They're In The Mail

A reprieve in the postal situation in Canada that was threatening a mail shutdown, gave me enough wiggle room to get the signed books off to Goodreads winners this morning.  I believe the man having trouble with the photocopier was decidedly frustrated with the amount of time the transaction was taking.  But he'd already taken a fair amount of the clerk's time before my arrival and she seemed prepared to ignore him.  Meanwhile, he kept shooting frustrated looks our way, getting closer, scowling borrowing and not returning the stapler - which took more time as the clerk hunted for it.  Scowling some more, moving back and forth.  All, it seemed in a bid to get some help.  But it appeared the clerk was determined to remain focused on my mailout.  So there wasn't much I could do.  And with ten
packages all heading off to different corners of the world, it was taking a bit of time but I'd done everything I could to speed things up, the labels were written up and the packages organized as much as I could, by region.   But it all ended well, another clerk stepped in to give more assistance to the inexperienced photocopier and twenty minutes later - I can safely say the books are in the mail!

Later in the day, an afternoon jaunt headed straight into a prairie storm on a drive into the country just outside the city.  It's  the kind I remember as a child always capped off a series of hot summer days.  Recently, our summers have been up and down, hot one day, warmish the next.  But this storm came on like we'd had 30 C for a week, thunder that made me jump, and blinding rain and hail.

The storm started without much warning and ended in true prairie fashion, the air cool with the remains of the hail and everything
looking fresh and shiny.

Meantime, it's mailing list Monday over on Facebook's Harlequin Intrigue site.  My newsletter, The Walkabout is featured.  If you want to be the first to hear my book news or have access to my contests that might not be featured elsewhere, sign up now.  I'm thinking of another contest - specifically for the newsletter crowd.  Vintage anyone?  Don't miss out - The direct link is:  The Walkabout.  


Ryshia
www.ryshiakennie.com

Timing is Everything

This week my timing was incredibly off.  A contest I had running on Goodreads ended at the same time that Canada Post labour negotiations appeared to hit the rockiest ever - lockout, strike were words hot in the air - oh my, what is an author to do.  I hope everything works out fairly for both sides but in the meantime I have a pile of signed books that need to get in the mail and start making their way to a few cool sounding spots in the world.

So what to to do?  I'd sat on my hands for as long as I could and on FridayI heard what could only be called, a miracle!  The union proposed a cool down period - 30 days, more than enough time, if I'm first in line at the post office on Monday, to get my books jaunting across the globe and reaching their destinations before everything again threatens to shut down.

But then, you guessed it - the  "but only if" clause kicked in and not everyone's happy.  Now I don't know if there will be mail on Monday or if the mail in Canada just ground to a halt.  My fingers are crossed for the former.  But - no worries, all you winners of Suspect Witness and you know who you are, if the post office doesn't come through, this author has decided to get creative.

Who said travel had to be a long trip.  This time, a day trip, a slip over the border and a visit with the United States Postal Service in a little Montana town not too far from home should do the trick.  A win all around, I get a jaunt, short - so no suitcase needed, and the contest winners get their books.  Not sure what customs is going to say about this when they ask the reason for the trip...sigh.  

Surely they'll agree - Problem solved - almost...  Still, fingers crossed that Monday's news makes this week's proposed trek null and void.

Ryshia

www.ryshiakennie.com