While I was up north visiting my family for Thanksgiving (yes, Canada celebrates Thanksgiving, too, but it’s more of a harvest-oriented affair and not so much about pilgrims and rocks) I was able to pop into a few bookstores to sign copies of my books and chat with some very nice folks. I especially want to thank Cheryl at the Belleville Public Library for running the contest this summer featuring A Darkness Forged in Fire. Her energy and love of all things books and reading is breathtaking. If you ever find yourself between Kingston and Trenton you really should drop by.

In no particular order but with definite intent I’d also like to thank:

Jessica at the Chapters in Kitchener; Anne at the Chapters in Waterloo; Manager Mark and Chris and Kelly at the Chapters in Guelph; John at the Chapters in Belleville; Customer Experience Manager Megan at the Chapters in Kingston; Oscar at the independent bookstore Novel Idea in Kingston; Manager Steve and Steven (or is it the other way round?) at the Indigo in Kingston; the three Chapters Indigos and independent bookstore Bakka Phoenix I visited in downtown Toronto with S&S publicist Max; Manager Barb at the Chapters in Peterborough; Customer Experience Manager Chris at the Coles in Peterborough; Manager Laura and Jenna and Peter at the brand new Indigo in Milton; Michelle at the Coles in Westmount Plaza in London; Carmen at the Coles in Masonville Place in London; Manager Brent and Daniel at the Chapters at Fanshawe in London; Manager Joe and Katie and Victoria at the Chapters at White Oaks in London ; and Cathy at the Coles at Argyl Mall in London.

I’ll be posting about my Canadian vacation in the next couple of days, but at the moment I am back…home. I wound up spending much more time with my parents and my brother than I had expected and it was wonderful. I am truly fortunate in that I have a very loving and supportive family and it’s in tough times that I’ve really come to appreciate just how much their love means to me. Guess I’m sounding a bit mushy here, but the last week definitely knocked me off my center.

I think I’ll bury myself in work and writing for a while. And runs in Central Park. Definitely runs in Central Park. The squirrels are no doubt wondering where I got to.

My father was cutting up some wood and asked if his city boy son (city boy, not sissy boy I’d like to stress) would like a turn. I did, and took the chainsaw and proceeded to cut up some wood AND avoid any great and lasting physical injury. The whole time I was cutting, however, I had this eerie sensation of a lot of little eyes watching me. Sure enough, I turned around and three black squirrels were about 15 yards away.

With the cutting done, I went shopping. Nothing extravagant, but it was a sustained effort. I’m one of those people that will go months without buying anything of note, then go on a bit of binge. This was more window shopping than actual buying, but it was distracting which was nice.

Then I went for a walk. I actually don’t know how long I was gone because I didn’t take my watch or my Blackberry. I just felt the need to go. To be somewhere else. You know that feeling? To just be your body while your brain checks out.

Sorry for the radio silence, I’ve been in Canada visiting family and friends for the Canadian Thanksgiving. I’ve also been to a few stores and met some terrific people at Chapters-Indigo as well as the very nice Max Arambulo, Simon & Schuster Canada publicist, who kindly escorted me around Toronto last week. I’ll post more about this later.

Right now I’m on vacation and feeling a bit…lost. Unfortunately, there’s no map for my current displacement.

Yes, the three exclamation points are appropriate or apropos, as the Latinese say. Fall has arrived! The weather is cooling, the breezes are picking up, the sky is turning that wonderfully ominous slate gray, and squirrels are selling hot chocolate in Central Park. Ok, maybe not that last one, but oh wouldn’t it be grand if they did.

In publishing news, I received the countersigned contract and the first part of the advance for Ashes Of A Black Frost today which makes everything extra official and means I can order those tiny little marshmallows for my hot chocolate now (the squirrels will be soooo happy). Thanks especially to Deputy Publisher Anthony Ziccardi, my editor Ed Schlesinger and all the nice folks at Pocket Books, and my agent, Don Maass, and his wonderful staff. Oh, and I would very much like to thank the incredible efforts of Sneak Attack Media and the publicity and marketing folks at Pocket for the exceptional job they did in promoting The Light Of Burning Shadows. Writing might be a solitary endeavor, but it’s about the only part that is in publishing.

To celebrate I was going to offer hot chocolate for everyone, but then you’d all want the little marshmallows, too, and that’s where the squirrels get you when they jack up the price for “extras”.