On the Winonah

Yesterday after work my family and I went on a boat tour of the Muskoka on the Winonah II. It was really neat. I like learning new things, especially history. I find it interesting.

The folks that lived on the islands were an extremely friendly bunch, waving as we sailed along the lake. The tour was two hours, but it really didn’t feel that long, and the lemonade was lovely since I was siting in the sun. My one arm is more tanned than the other now, but I’ve been needing a tan all summer so at this point I could care less about the evenness of it.

Afterwards we popped in to see our folks, and got to see my cousins baby for the first time! I couldn’t believe how big her other child has gotten since I last saw them. We also dropped my friends birthday gift off and then met up online later to play games via social distance. I’ve always been a person who valued the time I spent with others but with the pandemic, and not seeing anyone for so long I’ve truly come to cherish it. I’m a family person, and it was hard enough for me not seeing my folks and friends while I was off at university…but this has been so different. Although I’m a person who can entertain myself for extended periods of time without interacting with people, I hate missing out on time with my family. It’s really sad that most of us haven’t seen one another since Thanksgiving 2019! Time has flown by so fast that these last few years feel more like one…big…mesh of time.

In conversations with co-workers I think that many of us have become nostalgic for the simple things like brunch and coffee dates with friends, going to the movies, conversations with the wonderful folks making your drink at Starbucks, seeing another persons smile, holding a new baby, giving piggyback rides and high fives and slaps on the back.

The optimist in me has learned to appreciate the sound of another persons voice, their eyes, decorative masks, someone’s outfit, waving wildly to great someone. Thinking this way has been a comfort to me…and I often try to on days when I get frustrated about the fact that I haven’t been able to spend Saturdays with my Dad and sister going to our favourite art store, and then going to Dairy Queen. It was something I always looked forward to and haven’t been able to do since 2019. I’ve watched some of my favourite places go out of business…and it’s so sad.

I’m glad I got to get out of town for a day and just relax on a big ship, and sit in the sun and watch the water. I also found a cute blue beetle looking thing. Not sure what it was and to be honest I’m not a huge fan of bugs but this bug was pretty.

The change was nice for a day.

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If you haven’t heard yet, my debut novel Vermin is out! It’s been a long time coming and I’m so thankful for everyone who helped make this book possible.

I thought I would feature this drawing of my character Roland that my sister did for me, which features the cover as a backdrop. You can find her artwork @nuggiedraws on Instagram!

Happy Friday!

Today my sister, my niece and I are playing Don’t Starve. We’ve been doing our best to survive and are pretending that our characters are at the “most extreme survival summer camp ever!”

Our goal today is to explore the caves. Hopefully we can keep our character’s sanity up!

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Vermin comes out this Sunday, and I’m so excited. The book is available in paperbook and eBook.

Thank you so much to everyone who has added the book to their Goodread’s reading list!

Hanging with my niece

2021-08-01T01:00:00

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

Vermin is Released

The countdown continues! There are only 4 more days until Vermin comes out.

There’s a huge thunderstorm today, which woke up my niece and I, so we started drawing before breakfast and talking about the novel. She likes hearing about the scenes with Julius, she thinks he’s adorable.

We’re waiting for the author copies to arrive, and are planning on having a super fun, treat day! Hopefully the rain doesn’t spoil anything we’ve got planned. It may just end up being a poutine, art and video games kind of day.

My niece is suggesting we make a video game. That might be something fun to do!

Then I Woke Up and New Music Coming Soon!

Hi!

I know I’ve posted a lot lately haha. I’ve just been trying to update all of my stuff. I’m really proud of this recording because I’ve been trying really hard to get better at singing and playing the guitar at the same time (multitasking can be hard sometimes!).

I think my guitar teacher would be proud! I miss going to guitar classes…and recording things in person but physical distancing means keeping the people in my life safe and healthy.

I think I was about twelve or thirteen when I first heard this song. It was originally performed by The Clique Girlz. I don’t know what it was about their music, maybe it was that they were around the same age as me, but I connected with them. This song especially. Although I don’t mind babysitting. I’m pretty crafty and I already watch cartoons.

Anyway, I recorded a bunch of original music that I’m really excited to share with you in the near future. I’m also extremely excited because my sister @nuggiedraws is letting me use her artwork for the tracks! You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Vanessa Patterson | Art (@nuggiedraws)

I wonder if I can convince my sister to record a track with me? We haven’t made up a silly song together in what seems like ages!

Happy Draftiversary

Today is the anniversary of the completion of my first draft. I can’t believe so much time has passed since I finished writing that novel. So much has happened since then!

Yesterday I finished recording an audiobook, which was incredibly fun. I learned so much from working on that project. The story and it’s character’s really mean a lot to me. It challenged me in so many ways as a voice actor, and inspired me as a fellow creative. I hope my character’s get people as excited as the ones in this book did!

As I mentioned in my last post I’m currently working on Book #2 in the series. I’ve missed writing so much. I thought it would be fitting to do a little writing on the anniversary of my first novel’s draft. The draft completion date for Book #1 is also in the same month as my character Roland’s birthday…so, happy birthday Roland!

Funny enough I also had cake today. My niece made it. It had baby Yoda/The Child on it. It was so cute! It was almost too cute to eat–it was also delicious. It was nice to have a mini social distance visit. She’s gotten so much taller since I last saw her in…what? August…September maybe? It’ll be nice when we get to have sleepovers and do tea parties again but having that short visit was nice too. Talking on the phone just isn’t the same. Hopefully things turn around during the winter and we’ll be able to spend time with our loved ones come spring.

Write a brief scene between your character and someone they admire.

He used to tell stories, but something changed. She wasn’t sure if his laughter faded when the bullets struck or when his unsteady fingers stopped tracing the black and white keys of his piano. She listened to his deep sighs, slurred words, the way his feet shuffled; his head flopping against the pillow in the early hours of the morning when he finally returned home from places he never spoke about.

He never seemed like a grown up but now he seemed small and distant. His tired eyes, wincing with every breath as he forced himself up out of bed and helped her and her brother get ready for school. She noted how his face tensed up every time the baby cried. How he rested his head in his hands while his mother lectured him about his late nights, his messy hair, the harshness in his voice.

She thought back to when his voice was gentle like her father’s. Like tea and honey. When he’d call her “Flower” and sing silly songs to her while they baked pies together or when they would play follow the leader.

Everything changed that night. No matter how many wishes she made at the creek where they used to play, her uncle remained lost like her mother and father.

What is your favourite scene in the book?

Chapter nine in my novel has a scene that makes me choke up every time I read. It’s the first time Roland’s mother is introduced.

I’m trying very hard to avoid spoilers while answering these types of questions, but despite this scene making me feel as though someone punched me in the gut, I really enjoy it. The first time I shared this scene the feedback I received was, “Oh my God…that’s so sad.”

I don’t like to make people upset but the scene really does what it’s supposed to.

I try to balance out these sadder scenes with something lighter later on.

It’s just strange to me that after 7 years this scene still makes me cry. It’s one that I’d love to see adapted on screen.

Every scene with Roland’s mother is very difficult for me to write but I truly do think they helped me mature as a writer. I really sympathize with her character. I’d love it if somehow she could get her happy ending.

We’ll Meet Again

Vera Lynn’s death is very sad to me…because her songs meant a lot to my Granddad when he was growing up. He requested to have it played at his funeral.

Honestly, I couldn’t listen to We’ll Meet Again for two years afterwards. Every time I heard it, it put me back into this place of deep sadness, where my father, uncle and brother carried my Granddad’s casket out.

I didn’t allow myself to cry until the funeral…and to this day, I keep telling myself that my Granddad passing when he did was for the best. I didn’t like watching him suffer. He was in a lot of pain during his last few months. That made me cry more.

My only regret was not knowing what to say to him when I had the chance. I just kind of sat there, speechless. I kept thinking something was wrong with me…but he stopped looking like himself. He was so frail and when I went to hug him, I was scolded by everyone because I didn’t think about how much pain his body was in. I beat myself up for not saying anything…for a very long time. I still do every now and thing, although its been a long time since he left us. Well…I guess it hasn’t been that long. It’s really only been a few years. Still…I do miss him, and I think missing people you love is normal. It’s better to miss someone, than to pretend they never existed at all. I find myself talking about him like he’s still here at times, but I don’t bother correcting myself anymore, especially when I’m remembering happy memories, like when I pointed out the bald spot on his head. I always thought it looked like a donut.

I’m sad that Vera Lynn is gone, but her music brought hope to so many people.

My Grandparents always sang together, especially when they washed the dishes. They also used to sing me to sleep when they’d tuck me in. I liked when they sang together.

My sister and I sing together when we do the dishes…in the goofiest voices we can think of. When my niece was a baby, and I’d babysit for my brother, I’d sing her to sleep at her nap and bedtime. The same song my Nana and Granddad would always sing.

Songs really do…hold so much meaning behind them…not just for those who write them, but for the people who sing them and share them. A song that brought so much hope and joy to my Granddad, and many others, still brings tears to my eyes. However, I like it, because its a song he shared with me.