Guest Blogger

Today, I’m guesting on my publisher’s website with a blog post called How the Calgary Stampede Inspired My Murder Mystery Novel. Books We Love has given me a regular slot on their Author Insider Blog, the 12th of every month. By the time I got there, most of the other days had been claimed. That’s close to 30 authors collectively blogging daily on the BWL site. Those with dates from 29-31 won’t be posting every month and I have a feeling I’ll start to envy them before long. The monthly deadline rolls around quickly.

Calgary Stampede parade

To get a sense of what others were writing, I subscribed to the BWL insider blog. I’m not a big reader of blogs. Who has the time? But rather than skim through the posts, I found myself reading many of them with interest. Quite a few of the authors write historical fiction, which I have a hankering to write but haven’t attempted yet. Others write personal stories, sometimes involving travel. They tend to be mature writers who have led interesting lives — and often still do.

If you click onto the BWL Insider Blog after March 12th and don’t see my post, check the archives or scroll down the posts dated March 13th, 14th, 15th and later. You might find yourself getting distracted along the way.

Owl's Nest Bookstore display for my launch on March 14th.

Four Days

Musical Instruments Museum, Phoenix, AZ: The 4 Beatles

1-2-3-4 days to Owl’s Nest Bookstore. This weekend, the clocks spring forward, which means there will be light in the sky when the launch starts.   

The box of books arrives, packed so tightly it's hard to pry them out.

Six Days

Six Westwinds Hiking Club members in Arizona - Fat Man's Pass hike

Six days until Owl’s Nest Bookstore. The long-term weather forecast says this spell of cold and snow should end in time for the book launch day. Hey Calgary weather, it’s March. The days are getting longer already.

Seven Days

March 7th and there’s 7  days to go: Owl’s Nest Bookstore. Double sevens for good luck? Let’s hope.

Tombstone Courthouse Museum drawing - 7 of the men involved in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. A character in Ten Days in Summer refers to this infamous event

Eight Days Until Launch

Eight Days until the launch for Ten Days in Summer at Owl’s Nest Bookstore. My recent hiking holiday in Arizona took my mind off things. Now I’m getting nervous.

On a hike with 8 friends last fall - that's me standing in the back wearing a Tilly hat and purple sweater

Hiking in Arizona, with saguaro cacti unique to Sonoran deserts in Arizona and Mexico.

Nine Days to Go

cSpace under renovation - former King Edward School
AWCS classrooms retain the school's chalkboards.

Yesterday, I attended the Alexandra Writers Centre Society’s Alberta Skies Art and Book Exhibit. The event took place at the new AWCS premises in cSpace, Calgary’s new home for artists of all kinds. It drew a crowd that packed our three rooms, warming them up so much that the building custodian opened the top three windows for the first time.

A classroom with a view (9 panes per window + 3 panes along the top that open for fresh air)

cSpace is still under renovation, but the AWCS’ classrooms are already a go. Somehow, we scored the penthouse–those are our windows on the top floor (left hand side).  Each classroom gets tons of light and has a view of the Rocky Mountains. What a change from our former basement location, although the setting in a sandstone school nicely continues the AWCS heritage.

Nine days to go until the launch for Ten Days in Summer at Owl’s Nest Bookstore.

10 Days to Lift-off

I doubt I’ll publish another book with 10 in the title, so this is my chance for a 10-day countdown to my book launch. Here it begins.

Today, from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m, I’ll be at the Alberta Skies Art Exhibit
cSpace King Edward, 1721 29 Ave SW, Calgary
Featuring Alberta Skies course participants at the Alexandra Writers Centre Society
Art Exhibition, Book Sales, Readings, & Music by the Authors/Artists, Refreshments served

Come and check out cSpace, Calgary’s new arts incubator and new location for the Alexandra Writers Centre Society.  The AWCS windows are on the top floor, left hand side of this picture looking up from the dumpster — building renovations are still in progress.


I count 10 birds on this rock at Mismaloya Cove, Mexico - although it's hard to tell with the guano

Ten days to the launch of Ten Days in Summer — March 14, 7:00 p.m. at Owl’s Nest Bookstore.