Tudor Robins's Blog, page 4

Long Time Running

All four of us were mostly sick for Christmas. I don’t like to say it ruined Christmas but it was pretty hard to savour the moment, or be in the spirit, or breathe … However, silver linings and all that, when the other two had gone to bed early because...

Letting go … moving forward

Fall Line has a new cover. You won’t be surprised to hear there’s a reason for the new cover. When I launched Fall Line, I kind of messed up. You see, I worked really hard on getting the skiing stuff *right* in that book. I know my readers really appreciate...

Christmas Cheer?

Quite often, while I’m doing mundane, repetitive tasks (e.g. replacing selective “n” dashes in my manuscript with “m” dashes), I listen to CBC podcasts. Yesterday, a short (six-minute) piece from Cross-Country Check-up caught my eye. The title was “‘Our house was chaos’: For this man, Christmas and alcohol is a...

Tom Anzai Changed the World

 

Tom Anzai Changed the World.

At first it seemed like a bold title for this post. However, as soon as I thought about it, I realized it was, quite simply, the truth and so it became my title.

Tom is a hard person to describe to somebody who has never met him because there is, quite literally, nobody else like him.

However, if I had to try to explain him, I would say, think of the most vital person you can imagine. Think of someone incredibly fit, and much more youthful than their years. Think of somebody who never does anything half-assed.

Now, at least you have the idea of Tom.

If you have begun to imagine that person I’ve described above, you’ll know why it came as a literal, physical shock when I read that Tom had died.

It’s not possible.

Why? Well, because Tom is the person who made my boys’ eyes go wide as they told me, “Tom can swim backwards!”

Not only could Tom swim backwards – many people will know he could swim in his jeans. And did. Long distances in the Ottawa River. With amazing humour too – “Jean Pantalon” he called himself. So funny.

I first got to know Tom in my role as a swimming mom – sitting on the pool deck watching my kids swim through Guppies and Whales. That’s when I first discovered the intensity of Tom’s personality wasn’t reserved for swimming. He was so curious. He always wanted to know what I was doing on my laptop. Writing a book? What kind of book? He told me someday he’d like to be published in the Globe and Mail. I remember thinking, “Why not?” Tom, I always felt, could do anything he decided to.

He didn’t mind arguing either. He told me – with confidence – swimming is the only sport you can do your whole life, at any age. “Except horseback riding,” I said. “Yes, that’s right. Swimming,” he would answer. Somehow it always came back to swimming. I should definitely have a swimmer in my next book, he said. I should also get a smaller laptop – mine was much too big to carry around.

If Tom was happy to give advice, he often looked for it, too. Later on, when my boys had stopped swimming, it was my turn to be coached by Tom. His emails to the Masters group would give details of upcoming swim practices and end with a question – “Can anybody recommend a good stove? We need to get a new one as part of our kitchen reno.” We once got onto the topic of how visiting their cottage late in the season became a bit less fun because the outhouse seat would get so, so cold, and for several sessions in a row Tom and I would discuss possibilities (some more practical than others) for insulating outhouse toilet seats.

I would never, ever, have taken up swimming at age 43 if it wasn’t for the Anzai family. And, when I say swimming, I mean doing butterfly, and swimming timed 1500s, and doing flip turns. Real swimming.

I did it because Tom told me I could do it. “Just come along and we’ll help, and you’ll figure it out.”

And that’s pretty much what happened. I was mostly coached by Tom’s daughters Emily, and Andrea, and his wife Marie, and if a person is a measure of those who love them, then Tom is truly one of the best people in the world, because it’s impossible to describe how lovely, and clever, and supportive, and smart, and amazing Emily, and Andrea, and Marie are.

I’m writing this because tomorrow I’ll go to Tom’s visitation … which is still hard to believe … and the family has asked for people to bring written memories of him.

So, now it’s written, and I’ll post it here, and take it to them, and I hope you will see that given I have this much to say about Tom, and given that he touched hundreds and hundreds of people through his lifetime, then he truly did change the world.

Royal Recap

Yes, it’s taken me a week to get this up. Yikes. Sorry. The Royal did kick my butt a little – my sleep and my schedule suffered – but it was fun!

Even though, technically, you’d probably say the main focus of our trip to The Royal is the always sold-out, extravagant, largely black-tie, Groupby Big Ben Challenge (which, yes, we had tickets to), to be honest, it’s about way, way more than that.

It begins with a very early, dark start to the morning. Usually cold, too, because it’s November. No traffic, though – that’s a bonus. We make record time to the Fallowfield VIA station which has to be my favourite VIA station, simply because it’s really quite firmly in Ottawa, yet, it looks like this:

By Jamie McCaffrey [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)], via Wikimedia Commons

It’s true the above photo is taken at sunset – not sunrise – but it still shows you how perfectly, enchantingly pretty this busy suburban station is.

Anyway, we get on the train, and we trundle through most of my favourite towns, because they’re also the towns on our way to the Island – Smiths Falls, Brockville, Kingston, etc. I really love Belleville too:

I go with my friend Claire, and her daughter (also my friend!) Sarah, so we always get the classic kids’ VIA punch-out / pop-up  train – which, let me tell you, is super-cool, especially now that they’ve updated it. This year, though, there was something different. This year there was on-board entertainment.

This guy – @zachwells88 if you want to see more pics on Twitter – is a one-man entertainment machine. He does magic tricks, blows up balloon animals, juggles, spins plates on his chin, etc.

As my thirteen-year-old would say – “So, that happened.”

Then we got to Union Station – the world’s most beautiful train station inside – except that it’s perpetually under renovation, and if somebody told me we were disembarking in a war-torn city, I would have believed them. The place was in the exact same state of disrepair as when we arrived last year and I told Claire I was pretty sure I could have project-managed it more quickly.

Fortunately the main hall is mostly untouched by the renovations (?) and is still visually stunning:

By Michael Caven (originally posted to Flickr as Union Station) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)], via Wikimedia Commons

So pretty …

Then it’s traipsing the three-ish blocks to our hotel, checking in, and general excitement of how is the room set up? What can we see from the window? Etc. This, for the record, was what we could see from the window:

For non-Canadians, that glowing red sign is the CBC logo – as my husband would say “God Bless …” – I think I slept more securely knowing the CBC was watching over me at night.

Oh my gosh … look how long this post is, and we aren’t even at the Royal yet!

So, next we went to the Royal.

As usual we had a chatty, informed taxi driver who was willing to share his opinions on construction, film crews, Toronto sports teams, and more with us (on the way back we had a discussion with that driver about the reach, regional variations, and dialects of Pashtung, Urdu, and other similar languages).

Then we got to the Royal.

If you haven’t been, it’s truly a whirlwind of giant pumpkins, very expensive saddles and riding attire, fur coats, artists painting on-site, butter sculptures, very inexpensive Royal “deals” (select t-shirts, breeches, boots, whatever – designed to get you into that particular booth), booths offering massage, henna-tattoos, manicures, the bustling food court (this year dominated by bacon-themed offerings), and – of course – the animals.

We walked until our feet felt like they might fall off, and at least one person in our group was getting a case of the grumpies, and then we lined up in an amazingly efficient production line for custom pitas, then we found seats by the Semex Ring of Excellence (which, I’m not going to lie, prompted a double-take and a few snickers), and we watched a bunch of gorgeous Jersey cows being judged.

These ladies had all my respect, and then some – their udders were so full they actually had to move their hind legs around them to walk, and yet they were patient, and well-behaved. The judge explained how he chose the champion cow in the following way: “She is beautifully uddered with amazing front teat placement and excellent rear teat size.” I mean … really … I just love everything about The Royal.

Once we were refuelled it was time to head to the Horse Palace. If you’ve never been there, it’s a hard thing to describe. It’s true there’s a palatial feel to it … in some ways … like a very old palace where everything has a thick coat of dust on it. I find myself constantly blinking while in the stabling area – the light is dim in the way that makes you feel every second light bulb is burnt out, or there’s a black cloth draped over all the light sources. I have no idea how the horses come out of there shining and perfect; as a groom I would never be able to see what I was doing.

But the stalls are huge, and elaborate, and there are these massive ramps the horses walk up and down to get to the stabling area. And everybody decorates their banks of stalls, and there’s open access to absolutely everywhere except the FEI area.

Last year we got lucky and lingered outside the FEI area and Ian Millar came out to talk to us.

So, of course, we tried it again.

We could see him. And Amy. In fact, they were watching the same class of adorable babies as we were. All of us peering through a chain link fence to the ring below. Just that they were on one side of a laser-eyed lady sitting behind a desk, and we were on the other. Still, Ian and Amy were right there.

Here are the babies lined up for judging (they were very well-behaved):

And we at least got to take a picture of the Millar Brooke white board (I thought it was very trusting that it was in the non-secured area):

After this we were truly quite wiped and we still were nowhere near the start of the big (and very late) show. So, back to the hotel to eat food, and put feet up, and chill for a bit, before heading back again for …

Now THIS is cool. Again, like with everything at the Royal, it’s a big deal, and incredibly casual. A few examples:

Signs everywhere informing that this is a SOLD OUT event. Yet, all you needed to get by the people at the curtains was a stamp on the back of your hand that was a star. Yup, just a simple, boring star. I’m thinking you can buy that star stamp at any Staples in the world. And, once you’re in, you don’t have to sit in your seat. You can stand along the edge of the ring, as long as you don’t block anyone else’s view. It’s fantastic, because you get views like these ones as the course is being set up:

 

 

2) Ninety per-cent of the people in black tie, with the other 10 per cent (me!) in jeans. And that’s all good. Nobody gives each other funny looks.

3) Complete intermingling of regular folk (me) and important folk. I was standing in line in the bathroom and there was a girl in a lovely dress in front of me. It was a bit edgy, and she was rocking it, and I told her she looked great. She was so sweet – all big eyes, and long blonde hair, saying, “Thank you so much!” Ten minutes later, I’m watching the riders walk the course, and that same girl is out there next to a big-time US rider walking the course in her heels and edgy dress and I’m like, “I can’t believe I thought she needed me to tell her she looked good.”

4) You can pay $4.50 for a water, or you can bring your own. You can pretty much bring your own anything. There are no bag searches at all. Seriously – we could have brought our own bottle of champagne, or an entire cheesecake, or a pocket dog and nobody would have cared. It’s quite refreshing.

And then the riding started, and I have to admit, I don’t take many photos when that happens because I like to watch and enjoy. But I do at least make an effort for Ian Millar, so here’s what I got:

 

 

By the time it was all over, after 11:30 we were yawning like you wouldn’t believe.

The weekend was rounded out by an early-morning Toronto run through Chinatown, and by CAMH (the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health), through the university, by the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum), and past Queen’s Park (Provincial legislature). Back at the hotel there were lots of people looking very hungover with shavings on their shoes. The train ride home was lovely – no balloon animals but we made a new friend (which is a total other story).

I’ll just round it out by saying The Royal was (and is) very good:

Maybe I’ll see you there next year?

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Reader Recognition – that’s what my newsletter is all about. Recognizing that, without you, I wouldn’t have a writing career. You read, recommend, and review my books. Once a month you’ll get my newsletter letting you know when I have a new release, and telling you about a book on...

It’s here … After Lucas is available!

 

After Lucas is available right now. If you intend to buy it, getting it now will give the book’s launch a nice boost (which I would appreciate!). It’s just $2.99 on Amazon (or free as part of Kindle Unlimited).

And … if you’ve been meaning to start the Stonegate Series and haven’t gotten around to it yet, I’m making it easy for you, because Objects in Mirror (Book One) is FREE right now.

 

So, to recap, that’s:

Objects in Mirror FREE
After Lucas available for $2.99

Thank you, as always, for your support and happy reading!

Welcome Home

This is my new home on the web. It might not be quite as pretty, and sleek, and sexy as you've been used to. For years now, I've had my amazing friend, Lynn, of Sweet Smart Design behind my website (and if websites scare you, or you want a super-lovely...

A Royal Adventure

 

Objects is going to the Royal!

I’m really excited to tell you that 425 printed copies of Objects in Mirror are already in Toronto, just waiting to be handed out at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair!

It’s an honour to be part of an initiative between the Royal, and Ontario Equestrian, called the “Bring a Buddy” program, designed to give equestrian enthusiasts a way to introduce their friends and family to the sport.

Here’s a screen grab of the email that went out to Ontario Equestrian members:

Swag bags are part of this program, and Objects is part of that swag!

This program was so popular that registration filled up a long time ago. However, Ontario Equestrian spearheads other initiatives, including one to get new people started riding. Check out the OE website, or follow them on social media, to find out about other programs, or to get in early on next year’s Bring a Buddy program.

I’ll be at the Royal myself, for the GroupBy Big Ben Challenge, and I can’t wait to swing by the OE booth and check out the swag bags.

Photos to follow … and be sure to let me know if you’re heading to the Royal as well!

Heads up …

This will be happening soon!