It has been a difficult month but I have been writing. The hardest part for me is getting the first draft of Yobs in Yorkshire down with the plot moving quickly and logically. I can see the end which only tells me that I truly have to write the whole thing again. It’s like trying to get the foundations of a house solid. It’s painstaking , but worth it. I know I am going to get my second book in the British Book Tour Mysteries arriving in my in box for corrections and re-writing  and I would like to have at least the first draft of the third book finished. However, deadlines don’t usually work out perfectly, so I may end up with both projects at the same time. Possible with good organization.

The Left Coast Crime Conference is coming soon to Vancouver and I will be there along with about eight hundred other writers and readers. I love the conferences that are both writers and readers. The readers often have a broader knowledge of the genre than the writers and add a lot to discussions. I am a panelist, not for my Emma Dakin series but for my Marion Crook mysteries for YA. Eileen Cook is moderating that panel, and I have the greatest respect for her writing and editing. I look forward to meeting the rest of the panel and getting questions from the audience. I did add my book Writing for Children and Young Adults to the Crime Writers of Canada silent auction basket prize, so I hope one of my readers gets it.

This conference takes place at the end of March and I can hardly believe I’m taking four days off writing to attend. I will no doubt feel guilty when I return.

I have posted a picture of my disappointing spring. January was so warm the Japonica bush started to bloom. And then February rushed in and said “Not so fast.”

Here’s hoping spring comes soon.