March Morning

I spent last week at the Scotties in Sydney, Nova Scotia - Cape Breton to be exact. We had a lot of highs and a couple of lows but Team Homan captured silver in this national championship, which is not too shabby by any standard. It was a gruelling week for all the teams and tough on the families and fans, but these are the memorable moments that make up a lifetime. Here is a photo of me with the six-time Scotties champion, two-time world champion skip Colleen Jones. Another memorable moment :-)

Needless to say, I didn't get much writing in this week although I've spent the last two days working on chapter questions for one of the adult literacy novellas that will be coming out this fall.  I'll soon be working with an editor on the last book in the series and will wait to write the chapter questions for that one. Bittersweet to think it will be my last time writing about Anna Sweet - would be great to have her come to life in a tv series!

I worked with my interim publicist on the bookmarks for Turning Secrets, which Dundurn will release in May. I'm pushing to have them before I leave for Left Coast Crime in Vancouver. My schedule at the conference is starting to shape up. Thursday morning, I'll spend two hours in speed-dating with my partner Katherine Prairie. We'll do two-minute pitches for our books to tables of readers for two hours. (speaking of gruelling :-) Friday is my panel with the topic police procedurals, followed by an author-reader connection at a pub with Mary Jane Maffini, Barbara Fradkin and four readers. Saturday is light with a reading and banquet.

And don't forget the two other events on the horizon as Turning Secrets makes its debut.

The first is Thursday evening, April 25 at the Carlingwood Library. Barbara Fradkin and I will be interviewed by CBC Radio's Giacomo Panico from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Free admittance and no need to pre-register. We all live in Kitchissippi ward and Barbara and I set some books in Ottawa so the we'll discuss 'Murder in the Hood' among other topics.

And I'm pleased to let you know that my daughter Lisa Weagle will be making the introduction at the book launch slated for Sunday, June 2 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at The Cross on Elgin. She's mentioned the word 'roast' a few times so could be entertaining :-) Perfect Books will be on hand with books for purchase and The Haughian Brothers Band will be playing ... make sure to put this on your calendar! (I'm still awaiting the electronic invitation from Dundurn and will be sending that out once I have it.)

So my 12-year old computer has been faltering as of late and I took it into Staples for the third time. "How long does a computer last?" I asked. Tech guy Glenn answered, "Four maybe five years. Seven is unusual. Twelve is heroic." All this to say, I now have a new computer but cannot find half my files, including photos and downloads. Looks like another trip to Staples. I'm on a first-name basis with the tech staff and at this rate, they're going to make it onto my Christmas card list.

Until next week ....