Did I tell you that my neighbours on both sides are already busy in their gardens? So, first thing this morning, I gave into temptation and did a little tidying up in the garden, too. My reward? I saw a cardinal and heard his trill!
Melanie Jeffs, the Orca editor who edited my latest book, 121 Express, will be here when I get home from school tonight. I met her when I toured VancouverIsland for Canadian Children's Book Week during the fall of 2006, and I look forward to getting reacquainted -- and to picking her brain on behalf of my blog readers (and myself, too, of course)!
On another subject altogether, I've been reading a book called Double Lives: Writing and Motherhood, which I'm reviewing for the Montreal Gazette. Last night, I read the preface, which is written by Toronto author Marni Jackson. Marni said something that really resonated for me about what's required when you write a novel: a "sort of deep, sustained solitary work." I think that's because unlike a short story for example, a novel generally takes much longer to write, and I agree about the "deep, sustained solitary" nature of the task. It's kind of odd in my case since I tend to be pretty sociable, not naturally solitary, and yet, I so enjoy (well, especially on a day when the writing is going well), the quiet looking-inwardness of writing. What about you?