Nothing like a bit of sailing to brighten a winter day

I should have been at my desk. But Larry just got the little trailer sailor he rescued, ready for its first sail. The sun was out, it was warm considering it is winter down here in New Zealand. I made two quick sandwiches, grabbed a jacket, a bottle of water then set to work helping clean out the tools and junk so we could untie PW's mooring lines. We only had about an hour to scoot around the bay because a big black cloud began moving across from the mainland. We sailed back in to the jetty minutes before heavy rain set in. Good fun and I felt refreshed and ready to work on answers to an interview that was waiting on my desk.

– June 12th Sunday

I am back at the island after three days in the "Big Smoke". Our New Zealand distributor set up a book launching party for Bull Canyon. What a fun evening. It was held at Swashbucklers, a seafood restaurant right in the main marina of Auckland. I'd never eaten there and in fact thought it a bit funky from the outside. But it turned out to be a great venue and had surprisingly good food for the 30 of us who stayed on afterwards to share generous platters of sautéed seafood including lots of scallops, green lipped mussels, prawns and fresh snapper.

 I have never before had a formal book launching – and Larry agreed that the idea of just standing up and talking about my book – in effect telling everyone they should buy it – made me uncomfortable. So we decided I should put on a short slide show instead, showing four of the biggest adventures of our lives together. I called it Wind, Sand and Sea.  The Bull Canyon story definitely fit right in. the slide show worked a treat, with the 85 or 95 attendees laughing at the right times, making me feel all warm and fulfilled by their comments afterwards. The book distributor was happy, we made some new friends, no one seemed eager to leave and I was made to feel very special too.

Now the book is formally launched, sent off into the world to find its home. Guess I should start thinking about the next stories that are waiting to be told. But first I have to finish organizing our US boat show visits. (For those who might enjoy meeting up with us at Port Townsend WA, Newport RI or Annapolis MD click on http://www.linpardey.com/seminar-schedule)

Wednesday June 8th

 I sometimes wish I didn't have such a great view from my office window. It's really hard to settle in to writing mode when I see the barge arriving to remove the big digger that has been cleaning up the mess at the far end of our property.  Of course I have to go out and watch Larry and the crew as they slowly move the ten ton machine across the newly rebuilt seawall.  I only stay for a minute. I rush back 300 yards to my office and type a few more words, write down a few more notes. Then I see the barge maneuver alongside Taleisin's marina berth at the end of our jetty. I hear the shouting, watch as the two big pilings that are used to hold the boat away from the pontoon in strong winds get shoved a bit too hard. "Don't worry, we'll straighten them after we clean out the built up silt," calls the barge operator. But of course I worry – so I stop writing again and go out to watch the digger pull up huge buckets full of sticky gooey mud that has silted up the area where Taleisin sits. From my office I watch the digger operator use his bucket gently and accurately to reset the pilings. I look out toward where Taleisin is sitting quietly on a mooring.  I know I will not get much writing done tomorrow because the weather forecast is great – warm and sunny when it should be cold and dreary since it is winter down here.  Now her berth is cleared out so Taleisin won't touch bottom even at very low tides, I want her back alongside so I can touch up some varnish work. That combined with the fine weather prediction creates a good excuse to go out sailing. Far more elegant way to get her into the slip than just sculling her across the 100 feet of water between the mooring and pontoon.  The day after that there is a party to formally launch Bull Canyon here in New Zealand. So we're headed off island and into Auckland. I guess the view from my window has guaranteed I won't get this new story truly under way until next week.

 

 

Monday, June 6th

When you live on an island with no roads or shops, getting ready to head to the mainland means writing notes then making lists,. So I always try to have a small pad of paper nearby.  A few days ago, during a two day foray off island to get groceries and meet up with a few friends and attend an author's evening, I saw another potential use for my ever-present note pad. 

            I have never been to an authors evening nor even a book signing. When the Village Bookshop over in Matakana announced an evening with Sarah-Kate Lynch, Larry suggested we go along, "You might get some interesting ideas for your Bull Canyon promo tour," he said. "Besides, I like the café next to the book store. We can have dinner out too."  To be candid, I hadn't heard of Sarah-Kate but her latest book, Dolci di Love was described by Publishers Weekly as "populated with charactors whose vitality is contagious in this perfect combo of travel and romance." The story moves between New York City and a hill top village in Tuscany.

            It was obvious from the full house that other people definitely knew and liked Sarah-Kate's previous novels (the venue was a small but beautiful local boutique cinema with about 120 seats.)  After she was introduced, Sarah-Kate soon had us chuckling with her description of the highs and lows of a book promotion tour she had just done in the USA. Then she said, "And another thing that is really embarrassing is to finish your prepared talk then say – does anyone have any questions- and encounter absolute silence.  Everyone looks embarrassed, no one puts their hand up. So I am going to make sure that doesn't happen tonight. I am going to pass out these slips of paper with questions on them." She walked into the audience and handed out little slips of note paper  to people at random, chatting all the time.  The laughter rang out, she had us completely on her side and, when she finished her talk, the notes worked like a charm opening a floodgate of questions from a satisfied audience.

            Yes, I have bought a copy of the book and found a new author to follow.