August 7, 2008

AND THEN THERE WERE BEARS …

This beauty had a light golden coat on his shoulders and back, and was totally oblivious to my passing by — looks like that time of year again, when the only thing the bruins are worried about is obsessively chowing their way up to hibernation weight.

For those who have asked how close these wild animals are to passers by, I walked around the trail from where I shot the above photo, and tried to take another shot (shown below) for perspective.  See the guy riding by on his bike? He didn’t notice the bear at all. Neither did the golfers putting away on the green to the left of the biker. I shot the above pic a little further ahead and to the right of that cyclist — and the bear is the brown blot hidden behind greenery in the depression to the right. Make sense?

And just to see how often we walk past these foraging beasts, perhaps not even noticing they are there –  if you look real close at the pic below, you can see the ear and part of the back of the head of a fairly large black bear munching berries in a patch about two arms lengths off the trail …. can you spot him? Makes one think twice before scrambling through the brambles search of berries, eh?

In this last pic (below), you can just see the very black, rounded tip of his ear.

August 6, 2008

You’d be forgiven, on occasion, for thinking I live in Disney’s version of a Canadian ski resort. On days like today, I think that, too. So clean, so picture-book perfect. So many millions of dollars to live in those houses — or to leave them standing empty while you live somewhere else — like George Lucas, who has recently bought a property in town, adding his name to a growing list of international celebs. At least my abode looks a little ragged around the edges, a lot more lived in

And on a writing note — I was THRILLED to find this awesome review from Enduring Romance blog spot for THE HEART OF A RENEGADE. Thank you so much Robyn and Kimber An. Enduring Romance will also be hosting a cyber book launch party for the talented Linnea Sinclair tomorrow, August 7th, all day … please pop on by!

HOT AS A HERON

Well, I figure he was hanging his wings out like that because he was hot — it was over 90 F. And even hotter after my run. Temps are climbing again  today … and the old brain is cooking while my imagination is supposed to be in the middle of an Alaskan snowstorm. Go figure. I seem to be writing the Congo and Sahara books in mid winter, and the ‘cold books’ in mid summer.

August 4, 2008

THE ROAD HOME

A fresh skiff of snow on Wedge Mountain — must be midsummer. Home. And I am psyched about the road that lies ahead after the RWA conference in San Francisco. A good, hard, and hot run in the sun cleared the cobwebs from my conference brain, and I came up with some ideas for my new online read. Also managed to unpack. I have issues with unpacking, so am particularly proud to have tackled the chore ASAP.

I’d post more pics from RWA but am having WordPress issues — for a teensy visual slice of what went down in San Fran, please visit my Facebook page (way easy to upload pics there) .. and friend me while you’re at it!

The true highlight of my conference was meeting my agent, Jennifer Jackson face-to-face for the first time, and discovering that she was everything I expected, and so much more. A wonderful food ‘snob’, Jennifer took me here.

The other highlight was having dinner with the awesome Susan Litman, my editor, who rescued me from the slush pile not that many years ago. Always a delight to see and chat with her.

Beyond that — I connected with old friends, made new ones, and found nuggets of pure gold in the workshops.

Again, I was impressed with RWA, the RITA event, and everything in between.

July 18, 2008

BAGGED A BROWN ONE!

In Callaghan country.

I feel what must be the thrill of a hunter when I can capture, and take away, a shot of a bruin. DH and I saw two this afternoon during my break from MANHUNTER galleys. One was this gorgeous brown-coated bear above, unusual in these parts. And one a rather mangy and deformed creature (below).

The mangy guy hightailed it up the grass bank when I tried to shoot him. Can you see his back, the odd chunks of missing hair? Wonder what happened to him, and if he has any friends. I fancy he’s a young male been booted out his mom’s territory, and sent to look for his own spot far away in Callaghan country. Perhaps he’s been in a fight? Can’t stop thinking about him.

But I should be thinking of MANHUNTER — good thing there’s bears in there

July 11, 2008

PICK YOUR PLEASURE

Hmm — I can think of more comfortable ways to get numb. Probably still hurt just the same the next day

Happy weekend, people!