Patricia Sands

Author

Toronto

The countdown is on …

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If it’s Friday, it must be France…

Excusez-moi! I’ve been a little off the radar on the blog this past week. There’s been a lot going on in my writing world. How’ve you been?

I spent some time processing all the fabulous writing and publishing information generated at the PubSmart Conference, I attended in Charleston SC, April 16, 17, 18. There will be a blog post  about it  soon. Wow, did I learn a lot !PubSmart_logo_290

The conference was also a great opportunity to mingle with and meet so many interesting and energizing people who are committed to sharing information and working together to get better at what we do! It was SO good to  spend some time in person with some of my online “besties”. Making connections with people who motivate and inspire you is such a buzz, isn’t it?  Have you had the same experience lately? I’d love to hear about it!

Next I took a big load off my shoulders when I hit “send” and fired my manuscript off to my editor. With any luck, we will be good to go for a July 1st release and I’m excited! The cover art is in the works as well!

There’s always a moment of what I refer to as “extreme anxiety” when an author sends a new novel off to their trusted advance readers. These are avid readers who have promised to be completely honest and candid in their comments about your new work. Their word is their bond and we trust them implicitly! Their comments are the best way to make our work even better. Here’s the thing, we’ve lived with the story for months or years and we feel good about it and we hope everyone else will too … but … what if they don’t … egos must be set aside. It’s all part of the process … and I love it!

But, zut alors, it’s Friday and I want to be talking about France!ilovefrance

The countdown is on … 31, 30 … in 29 more days my husband and I will be back in Nice, France.  It feels more like going home than going on holiday and we are always thrilled to be there!

Here’s how our first morning will play out:

~ Walk along the Promenade des Anglais, just minutes from our apartment, pausing for a croissant and café au lait at a beach restaurant.

Nice-PSandsPhotos

~ Dip our feet in the Med and plan to come for a swim in the afternoon.

Nice-PSandsPhotos
Nice-PSandsPhotos

~ Stop in at the fab daily market in the old town and pick up some cheese, fruits, veggies, and a big bouquet of flowers.

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~ Attempt to limit the number of photographs I take on my first day!

~ Write for an hour or two and then meet friends for lunch. From that point on … who knows?

Bon weekend, tout le monde!

You know I love to spend time in the south of France and write about this breathtaking area on my blog and in my novels. I’ll be researching my next novel as well as spending part of each day writing, and I hope you will enjoy my reports.

Better yet! Come and visit for yourself. For part of June, my friend and fellow author, Susan Sommers and I will be leading a tour of the south of France for women, organized by the Womens Travel Network .  There are two spots open in the first tour from  June 12 to June 22. The second tour from June 25 to July 5, is sold out. Call your BFF, your mom, your sister, or just come on your own as you will find great company in our group of travellers. I know at this point it would be a spur of the moment decision, but those are often the best kind!

Have you been to the south of France? If so, please tell us your favourite spots to visit! Any questions? Fire away! I’ll be happy to find the answers for you.

And, by the way, this is another home exchange for us. I keep saying what an affordable and friendly way this is to travel. Try it! You’ll like it!

Nice-PSandsPhotos

 

A fond farewell to Canada’s Alistair MacLeod

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Tributes are being shared by the literary world, and Canada’s writing community in particular, at the news of the recent passing of Alistair MacLeod, 77.

Author Alistair MacLeod is pictured in a handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Ted Rhodes
Author Alistair MacLeod is pictured in a handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Ted Rhodes

An acclaimed short story writer, MacLeod won the prestigious International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award  in 2001, as well as the Trillium Book Award, for his only novel, “No Great Mischief”.

The 1976 short story collection “The Lost Salt Gift of Blood” as well as 1986’s “As Birds Bring Forth the Sun and Other Stories” and 2000’s “Island”, were among his best-known works.

On her Descant blog, Lesley Kenny has written a touching and informative “appreciation” to the man and his impressive legacy as an academic, an intellectual and fine gentleman. Please take a minute to read it. 

I received the following message from Lesley who asked me to extend this invitation to anyone who would care to join in “raising a glass” to the memory of Alistair MacLeod this Friday evening in Toronto. 

See you there?

… the life and work of Alistair MacLeod.

Hello readers and writers, many of whom I’ve met through Descant,

 
Earlier today I made the suggestion via Descant’s twitter account that admirers of Alistair MacLeod meet at their local pubs across Canada and raise a glass in his honour this Friday. A cross-country toast to his life and legacy. 
 
For those of us in Toronto, Dora Keogh pub on the Danforth said they would be pleased to host such a gathering. It’s all quite impromptu and last minute for all of us, I understand, but if you can swing by, even for half an hour, please do. The point is not to wait and organize a formal event that might or might not happen weeks from now, but simply to get together and honour the man who loved to teach, write a good story, and sip an even better scotch (or vice versa?).
 
There may be a surprise guest or two, I’m still waiting for some confirmations, but regardless, it will be good to get together to talk about and mourn the loss of a great writer. If any of you would like to volunteer to read a passage from his work, or if you have an Alistair story you’d like to tell, let me know.
 
Please forward this through your own networks, even if you can’t come yourself, particularly to people that knew Alistair MacLeod. I look forward to seeing you on Friday.
 
Lesley
 
Today’s Descant blog, a tribute to Alistair MacLeod:
 
 
Dora Keogh pub: 141 Danforth Avenue, Toronto
P.S. If you are a bookseller and have copies of AM’s books, please contact me.

The little engine that could …

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These days it is easy to become discouraged and sad about the state of the world when we read or watch the news. However, if we look beyond the headlines, there are many good news stories about everyday people working to help make the canstockphoto8136400world a better place.

I want to share one of those stories from my hometown of Toronto and offer a standing ovation to NEW CIRCLES founder Cindy Blakely and her dedicated staff of volunteers. September is going to be a special month for them!

Here’s the  NEW CIRCLES  newsletter, so you can be properly introduced. Next week I will add more to the story … with pleasure!

Take a moment, when you can, to click on their link and add to the “likes” on their Facebook page today.  Feel free to spread the word and then post about folks in your community doing good work. It’s one way we can help pay it forward.

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September Strong starts today!19

Dear friends and supporters,

Sept strong student

As you may know, New Circles is the “little engine that could”, a powerhouse agency driven by hundreds of volunteers, donated clothing and financial support from a caring community. Last year, we distributed 200,000 items of clothing helping over 25,000 people, many of whom are new to Canada, to meet their immediate needs, make new connections and move forward with their lives.

This month, we are launching September Strong, a social media campaign to raise awareness about the wide range of programs at New Circles and expand our circle of support. We hope you will help us to spread the word.

It’s easy, just “like us” on Facebook and share our updates with your friends.   Each day we will post new content created just for this campaign.  Learn about our Seniors Mobile Mall, volunteer programs, friendship circles and so much more.  Our goal is to reach 350 likes by the end of the month.    And don’t miss “Cindy’s Corner” – a video series profiling our founder Cindy Blakely.

Today, we’re kicking off September Strong with a video “Helping Hands”,created by New Circles volunteer Georgina Graham, a third year English/film student at Bishop’s University.  [Click here to watch video.]

Please join us in spreading the word.  With your help, we can build strong and caring communities where everyone has access to basic necessities.

Stay September Strong,

 The New Circles team

Mission accomplished!

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With reference to my last post about making choices, missing golf, and other assorted moans, it took me all week but I got the job done!

Clearing the mountain of paper, books, files and assorted flotsam and jetsam off my desk took longer than I expected. Sorting through the piles (which resulted in several “So that’s where that went … ” moments), organizing an enormous collection of business cards, filing papers and information  appropriately, and … um … making yet another “to do” list finally led to this.

I decided not to post after last Tuesday until I could show you the final result. Ta Daaaaa!

There was a desk under that mountain of stuff, after all!
There was a desk under that mountain of stuff, after all!

I had chocolate to celebrate!

I don’t always write in here as I like to take my laptop into other rooms when the spirit moves me, or out to the terrace. This is Control Central though, when I am in Toronto, and it’s been unrecognizable for several months as I copped out and simply piled everything into a frightening, sloppy mess. Seriously. I don’t know why I did that. I just did!

I’m feeling much better now.

It’s so much easier to focus on writing without that haunting image playing constantly in the back of my mind.

Have you ever let all your paperwork get completely out of hand or are you always organized? I’m seriously going to attempt the latter from now on. How do you do it?