I arrived home last night after a quick trip to Pemberton and back. On Wednesday morning I popped into Sono Nis to see if the handful of new books had arrived yet from the printers. It hadn't. I decided to wait for a few minutes and, lo and behold, the courier arrived with a box of books! "Cave of Departure" looks lovely! I was able to take a few with me on my trip to Whistler and Pemberton. I left that afternoon and drove up Vancouver Island to Nanaimo, took a ferry over to Horseshoe Bay (just north of Vancouver), and the drove up the Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler. I stayed at the Blackcomb Lodge, located right in the heart of Whistler Village. The custest part of the room was the fake electric fireplace. Armchair Books was still open and I dropped in to sign the books they had in stock and to deliver a few copies of "Cave of Departure." That means Armchair Books was the first bookstore in the world to have copies of "Cave of Departure" in stock!

First thing the next morning (Thursday) I scouted out a good breakfast place (Forks Restaurant) and then headed up to Pemberton (about a half-hour drive past Whistler).

At Pemberton Secondary I chatted with a grade 11 English class about writing and then told the story of Sir Lancelot and his troublesome underpants to the grade 8 students. After the storytelling presentation I jumped in my car and raced for the coast. Alas, highway construction and tourists who drove very, very slowly as they admired the lovely view meant I just missed the 5pm ferry back to Vancouver Island. That made for a late arrival back home last night.

Now, back to work on the articles for the Island Parent Magazine books section. Also on the agenda for today, catching up with all my email!