It's pouring

A major thunderstorm has just passed over my log cabin and taken out the electricity, leaving me with, alas, no TV. Yes, as much as I hate to admit it, I do sometimes chill out in front of the cathode ray tube. But at least the phone still works, so too my laptop, so I figure why not pass the time writing my blog.

The silly season is now over. The AE awards, Bloodywords and Book Expo were both exhilarating and exhausting. From the moment I arrived in Toronto on the Thursday, I ran and didn't stop until the end of Book Expo on the Sunday, after which I soaked my tired bod in a hot tub and sipped my brother-in-law's wonderful 18 yr old Highland Park single malt. It was devine. I can still taste its silky smoothness.

But don't get me wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed all the hoopala. It was especially exciting to see my friend and fellow writer and soon to be neighbour, Mary Jane Maffini, get the Derrick Murdoch Award. I had great fun on the 'Setting as Character' panel and felt honoured to be sitting on it with Giles Blunt, Maureen Jennings, Rosemarie Aubert and Louise Penny, the moderator, whose novel 'Still Life' had just won the AE award for Best First Novel. And I wore my fingers out signing at Book Expo, where I signed copies of DEATH'S GOLDEN WHISPER at both the Crime Writers of Canada booth and my publisher's, RendezVous Crime.

The best part of these events is meeting all the people who love to read mysteries. And I was thrilled to meet fans who had read my book, for as a first time novelist my expectations are not exactly high. A pleasant suprise was to discover that DEATH'S GOLDEN WHISPER was studied last year in a course on Canadian mystery fiction at Brock University. I felt like I'd made the big time.

In case you aren't aware, Brock University maintains the definitve data base on Canadian Crime Fiction. Just go to www.brocku.ca/crimefictioncanada.

Well, the rain appears to have stopped, but the power is still out. And I need to cook my dinner. Thank goodness for the gas barbecue. But it also means the electric well pump doesn't work, so I guess I won't be able to do the dishes....oh dear.