Wreader Fun

So after being in my cave for most of the summer - not counting the 2 wks I took off for travel - I finally finished my new manuscript. A day later, Nelson came back from the city with this beautiful bouquet and said it was for completing my book. The new novel is set in 1888 in the North-WestTerritories of Assiniboia and Saskatchewan (now the Province of Saskatchewan) and my hero is a North West Mounted Police corporal. I really enjoyed writing this story. There'll be more info posted on my new website on my research and books pages as well as my Woven Under Western Skies blog.

This past weekend was difficult as I realized once again that I wasn't a finalist in the Genesis contest. The wound deepened when I received my judges' scoresheets and discovered 2 out of the 3 judges just didn't 'get' the story. I won't complain about the comments, but I will say I shook my head at a couple of them. On Sat afternoon I received word that someone else had won the Duel on the Delta contest. Ugh. Very disheartening. But I'm up here at St Peter's Abbey for the Saskatchewan Romance Writer's annual retreat and my fellow writers are wonderful support. Between them and the Inkies, they pulled me out of my doldrums and rewarded me with chocolate - both in physical and virtual realities. After supper I walked the beautiful grounds taking photos and trying to shed my disappointment. Imagine my surprise, then on Sunday afternoon when I was working on my Tues history post for the Inkwell when my iPhone rang. The theme song of The Good, The Bad, a...

We’re already into February! Oh yay, oh yay. Just 6 more weeks of snow – 10 tops. I hope. I found the perfect way to have January slip by without notice of the cold outside – I stayed in my cave. But I’m getting ahead of myself... here’s my monthly report: Family-wise: Nick has been invited to join the Street Invaders Youth Mission Team to South Africa this summer. Yikes! I thought Australia was far last year, but S. Africa just seems so much farther somehow. One thing is for sure... we have to start fundraising for his ticket. Ideas, anyone? Weight-Wise My weight loss schedule has wobbled a bit. Not so much because of the holidays, but with the 53 lb loss, I was cold all the time. Major cold. Seriously. The doctor said it was because my bones were starving and I had to eat more protein. In my attempt to do so, I changed my eating habits, went over my self-imposed daily calorie count, and ended up gaining weight. So, I’m back to losing – hopefully with better food choices. I’ll be doi...