Tis the Season

Last year, my family and I ran away for Christmas. I saw the glittering lights of Las Vegas and the desert for the first time in my life. I have to say that while I liked the reprieve from all the work that goes into a traditional Christmas, I'm not sorry to be home this year. That said, two weeks from today is Christmas Eve and I have blessed little done. I'm convinced it will all fall into place. There will be turkey and stuff in the stockings. I am not delusional. I am not delusional.

This week, was the annual Capital Crime Writers' dinner at Robbie's restaurant with The Ottawa Citizen's Randall Denley as guest speaker. He's released his first murder mystery entitled One Dead Sister set in Ottawa and New England. It was a fun evening - I realize how many good friends I've made in this group. I always like getting together with others who think about killing people off . . . in fiction.

I also happened upon the cover for my April Orca release, The Second Wife. Very cool cover and all who've seen it are giving it the thumbs up. You can check it out on the Orca site under Rapid Reads. I'm currently working on a sequel and hope to have it done in a few months. Gwen Lake is a character I like immensely. My daughter Lisa (who's read The Second Wife manuscript) tells me that she likes what a mess Gwen's life is - a divorced desk cop who likes the odd bottle of wine and sees the world through sardonic eyes. Much like most of my friends except for the divorced desk cop bit.

So writing, gift buying, partying (three lunches, a wine and cheese and a couple of dinners coming up this week), curling, baking and tree putting-upping on my horizon - oh yeah, and my full-time job. I'm actually starting to get in the Christmas spirit . . . time to deck the halls.