Hopping Along

A cold Easter weekend but the neighbours are emerging from winter hibernation and kids are playing outside again - I can watch them outside my office window where I do the bulk of my writing. Last week, we sat outside on one neighbour's front verandah under blankets, sipping on wine, trying to catch the warmth from what little sun there has been. Maybe we're like an evolving species, adapting to our changing environment. As luck would have it, the manuscript that I am working on now is set in April so this one is renewing my feel for the descriptive bits.

I managed some writing this week and am now at 59,000 words - not sure if I need to postpone a scene I wrote yesterday. It might need to come later in the plotline so I'll be looking at this today. I'm forging ahead as I've received word from Dundurn that we're going to start editing Butterfly Kills imminently and this will mean that the writing gets put on the back burner. As you can see if you click on the link, Amazon already has the book on sale at a discount - the book business is a whacky world.

In addition, some author events are lining up, beginning this Thursday evening from 7:30 to 9:00 at Chapters Rideau. Mary Jane Maffini will be MC for a panel discussion to be held on the second floor of the bookstore. C.B. Forrest will be asking the questions, and I'll be alongside Barbara Fradkin, R.J. Harlick and Michael McCann, discussing the topic "What's in the Water?" Crime Writers of Canada is hosting a series of these types of events across the country as they announce the Arthur Ellis shortlist for Canadian crime fiction - these are the national awards handed out annually. So if you are out and about Thursday evening, come by and meet some authors, many of whom are gaining an international following.

Just in - I'll be signing books at Perfect Books on Elgin Street (at Somerset) on Saturday, May 3 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. so another chance to come by and get a signed copy of Cold Mourning!

I've got lots going on today. I'm about to head to the market to finish shopping for Easter dinner tomorrow night. Ted already has the prime rib marinating and he'll be slow cooking it on the barbecue. In honour of the Easter bunny, I'll be making a carrot cake. There's also some tire-changing going on and we're planning to find a pub at lunchtime where we can watch our daughter Lisa curl in the Players' Championship quarter-finals in Summerside P.E.I. Unfortunately, Sportsnet is showing the game on a station not in our cable package, thus the need to find a pub. (Some might see this as fortunate.) And then, I'll be back at my desk, working away on the latest book. And there are always my neighbours . . . .

Whatever your plans, I wish you a Happy Easter with friends, family and lots of chocolate. May the spring sunshine soon be with us.