I'm working up a (likely lengthy) post about last week in New York, with plenty of Broadway and meeting with my US editor and company content, but I thought I'd pop in quickly to announce that rights to Before I Wake have just sold in Germany!
Yee haw!
I have become convinced, with all my travelling over the last few months, that packing is primarily a mental game. Make a good enough packing list, and the act takes care of itself.
I always manage to somehow overlook the other crucial step – finding the stuff on the list. Which is how, yet again, I find myself ransacking the house one hour prior to our time of departure. All is well, though — this time tomorrow we'll be in New York City, soaking up all Gotham has to offer.
In the meantime, though, I must get packing. Has anyone seen my good shirt?
Arrived at the office this morning to find an email from my publicist waiting for me. Apparently, Before I Wake has been selected as the February pick for the Flare magazine book club.
Tres, tres cool.
And, for you folks in the Lower Mainland, we're very close to having a date for a Vancouver event. Stay tuned.
My review of Guy Gavriel Kay's new book, Ysabel, is in this morning's Globe and Mail.
I may copy it here shortly down the road.
Short form: a fabulous book, from one of my favourite writers. Kay has a knack for writing wholly believable, yet outsize characters, wholly credible yet incredible plots, with an eye to human decency and honour. Heroic fiction, I suppose.
If you haven't read his The Fionavar Tapestry, you really should…
I tend to write notes to myself when I'm working on a new piece of fiction — ideas about what happens next, commentary on what is working and what isn't, and, occasionally, small surprises that make me smile when I stumble across them.
I'm spending the weekend typing out a (long!) short story that I wrote back in the summer. I'm late into the hand-written text now, and I stumbled across this note. It's dated August 5, part of the BC Day long weekend. We spent part of that time in Youbou, at the in-laws' place. The note reflects that:
"There is a great pleasure in sitting in a quiet forest beside a wind-streaked lake, using a $100 fountain pen to write the end of a new story in a fifty cent school notebook."
I had totally forgotten that afternoon, sitting at a table in a forest next to Lake Cowichan, working on this story and smoking a cigar while the family played on a jet-ski… A lovely afternoon. Thankfully, I wrote it down.
(And speaking of – my apologies. I've been remiss in updating this blog. Not an excuse, but I have been busy. Expect some updates shortly, though, and some news. It's one of my resolutions…)