Ah, Montreal. You were a fabulous city to spend the New Year in. Wonderful people, clean street, and food that inspired me to purchase home workout equipment while on my Amtrak ride back.
I feel like the above picture pretty much sums up my entire writing experience while in Canada. I spent most mornings and afternoons in coffee shops and cute restaurants, where I would nurse my hangovers (the people in my hostel were a blast) while sipping coffee or eating poutine (thanks for showing me the best places Liz & Kim). Also the fireworks were pretty fantastic, and I was in seriously good company
And because the weather was so horribly frigid, I didn’t have much of a choice but to sit and write every day. Wandering the city was tough in the cold, so holing up in a cute cafe was the best way to spend the day. Night time I’d hit the clubs (ugh karaoke), sure. But during the day, I kept warm with my netbook.
When I left for the trip, the new book was a little over 40,000 words. Now? As of this posting, I’m at 62k. I’ve been working on it since I came back to Philly, yes, but a lot of that happened while abroad. Note, Textual Healing was a little over 60k, and I really only feel like I’m halfway through this story I’m working on. Kind of scary, very exciting.
Anyhow, I’ve pasted my favorite photos from the trip below,or you could just flip through them on my Flickr page for 200+ more. Trying to figure out where my next stop will be, other than Lobsterfest in Maine come August. Any recs?
Took this photo as soon as I got off the train.
Montreal had some really cool public art.
Seriously. So neat.
New Years Eve in Montreal = CRAZY.
Thousands of people.
Trying to walk back was impossible.
Nighttime wandering the city.
Wandering at night.
Best brunch of my life, thanks Kim!
A blogger friend (sup Kim!) and her pal.
Cool windows in downtown Montreal.
Kim approves.
Such a cool building.
Crazy guys in my hostel made their own cups… out of beer cans.
Never Have I Ever does not translate well into other languages. Played anyway.
This photo sums up my trip quite nicely. Spent a lot of time in that particular Starbucks.
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While in Montreal over the New Year, I went from 40k to over 60k words in the new novel. A lovely, productive trip. http://t.co/aGrnFzqP