Though I’ve committed to touching base here once a month, this time around, I’m quickly running out of month. I’m now skidding into May’s home plate with a to-do list that would choke a horse and a teaming inbox.
I’ll blame the warming weather that entices me outside, away from the keyboard, niggling emails, and a mess of chores. But how could I turn down a lunch with girlfriends? (That’s me on the left with Jennifer Manuel in the middle and Elinor Florence on the right.)
Or a walk in the sunshine? Those are the pigs that grunt their hellos when I pass by Orkney Farm. And the weekend farmers’ market—part social, part shopping—draws me in like a bee to nectar.
May is also a big birthday and anniversary month among my family and friends. This dinner at the Old House in Courtenay was a birthday celebration. That’s Elinor Florence and her husband Heinz on one side, and opposite are me and the Cave Master.
When I have sat down at the laptop this month, it’s felt like a wrestling match with a story that refuses to yield. It’s unruly, and the ref keeps throwing down (up?) yellow flags. It’s a sure sign I need to take a step back.
The birthdays and anniversaries remind me that time marches on, the yellow flags remind me that sometimes I need distance from the stories to see them clearly, and the sunshine reminds me to get outside, breathe, and realign my priorities.
Health and family comes first, writing second, all else? Get in line. Spring will bless us just once this year. Chores will go on the rinse and repeat cycle ad infinitum. I’m choosing sunshine with family, good friends, and piglets. See you in June! With any luck, the yellow flag situation will be resolved by then.
Yesterday, I gathered my knee pad, gloves, and garden tools and set out to dig in the dirt. With a mind to battling weeds and plot holes, I crawled under one of the dwarf apple trees. A regiment of weeds had settled in during the winter.
Yesterday, however, it didn’t wander that far. Across the road I heard the bleat of new lambs, the drone of a neighbour’s lawnmower, the sputter of a chainsaw. Overhead, birdsong competed with the distant clang of metal as someone worked on farm machinery.
After a few hours of weeding, I felt refreshed, recharged. I’m now ready to tackle James, a character who is causing no end of trouble in the next Gift Legacy installment.
It’s been an uncommon winter here on Denman Island. The ground froze for 6+ weeks, which is an unusual state of cold we normally count in days, not weeks. (No need to roll your eyeballs—we know we’re spoiled—we barely reach the “damn it’s cold” threshold for Canadians.)
I didn’t get outside much in November. The November 15 release of Betrayal (now Lover Betrayed) kept me busy. As always happens with a new release, I was plagued with promotion should’ve/could’ve/would’ves. Not to mention the inconvenient fact that I also have a life.
That “life” took me back to Ontario to spend a rare and snowy Christmas with my family. Despite my earlier whinging, I love a white Christmas. There’s something magical about crisp, white snow at Christmastime. And it may just be my ego, but I think Ontario went out of its way to emphasize the white this year. It brings me back to my childhood. I can count on one finger how many white Christmases I’ve experienced since moving to the coast (not that finger – gheesh!). The coast has many wonderful attributes, which I tout to no end in the Gift Legacy books, but a white Christmas isn’t one of them.
I’m now back on Denman Island
It demands my attention, and I’m beyond happy to oblige. In addition to developing my next series (the Dark Dreams novels), I’m writing the next chapter in Emelynn’s story. This is what it looks like when I’m organizing my ideas. Do you have thoughts about characters or storylines you’d like to see on one of those stickies? Now is the perfect time to tell me. Leave a comment, or contact me on any of my social media sites.