Word on the Street

Last Sunday started out as a rainy day...................

I headed into Toronto to take a friend of mine into downtown Toronto to see Word on the Street (WOTS).  It rained on and off the whole way in and I wasn’t very hopeful about the event and figured we would only stay a short time.

Viv’s grandson was there, when I arrived at her house, so we just chatted for a while, but before long, it was a beautiful sunny day!  It hadn’t been forecasted, but there it was—the sun, blue skies and the odd soft, white puffy cloud.

Viv and I drove downtown, parked at my daughter’s place and trekked over to Toronto’s Word on the Street.  We wore light jackets as it started out cool and even put our rain coats into a bag, just in case!  But of course, that was our insurance and we didn’t see another raindrop!

We wandered the different booths, each under its own cover, which turned out to be useful for blocking the intense sun, rather than a deluge of water!  Viv and I found some great deals on books, but the crowds were pretty thick, or we might have bought a few more!

We also found Author Solutions, who had a booth that included my book “Animals of the New Testament.” The fellow manning the booth took my picture there, with my book, and we got an Author Solutions bag with their catalog, which also included my book, and we carried on!

Now, I need to contact the Cobourg Public Library, which is hosting Word on the Street Northumberland and see if I can get involved!  Our little town is hosting their own WOTS on October 25^th from 10am to 4pm.  I wonder if I can do some reading to the kids!  I think it would be a great way to showcase my books.

So, watch for WOTS in your city or town.  It is a great place to see the latest in literature!

Then I have the Toronto International Book Fair (TIBF) in Toronto in November!  A busy book year!

Cats

So, this morning as I was looking for a blog topic, I turned to one of my cats and said, ‘So, any ideas for a blog topic?’  Just so you know, I was not expecting a response!  But then I thought that I have never written about cats!  How strange since I have owned several over my lifetime.

The first cat I owned was a female ginger tabby, that I picked up at the Humane Society and was a gift from a friend of mine.  I named her Asreal, like the cat on the Smurfs, but with an ‘s’ instead of a ‘z’ in her name.

I realized early on that she needed a fellow feline, so although my brother who was living with me at the time was against it, I went out and got another one. The only ginger tabby left was a little male, so he became my latest housemate.  Since at the time, ‘The Great Gatsby’ was my brothers favorite book, our male feline was named Gatzby.  Again a switcheroo of ‘s’ and ‘z’ in the name.

Those two lived through my getting married and having kids and getting divorced.  So, my kids grew up with cats.  Asreal and Gatzby were with me for five years before I had kids.

We lost poor Gatzby when he was about 13 years old.  I swear he had a stroke and died in my arms overnight.  I claimed I would never have any new cats because he broke my heart when he died, but of course, one Halloween, we saw this sweet black cat at a pet store and so Jett was added to our family.

We lost Asreal at the reasonably old age of 17, which is not too bad for an outside cat, but before she was even gone, we picked up Squeaks at the Humane Society.  She’s a very pretty calico.

So, these last two cats are indoor cats because I got tired of the fleas and injuries the first two would get outside.  They are great company for me, although my current life partner doesn’t much like cats.  Too bad!  They aren’t going anywhere!  They can generally be found curled up in front of my monitor as I work, which is where Jett is now, or sitting on my lap, or curled up next to me on the bed as I sleep.

Cats are great company and although I swear I won’t have any more after these two are gone, who knows....................

Just a Rainy Saturday

A rainy Saturday, the perfect day to get caught up on a few things!

I’m looking for a ‘hot topic’ for my blog today and not coming up with one, I’m afraid.  What is it about rainy days that make you melancholy?

I could whine and complain about the fact that my books aren’t selling very well.  Mind you, I didn’t put them out there to make money, although I was hoping that the Christian market would see them for what they are:  a way to teach the work of God and the stories of Jesus to three to eight year olds.

I could whine and complain about my MS.  Now there’s a good topic!  But then I have to admit that after 21 years, I am still working full time, only using a cane and managing quite nicely thank you, despite the myriad of funky symptoms that I have that are an annoyance, but still allow me to do many of the things I like to do.

I could whine and complain about the fact that I am still working, although I could have retired earlier this year.  That one folks have heard before and if you have, you know that I continue to work because my youngest daughter isn’t finished university yet and I am happy to contribute to her education so that she has no debt, when she is done.

I could whine and complain that I never seem to get entirely out of debt for one reason or another.  Well, this one is pretty much entirely my fault because I choose to spend my money where I do.  I chose to support my daughter at university, I chose to invest in self publishing my books and I chose to put money into finishing off my house.  Of course there were a few things along the way that I had to spend money on like my car, that I would rather not have to do, but it was a necessity.

So, I could do all that whining and complaining but I chose to consider the blessings that I have and know that the good Lord will get me through all of the challenges that I could whine and complain about!  Having said that, I am well aware that my challenges are very minor compared to probably most folks in the world.

Blessings!

Can you believe it’s September already?  School is back in session, colleges and universities too. This is the time of year that I start to watch for the beautiful colors of the trees, as God changes the leaves on the trees to gorgeous shades of red, orange and yellow.  This reminds us that winter is coming, followed by spring and new life growing on the trees!

Autumn is my favorite time of year because of the colors, the cooler temperatures and, of course, Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving is a time for families to gather together and remember all of the blessings in their lives and be thankful for everything God has given them.

I have so many blessings in my life, some of which have come in the form of a challenge.  Except for my multiple sclerosis and the money problems I always seem to have, I don’t have many challenges in my life right now.  I seem to have gotten through the many challenges thrown my way, although of course, that doesn’t guarantee that I won’t have more down the road!

That is why we must all remember our blessings.  I don’t really like to count them, because putting a number on blessings isn’t helpful.  When I say my prayers, and list many of my blessings, I know that I forget so many things that I am thankful for day to day that go relatively unnoticed and I am especially thankful for the blessings that I overlook because they are just things that get me through each day.

I have been introduced to this ‘mindfulness’ thing recently.  This is where we take the time to live in the moment.  It’s very difficult to do, but it allows you to take the time to smell the roses, actually taste what you are eating and focus on prayer.  So many times, I begin my prayers and my mind wanders to something else.  I have a ways to go to get this right!

I was sent some information on mindfulness and the very first tip is:  smile the second you wake up!  It sets the tone for your day.  So, let’s all try to do that.  Seeing your blessings will surely follow!

Exciting News!

Well, folks, yet again my blog is late.  This time, I was away for part of the Labor Day long weekend in Orillia with my sweetie Cavan and my father and his girlfriend.  I must say that it always seems odd to say that my 84 year old father has a girlfriend, but I probably mentioned some time ago that I lost my mother in 2005 to cancer and my father, God love him, lost his first girlfriend to cancer, as well.  It was tough to go through losing his wife and then first girlfriend to cancer, but Dad is a trooper.  He has found a partner to live and travel with and we are all happy for him.

Anyway, that isn’t what the exciting news is!  Toronto is going to have their inaugural Toronto International Book Festival (TIBF)!  It will be the 13^th to 16^th of November and will have many famous authors, including Margaret Atwood, Debbie Macomber and Anne Rice and little old me!  I am so looking forward to this!

There are actually seven streams of interest, including ‘Inspire!’ at the main stage, where authors will speak!  Not me, of course, I’m just the little guy, who will be at a little table in ‘The Hub’ selling my books.  Fortunately, The Hub is right next to the main stage, so I should be able to see everything.

This is pretty exciting, because I haven’t really had a book launch yet, although one of my books will be featured at the Toronto ‘Word on the Street’ (WOTS)!  I will be there with my favorite bibliophile, Viv, to meet the various book vendors etc. This is an exciting year for books in Toronto!

I hope to see a great turnout to both WOTS, in September and TIBF in November!