Weekend Coffee Share – Writer Brain Freeze

What? This is perfect patio weather for Canada!
What? This is perfect patio weather for Canada!

If we were having coffee here in Toronto, we’d probably be strolling around outside, because for the first time in two weeks the temperature is not in the negative double digits. Today is a positively spring-like -4 degrees Celsius!

During our obligatory Canadian chit-chat about the weather, I’d tell you that in the middle of the deep freeze, my boyfriend launched a business that delivers natural products by bike (greatergoods.ca). And yes, deliveries were made even when the north winds were blowing at 50km/hr. You think he should charge extra for delivery when it’s that miserable out, but I say it’s not the customers fault Old Man Winter had a tantrum. We made do. Though I’m sick of stuffing my scarf under my goggles to keep my cheeks warm.

My -20 degrees Celcius cycling get-up. Yes that is ice on my scarf.
My -20 degrees Celcius cycling get-up. Yes that is ice on my scarf.

As for my writing, I feel like my brain has frozen too. It takes more tea than usual to make my mind move in the morning. And then I get a caffeine high and my synapses fire willy-nilly and I can’t focus! Suffice to say the writing has been a little slow this month, but I have to figure out a way to get back on track this coming week because things are getting busy. Besides my usual novel writing and blogging and part-time work, I’m writing a book review for Spacing magazine, an article for Women in Toronto Politics, and applying for a cool writing gig that hopefully I get and will be able to tell you about in a couple months. Fingers crossed.

What about you? What are you working on this month? Is your brain affected by the cold too? How is that plan to start an artist’s co-op in the Caribbean coming along?

Eventually we run out of hot beverages and winter’s chill seeps back into our bones, so we bid adieu and part ways, returning to our heated apartments to dream of summer.

PS – I’ve come up with 3 steps to beat the Winter Writer Blahs. Check out the post here.

 

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If We Were Having Coffee is a blog hop inspired and run by the lovely and talented Diana at Part Time Monster. Please drop by her place for coffee. You can also see what other bloggers are up to by checking out her hashtag: #WeekendCoffeeShare on Twitter.

Author: Heather Jackson

Heather is a freelance screenwriter, game writer, and novelist based in Toronto. For more, visit her website at heatherjacksonwrites.com or follow her on Twitter @HeatherJacksonW

13 thoughts on “Weekend Coffee Share – Writer Brain Freeze”

  1. We had Canadian-type temps here this past week, so I confess, if you wanted me to drink coffee outside with you, I would wimp out and stay in with a cozy cat to keep me warm! 😉 I admire your fortitude for actually getting on a bicycle in those temps and wind chills. I think you’re crazy, but brave!

    This winter finds me writing a novel set largely in the desert. It’s difficult to get in the desert-writing mood when it’s below 0 in both Fahrenheit and Celsius! But I have playlists of Middle Eastern music, and I turn the space heater up, and I plaster desert wallpaper on my computer monitor… and my longing to be somewhere like a desert makes me dive right in. 🙂

    1. I have to confess… even though we’re enjoying the -4 degrees C weather, it’s been snowing like blazes so I actually had my coffee inside too. 😉

      A novel set in a desert! That’s something I couldn’t write. I’ve never even been too the desert, unless you count arctic tundra, which is technically a desert but of the cold variety. But I like your strategy of space heater + desert wallpaper. Happy writing!

    1. Thanks! And I read on your coffee post that you wish the east coast would stop hogging all the snow. I’m here to tell you that you can have it! Now that I think about it, February would be the perfect month to do writer house swaps. You can come enjoy the snow and I’ll go enjoy your green grass and sunshine. 🙂

  2. I like to think of Canadians biking around delivering natural products..I think about you during the week because of these brutally cold pictures of you in outdoor gear…..brrrr.

  3. Glad you are “warming up” in that -4 degree weather! It’s warming up in Portland, too. My neighbor’s daffodils are blooming and my crocus is about to open up. The sky is blue. It’s 52.

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