The Division Report: June 21, 2013

Happy Summer Solstice, readers. I hope you're all enjoying the first day of summer wherever you are... well, unless you're in the Southern Hemisphere; then, you're probably trying to stay warm. It's time for another edition of The Division Report, a look back at the week that was in my writing exploits.

Every Day I'm Editing: Progress has been slow on this front. I have been able to go through a couple more chapters on Barbadian Backlash (a.k.a "Celdom II"), and am currently sitting at just a tad under 39% complete on this latest round of revisions. I'm still waiting to hear back from my betas regarding Scarlet Siege, in hopes I can proceed with either more edits, or the eventual re-release of my first book. In the meantime, I plan on redoing the cover for Siege this coming weekend. So, if you see me in midtown Toronto Saturday afternoon with a camera in my hands, that's what I'll be up to.

Reading is Fun-damental: I'm continuing to read my dear friend, Christa Simpson's, first book in her Twisted series. At this point, I'm almost halfway finished, and there's some interesting developments transpiring between the main character and her friend/love interest/roommate. There is a flashback to the main character's past in Chapter 11, that I admit came out of left field, but it adds depth to her. I'm loving it so far, and can't wait to see what happens next between Edwin and Abigail.

At the same time, I've figured out the solution to a little issue I was having with my Kobo e-reader (turns out it was the external memory card I plugged in, but didn't really need at the present), so I've resumed reading the two books I was trying to start on it. The first is written by sports columnist for The Globe and Mail, Stephen Brunt, detailing the rich history of the Canadian Football League's championship game, the Grey Cup. It came out in time for the 100th edition of the championship game, played here in Toronto, last November. (And admittedly, was the backdrop for "Celdom III", Rouge Numbered Week.)  It's a look back to an event that started on a muddy field in the Toronto's Rosedale community in 1909, and has grown into a week-long party celebrated by football fans from coast-to-coast. I'm currently 2/5 finished reading this tome, and am looking forward to the rest of it.

The second book I'm currently reading on my Kobo is a humour book entitled, The Woman Who is Always Tan and Has a Flat Stomach (and Other Annoying People), co-written by Lauren Allison and Lisa Perry.  It's a book done in the same style as Sean McIndoe's The Best of Down Goes Brown, where it's a collection of short chapters, which could easily have been blog entries. The book takes a look at the co-authors' wacky neighbours and spouses in ways that make you either roll your eyes at the people they're describing, or possibly smack some common sense into them. It's an entertaining read so far, and like Brunt's book, I'm 2/5 complete in this.

Needless to say, I'll be busy with reading for the next while.

The Write Stuff: Unfortunately, with all of this reading, my writing has taken a backseat for the time being. I will be commencing work on my first ever active (and hopefully, successfully completed) project outside of the Gary Celdom detective series on July 1st. As mentioned previously, it will be a romance novel about Amanda Bellamy, a female ad executive in Toronto who inherits her uncle Gerald's wheat farm in Saskatchewan; much to the chagrin of her cousin, Rebecca. While on the farm, she falls for one of its workers, Hank Acker, and they commence a rather steamy relationship. All the while, Rebecca is challenging Gerald's Will for possession of the farm.

With the project starting within the next week-and-a-half, allow me to announce the name of the project, and my pen name, taken in honour of my recently departed great aunt...

My first romance book under the name of C.D. Melley will be entitled, The Prairie Fire Within.

I look forward to working on this new project, but at the same time, the wheels are continuing to turn for Gary and company. After talking with a friend of mine currently living in Southern California, I came up with an idea for "Celdom V." I won't be starting work on it until sometime next year (I still have to get through editing "Backlash" and "RNW"; along with, writing and editing "Prairie Fire", and the proposed "Celdom IV" and "Melley II" books before then.); however, it is a project I'm looking forward to in earnest.

That's all for another week. I hope you all enjoy the first weekend of summer, and if you are out enjoying the sun's rays, don't forget the sunscreen. There's nothing worse than a burnt reader.