Saturday Morning Coming Down

Our Wednesday evening gig at the Granite Curling Club was a smashing success by all accounts. City Councillor and good friend Katherine Hobbs introduced the panel - Mary Jane Maffini, C.B. Forrest and moi - and then the questions began:  First from Katherine and then from our audience of approximately 70 people, some Granite members and some visiting book clubs. We managed to slip in brief readings and the hour flew by.

Here we are (left to right) C.B. Forrest, Mary Jane Maffini, Katherine Hobbs and me. Good times.

Today, I'm preparing for my library workshop, teaching kids the basics of short story writing. The trick is to make it fun and informative within an hour time limit. Word is that the workshop is full (20 kids) with a waiting list. There are a lot of creative, motivated kids out there. We should all take heart.

Fellow Ottawa author, living just up the street, Peggy Blair blogged a list of the six things not to say to an author. I'm going to flip this idea on its head and write the six things I love about being published - not exactly a reverse flip, but close enough:

1.  Sitting in my office on a Saturday morning with my first cup of coffee, radio turned to the CBC and my latest manuscript on the screen.

2.  Forgetting time as I slip into a story - housework, worries, paperwork effortlessly fade away.

3. Walking to the pub to meet my writer friend Alex Brett to talk books and writing over glasses of wine.

4.  Knowing somebody I've never met is reading my book at this very moment.

5.  Waiting for the next book cover design to arrive.

6.   That excitement in my belly when the words are flowing and the plot is coming together. As Tim Wynne-Jones once said, "Sometimes you just know when it's working".

And another weekend begins. Coffee is hot. Snow is falling. Fire is on. Life is good.