Some photos from our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
Christmas Morning
As you can see, we're DEFINITELY having a White Christmas - it's just beautiful!!
Hope you're having a lovely holiday!
Teresa
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Happy Christmas!!
Christmas Morning
As you can see, we're DEFINITELY having a White Christmas - it's just beautiful!!
Hope you're having a lovely holiday!
Teresa
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Skating!!
Sean managed to clear a small area of a nearby pond on which we can skate. It's unusual out here for that to happen, so we were thrilled to be able to strap on the blades and glide :)
Hope you all have a lovely holiday season, whatever holiday you are celebrating :)
Teresa
Currently Reading: Second Chance by Jane Green
Link of the Day: Indulge Yourself - Natalie Damschroder's blog
 |
| From Skating on the pond |
 |
| From Skating on the pond |
 |
| From Skating on the pond |
Hope you all have a lovely holiday season, whatever holiday you are celebrating :)
Teresa
Currently Reading: Second Chance by Jane Green
Link of the Day: Indulge Yourself - Natalie Damschroder's blog
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Holiday season madness...
Time is just flying by - can't believe Christmas is a week today! We've had a busy week, hence my relative absence in the blogosphere.
Last Friday I worked at the library, then that evening we headed up to Secret Cove for Sean's office Christmas party - here's a pic of us having a good time:
On Saturday afternoon we tromped into the woods to find a Christmas tree. We'd seen a few on our walks over the last few weeks and finally settled on one, so Sean demonstrated his lumberjack skills:
and carried it home:
We took a brief detour during a grocery run to Gibsons on Sunday to visit Georgia Beach - Sean had forgotten about it, so I've never been there before. It's GORGEOUS:
When we arrived home, we went out on the deck and decorated our little tree:
After losing several really nice decorations last year, we went with some very simple plastic "dingle balls" (as Sean calls them) + lights:
Monday I was at work all day and Tuesday Sean and I worked on Christmas cards after taking a walk in the crisp winter air. When I woke Wednesday morning, the first thing I saw snow falling, lots of snow! What a lovely thing to see the week before Christmas and makes me happy yet again that we chose a house design that allows me to see outside as soon as I open my eyes.
It snowed all day:
and covered our tree:
When Sean got home from work (he's now back working the early morning shift), we walked down to see how our little pond is freezing - it's doing well. Sean cleared some snow off - he hopes to skate on the weekend!!
Here's another shot of our winter wonderland:
and Sean heading back to the house with his snow-clearing broom:
The snow was so gorgeous, we decided to walk to the postbox - here's the view along the way:
After dark, we went outside to see how the house looks with the Christmas lights on:
And finally, here's what the tree looked like once the snow stopped falling:
Today was spent doing yet more Christmas shopping - I'm ALMOST done now. Yay!! And so far I've done it all without leaving the Coast. This weekend we'll be busy with our Wigilia prep as I'm working Monday and Tuesday next week. Fortunately almost everything can be prepared beforehand.
I'm also trying to knit the last of my gifts as I have the chance! So my hands are rarely still.
How about you - how is your holiday prep going?
Teresa
Currently Reading: The Learning Curve by Melissa Nathan
Also Reading: Second Chance by Jane Green
Link of the Day: Will Write for Chocolate
Last Friday I worked at the library, then that evening we headed up to Secret Cove for Sean's office Christmas party - here's a pic of us having a good time:
 |
| From November December 2008 |
On Saturday afternoon we tromped into the woods to find a Christmas tree. We'd seen a few on our walks over the last few weeks and finally settled on one, so Sean demonstrated his lumberjack skills:
 |
| From November December 2008 |
and carried it home:
 |
| From November December 2008 |
We took a brief detour during a grocery run to Gibsons on Sunday to visit Georgia Beach - Sean had forgotten about it, so I've never been there before. It's GORGEOUS:
 |
| From November December 2008 |
 |
| From November December 2008 |
When we arrived home, we went out on the deck and decorated our little tree:
 |
| From November December 2008 |
After losing several really nice decorations last year, we went with some very simple plastic "dingle balls" (as Sean calls them) + lights:
 |
| From November December 2008 |
Monday I was at work all day and Tuesday Sean and I worked on Christmas cards after taking a walk in the crisp winter air. When I woke Wednesday morning, the first thing I saw snow falling, lots of snow! What a lovely thing to see the week before Christmas and makes me happy yet again that we chose a house design that allows me to see outside as soon as I open my eyes.
It snowed all day:
 |
| From November December 2008 |
and covered our tree:
 |
| From November December 2008 |
When Sean got home from work (he's now back working the early morning shift), we walked down to see how our little pond is freezing - it's doing well. Sean cleared some snow off - he hopes to skate on the weekend!!
 |
| From November December 2008 |
Here's another shot of our winter wonderland:
 |
| From November December 2008 |
and Sean heading back to the house with his snow-clearing broom:
 |
| From November December 2008 |
The snow was so gorgeous, we decided to walk to the postbox - here's the view along the way:
 |
| From November December 2008 |
After dark, we went outside to see how the house looks with the Christmas lights on:
 |
| From November December 2008 |
And finally, here's what the tree looked like once the snow stopped falling:
 |
| From November December 2008 |
Today was spent doing yet more Christmas shopping - I'm ALMOST done now. Yay!! And so far I've done it all without leaving the Coast. This weekend we'll be busy with our Wigilia prep as I'm working Monday and Tuesday next week. Fortunately almost everything can be prepared beforehand.
I'm also trying to knit the last of my gifts as I have the chance! So my hands are rarely still.
How about you - how is your holiday prep going?
Teresa
Currently Reading: The Learning Curve by Melissa Nathan
Also Reading: Second Chance by Jane Green
Link of the Day: Will Write for Chocolate
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
When historical fiction goes wrong...
I was reading a work of historical fiction yesterday evening and came very close to flinging it against the wall. But a) it is a library book b) it has a plastic cover that would make a mess if it lands on the woodstove and c) I don't want to dent the wall.
It was very disappointing and what's worse is that the author started off drawing me right into her world with a great story and historical detail. The first sign of trouble came with a few info dumps, but I was willing to let those go and just skim. Then it happened - a HUGE historical error - the death of a real person four+ years too soon. It just yanked me right out of the story and I couldn't go back. I tried, I did, but I just couldn't let it go.
Now, under other circumstances I might have kept going. Had the book been more of a wallpaper historical, I might have brushed aside the mistake, but in this case I couldn't, because until I ran into this error, I'd been immersed in another era, courtesy of the author. Even the info dumps, though awkward, convinced me she knew her stuff. So when this mistake reared its ugly head, I just couldn't ignore it and began to question all the other historical details.
To make matters worse, there was no Author's Note. I checked, hoping to find an explanation there (it would have had to have been a pretty good one, mind), but nada. So I was left questioning whether or not the author KNEW this particular person died later and just moved it up for convenience sake OR if she just didn't know and threw the reference in regardless. And that was my sticking point. Up till that point, I'd trusted her, and now that trust was broken, I couldn't lose myself in her world any more as I no longer believed in its veracity.
On various listservs, forums and groups I've discussed the question of historical accuracy and have conceded that there are times an author can fudge. My opinion hasn't changed, BUT I like to know why and that's why the Author's Note is so important. If you can't convince your publisher to give you room for that note, I caution you against making changes (historical or otherwise) your readers will catch (and some of them ALWAYS will), or risk losing them for good.
Have you ever put a book down for the reasons I've discussed? And do you find it worse if the author has created a world you believe in, then ruins it with an inaccuracy?
Teresa
Currently Reading: I'm between books - have several to choose from
Link of the Day: The Worshipful Company of Glovers of London (link courtesy of Claire Delacroix / Deborah Cooke)
It was very disappointing and what's worse is that the author started off drawing me right into her world with a great story and historical detail. The first sign of trouble came with a few info dumps, but I was willing to let those go and just skim. Then it happened - a HUGE historical error - the death of a real person four+ years too soon. It just yanked me right out of the story and I couldn't go back. I tried, I did, but I just couldn't let it go.
Now, under other circumstances I might have kept going. Had the book been more of a wallpaper historical, I might have brushed aside the mistake, but in this case I couldn't, because until I ran into this error, I'd been immersed in another era, courtesy of the author. Even the info dumps, though awkward, convinced me she knew her stuff. So when this mistake reared its ugly head, I just couldn't ignore it and began to question all the other historical details.
To make matters worse, there was no Author's Note. I checked, hoping to find an explanation there (it would have had to have been a pretty good one, mind), but nada. So I was left questioning whether or not the author KNEW this particular person died later and just moved it up for convenience sake OR if she just didn't know and threw the reference in regardless. And that was my sticking point. Up till that point, I'd trusted her, and now that trust was broken, I couldn't lose myself in her world any more as I no longer believed in its veracity.
On various listservs, forums and groups I've discussed the question of historical accuracy and have conceded that there are times an author can fudge. My opinion hasn't changed, BUT I like to know why and that's why the Author's Note is so important. If you can't convince your publisher to give you room for that note, I caution you against making changes (historical or otherwise) your readers will catch (and some of them ALWAYS will), or risk losing them for good.
Have you ever put a book down for the reasons I've discussed? And do you find it worse if the author has created a world you believe in, then ruins it with an inaccuracy?
Teresa
Currently Reading: I'm between books - have several to choose from
Link of the Day: The Worshipful Company of Glovers of London (link courtesy of Claire Delacroix / Deborah Cooke)
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
My NaNo total etc..
As you can see from the badge in my sidebar, I finished with 15, 387 words. Not bad, considering I only managed to write on 8 of the 30 days. An average of 1923 words per day. I really wish I could have found more time for writing, but things were crazy over the last month. So I'm going to let go and just be happy I managed to achieve what I did :)
Life is super busy overall right now, between work, school prep, writing, Christmas prep (I'm knitting quite a few gifts) and just housekeeping, I don't have much spare time. Grey weather has affected me somewhat, but I'm taking my Vitamin D like a good girl and working through the blahs. It's hard to believe we're at Christmas yet again - our second in this house! Hopefully we'll find a good tree for the deck over the next couple of weekends.
I'm so looking forward to starting school. Working at the library has been a real eye-opener for me, making me realize just how right I am for this kind of job. Why didn't I figure this out earlier? Oh well, better late than never :)
Back to writing - Deborah Cooke/Claire Delacroix had a great blog post the other day about Boulders (the huge obstacles that tend to arise in the middle of most mss). What do you do when faced with those plotting obstacles? I try to play the What If game, as well as examining the story elements Deb talks about.
I always love to hear how other writers deal with the elements that plague us as we write our masterpieces.
Teresa
Currently Reading: Stately Pursuits by Katie Fforde
Also Currently Reading: The Write Type by
Link of the Day: Top Ten Plotting Problems by Alicia Rasley
Life is super busy overall right now, between work, school prep, writing, Christmas prep (I'm knitting quite a few gifts) and just housekeeping, I don't have much spare time. Grey weather has affected me somewhat, but I'm taking my Vitamin D like a good girl and working through the blahs. It's hard to believe we're at Christmas yet again - our second in this house! Hopefully we'll find a good tree for the deck over the next couple of weekends.
I'm so looking forward to starting school. Working at the library has been a real eye-opener for me, making me realize just how right I am for this kind of job. Why didn't I figure this out earlier? Oh well, better late than never :)
Back to writing - Deborah Cooke/Claire Delacroix had a great blog post the other day about Boulders (the huge obstacles that tend to arise in the middle of most mss). What do you do when faced with those plotting obstacles? I try to play the What If game, as well as examining the story elements Deb talks about.
I always love to hear how other writers deal with the elements that plague us as we write our masterpieces.
Teresa
Currently Reading: Stately Pursuits by Katie Fforde
Also Currently Reading: The Write Type by
Link of the Day: Top Ten Plotting Problems by Alicia Rasley
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)