Holidays on the Horizon

I've been reliving Bouchercon in Cleveland because I was asked to submit an article about it for the next Capital Crime Writers newsletter. In some ways, it seems like such a long time ago, but was just last month! I'm also organizing the Crime Writers' Christmas dinner in a few weeks' time at a local restaurant. I'm so looking forward to hearing our special guest speaker TIm Wynne-Jones, who just received the Order of Canada - he is also a two-time Governor General award-winning author and a heck of a good writer, not to mention great guy.

So lots of little tasks to keep me busy. I lost the access info to my website and have to sift through the stack of paper on my desk to find the printout - I know it's here somewhere. I also volunteered to write another article about our last Crime Writers' meeting for the newsletter and need to get on that.

What else? Christmas cards to write, gifts to buy and calendar filling up with events . . . it's getting tough to fit in writing time on my manuscript. I've got the next few scenes plotted out and am eager to get writing them. Once I get my errands done today, I'll be at the keyboard and have all day tomorrow. It's a balancing act. Real life vs. fantasy time.

Friends who follow the blog have asked if Ted got the outdoor Christmas lights up yet. The answer is not yet. Perhaps, we should run a pool. Ted used to go shopping for my gift on Christmas Eve, but he's now backed that up a few days. I never really minded though as he'd traditionally find his way to a jewellry store. I'm a sucker for anything that glitters. I think there's a magpie somewhere in my lineage.

If you have fifteen minutes, the video of opening and closing remarks and my reading from Chapter One of Second Chances is up on Youtube.  A bit of fun.

Just seeing some snowflakes swirling outside my office window. It's time to get dressed and head to the shops. I avoided them yesterday, Black Friday - not too sure why we want to emulate the greed and frenzy in the American stores that we've been seeing on the news, but I understand the need to spend our money in Canada. Still, I'd rather chew off an arm than get into a pulling match over a purse or other bit of merchandise. It kind of kills the whole idea behind Christmas. I wonder if others see the irony.