still more about "I'm back"

It's been a few weeks now since I got back from that trip to the UK.
After Dalgellau, we spent a couple of nights in Porthmadog, still in North Wales. I don't remember much about that place. I wasn't keen on the "bed and breakfast" we were in. Nothing wrong with it, but I just wasn't very comfortable there. The name of the place was, if I remember correctly, translated as "The Old Bakehouse" but I can't remember the Welsh name. Breakfast was served in the "restaurant" attached next door--more like a pub that just closed down to give us breakfast before we left for the day.
We had a good trip down to Aberystwyth, which was really funny for me. I was there almost exactly sixteen months before. I stood on the same spot where I had photographed my son and husband in January 2017. And there I was with my daughter on June 3rd or 4th, whichever it was, in 2018. Aberystwyth is a very nice town. It has a beautiful beach--but not really good in January or even June. Kind of chilly in the Irish Sea.
We went to a historic mansion for tea. That's not a drink in the UK, it's more of an institution. Sometimes it's sandwiches and cakes, sometimes it's a full dinner. This time it was mostly cakes. And we had it outdoors, looking at the mansion. The mansion was chosen as a place to visit because some of our group wanted to visit a haunted house, and this one is said to be haunted. No ghosts for us, though.
The next day, we went to a slate museum. I found it very interesting, but the other three females just wandered around and didn't go. Too bad, because the slate museum had a few good ghost stories. Much better than the mansion.
Next day, Catherine and I took the train back to Gatwick airport, which pretends to be in London. We spent a night in a hotel, the Crown Plaza, which I don't recommend. Then, next morning, I flew home while my daughter flew to Scotland to spend a week there.

Six months in Penticton

My last post was about four months ago, I guess. I was still feeling like a novice in our new home, our new town, starting a new life you might say.
I still love the little apartment, plenty big enough for us, as we continue to get rid of stuff we thought we couldn't live without--our "Lazyboy" chairs, for example.
I still love to go to my "Cowork" office, and savour the many hours of just sitting at the computer and actually getting some writing done.
Since my last post, I have completed the book I was writing, sent off the synopsis and first 100 pages to the agent, Laura Bradford. Now I'm about 30 pages into the sequel--just in case I'm lucky enough to have her ask me to send the second part of the first book and the first part of the second book. Failing that, I have another series I want to write. Maybe she'll ask about that. That's a question I'll have answers for this time next week.
How come? Well, this is the week of the Surrey international Writers' Conference, and I have an appointment to "pitch" to Laura Bradford at the conference. Hopefully, it won't take me four months to report of the result of that appointment.

December thoughts about writing

My last post started off about the drama of getting my Creative Writing 203 assignment posted in the right place for grading. But there was so much else going on, that I didn't write much about the course.
The course is over now, and I've already signed up for the next one Creative Writing 303, also about writing for children and teens.
The first half of 203 was about writing a short story, but I really couldn't get into it--I kept writing the start of a novel.  Maybe some time I'll actually write the whole thing--as I found it interesting.  The next course is about writing a novel, so maybe I'll just carry on with what I started--a middle grade ghost story.
The second half of 203 was about picture books.  I enjoyed that more than I expected.  We had to write a whole picture book, and I did. I fell in love with my characters, so I just might continue and write some more. My goal is to write a dozen about Kitten Kaboodle and her family and friends.