End of the Summer

With Autumn on the horizon, I need to set some serious intentions around finishing the next great novel. Here's to three weeks vacation, watching the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with my kids, and the surprising misfortune that brought me back to myself.

Photo by Fiona Smallwood / Unsplash

It's been a dry hot August spent with my large family. I believe we were aiming for the highest route card from Ticket to Ride when we booked our flights to Europe weaving our time through luck to keep cool in a series of heatwaves.

Toronto to Lisbon 🚗 ✈️ 🚌
Lisbon to Munich ✈️ 🛤️ — 3 days
Munich to Paris 🚅 🛤️
Paris to Morlaix 🚅 🚗 — 14 days
Morlaix to Paris 🚗 🚅
- Lesneven
- Brest
- Quimper
Paris to London 🚌 🚅 — 3 days
- Reading
London to Lisbon 🛤️ ✈️ 🚗 — 2 days
- Lourinhã
- Nazaré
- Óbidos
Lisbon to Toronto ✈️ 🚗

On Day 5 of our trip, I sprained my ankle badly while stepping off a deck in Quimper. The French healthcare system paired with Canadian insurance was more than adequate. Being uniquely French through marriage was priceless. A cousin got us into a pharmacy after hours so that I could be fitted for a boot. An uncle sourced a pair of used crutches that belonged to a long-passed great aunt. My mother-in-law minded the children while my husband and I were swept off into the French healthcare system, driving an extra half an hour away so as to go through a less busy emergency system. I was reassured that had we gone to the busier hospital, service would have taken until the next morning as I would expect in Toronto.

I sprained my 'good ankle' this time around which meant depending on my 'bad ankle'. Perhaps now the ligaments have straightened out and thirty years of leg problems will have been averted. That first 'bad ankle' having been sprained on the long portage at Algonquin park three nights into a seven day canoe trip.

Walking slowed to a crawl. I was pleased to listen to my kids excited tales of experiencing surf and sand that I dared not encounter lest I retorque my ankle before the trip's end. I was forced to walk slowly on uneven ground at my in-laws. I accepted the aid of everyone willing to give it. My children replaced my crutches when we encountered cobblestones and uneven ground. I was able to put the crutches aside by the time I left France.

The boot would be a horrid companion forcing me to wear socks in weather that guaranteed a bout of athlete's foot. Our last two days in Portugal paired with high humidity that left our clothes damp. No matter, we would be home soon. I ate well, I enjoyed the company of old friends and family, I learned a great deal about slowing down, connecting to my footsteps—and sending my breath and energy into the ground.

We arrived back on Friday, and it's now Tuesday — I spent yesterday on marketing with many book events lined up even into September. I don't want to go back to the grind. I have a week to work on my novel, with kids in the house. Before that, I have a day at Indigo Hillcrest and two days at FanExpo Toronto. The next series remains unfinished.

Returning from holiday means cooking a storm for my kids and revelling in how cheap I can be in feeding my family of five. Do you know how much restaurants cost?! We are definitely poorer from our travels although we stayed mostly with family for the entirety of our stay abroad. Cutting budget meant staying at a hostel in Portugal, which for a family of 5 still runs up a great cost for 3 nights. Add to that boarding our two large canines. I am ever grateful for friends who kept the cat.

Frugal mom knows how to make tasty meals.

What have I left out? Spending the last weekend watching Tolkien's work on the big screen with my children and revelling in the morality, values, ethics balanced against the ugliness of war. He did not make anything spicy. He did not need to. We felt the deep love and longing between unrequited and requited characters. We understood the depth of emotion behind the madness of parenting. Most of all, we can see how greed and illusions - perceptions - drive madness. I am renewed in my excitement to continue my great work. I re-read my worst review on Goodreads and it doesn't sound too bad.

Yesterday, I sent a newsletter offering my subscribers a free EPUB of A Lion's Head. My goal is to have my work live in the heads of more people. There will be many who will unsubscribe from the newsletter or ignore the offer as they have either already read my book or they have my newsletter in their junk folder. There will be about 150 people (at least) who will download it, I am sure. For I built my list using BookFunnel and these are people who can read, want to read, and appreciate a quality read—if they've stuck around this long.

Will I receive more reviews? I added an Easter egg that they may notify me when they publish a review and I will send them the EPUB of A Lion's Pride. Is it worth giving away my books for a limited time just to see an influx of reviews?

As always, its an experiment. Will giving away the EPUBs result in more book sales? I'll take building a fan base of readers over money any day. There are more books coming after all.

Ultimately, the real moneymaker is writing the next book. Finishing the next series. That is my current challenge. More so than finance, academics, and paycheque. My white whale. I will spear it. It will drag me for an eternity. I may die in the process.

I will do it. I will get it done.

D.M.