps 40
Am in Indianapolis - and back to what seems to be my natural habitat - turtleneck weather. But also see the winter storm in the US Northeast. Wow.
Had huge fun at Murder By the Book in Houston, Wednesday night. Loads of people, great questions...very knowledgeable and passionate about the Gamache books.
BUT - remember from yesterday's post where I describe visiting the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and how great that the american museums are free??? Well, I was describing this at the event and I suddenly saw a sea of people shaking their heads.
Huh?
'they're not free,' someone called out.
Huh??
Seems I'd waltzed right by the ticket people and into the museum. Without paying!
D'oh.
Arrived at Bouchercon - the huge crime readers/writers conference - yesterday after a very nice, relaxing flight from Houston.
I'd forgotten have enervating Bouchercon is. Walked into the Hyatt Regency - the conference hotel - and before I'd even registered I was meeting people. And it didn't stop. It's both exhilerating and exhausting...but VERY fun. Have a fabulous hotel room too - floor to ceiling windows looking out over the capital dome. Gorgeous.
Yesterday is a bit of a blur in my mind...I remember snippets of meeting all sorts of people, going to the book dealers room and meeting Lynn and Chris and Mike and Barbara etc, etc...signing a bunch of books. Meeting more people. Feel a bit like being pulled in all directions, but for someone like me, whose worst fear is not fitting in or being excluded, it sure feels wonderful. Like falling into the middle of a huge family.
Then grabbed a salad for lunch about 4pm - and went to the ceremony for the Derringer, Shamus, Macavity and Barry awards. It was packed...and very warm feeling.
And congratulations to the winners...which you might have gathered by now, did not include me. But that really is OK. I never expect to win, and it was really, genuinely lovely to see the joy of the people who did. In my catagories, the fabulous Deborah Crombie won the Macavity for best novel. And in the Barry for best novel, well this is embarrassing but I can't spell his name...a swedish writer. Andur Arn - something. But I'm sure his book is brilliant. Better be - to beat The Cruelest Month!
Congratulations to Andur and Deborah!
We have one more award to go - the very prestigious Anthony (unless I don't win, in which case it will become just another award...((kidding))
At 7pm Sarah Melnyk, from Minotaur Books swept me up and off we ran to the hotel lobby to meet Hector (head of publicity) and Andy Martin - the publisher...and a fabulous limo...hired to take us to the Barnes and Noble in Greenwood, Indiana - about 20 minutes away. We were late, so whizzed along. Arrived just in time for this terrific panel the B&N Greenwood people had organized to coincide with Bouchercon and Mystery Month at Barnes and Noble. Also on the panel were Donna Andrews, Chelsea Cain and William Kent Kruger. It was such fun...and if you were among the many people who came out, then thank you. And brilliantly organized by Laura and the rest of the B&N crew.
It was also the first time I'd seen the huge displays of THE BRUTAL TELLING set up at Barnes and Nobles across the US. As you might know, THE BRUTAL TELLING was voted by B&N employees their latest Main Selection. I was overwhelmed and moved...all these emotions surged up. Gratitude. Astonishment. Up until that moment last night I knew it was happening...I was excited and a little stressed (not knowing if it would fall flat)...but I think a little removed, since I live in Canada. To actually be there and see it - WOW.
Got back to the hotel around 10:30. Ordered a burger and fries and rice pudding - comfort food...called Michael. then turned on the TV and vegged out for an hour. Went to sleep, feeling pooped but very happy. What a life. this is a GREAT job. - Though I suppose you know, it doesn't really feel like a job. work, yes, but not a job.
Busy day today. 10:30 coffee with Sarah, my publicist. 11:30 signing at the Mystery News table at Bouchercon. 12:15 - lunch with Andrew martin - publisher of Minotaur Books, Sally Richardson - publisher of St. Martin's Press, Matthew Shear - publisher of St. Martin's paperbacks. Hope I don't dribble anything. Or say anything terribly stupid.
Have a panel then on 'Ordinary people rising to the occasion' at 3pm. Coffee with the wonderful Anthony Bidulka - a Canadian crime writer from Saskatchewan - at 5pm...then the Minotaur Books cocktail party at 6pm at another hotel...and finally dinner with Lynn Kaczmarek, of Mystery News - at 7:30. Back in the hotel by 10. And glorious sleep.
then it begins all over again tomorrow, with a breakfast meeting with Dan Mayer, the mystery book buyer for Barnes and Noble nationally.
As Linda Ellerbee would say - And so it goes...
Just spoke to Michael again...his sister Carol was having a big operation on her back in London this week. He called with an update...the operation was a success. Phew. Carol is such a nice person.
Hope you're well...hope you're enjoying the book tour and Bouchercon. Carb up! (that's my excuse)
Oh - in all this excitement - did I mention that THE BRUTAL TELLING is STILL on the New York Times bestseller list??? Third week in a row. It's the extended list - number 33...but still there. That's my baby!
Speak to you tomorrow, I hope.
Am in Indianapolis - and back to what seems to be my natural habitat - turtleneck weather. But also see the winter storm in the US Northeast. Wow.
Had huge fun at Murder By the Book in Houston, Wednesday night. Loads of people, great questions...very knowledgeable and passionate about the Gamache books.
BUT - remember from yesterday's post where I describe visiting the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and how great that the american museums are free??? Well, I was describing this at the event and I suddenly saw a sea of people shaking their heads.
Huh?
'they're not free,' someone called out.
Huh??
Seems I'd waltzed right by the ticket people and into the museum. Without paying!
D'oh.
Arrived at Bouchercon - the huge crime readers/writers conference - yesterday after a very nice, relaxing flight from Houston.
I'd forgotten have enervating Bouchercon is. Walked into the Hyatt Regency - the conference hotel - and before I'd even registered I was meeting people. And it didn't stop. It's both exhilerating and exhausting...but VERY fun. Have a fabulous hotel room too - floor to ceiling windows looking out over the capital dome. Gorgeous.
Yesterday is a bit of a blur in my mind...I remember snippets of meeting all sorts of people, going to the book dealers room and meeting Lynn and Chris and Mike and Barbara etc, etc...signing a bunch of books. Meeting more people. Feel a bit like being pulled in all directions, but for someone like me, whose worst fear is not fitting in or being excluded, it sure feels wonderful. Like falling into the middle of a huge family.
Then grabbed a salad for lunch about 4pm - and went to the ceremony for the Derringer, Shamus, Macavity and Barry awards. It was packed...and very warm feeling.
And congratulations to the winners...which you might have gathered by now, did not include me. But that really is OK. I never expect to win, and it was really, genuinely lovely to see the joy of the people who did. In my catagories, the fabulous Deborah Crombie won the Macavity for best novel. And in the Barry for best novel, well this is embarrassing but I can't spell his name...a swedish writer. Andur Arn - something. But I'm sure his book is brilliant. Better be - to beat The Cruelest Month!
Congratulations to Andur and Deborah!
We have one more award to go - the very prestigious Anthony (unless I don't win, in which case it will become just another award...((kidding))
At 7pm Sarah Melnyk, from Minotaur Books swept me up and off we ran to the hotel lobby to meet Hector (head of publicity) and Andy Martin - the publisher...and a fabulous limo...hired to take us to the Barnes and Noble in Greenwood, Indiana - about 20 minutes away. We were late, so whizzed along. Arrived just in time for this terrific panel the B&N Greenwood people had organized to coincide with Bouchercon and Mystery Month at Barnes and Noble. Also on the panel were Donna Andrews, Chelsea Cain and William Kent Kruger. It was such fun...and if you were among the many people who came out, then thank you. And brilliantly organized by Laura and the rest of the B&N crew.
It was also the first time I'd seen the huge displays of THE BRUTAL TELLING set up at Barnes and Nobles across the US. As you might know, THE BRUTAL TELLING was voted by B&N employees their latest Main Selection. I was overwhelmed and moved...all these emotions surged up. Gratitude. Astonishment. Up until that moment last night I knew it was happening...I was excited and a little stressed (not knowing if it would fall flat)...but I think a little removed, since I live in Canada. To actually be there and see it - WOW.
Got back to the hotel around 10:30. Ordered a burger and fries and rice pudding - comfort food...called Michael. then turned on the TV and vegged out for an hour. Went to sleep, feeling pooped but very happy. What a life. this is a GREAT job. - Though I suppose you know, it doesn't really feel like a job. work, yes, but not a job.
Busy day today. 10:30 coffee with Sarah, my publicist. 11:30 signing at the Mystery News table at Bouchercon. 12:15 - lunch with Andrew martin - publisher of Minotaur Books, Sally Richardson - publisher of St. Martin's Press, Matthew Shear - publisher of St. Martin's paperbacks. Hope I don't dribble anything. Or say anything terribly stupid.
Have a panel then on 'Ordinary people rising to the occasion' at 3pm. Coffee with the wonderful Anthony Bidulka - a Canadian crime writer from Saskatchewan - at 5pm...then the Minotaur Books cocktail party at 6pm at another hotel...and finally dinner with Lynn Kaczmarek, of Mystery News - at 7:30. Back in the hotel by 10. And glorious sleep.
then it begins all over again tomorrow, with a breakfast meeting with Dan Mayer, the mystery book buyer for Barnes and Noble nationally.
As Linda Ellerbee would say - And so it goes...
Just spoke to Michael again...his sister Carol was having a big operation on her back in London this week. He called with an update...the operation was a success. Phew. Carol is such a nice person.
Hope you're well...hope you're enjoying the book tour and Bouchercon. Carb up! (that's my excuse)
Oh - in all this excitement - did I mention that THE BRUTAL TELLING is STILL on the New York Times bestseller list??? Third week in a row. It's the extended list - number 33...but still there. That's my baby!
Speak to you tomorrow, I hope.
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