Another Book Club

October is winding down quickly and the week ahead is full and holds some challenges. Sitting in my office this afternoon with the sun shining again after yesterday's drenching rain seems like a time to reflect on the last week and prepare for the week ahead. My obsessive list making has now carried over to my new cell phone. My first cell phone ever by the way and like so much else that technology gives us we soon wonder how we managed without it. I now in addition to my slips of paper holding lists and jottings that are meant to ground me and keep me on track ,constantly check my phone and update my calendar.Whatever! As for reflections of last week. I met with a wonderful group of women who have been a Book Club since 2004 and actually read books and discuss them . The entire group of about 13 women filled the room with a warm and welcoming vibe right from the start of the evening and the bond they seemed to have with each other seemed very genuine. Meeting the group I was reminded of my own circles of women friends that provide friendship and support that is priceless in our busy and challenging lives.The book club had invited me after they read Ten Thousand Truths.They were brimming with questions and observations and as a writer it was a thrill to be given the opportunity to talk about my work with a group of such keen readers. Afterwards I signed their books and several of them bought copies of The Year Mrs. Montague Cried. They gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a lovely bottle of green apple wine. It was a wonderful evening . Thank you Heather for suggesting the book, thank you Kim for inviting me and welcoming me in to your home and thank you to all the other members. Keep reading and keep connecting to one another in the wonderful way you have been doing for eight years.

October Days

The second week of October has brought cold winds and a hint of the winter to come. Harvest is probably about half done with the tomatoes all picked, the squash bagged up and lots of pickles, jam and salsa made. The carrots and parsnips need to be pulled and the potatoes dug. The ground is covered with leaves after last night's high winds. Evenings require a fire and the darkness falls so much earlier and the mornings are dark.My month with Emma is over and the visit from her mom and little sister is almost over as well. I will miss those sweet smiles, the hugs and all the joy my granddaughters have brought to our home .I will probably not see them again until March and so much will have changed as a one year old and three year old have such a rapid growing curve. I will treasure the time we have had and hope that the memories of their time on the farm with Monkey and Toad will be firmly planted and cause them the desire to return to this place where they are so loved by great grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends and neighbours. Last night I met with a book club made up of a group of enthusiastic young ladies at the Peddler's Creek restaurant in Quispamsis.Thank you Stephanie, Deborah, Melissa and Sarah. They had read The Year Mrs. Montague Cried and were full of questions and observations that were insightful and generous. It was the first of three book clubs I am meeting with this month and I am so thrilled to have the opportunity to meet with readers. I am taking a couple of hours to write this afternoon as Meg and the girls visit a friend. It makes me very anxious to begin a more disciplined routine next week.

September Begins

I am back at my writing desk on this beautiful September morning. For years this morning would see me standing in new clothes in front of thirty eager children setting the stage for the grade four year I would attempt to deliver. My voice would convey optimism, firmness and challenge . I would lead them through the plan that would frame their day to day experience of the months ahead.I always loved the drama of new school supplies, new expectations and endless potential. This day still means that to me. I will spend time reading work that has already been put to paper(or computer screen),get a strong plan for where I go next and take off like a flash to find my way through the challenge of plot and character development.Let September begin!

Ten Thousand Truths is Launched

The week of the launch started with a hot, Monday morning in the garden pulling weeds in the bean rows. It was almost 11:00 and just about time for a lake swim after finishing four rows.Burton was a few rows away and all that could be heard was the drone of CBC when I looked up to see someone walking toward me. Burton said "Who's that? " and even without my glasses on I could tell it was Megan holding Paige with Brianne and Emma right behind her. Unknown to me Burton had arranged to bring them home and Brianne had picked them up at the airport late the night before. No more weeding was done that day or the rest of the week for that matter. Thursday came and my cousin Joy, her husband,John and their two nieces arrived and we were ready to leave to go set up the market around 3:00. Erin wanted to see the pigs and as they approached the pig yard they discovered five of the six pigs on the wrong side of the fence.John and I left , leaving the round-up to Burton , Joy and the girls. Later ,everything ready, we entered the market not knowing what to expect this year after such a successful launch of The Year Mrs. Montague Cried last year. I was not disappointed. My community , friends, family and several dedicated readers came out in droves to see Ten Thousand Truths off on it's trajectory. Anne Fullerton, a former student and aspiring editor and literature buff introduced me in a very generous manner. I read four passages and then my dear friend , former teacher and former colleague, travel companion ( the unforgettable Alaskian Cruise of 2007) and my house renovator finished the event by warmly and humorously wrapping things up. I signed books and greeted many people and did a video interview with a young man from the Telegraph Journal.Then we headed home for food, drink and laughter ,lots of story telling and a wind down, watching my two beautiful granddaughters charm

the crowd. What a wonderful night!

It's Here!

We arrived home from a trip to Ontario last night . It was so wonderful to see the lights of home when we pulled in the driveway. Caleb and Ashlie had held down the fort in fine style and Brianne had kept my flowers watered nicely. Today I sit here with the sound of steady rain on my tin roof. I am so thankful for each drop of water that is falling from the sky. After travelling through Ontario and seeing the effects of such dry, hot weather and hearing yesterday an interview on CBC with a American corn farmer, I am truly thankful for the gift of rain. I hope the same gift comes to the drought ridden areas before it is too late to save the crops. With all the excitement of arriving home and getting filled in on the week we were gone, the most exciting part was opening the box containing copies of Ten Thousand Truths. Not quite the same level of emotion that receiving the copies of The Year Mrs. Montague Cried brought, but huge never the less.It is thrilling to hold it in my hands and I look forward to all that lies ahead as it gets launched. Waiting for me was also a lovely hand written note on a beautiful card from a woman who had read The Year Mrs. Montague Cried last week. What a generous and kind thing to take the time and send the author such a note. I am overwhelmed and continue to count my blessings for the way things came together and brought both books into existence. Now to come down to the reality of unpacking, doing laundry and returning to the mundane amid the marvellous!

June Winding Down

It is the last week of June. The garden is planted and just about everything is up and growing. We have had three wet days which the dry earth needed badly. Ready for the hot sun to shine again to get the corn to grow high and give my flowers back their beauty. I have set the date for the launch of Ten Thousand Truths after deciding on a cover and checking everything before it was sent off to the printer. Thursday,August 2nd is the launch date at the Kingston Farmer's Market.I look forward to seeing family, friends and neighbours as I let my second book take flight.Until then I will weed, hoe, mow, swim and paddle ,

attend two weddings of close friend's daughters and enjoy every day of July.

George St. Middle School Bookworm Club

Yesterday I travelled to Fredericton to meet with the George St. Middle School Bookworm Club. Teacher Sara Belong and Librarian Sandy Barry had invited me and I am so glad I was able to go. I met Talha, Jacob, Dylan, Jaden, Nina,Heather,Matt, Sarah, and Shawne and shared parts of The Year Mrs. Montague Cried with them . We did a couple of reading /writing activities and I was happy to introduce a few books to them from Taylor Anne's Reading Challenge that they were unfamiliar with. Being the avid readers they are I am sure some of them will check some of the books out to read. Check them out, a good phrase when talking about a group of kids meeting in a well stocked library run by a very enthusiastic,dedicated librarian. That is something George St. Middle is lucky enough to have and it is a shame that every school in our province does not have one as well. Many of our school libraries are run by volunteers and when there is a lack of volunteers become sadly neglected and under utilized.I hope to return to George St. in the fall . Thanks again Sara and Sandy and Bookworm Club!