Hot and Lazy

It is hot, hot hot with no relief in sight.  A drought in Eastern Ontario and across chunks of the country. My garden is surviving though - we water in the evening when the sun goes down since there are no water restrictions yet. Fingers crossed for rain next week.

I spent a few days working on guest blog requests - one for Crime Writers of Canada and their summer series on heros and heroines and what makes an interesting one - and the other for Dundurn, answering five questions about my book Second Chances. I also managed to keep my latest manuscript moving along.  I don't mind staying inside in the air conditioning during the evening and typing away at something.

One nice thing about this writing business is connecting with other authors. I got an e-mail this week from Anne Emery, a crime writer I'd heard about from the East Coast. She had questions about publicity (not that I'm an expert by any means), specifically publicists. Anyhow, we are both going to Bouchercon in Cleveland in October and hopefully we'll meet up. I'm going to pick up one of her books in the meantime - they've gotten good reviews and won a few awards. You might also want to give one a read:-)

Bouchercon is the U.S. crime writers' conference that brings together about 1500 fans and authors. I went to the one in Baltimore a few years ago and had the best time. I was on a panel but spent most of the time listening to big-name authors and even meeting some of them. I have to confess that I'd never heard of many of them, but have since bought their books and expanded my reading horizons, proving the value of these events. I'm hoping to get on a panel this time and will take part in the 'Meet the Canucks' night. I'm also excited to see Elizabeth George, one of the guests of honour - I've read every book in her Inspector Lynley series except the most recent. Should be a whole lot of fun.

Nearly lunchtime and I'm going to see if my neighbour has her pool open. It feels like a good time to have a dip before I get down to something productive. I hope you are managing to stay cool wherever you are.