Bits and Pieces

It’s good to be back at Word Wranglers after our little break. I feel totally refreshed!

I had a busy break and a busy month. Though it wasn’t Thanksgiving here in Canada, my brother and sister-in-law came for a visit last weekend (they live about six hours away) so it kind of felt like Thanksgiving. We invited some cousins over for dinner and had a great time. My brother and sister-in-law left on Sunday, which was a good thing because winter officially arrived here on Monday, making driving treacherous. Fortunately, there’s not a lot of snow yet, but what’s there is slippery.

My front yard - the first snow of winter.
Also on the homefront, November is a busy month for my family since both my husband and I and our oldest daughter all have birthdays in November. This year on my husband’s birthday we had my younger daughter’s boyfriend’s parents over for dinner for the first time. So it was a double celebration!

At the beginning of November, Alyssa Thiessen, a Manitoba author/publisher, and I had a booth at a local Christmas craft sale. Though I didn’t sell a lot of books, I gave away dozens of bookmarks and talked about books with a lot of people. It was great fun. There were a lot of people in attendance, and our area was particularly popular because the booth across the aisle from us was selling cookies and tarts and other yummy-looking Christmas treats. Talk about location, location, location!

A couple of weeks ago I went to a book signing/talk at a local bookstore for a new book written by retired Canadian Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire. General Dallaire was appointed force commander of UN troops in Rwanda during the genocide there in 1993. He wrote about his experience during that time in Shake Hands with the Devil (what a great title!). His new book, called Waiting for First Light, is about his ongoing battle with PTSD, a result of his experience in Rwanda. Aside from wanting to hear General Dallaire speak, I’ve got a book on the back burner about a character with PTSD, and I wanted to learn something about the condition from someone who’s been there. His talk was very illuminating. I purchased the book, but confess I haven’t started reading it yet, mainly because he recommended not reading it before going to bed – apparently it’s not an easy read! One of these days, I’ll screw up my courage and start reading.


Have you started Christmas shopping yet? I think I’m almost done, thanks to the miracle of online shopping. My daughters put in specific requests – one for a tablet, and the other (the nurse) for a new stethoscope. All that’s required is a credit card that isn’t totally maxed out. I also made some in-person purchases. A lady at the craft show I attended in November had lovely homemade soaps and lotions, so I also have some stocking stuffers. All I have to do now is wrap the gifts and put up the tree!


In between these events, I managed to complete editing my current WIP (I say ‘complete’, but when are we ever done editing?) I also made some changes to my website and marketing; sign up for my newsletter and receive a free copy of my World War Two short story “Wings of Fire”. Check it out at www.janarichards.com


So that was my busy month. How was yours?

Comments

  1. You've been both busy and productive, and it sounds like fun times, too.

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    1. Yes, it was fun times. I love having family and friends over. As far as writing, no matter how much I get done, I always feel I should have accomplished more. This is something I have to work on in my effort to be kinder to myself. Wish me luck.

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  2. Snow?!? Ack! Glad you had a busy and productive month! Hubby spent Black Friday on the couch ordering Christmas from his laptop. At one point I had to tell him to get off the computer because I wanted to do a little shopping too. ;-)

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    1. Ava, where I live, not getting snow till this late is unusual. I remember years when my husband had to shovel the walk so kids could come to our door at Halloween. But not to worry; it's a pretty minor snowfall so far.

      Online shopping is such a time saver. Love it!

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