Taking a week to breathe …

I’ve been taking a bit of a break this week to celebrate typing the words “The End” on the last page of the manuscript of my next novel. Wooohoooo! Yippeeeee!  … ahem … sorry for the momentary loss of control …

For those writers in the crowd, you know what I mean. There’s a bittersweet feeling when we begin to cut our ties with the characters and settings that have possessed and taken over  been a big part of our lives since the first word of the story was written. If you aren’t a writer, there have no doubt been similar projects that occupied your time and mind until you finally dragged your sorry a**across crossed that finish line.

This week I have a lot of catching up to do. First of all I have to show my ever-supportive husband I remember how to have a long, focused conversation with him. We even went to a movie this afternoon and I made it all the way through without being distracted 50% of the time. I need to have a few GNOs and answer a backlog of voicemail messages. I have a lot of blogs to read and support to return to my superfantabulous peers in the online writing community. There’s a long list of social stuff to plan and enjoy. I may even start cooking again! Most of all, it’s time to celebrate … for at least a week or two … before the editing and revisions begin.

Ahhhhh – the joys of being a writer! I’ll get back to my normal blogging next week. Thanks for understanding!

How do you recognize the completion of a project? Do you take time off before diving into the next challenge? What’s your favourite way to celebrate? Do you quietly put your head down and sleep for a few days or do you kick up your heels?

 And now for your viewing pleasure, check these out:

Amber West’s hilarious post that reminds us we can all be awesome and that there is never a day when someone somewhere doesn’t understand us. Even it’s our couch!

Jenny Hansen shares important health reminders for every woman.

Jane Friedman and the pros and cons of an author platform

Tele Aadsen provides a fascinating look into the joys and challenges of living the fishing/writing life in Alaska.

Sexy, smart Marcia Richards writes from the heart and shares 12 rules of writing from famous authors.

 

A slightly different slant today …

If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Lucky me! Author and well-known choc-o-holic, work-o-holic, mom-o-holic, Stephanie Keyes invited me to be part of her fabulous Spring Author Series and I’m over there talking about … yes, what else … France! Well, she asked me about vacations and travel so what was I to do?

Please pop over and visit with us there and while you are at it you might want to read the posts of the terrific group of writers that have participated. They are an interesting and most entertaining party bunch  collection!

Stephanie is going to fly to England to be a featured speaker at the amazing literary day, A SUMMER AUDIENCE, planned and being hosted by the LoveAHappyEnding.com crew in Tetbury on June 16th. If you are in the UK, try your best to attend. I’ll be there in spirit!

I know this may be starting to sound repetitive and boring but I am making headway to the final page of my WIP. I can see the outline of the words “T H E  E N D” in the glow of the light at the end of the tunnel … yoohooo … I’m coming …

I don’t remember the ending of The Bridge Club taking me this long but with good ol’ selective memory I’ve no doubt banished those thoughts, if that was the case.

For your viewing pleasure …

Rue Obscure, Villefranche-Sur-Met

The bar in La Colombe D’Or, St. Paul de Vence

Hmmm – wonder if our budget could handle this!

Bon Weekend tout le monde!

Meet the Downsizing Divas!

A few weeks ago I had a great evening at a dinner/meeting  hosted by Anne Day’s Company of Women. These business-oriented functions are super networking opportunities attended by  dynamic women and conversations are animated and informative. There’s never a dull moment and this time I met a couple of true Divas!

You know I love to tell other people’s stories and today I want to introduce you to the fabulous ladies of Downsizing Diva. Now don’t they look like women it would be fun to hang out with? Energetic, always smiling and fun-loving, they run a business that offers a tremendous service. I was delighted to have them pay us a visit here and Karen took some time to answer a few questions.

 How did you and Gail first meet? Was this a personal friendship that became a business partnership?

Gail and I first met at a Professional Organizers in Canada (POC) meeting when Gail was starting her business and I had been in business for just over a year. We quickly discovered we shared similar values and wanted to help the same people, that would be seniors,  organize, downsize and move.

 For about six years, we were friendly-competitors sharing resources, ideas and sometime projects. Over this time, we became friends and, this time at a POC Conference in Vancouver, we decided to become business partners.

 The next thing we knew we were approached and asked to think about franchising our business! The rest, as they say, is history. Our learning curve is not a curve at all – it’s straight-up! We love what we do and we do it all with care, compassion and, sometimes, comedy!

The name of your company, Downsizing Diva, is fabulous. What is the origin of the business?

We love the name too! Years ago, while working with a colleague who called herself “the organizing goddess”,  we were moving a large number of items through a rather up-scale condo lobby. The Property Manager, wondering why we were not using the loading dock, stopped us with the question, “Who do you think you are?”

 Of course, Pat responded with “I am the Organizing Goddess” and then, it was my turn! Not to be outdone, I pulled myself up to full height and answered, “And, I am the Downsizing Diva!” Lots of laughs ensued and a new company name was born!

Are most of your clients in the “seniors” demographic or do you find you are helping younger people as the condo craze explodes?

Gail and I are pioneers in the “senior move management business” and, over the years, we realize how important the “downsizing” component is to any move. We all have too much stuff and our job is to help our clients take only the items they want, use and need when they move to a new home.

 We know that there are lots of people who could use the services of Downsizing Diva, and we also know the people we enjoy helping the most!

 Historically, our clients tended to NEED our services, but recently,  we are finding a whole new group of clients who WANT our services. Either way, we are committed to helping our clients go from overwhelmed to overjoyed when they contemplate their upcoming move.

What is the most rewarding aspect of your work?

The most rewarding aspect of the work we do is having the opportunity to help people every single day. We are proud to say we do our work WITH our clients, not TO them because we understand the emotional rollercoaster  involved with preparing for a move. We take time to listen to the stories while continuing to move forward on the sorting, downsizing and packing part of the process.

 Sometimes, at the end of a move we realize that our clients don’t  have anyone to help them with some of the day-to-day stuff – banking, bill-paying, shopping… That’s why we created “Diva-at-your-Service” to continue to help.

 We like to say, we treat our clients like family…and we mean that in the nicest way! 

With the aging of our population, a business like yours that offers such important assistance can only continue to grow. Is this something you would recommend to others to pursue?

Would we recommend this “senior move management” business to others? In a heartbeat!

 We love what we do and we have decided to franchise our business so we can help even more people! We’ve developed a recognizable brand, a successful business model and wonderful, supportive network of Divas – it’s a dream come true! Think you’ve got what it takes to be a Downsizing Diva…give us a call! We love to talk! 

 You, Gail and Gerine have such winning personalities. What would you recommend to others who are contemplating offering services such as yours?

Our recommendation is…follow your passion and be authentic! That’s it, in a nutshell!

We know we can teach people how to “downsize and organize”, but what we can’t do is teach anyone to LOVE working with senior clients. You either do, or you don’t

Fortunately we do…we love our clients, we love doing what we do and we mean it when we say, we love what we do…and it shows!

What’s not to like about that???

To add to their list of talents, these two Divas are authors as well! They’ve written the essential book on moving and you can easily order it directly from their website by clicking right here.

Do you have Downsizing Divas in your neighbourhood?  We’re very glad to have them in ours! What sort of networking groups do you belong to, as a writer or for other reasons?

La Grande Nomade …

If it’s Friday, it must be France …

Yes … I’m still hard at the WIP … so since I can’t get away from it, I thought I would bring you into the story with me for a moment. Oh come on! No eye rolls! It’s just for a moment …

By way of introduction – This sculpture was installed at the end of the ramparts in Antibes in 2007. It was taken into a private collection at one point and the outcry was so loud when it was gone that it was replaced. We overlooked it from our terrace last summer. Magic … day or night … just magic …

The setting for this scene in my story is at night. Of course in the WIP there are no photos … only the images created by my own letters …

Patricia Sands Photography

At the end of the ramparts, they stepped inside the white stainless steel sculpture that faced the sea and dominated the harbor of Port Vauban. Lit from the bottom in the unfolding darkness, there was a sense of a shimmering diaphanous embrace.

“I’ve been mesmerized by this from my terrace,” Katherine murmured. “It’s as if  he’s a guardian …  almost like a mirage from a distance.”

“This part of the ramparts is Bastion Saint-Jaume. Originally constructed in the 1700’s, it was blown up by the Germans when they retreated in 1944 and rebuilt according to the original plans,” Nick said, ever the historian.

Photo by http://www.casa-infos.fr/node/54

“It’s so unusual …  almost magical … ” Katherine studied the outline of a person squatting, arms around knees, constructed entirely of letters.

 “La Grande Nomade … but tourists refer to it as the Man of Letters … for obvious reasons,” Nick continued. “Oddly, the Spanish sculptor’s name is Jaume Plensa …”

 Katherine smiled at the coincidence.

Nick’s voice softened, reflecting the intimacy he craved. “His philosophy behind the work is that letters are like bricks. They help us to construct our thoughts. I read an interview where he expressed his feeling that our skin is permanently and invisibly tattooed with the text of our life experiences and then someone comes along … a friend, a lover … who is able to decipher these tattoos.”

 Biting her lip, Kat looked out over the calm sea. “The text of this year of my life would call for quite the tattoo.”

Photo by http://yaellecaplan.blogspot.ca/2011/08/la-grande-nomade.html

Patricia Sands Photography

Are you able to get a good enough sense of La Grande Nomade from these photos? What do you think of Plensa’s philosophy about letters?

It’s a long weekend in Canada and the weather is beautiful in Toronto – Victoria Day on Monday or, as it’s ‘fondly’ referred to up here “May two-four”. I’m taking tomorrow off from writing. Woohoo!  We’re going to Mosport with some of our children and grandchildren to watch our son, Sasha, compete in his auto racing division. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I wish you all a Bon Weekend!

A Mother’s Day postscript

Have you seen this? My daughter forwarded it to me. We don’t all have children that grow up to be Olympic competitors, but they are all champions in our hearts. The job is the same for each of us. Enjoy.

La Fête Des Mères

If it’s Friday, it must be France …

In Canada and the U.S.A, this Sunday, the second Sunday in May, is Mother’s Day. Well, officially it’s Mother’s Day … we all know in reality every day is Mother’s Day. Where would we be without them?

Mother’s Day in France this year is June 3.

The date is fixed to the last Sunday of May, except in the case of Pentecost Sunday  and then the festival is postponed until that date.

France’s tradition was inaugurated by Napoleon and made official in 1920.

As you might expect in the foodalicious culture of that country. Special cakes are often created for this day.

Many of them are in floral designs such as these on the left … almost too beautiful to eat!

As I was looking up information for this post … um, you wonder (???) why my current WIP still  isn’t finished … there are distractions like blogging!

Okay, where was I …

I happened upon the wonderful blog of Myriam, an Australian writer who also shares fabulous posts on France … another fine example of the global melting pot of information in this amazing blogosphere of ours. You are going to love her site!

This is a cake she made while in France  a couple of years ago celebrating La Fête with her mother and grandmother. Magnifique, oui?  Now if you are like me … I suck at baking baking is not my forté … with the exception of my Christmas shortbread cookies which I have to admit are delicious (based on the rapid disappearance of any batch left unattended) and I have my dear long-departed Gram to thank for that recipe.

But I digress … as I often do …

This cake is from a very famous Paris bakery and comes in a kit! Woohoo! I can do kits!

Myriam has shared all of the necessary ingredients from this kit and how-to photos on her blog. Click here to see how for yourself. Even baking-challenged moi can whip up this impressive delight!

If you are looking for something different to prepare for your mom this weekend, this might be just the ticket. (Don’t you love that plate too?)

While you are planning the rest of your celebration for Mother’s Day, here are a few quotes to ponder.

L’avenir d’un enfant est l’oeuvre de sa mere-The future of a child is the work of his mother. -Napoleon Bonaparte.

Le coeur d’une mere est un abîme au fond duquel se trouve toujours le pardon.-The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.-Honore de Balzac, a 19th century French novelist and playwright.

Une maman formidable donne toujours une grand-mere exceptionnelle.-A great mother always makes an exceptional grandmother.-Jean Gastaldi, French writer.

A little historical note: the United Kingdom was the first country to begin celebrating mothers in the 1600′s. Mothering Sunday occurs on the fourth Sunday in Lent so the date changes from year to year.

My dear mom died 6 years ago at the age of 92 (with a better memory than mine right to the end!). We will honour her on Sunday, as I will be feted by  my children and grandchildren, and as I will honour our daughters and daughters-in-law. Amazing mothers all.  Whether the mothers you honour are present or live on in your heart, whatever you do, celebrate with that attitude of gratitude! 

Last chapter syndrome …

Ooops – Tuesday just slipped right by me! I’m in the grips of what I refer to, in a conflicted  joyful way, as “last chapter syndrome”. Even though I feel a little sad to say goodbye to the characters, it’s such a relief good feeling to be reaching the end of something that has consumed me for the past year my next novel! However, that doesn’t mean that I’m actually right at “The End” yet. That’s the truly difficult part for me.

The main character, a woman named Katherine Price, decided to do something at the last minute which I wasn’t expecting. You would think she might have at least given me an inkling but …nope … there I was, typing away and all of a sudden it was like … OMG,she’s going to do … what? But it turns out it’s a very good thing to do and actually is helping me tie up some loose ends. There are times when our characters really do know what’s best. That’s one of the amazing and surprising aspects of writing fiction. I love it!

The only way my husband can communicate with me at the moment!

However, it also means that I have not been thinking about much else (except golf once a week  for now and, of course, The Adorables, … my salvation after a winter of being stuck to this chair and computer) so please forgive this brief post. I’ve got to get back to work before my husband leaves me and finish this novel.

Next week, I’m going to introduce you to a couple of fabulous women who run a wonderful, and immensely helpful, business, the Downsizing Divas! You’re going to love them AND love how they do what they do!

By way of an intro, here’s their book and the link to find out more about it. Darn! I enlarged the image and now it’s a bit fuzzy. Sorry! Click that link and check it out and I’ll bring it all to you properly next Tuesday!

More Shameless Self-promotion here: I’ve got a Mother’s Day promotion for The Bridge Club running on Kindle Nation Daily’s facebook page. Need a good read for mom? The Bridge Club might be just the answer! Thanks for passing it on to your friends and readers. Always appreciated.

How do you cope when life gets crazy? Do you stay calm or get frazzled? I’ve found that frazzled really doesn’t work for me so I just motor on, leaving a trail of burned food in pots, unreturned messages, and blog posts that really aren’t up to par! Do you join the ranks of the calm or the frazzled? What works for you?

Oh! A gentle reminder – If you haven’t slipped over to CJ West’s blog to leave a comment and be in the running for a $500 Amazon Gift Card, please click here and take 30 seconds to do it. We all need to take a break and be kind of crazy at times and Jillian Dodd is just the writer to get us to do it! This idea is her brainchild so let’s help her out! Then please pass the message on.

How sweet is this?

If it’s Friday, it must be France …

May 1st is celebrated in many different ways around the world. France has a particularly sweet custom and my friend,  book reviewer and blogger Claire McAlpine, wrote a lovely post about that very topic. I’m happy to share it with you today.

Le Muguet – Becoming French

May 1, 2012 by Claire ‘Word by Word’

Au mois de mai, fais ce qu’il te plait.

In the month of May do what your heart fancies.

Provencal proverb

So today I feel like sharing a little bit of French culture with you, the 1^st of May is a public holiday in France for the Fête du Travail and the day you will find people offering Le Muguet (Lily of the Valley) to their friends, neighbours and acquaintances, a tradition that began during the Renaissance in 1561, when Charles IX offered them to his subjects as a symbol of porte-bonheur or good luck.

Now associated with the Fête du Travail on 1 May, anyone can sell the flower on the street without requiring a licence or permission. Today I walked into the centre-ville and came across many people who are spending their day, sharing the magic of Le Muguet with the public.

The first year I came to live in France, I learned of the tradition when my next door neighbour knocked on the door and presented me with this delightful flower, explaining its significance.

Six months into adapting to this life, language and culture, it was a welcome gesture and reminded me how important it is to reach out to others, even if they appear to be coping, we can all do with a little ‘porte-bonheur’ from time to time.

Claire was a special guest on my blog a few weeks ago. If you haven’t had time to visit her wonderful Word By Word  blog, I hope you find the time soon. You’ll be glad you did!

Isn’t that a lovely custom? Lily Of The Valley is one of my favourite flowers and something I eagerly anticipated discovering in bloom in my garden when I lived in the country. I would pick a sizeable bouquet and deeply inhale the intoxicating perfume. It was such a harbinger of spring!

This year I spent May 1st, like every other day right now (except for Tuesday when I golfed  - YES! I took a day off and it was heaven!)  at the computer madly attempting to get closer to the end of my WIP … I’m SO close I can almost touch it. How did you spend the day? Does your community celebrate in any special way?

Canadian Breast Cancer Support Fund – update

Back in March, I was so pleased to write about a new organization, the Canadian Breast Cancer Support Fund, and their different approach to cancer support.

I recently spoke with founder, Donna Sheehan to see what was new. In case you missed it the first time, I’m repeating the post a little further down this page.

I’m also including this link to a Toronto fundraising event, Night Of The 9 Muses,  for the CBCSF , June 13th, organized by Canadian entrepreneur ROULA PANAGIOTOPOULOS . Here is their information page about CBCSF. If you are in Toronto, why not consider putting this on your calendar? It sounds like a fab evening!

Here’s the repeated post with a new update about the Holly and Ivy launch.

CANADIAN BREAST CANCER SUPPORT FUND is a new charitable organization. Its vision is to ease the burden of breast cancer patients who are facing financial difficulties. In fact, it’s so new you may not have heard of it yet … but you will!

Their innovative approach is definitely going to attract a lot of attention, beginning with their motto: Green is the new pink.

Toronto native Donna Sheehan was the manager of a peer support program at Willow, a national charity that provides support and information about breast cancer. As she became more aware of the financial pressures that create hardship for many breast cancer patients and their families, she decided to focus on doing something to help alleviate those monetary challenges.

It’s one thing to cope with accepting a breast cancer diagnosis and the required treatment, but often we neglect to think of how the basic needs of an individual or family will be affected.

The cost of food, shelter, restorative therapies and treatments, childcare and even something as seemingly unimportant as parking can add up quickly, not to mention the strain of being off work for 8 to 10 months. Government benefits only provide support for 15 weeks and not everyone has access to private insurance coverage for short-term disability.

Although the funding arm for cancer research is well established, the funding arm for support is seriously lacking.  Donna, along with a very informed advisory committee as well as a board of directors, is doing her part to give this important issue a voice and a solution. Approved for status as a charitable organization, the past year has been spent establishing the framework necessary to allow CBCSF to swing into action very soon.

The “green” in their motto, Green is the new pink™, represents their intention to raise awareness about the links between breast cancer and the environment.

Update:  Donna told me today that the imminent launch is now being planned for the new website, Holly and Ivy. She will send me the venue details once they are confirmed but it will be soon! Yay!

The social enterprise will offer natural and organic skincare, cosmetics and personal care products all entirely free of toxic chemicals.

Keeping  toxic chemicals and carcinogens out of the environment by purchasing low-impact, earth-friendly products is another way we can all contribute to lessening their effect on our health.

Fifty percent of the profits from Holly and Ivy will be donated to the Canadian Breast Cancer Support Fund. The hope is that this contribution will cover the administrative costs and in time 100% of your donation will go directly to providing short-term financial support to needy breast cancer patients.  This is the dream.

Be sure to take time to read their excellent website. It provides a wealth of vital information and suggestions for your support and there’s a Facebook page for you to  *like* too!  To all of you who went to their website and Facebook pages back in March, many thanks! If you didn’t manage to get there before … now’s your chance. Thanks for sharing these links!

In the spirit of paying it forward consider giving up your grande Caramel Frappacino or Expresso Macchiato or your regular coffee (double, double) on Fridays and instead make a $5.00 donation to Canadian Breast Cancer Support Fund. Five Dollar Fridays Rock!

So three cheers to Donna for being a woman with a vision and making good things happen.

I’m adding here a link to a powerful movie, “Pink Ribbons, Inc” , featured at the Toronto International Film Festival last year and recently released and still available at some selected theatres.  It addresses the highly controversial subject of “cause marketing” and informs us about “pinkwashing” and the involvement of corporations in fundraising and the impact this has had on charities.

MANday Challenge – enter to win!

Jillian Dodd and CJ West are two terrific writers in very different genres. As you might guess from Jillian’s website, she writes about romance and fun. Take a look at CJ’s website and you know immediately the man is dangerous … at least he writes dangerous. He’s actually a sweet guy!

And it’s his birthday today (May 1st)!

Jillian has issued a challenge to CJ and he has stepped up to the plate. Please check it out and do your part by simply going (click right here) to CJ’s website and leaving a comment.

You know it will only take 30 seconds to do it … unless you decide to leave a really long comment! In return you will be eligible to win a prize package of e-books and also be entered in the draw to win a $500.00 Amazon Gift Card.

I know! Wow!  Five. Hundred. Dollars!

How can you say no to that??!

So what is MANday might you ask?  It’s really better if I SHOW you.  Are you sitting down? You know how I love to post photos of France, well Jillian’s MANday photos are in a slightly different category.

Feast your eyes on Samoan Rugby Players and Their Tattoos or if you prefer more clean cut, try MANday’s Magic Mike, a blog all about the upcoming movie premier for a story about  … ahem … male erotic dancers!

Okay, take a minute to splash some cold water on your face and catch your breath. Honestly, that Jillian is a real firecracker and knows how to get the party going! We all love her.

So here’s what you need to know about the contest:

If we can get 5,000 people to comment on CJ’s website before the end of June, he agreed to be featured in MANday!

If you help us, YOU will be eligible to win a prize package of ebooks by both CJ West and Jillian Dodd, as well as some other excellent writers’ books. You can enter to win that package by doing this:

Tweet this:  Help @jilliandodd convince @cjwest to be on MANday http://wp.me/p1zk5w-A7 #teamnoshirt #contest #prize #kindle #books

If we reach the goal, CJ and Jillian will also award a $500 Amazon Gift card to one lucky winner!!!

To enter, go to CJ’s blog and leave a comment. I tried to get him to come over and convince you himself but he’s busy working out. He knows he better be ready and looking good. The pressure is on!

List of e-books in prize package:

That Boy  by Jillian Dodd

That Wedding by Jillian Dodd

The End of Marking Time by CJ West

Sin And Vengeance by CJ West

Drawing Free by Elena Aitken

Devil Unknown a novella by Steena Holmes

Elemental Magic by Angela Wallace

Again by Diana Murdock

Telesa by Lani Wendt Young

Exiled by MR Merrick

The Bridge Club by Patricia Sands

 

Doesn’t this contest sound like fun?  It’s a little outside the norm and that’s the way we like it!  Be sure to leave your comment for CJ before July 1st!