CRAZY VACATION

In spite of having family here from Ontario, I have been working on my article, trying to layer my characters in BLACK ANGEL and in between loads of laundry and cooking meals, have been thinking about redoing the entire first third of the book.

And I was searching my hard drive for a story that I wanted to post here, but it's on another computer and I don't have it saved to disc. I may have to retype the hard copy, but I'd like to post it just so you, faithful readers of my musings, can see that I really do write in between politics, recipes, and child care! It's my published story from my Anthology and I'd like to share it as I have the rights back now.

Two weeks and school is back in. My kids are literally counting down the days. They're bored stiff and at least the excitement of a family visit has brought them back to life. Once they're back in school I'm going to try and work on both BA and COLD JUSTICE at the same time. See if I can do one on one day, and the other story on the next day.

I thought you might enjoy a typical Saskatchewan sunset.

HOLIDAY WEEK

This week has been my very own "Summer Holiday". Both our kids have been gone since Sunday to a local camp - it's the first time they've both been gone this long overnight and so far away, so it's been a new emotional experience for all of us. It's a regular camp and they generously provided one-on-one staff for each of the kids at no extra charge. I (being a slightly nervous mom) have phoned down twice to see how they've been making out.

My DD has been horseback riding every day, around the paddock and being led by a staff member. On Tuesday she was trotting, and had her arms out horizontally because she "loved the feel of it", according to the camp director. On Wednesday, she rode bareback, because the other teens were doing it, even though she was scared to do it - she did it. Now, that's my DD for you. :) She's scared of needles, doctors, hospitals - but not of anything else. If someone's doing it, she will do it too. She's always been my little "Xena" - does anyone remember that TV show with Lucy Lawless? DD wore that Halloween costume for three years. My DS was down at the stables every day too, but the camp director couldn't tell me if he'd been riding or not. He has been breakdancing at their evening concerts, and both have enjoyed the campfires before bedtime.

And for my holiday, I've been writing the finishing touches on my new WIP's partial - now called COLD JUSTICE. I've also decided to rework my last MS, called BLACK ANGEL and put to use the rejection letter from the editor who *nearly* bought it, and see if I can place it elsewhere. When you have the house to yourself, it's amazing how much thinking you can get done! The time has flown by and now I have to pick the kids up tonight at the camps' Family BarBQ.

I've also enjoyed reading "The Devil Wears Prada" over the course of the week. Hilarious. I can't wait to see the movie, which I'm sure won't be as good as the book, as Anne Hathaway has been panned. With my DH working till 9 p.m. every night this week, it's been wonderful to have the house to myself to read, read, read.

It's not a glamourous vacation, but it's been fun discovering agent/editor blogs, writing when I want and actually getting words down on paper, and brainstorming with my long distance critique partner Robie Madison. Her new book Love Partner came out last week; if you feel like something futuristic in erotica check out her link at the right.

Here's to a week off, any way you can get it! :)

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

I've skipped a week or two of recipes for backyard summer sipping - or computer sipping, if that's where you'd rather meet your Muse and tell her to hurry up and get something done!

I've fallen in love with Lipton's Green Tea in the can, so I'm sharing two of their Cocktail recipes that you may have already seen in their advertising literature. If not, this is a great way to zip up your Green Tea for company or for yourself when you need a breezer on a hot day.

The Lipton Tea Cosmo
1/4 cup Lipton Green Tea with Citrus
2 tbsp vodka
1 tbsp orange liqueur
1 tbsp fresh lime juice (the bottled stuff works just as well!)
1 tbsp cranberry juice cocktail
Place all ingredients into a shaker filled with ice. Shake well, then strain into a well-chilled martini glass. (Or a normal tumbler, lol, we're not all 007 are we?) Garnish, if desired with a slice of lime. Serves 1.

The Lipton Green Tea Mojito
Juice of half a lime
6 large mint leaves
1/3 cup Lipton Green Tea with Citrus
2 tbsp white rum (or to taste)
Pour the lime juice into a highball glass. Add the mint and crush with a spoon. Fill the glass with ice and add the tea and rum. Stir well and garnish with a mint leaf, if desired.
(you may want to finely chop your mint leaves, puree them, experiment a little to make this more palatable. Crushing the leaves lets out the flavour, but isn't too great in the drink.)

Hope everyone has a great summer weekend. I'm off with my migraine to get groceries and clean house for our 10 dinner guests this evening. No rum cocktails for me tonight! And good luck with getting those pages done. Now that I've managed to create a "fictional" city, town, and reservation for my settings, my WIP is coming along much better. Soon I'll be able to post page progress like Toni Anderson does. =)

FEMINISM AND THE '20-somthings

I did blog about Kathy Reich's book CROSS BONES, but it seems to have been lost in the ether, so I'm sorry to have been so long between posts. Summer, with it's blue-bowled skies over the prairies has been a siren call to us, whenever the heat hasn't been 33 degrees. Then the kids and I stay in with movies and the window air conditioner blowing full blast. I just dropped off our golden retriever to get shaved down so she doesn't suffer so much in the heat.

I read a very good article in CHATELAINE magazine by a 22yr old university student about being a feminist, how it affects her girlfriends ("I'm not a feminist but..."), and how she was smart enough to dump a loutish boyfriend who guffawed at her and her friends discussing "women's studies" as the best class they took that semester. He batted her on the behind, called her "wench" and told her to go get him a beer. At least the girl has a sense of self-esteem, never mind being a feminist.

So, why do so many women of all ages, go around saying "I'm not a feminist but..."? She's right; we didn't even get the vote till after the First WW, weren't recognized as persons till (I think - this wasn't in her article) sometime in the Depression, still weren't making a living wage even when we all went to work in factories in the Second WW, weren't on TV as anchors till Diane Sawyer and that's within my living memory when I went to college hoping to break into television in 1977 - told I wasn't good looking enough because I wore glasses - that was Greek for I wouldn't sleep with the Producer who was interviewing, I kid you not, it was 1977 after all and before sexual harrassment was a big thing. When I finally got "a job in TV" I was hired in the Film Department for $7500.00 per year and basically ran the department AND the Newsrooms cameraman/reporter schedule - when I left two years later after complaining of sexual harrassment I was making $8300.00 and got one months wages as a severance. Because this idiot wouldn't leave me alone.

I'd say feminism has brought us a long, long, way from suffragettes, and 1997. If I had a boss who tried that with me now, I'd end up with a nice, fat, settlement. I knew an OPP cop who did, and she went back to work until she got pregnant, took her maternity leave, came back just long enough to rack up the time to get pregnant again, took her maternity leave, and then got out. She told me, "All the joy of police work was lost once he did that too me, and I had to fight so hard for my settlement. So, I just used the system to my advantage. If they didn't like it that I got desk duty for all that time, too bad."

Aside from my basic interest in police work, I swore I'd never earn $8300.00 a year again. I did government work that took me up to $23,000.00 a year but I hit a ceiling when I wasn't bilingual, which in Canada means you have to be French and speak passable English. If you're English and can speak passable French, fuggadaboutit. My sisters were married and had a bright future with double incomes and I wanted a bright future too. Feminism got me that, in an environment where they had to pay me the exact same wages for the exact same job, much as the other cops might not like it.

And it's the "old pioneers" like me and Diane Sawyer who paved the way for the proliferation of female news reporters/anchorwomen on TV, and the 50 policewomen back on my hometown force, when I was the only one in 1984/85 till they hired a second one.

Bravo for that 22 yrs old girl who already knows that a political mind-set, ambition, and willpower will take you a long way in life. Self-actualization is a goal to be reached and some of us never get there. Feminism isn't a bad thing - it doesn't make you a bra-burning, card-carrying lesbian. (unless you already are one, and then, that's ok). It means you're a woman who can take care of herself, believes in herself, can protect herself from scavengers and predators of the male species, and contributes all that's beautiful about being a woman to the world around her.

And doesn't that sound like the heroines we're all trying to write about?

HEY, I DO STILL WRITE!

Unfortunately for my DS, I took my computer back today and managed to work out the backstory for my WIP. I feel much more grounded now, and it's starting to gell together in my mind. Had a brainstorming session with my old critique partner on both my WIP and on her WIP as well. My challenge now will be to work in the back story on all these characters, from their younger days, to present day, and have my heroine find the clues and reveal the story like peeling back an onion. I feel invigorated and finally got rid of my headache. :) It's a great feeling when your writing starts to go in the proper direction and it's not just a pile of notes jumbled up on your desk. It's becoming a real outline on the computer now, and my characters are becoming real people. Still no title though!

PERFECT SUMMER

Here's why I haven't had time to blog all weekend. It was perfect weather all weekend, and Honda just happened to have a sale on down at the shop. We went down for a look-see, and there sat the most beautiful, two-tone firey paint job, 2006 Shadow Sabre, softail-style bike we had ever seen. Classy, sassy, and just begging to be ridden on these ribbon Saskatchewan highways! My DH has wanted a motorcycle for years, and so far I've always said "no" figuring that at some point, his male menopause had to come to an end. (and figuring mine had to begin somewhere, right?)

Short story long, we bought it and he's been having a ball ripping around on it ever since. It's had a miraculous effect on his flying too. :) He's been acing his flights, and his exams. He says it's the relaxation involved with feeling the wind in your face and streaming through your jacket. I can't wait to get a backrest on it and ride with him. It's an 1100 model so there's lots of power for two of us on the highway. He says he wants to get used to it before carrying a passenger.

I haven't been on a bike since I was 26 yrs old, but I spent alot of time on one then as it was my current beau's only mode of transportation. It felt delicious to run the highways around Ottawa in my fake black leather pants, and go to parties on a bike. I'm sure I'll regain some of that feeling of the "untamed" highway. Nothing like bringing back a sense of your youth and fond memories to spike up your writing! Or "fill the well", as one author said in her article in this month's RWA. Guess my DH and I are both reinventing ourselves - or is it just getting back to the things we once enjoyed when we were young and unencumbered with so many responsibilities? I think so. He had a girlfriend in his young "bike" years, too.

Now we can share it together whenever I can get a sitter for the children. There's a Club in town that rides regularly Wednesday p.m.'s and on weekends. It's opened up a whole new world. This has nothing to do with writing, but it's opened my mind to fresh possibilities with my DH and that's a good thing. The more creativity you put into your relationship, the more creativity you'll have in your life as a whole. I believe that - if you feel stifled, you're not going to feel like writing much. I hope to report more on my progress this week. Stay tuned! :)

SUMMER IS HERE

As promised, here is your Thursday recipe to enjoy after a hard day's work writing:

LEMON DROP TEA PARTY

1 bottled Iced Tea or make it yourself
30 ml (2 tbsp) of vodka
30 ml (2 tbsp) of orange flavoured liqueur such as Grand Marnier
30 ml (2 tbsp) fresh lime or lemon juice (be adventurous and try the lime)

Combine all ingredients in a martini shaker filled with ice. (any shaker will do). Shake well and then strain into well-chilled glasses. Garnish with raspberries or lemon slices. Great outdoor drink.

Next week, I'll try and have something specific for meat on the BarBQ, for the long July weekend. If you haven't tried these two drink recipes by then, you can give them a whirl on either Canada Day, or Independence Day. :)

Wip Notes:

Ever have a story that would go well from either the hero's POV, or the heroine's POV? Do you try to really "mainstream" it and hope you can land an agent, or do you go with the heroine and hope you can "romantic suspense" it and sell to that market? I'm thinking I should try do write a partial from either POV and see which feels right. Sheesh. Maybe I'm just trying too hard. I keep just deleting pages in frustration and have nothing to show for myself. So much for hoping to be in the Killer Class of 2007. Ha!

Long Day

Talk about an unproductive day! I'm planning on making tomorrow a "sit-down-butt-on-chair" day, except for lunch for one hour with a friend - she conveniently has a job interview which will put a nice bookend to our gabfest at lunch.

This is my victim pic - yes, you can all guess who he is easily enough, but I wasn't going to waste any time googling "North American Indian" pics for days! :) There's actually more than one victim in the book, but it'll have to get published before you can find out who the second one is and what the story is with that person. This guy is my "Cold Case" victim, and for now, my WIP is just going to be called "Cold Case" as I can't stand not having any kind of title. As I get into fleshing out the outline I'm sure something a bit more intriguing will come to me as a working title.

I've never tried a book with two villains and two victims before, but they'll hopefully intersect nicely. If I fail, well, I can't say I didn't try!