Bleeding but happy

I’m scratched, stained, and bleeding, but I have blackberries:

Soon I shall also have blackberry pie, blackberry crisp, and blackberry jam. And all’s right with my world….

What I read on my summer vacation

[ETA: I just noticed the top book in the pile was cut off in this pic. Such a fine photographer I am... oops. It was If I Stay, by Gayle Forman, which, btw, was an amazing book!]

Breaking News

The low-budget news team reports on a disturbance at the home of Aspiring Author.

Yes, it’s true. This round of revisions is done. But, you say, how is that possible? You were on vacation! Indeed I was, but it turns out sunshine and sand and family time and good books are all fine fuel for revising. Who knew? And now, the manuscript is off to my trusty crit partner and then should be winging its way to Brilliant Agent’s desk sometime next week (eek!) (um, unless trusty crit partner has devastating news for me after reading the manuscript… time will tell).

(Vacation pics under the cut.)

Bliss

(See you in two weeks.)

That’s entertainment

Last night DH, Son3, and I picked up a drink at Sbux and sat down by the marina to watch the boats coming and going. I love the smell of the marina – sea air and fish and creosote and boat gas. (Okay, listing it out like that doesn’t make it sound that appealing, but man, the combination is so awesome. Aromatherapy extraordinaire!)

Some massive yachts were moored there for the night — one called Reward, another At Ease – and we couldn’t help speculating on who might own such boats, and what it might be like to live on one (one had a sundeck that I’m sure was larger than the one on our house). (Gee, maybe I should write a story about a yacht-dweller… surely I’d have to go cruising — I mean, do research — right? )

The boats were interesting and all, but sea-life trumps boats any day. Minnows were jumping, or rather, they were flinging themselves well clear of the water in a hilarious display of bug-catching. I’ve no idea how they can propel themselves like that, but it was a fine show. We also saw an otter swim by, apparently unfazed by the power boats zipping past. I only caught a couple glimpses of the otter, but then, the coolest thing: a Great Blue Heron flew to the wharf and settled on the edge very near our vantage point. With slow, delicate movements, stepping carefully with his funny backward-bending knees and peering into the water, he stalked his dinner. Step. Step. Freeze…. Gotcha! He grabbed a fish in his bill, manoeuvred it into the right position, then swallowed it whole. Yummy. We watched a while longer as he poised on the edge of the wharf waiting for his second course to swim into range, but then a speedboat docked nearby, and the heron flew to another fishing spot out of our view.

The ferry had come and gone from the neighbouring island and was on its way back again by the time we were ready to go. On our way home, we stopped to pick up a movie, but IMHO, nothing in that video store could beat the entertainment value of an hour at the marina. It was a good evening.

Peace….

Summer Reading Challenge

Jennifer Hubbard posted a Summer Reading Challenge on her blog — check it out, and if you want to join us, sign up in the comments (on her post, not mine!). It’s easy — only ten books — but the criteria may just nudge you out of a reading rut to discover some gems you might otherwise have missed.

Like Jenn, I hope to read way more than ten books this summer, so this challenge feels like an “achievable goal”, which is the best kind of goal, IMHO.  What I really love about this challenge is making a commitment to read certain books that have been on my TBR pile for ages. Finally, it’s time!

Here are my 10 books for the challenge:

1 classic: As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner
1 re-read: The Truth About Forever, by Sarah Dessen
1 Authors Now book: Dull Boy, by Sarah Cross
1 from a genre I don’t usually read: Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon
1 “impulse book”: we’ll see what catches my eye!
5 others:
– The Heart of Christianity, by Marcus Borg
– Always Looking Up, by Michael J. Fox
– Rules, by Cynthia Lord
– Along for the Ride, by Sarah Dessen
– Need, by Carrie Jones

Ooh, I can’t wait to get started! But first, back to my regularly-scheduled revisions….

Warm is good

The cold wind bit into her skin, and the rain beat down upon her, until finally she stumbled, falling to her knees in a puddle.

“No…” she moaned. “Please. No more.”

Clutching her coat around her, she looked to the sky and cursed the storm clouds. Then she began to sob.

Ahem. Right…. Um, Mother Nature? I think I’m ready for summer weather. Now would be good. kthxbai.

Bliss

I had to go to the bank today – not likely what you expected to find in a post titled “bliss”, is it? – so I headed into town. I was wearing flip-flops (bliss point 1, because flip-flops mean summer is comin’). Flip-flops maybe aren’t the best idea when driving a standard, but it was no problem cuz I’m just that talented.

I took the ocean-side route so I could get a great view of the water sparkling in the sunshine (bliss point 2). The sea breeze was rushing through the open windows of my car (bliss point 3), and cherry blossom petals were swirling along the road like confetti (bliss point 4). And to top it all off, Cheap Trick was blasting from my car stereo (bliss point 5 – hey, what can I say? I’m a 70’s girl). So yeah, a five-pointer! W00t!

ETA: Rats. The video doesn’t wish to be embedded. Check it out HERE.

Oh, and also ETA: if you don’t think you know Cheap Trick – y’know, like if for some bizarre reason you’re not into classic rock or have been off the planet since the mid-70’s – check this out:

See? You do know Cheap Trick!

Wishing you bliss….

Oscar Wilde and Blackberrying

Blackberrying…. Hmmm…. Is that anything like Bunburying? Forgive me, I can’t attend that lengthy meeting – I must visit the blackberries. Sorry, no, I won’t be at that boring social function – the blackberries need me. No, I suppose not. Just reminded me of it.

Son 3 and I went blackberry picking this afternoon. Our hands are all stained and scratched, but we’re happy! (We have a rule that whenever a thorn makes us to say “ouch”, we get to eat a berry. We ate a lot.) Blackberry picking is an end-of-summer tradition for us, and as a result, so is making – and eating – blackberry pie and blackberry crisp and blackberry jam…. Yum!

This evening I made blackberry sauce to drizzle over the cheesecake I just took out of the oven – a birthday dessert for my daughter. We’re going out to the west coast of the island to see her tomorrow.

And then, come Tuesday, it’s back to school for my boys and back to revisions for me. Not sure I’m ready to resume kids’ routines, but I’m definitely ready to rip apart and rearrange and rewrite. (I sound eager now, don’t I? Check back with me next week to see if I’m still lovin’ the idea of revisions.)

Now I’m off to measure berries into freezer bags (exciting, eh?), and then I’ll call it a night. Or perhaps I’ll read a bit of Oscar Wilde first.

Peace.

The last bit of summer…

My parents have a cabin-in-progress on a tiny lake in the middle of nowhere. It’s a really wonderful middle of nowhere. I’ve been going there all my life, and I love it, but somehow a bunch of years passed without me getting there. So last week I went! A ferry to the mainland, several hours driving on highway, an hour on logging roads, and then this:

Yup, that’s the sign that signals the start of “our” road. 4×4’s only from this point on.

Oh, but it is so worth it! Here’s the view from our deck:

It was sooo relaxing. Visiting family, canoeing on the lake, staring at the myriad stars at night, listening to the creek gurgling and the loons calling… awesome!

After a few days chillin’ in the backwoods, we headed to Shuswap Lake for a family reunion (hubby’s mom’s side). Hubby has great relatives. Lots of laughing and eating and story-telling all weekend. Then it was on to my brother’s place for a quick visit (and more laughing and eating and story-telling) before heading home.

Now I have a few days left of my holiday time to read and hang with the kids and do the back-to-school prep stuff. Then it’s back to work at both the day job and the writing — revisions are waiting for me!

Hope the last bit of summer is wonderful for you.

Peace….