Spring has sprung in Vancouver! There are tons of cherry blossoms blooming and gorgeous pink and white magnolia trees too. It's also starting to warm up temperature-wise (not that Vancouver ever gets very cold, but we do get a lot of rain). I'll upload some photos of those cherry blossoms very soon, before they start fading away. They were apparently a gift from our sister city in Japan (um, can't recall the name of it right now but will try and find out!).

I though I'd also throw in the Wikipedia page about "Van", so you can learn a bit more about where Ariana lives, plus see some current photos of it. Gee, maybe Tourism Vancouver should be paying me a fee for this? Kidding.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver

As for some tidbits of recent newsworthy news about us:

1. We hosted the Winter Olympics in 2010, which was...interesting. It was a circus, but most Vancouverites were over the moon to have the world's spotlight on us.
2. Vancouver is a hockey-mad city, and I, too am a Canucks fan, as would Ariana be, if she followed hockey more. Perhaps she will, now that she's dating a cop who is a fan. For those in the NHL-know,  yes, our team was just eliminated from the playoffs but I have faith in them. The darkness before the dawn is a saying that comes to mind.
3. Yes, there was a riot in our downtown core, after the final game of last year's Stanley Cup playoffs. Sounds like it was a bunch of kids from the suburbs who went there, got drunk, were PO'd so they decided to trash the place, which they wouldn't have done if it were their actual home. Then they disappeared into the night, back to their own homes in the 'burbs. That's about all I have to say about that. Bad news is what leads the news, and our city has a lot more positive stuff to offer than that.
4. Having said that, Vancouver is one of the most expensive cities to live in, in North America. Ariana is very lucky that her new PNPI agency is financed by the ghost of a wealthy man who is quite fond of her.

Have any of you who don't reside in Vancouver had a chance to visit us, and if so, what did you think?

It's up on Smashwords!

After much toil, I uploaded the thing, and the e-mail I got from the nice folks at Smashwords said I passed the Auto-Vetter test, which means I apparently formatted my manuscript properly! I just have to fix a wee issue on my cover, re-upload that and it's done and dusted.

Then I hafta write another one, just to keep the momentum going! I hope people enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It was hard work but worth it.

In case you're curious, here's the link to the book on Smashwords:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/153269

Don't forget to let me know your honest opinion.