I’m baaaaack! Dammit.

My Beloved and I had so much fun, so many new experiences I’m still processing them all. I’m almost certain I could spend huge chunks of my life just travelling, meanwhile spending money like water. It’s a helluva lot of fun - interspersed with moments of sheer terror - generally associated with making connections with planes, trains and buses.

The last few highlights? Taking a helicopter trip up to Mendenhall Glacier (near Juneau) and going out on a dog sled with real dog mushers. I know the photo isn’t easy to decipher, but do try. It really is like that - all white. So impressive to sub-tropical me and my thin blood! Those little dots are the tents for the humans and the smaller dots are the dog kennels. The big lumps in the background are mountains with snow on them. The dog trainers arrive in April and stay til mid-Sept and the they LIVE there in tents, the lunatics, training for races like the Iditarod. You can see the landscape is just like stepping into a humongous freezer.

We got so brave we even stood up on the back of the sled and pretended to be the real thing! The dogs themselves are amazing, nowhere near as big as I expected and not especially husky-like at all. In the photo some are actually howling because they’re ready to run and they want to go, go, GO! They were perfectly friendly too and really appreciated a nice scratch behind the ears. They have great names like Krypton and Mike and Hotfoot (the lead dog) and Hasty, who stood on top of his kennel and yelled so loud, the trainer finally relented and let him come along.

Then there was the trip on the Bering Strait crab boat. The crew were all former professional fishermen and the boat had been on the reality show, The Deadliest Catch. Needless to say, everyone on board had seen it, except us. The stories they told curled my hair and I believed every word - they had the scars to prove it. Here I am with some huge horrible spiny wiggly Alaskan crabs. Erk! As you see, I’m doing my best to avoid the beasties and cuddle up to the nice captain. *grin* And the less said about the octopus the better. It was huge too, a dark maroon colour! Apart from humans, it’s the only predator for the Alaskan crabs.

It seems incredible, but it was only a few days ago we spent our last morning at Vancouver’s Granville Markets, overlooking the rainy, but beautiful (and busy) harbour. We marvelled at the extraordinary range of food stuffs and ate big fat black cherries, meanwhile avoiding the salmon pepperoni and the salmon candy. Good heavens, there are limits!

What next?

Now I’m back in the swing, you can expect regular posts again. So watch for them and come talk to me - I’ve missed you!

And a heads-up - I got some nifty bits and pieces for contest prizes while I was away. Speaking of which… Guess what was waiting for me when I got home? The ARCs (Advanced Review Copies) for THE FLAME AND THE SHADOW.  So think about that for a while. *chuckle*

In the very near future (as in NOW!) I have a book to write. Not my best thing, being creative under pressure. Luckily, I adore the characters. One big stubborn man and one small stubborn woman and - boom, fireworks! But more about Erik and Prue later.

Next week, I have to go back to work. I’m very determined not to think about that. *sigh* I’m definitely feeling flat, quite a let-down after so many weeks of excitement and indulgence.

So come and cheer me up. What’s the best, most exciting place you’ve been? My Beloved and I have rather been bitten by the travel bug, so I’d love to hear your recommendations. And do you get the “blahs” after it’s over, or are you just glad to be home? I must say, a real cup of tea (in a pot, with tea leaves) was simply wonderful!

I saw a bear! I saw a bear!

It may seem silly, but I got so excited I actually danced up and down on the spot. Those who know me are rolling their eyes and saying yeah, yeah, so what’s new? But somehow spotting a bear (we saw three in total, all black) is a Great Big Hairy Deal. (Well, of course it’s hairy.) It makes the whole trip real and important. We were on the Rocky Mountaineer, a train that travels through the Rockies. (Duh!) Looking back, I truly believe it was one of the most special days of my life. But more about that in another post.

I was very very proud, because I was the first to see the bear checking out the railway tracks for grain dropped from freight trains. Unfortunately, it’s not such a clever thing for a bear to do, especially if the grain swells with rain and ferments. Drunk bears and big trains are not a good combination, sadly.

I don’t have a photo - I was too busy leaping about and squealing, and anyway, my little camera isn’t up to bear-size objects a looong way away. And My Beloved had the wrong lens on his big boy’s camera. Huh!

So here are some other photos. This morning I was sitting on the patio of a winery overlooking the magnificent Okanagan Lake and it was baking hot and generally gorgeous. All the locals are falling about fanning themselves or hastening into the lake, where they dive in and just keep going.

Half an hour down the road, we drove into a hail storm, accompanied by heavy rain and much cursing from My Beloved. You see, he insists on doing all the driving. I’d like to think it’s because he’s a Hero, but it’s really because he’s terrified of me getting behind the wheel, especially in the wrong side of the road.

However, I digress. We drove back to Vancouver (where I am now, and on the world’s slowest Net connection) through what I’ve come to believe is the real Canada - the one that’s hidden her face from us in the freakishly beautiful weather. I was almost grateful to have a taste of the real thing. I was beginning to believe it was Paradise!

You see? These are the clothes the mountains must wear most of the time.

Tomorrow we’re off to Alaska. Three flights, which is going to stretch my nerves more than somewhat. Fingers crossed!

Mountains are amazing.

Sound dumb? I guess it does, but remember I’m from a land so ancient it’s worn right down to a nub. We don’t have mountains - well, real mountains - in Australia. Not compared with the Rockies at any rate. I’ve always wanted to see soaring peaks, ones that fill the sky all the way to the clouds and beyond. Now I have. And that’s not all…

Two days ago, I walked on a glacier. Isn’t that incredible? It was more than a trifle chilly for my thin sub-tropical blood. As you see on the right.

We travelled by shuttle bus and then by special snow mobile trucks onto the toe of Athabasca Glacier. Each of the trucks is custom built and costs #1 million. They have huge fat, wide tyres, and six-wheel drive.

Yesterday evening, I lay on my hotel bed and looked out of the window at the exquisitely beautiful Lake Louise - all the way to the ice of the Victoria Glacier. It was an equally amazing experience, but much more comfortable. There are a squillion pictures of Lake Louise out there, but none of them can truly capture its beauty. It’s almost too lovely to be real. So here’s mine - you get two Lake Louises, plus the vivid enthusiasm on the face of the ranger who was giving us a talk. A man who truly loved his job.

So here are a few random observations about mountains and about Canada -

1. You need to treat the mountain gods with respect. Also the weather gods. Two days before we hit Lake Louise, which looks so idyllic here, a vicious storm blew up. Twenty two canoes on the lake capsized. (The water is 4C even in summer!) One person had to be air lifted to hospital with hypothermia. In a neighbouring lake, some poor soul drowned. All they were doing was enjoying themselves on a summer’s day.

2. You treat the animals with respect too.

A member of our tour party was feeding a squirrel chocolate (which is not only stupid, but illegal - for very good reasons.) The squirrel became either excited or confused and mistook the guy’s thumb for the choccy.

Today, My Beloved and I went for a walk in the marshland near Banff. We saw a girl elk munching bushes on the other side of the river. So we stopped to watch in great delight. We were safe enough - there was a river between us, right? Wrong! Ms Elk walked right into the water and began heading straight for us. Erk! Rapid retreat of two concerned Aussies. The elk was completely unperturbed by the encounter, but you never know. It’s still a wild animal.

3. It ain’t easy keeping the people-animal balance, it’s an ecological tight-rope walk. But the Canadian parks people really do try. This overpass on the highway for bears (and other animals) cost almost $2 million dollars and at first, the bears wouldn’t use it!

4. Never in my life have I seen so many people doing so many outdoorsy things with such determination - muddy mountain bikers, hikers, climbers, canoeists, kayakers, cross-country roller bladers (or something like that anyway).

5. All the resorts in Canada are full of young Australians on working holidays. They’re nice.

6. I like Canada and I like Canadians. And I now know more about the Canadian Olympic team than I’d dreamed was possible for an Aussie!

7. But I don’t think I want to spend a winter here! It sounds absolutely dreadful. Especially the bit where your breath freezes.

Sorry there’s been a gap in communications, BTW. Net access has been a bit - ahem - fugitive. I also find that long days spent admiring snow-clad peaks, followed by souvenir buying and huge dinners, lead to early collapses in comfortable hotel beds. *sigh* I’m hoping it’s the mountain air that’s shrunk my jeans, but I don’t theenk so…

It’s been an extraordinary couple of days. Travel is absolutely marvellous - new places, new ideas, new scenery. Fascinating. But it’s also incredibly nerve-wracking, especially if you have a nervous disposition. *Ahem* Raises hand.

In Australia, if you book a plane ticket, you get your seat allocation when you check-in. After that, it’s just a question of waiting to board. I have never - never - seen anything like the madhouse at the United Airlines desk in San Francisco. There were people waiting for standby, arguing, shouting, pleading. I have no idea of how the staff cope, it must be the most stressful job in the entire world. They made all sorts of offers to confirmed passengers to give up their tickets and take a later flight - cash, food vouchers, first class. There was one woman with a baby who had actually booked, but only managed to get on the plane because she threw an impressive tantrum.

We went to the gate number on the ticket. It was the wrong number. The Customer Service people couldn’t help and didn’t seem to want to. We found the right gate ourselves and then sat around in a stew of nerves waiting for seat allocation, which came at the absolute last minute. Our poor little Aussie eyes got very wide, let me tell you! By the time we sank into our seats, I felt like I’d been put through a wringer.

On the other hand, Vancouver is simply beautiful. I had thought I could happily live in San Francisco (I still do), but now I believe living in Vancouver would make me ecstatic. The weather is gorgeous, warm, light breeze, blue skies - and yes, I know that is pretty rare. We’ve just been blessed, I suppose. I’ve been trying to imagine it locked in the chill of winter, or miserable with rain, but it’s hard. Today, we went to Chinatown, and to the tranquil Sun Yat Sen Garden, then to Stanley Park and then up to Grouse Mountain, where we sat and ate a lovely dinner as the sun set over Vancouver. It was extraordinarily beautiful. My Beloved was very brave in the cable car up and down the mountain. He doesn’t deal well with heights. They had tandem paragliding over the forest and the mountain and the sea. It looked wonderful and he wouldn’t let me go. Rats!

Here’s my favourite photo of the day. You can see beautiful scenery any time. The shops in Vancouver Chinatown sell every kind of produce you can possibly imagine - and some you can’t. This shop was selling dried geckoes. The mind absolutely boggles. How on earth do you cook them? What sort of dish would they go into? They looked like teeny-weeny pterodactyls on sticks.

I know I wouldn’t be brave enough to eat them. Would you? Have you? Eaten something extraordinary, that is?

Remember this cover?

Oh yeah, of course you do!

Syneca from Ellora’s Cave is a stunning artist. I know a lot of you have not only loved the TAILSPIN cover, but been totally intrigued by it.

So I’m just snatching a few moments to remind you all that TAILSPIN is up for Book Cover of the Month at Erin Aislinn’s website.

It’s really, really simple - just click for an automatic email message - and what’s great is that every voter is entered with a chance for a copy of the book that wins the month’s award.

Tomorrow we’re off to Vancouver. Sometime very shortly, I truly hope to have time to draw breath so I can update the blog properly. *sigh*

The RWA Conference here in San Francisco was truly frenetic, but fabulous fun. I need to get on that plane so I can have a rest!

More soon, dear ones…

http://www.erinaislinn.com/BookCoveroftheMonth.htm

Okay, it’s time for the RWA Conference news. Ready?

I won! I WON, I WON!

TAILSPIN WON THE FUTURISTIC/FANTASY/SF CATEGORY OF THE PASSIONATE PLUME AWARDS! *grin*

I cannot tell you how thrilled I am. I never win anything, I always come second. I am S-T-O-K-E-D!!! Yay me!!!

The Passionate Ink Chapter of RWA presented the awards at a swanky cocktail party this evening. I wore my killer do-me heels in honor of the occasion. Lets face it - I only brought three pairs of shoes half way across the world - hiking boots, black flatties and the red heels. Not much of a choice for a cocktail party, really.

Funnily enough, a number of people have been taking photos of my feet, so my tortured tootsies may well appear on various blogs. All publicity is good publicity, sez I. It was obviously worth bringing them halfway around the world to cripple me in SF.

So, here I am (below), after several celebratory cocktails and here also is a close-up of the award thingie I’m holding - a Passionate Plume indeed. I’m thinking I’ll ask the jeweler to goldplate it so I can put it on my charm bracelet. Sounds good.

Apart from that, here below is fellow Ellora’s Cave author, Christine D’Abo from Toronto, telling me something incredibly important.

And here’s another likely group of Aussies lingering in all innocence at the bar (yeah right, that evil Christine Wells bought me something called a mojito. I drank it - of course.) From left to right, Amy Andrews, Joanne Lockyer, Anna Sugden (who is actually a Brit and a Bandita) and Christine Wells (another Bandita and a great friend and critique partner.)

Do you think I might be having a good time?