A WRITER'S BUSY LIFE!

Pablo Neruda's House "La Chascona"

Santiago, Chile

Between winding up my classes and catching up on travel writing, besides editing Shadow of the Lion, it seems I have not had much time for blogging, other than to add a couple of new travel blogs (sometimes using old stories!)

But here I am, unwinding on a Sunday night after a productive day topped off with two stories getting accepted for an on-line publication (EuropeUpClose),  posting another travel blog, and going for a nice long walk for some exercise.

The final edits of Shadow went very well -- the red-pencilling part.  Now I have to start working on the new file on the computer and all the little icky-picky things that are necessary to get the novel into tip-top shape.  I'm approaching it in a relaxed manner.  There's been enough stuff going on around here to stress me out, so I want to have a fresh mind each time I sit down to go over the manuscript. 

In between, I've been getting a few new travel stories written:  (1) a story about touring Pablo Neruda's houses in Chile (2) updating some old stories that haven't been published (3) catching up on writing all the other stories I've had on the back-log while busy writing for The Vancouver Guide.  Now my time is a bit more freed up and I am enjoying the change of pace, especially getting used to the more casual 'blog-style' writing. 

Pretty soon I want to start working on my old novel, but I don't want to disrupt the work I still have to do on Shadow.  Hoping to get it all ship-shape in the next month.

In two weeks my classes all start up again for the Spring session, so I have to prepare programs and hand-out material for them.  Also, this week I will be presenting at school,  attending two classes to talk about being a writer.  This is for the Off the Page Program sponsored by the Federation of B.C. Writers.  I've done it three times in the past and it was always a great experience.  And later in the month, at the same school, I'll be participating again in the "Human Library" where I will represent myself as a book about being a writer.

So my life is full.  Really, I work every day on my writing and lately have made myself take a break, so I started back to the gym, go to waterfit twice a week and on the weekend I try to go on a good long walk.  Sitting at the computer for too long is very hard on the eyes and body!

Meanwhile, I'm working on my summer plans.  In spite of the upsets lately -- the unexpected news of my apartment sale and some other sad news about friends passing -- I have decided to take charge of my life and go ahead with my plans for summer.  So this week I'll be checking in with my travel agent and applying for a renewed passport.  Time to hit the road again!