Thursday, June 19, 2008

This, that and the other thing...

It's been a busy week here on the Coast. I've spent much of my time catching up on things I let slide last week while I was sick. It felt good to actually be doing something again!

We've also discovered that we live at deer central. Now we'd love to think our property itself is the reason, but it's more likely it's because we have the only house without a dog! All our neighbours have at least one big dog, so it's pretty clear the deer feel safest using our garden as their thoroughfare.

I was alerted to a visitor yesterday evening by Chloe growling at the bedroom window - pretty impressive, as I was sitting in the living room with the radio on. She may be a cat, but she's extremely territorial!

After checking to see what nature of visitor (it could have been the bear - we saw evidence the other day that it too had been by as recently as Tuesday morning), I grabbed my camera and managed to get a couple of photos and even some video.

In writing news, I discovered today that I really do need to remember to go to coffee shops more often to work. I stayed in Sechelt between my Nia class this morning and my library shift in the afternoon. With the price of gas these days, I didn't want to go home between the two, so I took the laptop with me and went to The Daily Roast (after finding Starbucks full). I had a yummy coffee and muffin and spent a fruitful hour doing some editing. It was fantastic - there was great music playing and the constant hum of voices and the coffee machine provided just the right amount of noise to lose myself in. I'm too paranoid to use Wireless Hotspots and without the internet I was able to focus on my work.

I've also been glomming books by Vancouver author Robyn Harding - three in the last week! They're page turners and tons of fun. One is even set in Vancouver, which is totally cool. They're very similar in tone to Marian Keyes, Catherine Alliot and Cathy Kelly, but with a Canadian twist. Even the books set in the US give away her nationality - at one point she mentions women might fantasize about sleeping with Joe Thornton of the Colorado Avalanche. I'm not sure many American writers would use a hockey analogy *g*. It's that kind of detail that really sucks me in. Most Canadian teenaged girls have at least one crush on a hockey player. So if you see any of her books - Unravelled, The Secret Desires of a Soccer Mom, The Journal of Mortifying Moments or Chronicles of a Mid-life Crisis, pick them up! You can read more about them at Robyn's website.


Last, but not least, here's the book trailer for Elizabeth Chadwick's next book. If you haven't read her books, they're fantastic!



Hope everyone is having a good week :)

Teresa

Currently Reading:The Wedding Day by Catherine Alliot

6 comments:

Melissa Amateis said...

I can't write in a busy place. I get too easily distracted watching people! But I'm glad it worked out for you. :-)

Tess said...

I know Claire Delacroix says the same thing you do, so you're in good company :)

I've no idea why it works for me, except I spent a lot of time studying and writing essays in noisy places on campus as the houses I lived in had lots of people I enjoyed talking to when i should have been working.

Kelly Boyce said...

Oh no! Another EC book I can't wait to read. Although I'm seriously behind in my EC books. I have about 4 that I need to get through. Hopefully that will keep me busy until this one comes out in softcover. It sounds fantastic!!

Tess said...

I'm a little behind too, Kelly. But it will be great when I finally curl up with them!

Sandy said...

Hi Teresa, although I really like the name, Tess.

Very nice blog entry. Where do you live? I'm curious about the bears coming around. We've had our share of deer here too. Poor things, they're being driven out by housing.

I have a friend named Carla Cassidy who writes with the television on, but I have to have absolute quiet.

Have a good day, Tess.

Sandy

Tess said...

Thanks, Sandy. I live on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia.