Ever Wonder What a Streeter Is?

Okay, so you never wondered. A streeter (in case I've piqued your interest) is a term used in journalism to describe a story where you interview people on the street. Today, just when I was about to sit down to work on my manuscript, I got a call from the Gazette Business editor asking me what I was up to. It turned out he needed me to write a story for tomorrow's paper about how local merchants have been affected by the snowstorms that have recently hit Montreal. Since I was going downtown anyhow to meet my daughter, I said yes. And so, this is how I got to spend most of my day in reporter mode. I got lots of good material -- some from shop owners whose stores are suffering, and some from people whose businesses are benefiting from the bad weather (like the manager of the Yellow shoe store in Place Alexis-Nihon who has been doing a brisk business in winter boots.) 

My daughter wanted me to "see" a down winter coat she has been coveting. Well, let's just say the proceeds from the story have gone directly to the coat. But my girl is warm (the top half of her at least -- she practically refused to even try on a full-length coat  -- not fashionable enough for her!!) and the story is written... and I have to admit I do get a bit of a buzz from working on a tight deadline. I'll send you the link to the article in tomorrow's blog entry. And oh, I almost forgot to tell you. My former editor Hadley Dyer (I mentioned her in a previous entry -- she is a very successful YA writer who lives in Toronto) is coming to spend the night on Saturday with her dog Luke. Should be fun. I just hope Luke doesn't mind having his feet wiped. (The cat next door doesn't seem to like it.) Bye for now. Be good, be safe, have fun...   and wipe your feet!