This is not Monday, but — Monday was the first day the book­store was open for customers. It was a partial opening, and will remain so for a while; while we’re allowed to open, the list of condi­tions for safe opening require a lot of social distancing, ster­il­izing of things people touch, and face masks. And people :). Our store is not phys­i­cally large, so at the moment we’re taking appoint­ments in 30 minute blocks, for a max of 3 people in the store. Also: hand sani­tizer is used on entry to the store, and face masks are neces­sary. Having said all that, it was nice to see people in the store again :) I was hot and surpris­ingly tired and came home and fell over, so I missed Monday. … Continue reading →

I started seri­ously writing about six years ago. I finished the first draft of my first novel last summer. In the middle of revising it, I was inspired and wrote a second novel in six months flat. With two novels’ first drafts done, the logical next step was revi­sion & editing — and this is where the rug was pulled out from under me in a way I did not expect. I’ve read plenty of advice that one should ignore that nega­tive inner voice during the first draft and then utilize it for editing in subse­quent drafts. For me, I found I could tune that voice out during the 1st draft — it’s the subse­quent revision/editing drafts I’m massively strug­gling with because of that inner voice. … I haven’t been able to make anything gel in months at this point, … Continue reading →

Well. It’s been a long week. I… missed some of the events because I spent three days doing taxes (federal and GST/HST) and had to ignore the Internet because anything is more compelling than doing taxes. I discov­ered – and of course this makes perfect legal sense – that I can’t contribute to USian polit­ical campaigns. US char­i­ties will take money. I have read So. Much. News. So much. I feel some­what help­less, and I’m wavering between hope and despair, and the despair is the 2016 elec­tion all over again. Which, oddly enough, stopped me from getting a single useful word written for three months. (Little whis­pers: is this enough? Is this finally enough? Will things change? And I remember my mother not under­standing my 2016 reac­tion because… it was America. Surely the … Continue reading →