Ready and waiting for spring…

Here on Canada’s west coast, the end of February usually means we are moving into warmer days and spring flowers and away from cold and snow. Usually, we have a few days of snow in early January, and that’s it. But this year, some areas around the lower mainland have had snow on the ground continuously since December. This must be some kind of record for us. And every time I think we’re finally moving on, the temperatures drop again. Even my daughter, who normally loves snow, was dismayed to see snow flakes falling again last night and another soccer practice cancelled.
 
I woke up this morning to ground covered yet again by a white blanket. However, the sun was out, and after working on my novel for awhile (yes, slow progress is still being made), I braved the lower than normal temperature and went for a walk to visit my favourite tree in my old neighbourhood, a big old sycamore.

The sun had already melted most of the snow on that side of the street, and snowdrops and crocuses spread out around the base of the tree as if they’d spilled from it.

 

Afterwards, I took the bus downtown to see the “Legacies of Impressionism in Canada” exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery. There, deeply snowy Quebec landscapes entitled “March” made me feel a little better about our little bit of February snow.

Writing update

Here’s what my work space looks like right now. Still not totally organized since our move, and as you can see, I can’t remember anything unless I write myself a note (apparently, there’s a lot I need to remember).

I’m easily distracted by the call of the Internet. I tell myself, “I’ll just check up on one blog” or “I’ll just quickly update my Facebook status” or “I’ll just Google this one topic,” and an hour or two later, I’m still on the Internet, my eyes are burned out, and I haven’t gotten any writing done. I say this by way of apology and explanation for my apparent lack of attention to this blog and to the blogs of others. I have been trying to stay off the Internet (not always with success) and focus on writing my current novel. Progress has been slow. I’ve been working on it since about this time last year and hoped to be finished or almost finished by now, but am not even half way there. I keep getting stuck and coming up with excuses for not pushing myself to do the hard work of writing that next sentence, next scene, etc. Some distractions are fruitful ones, however, as I took a few weeks off to research and write the picture book, which has already been accepted by Orca Books. I’ve also taken notes on various other stories I’d like to write (new ideas are always a distraction!).

So, once again, I’m telling myself that this week I’m going to buckle down and work on the book I’m supposed to be working on. Once I get back into the writing, I get back into the excitement of it, so here’s hoping for an exciting week….and an exciting next week….month…etc!

If you’re on Facebook, please join my “fan” page and be among the first to hear when my next book is finally out!