Kim Neville

I can’t believe that in all the years I’ve lived in Vancouver I’ve never been to Pacific Spirit Regional Park. Last night was my first visit, and now that I know how beautiful it is, I’ll be back soon. I love how the sounds of the city fall away so completely there.

We were drawn to Pacific Spirit by Forest Symphony, an evening event hosted by Metro Vancouver. Singers, guitarists, violinists and harpists were tucked into clearings along the park’s paths, filling the forest with music. Gorgeous.

One of the many wonderful ways that having a child has changed me is introducing a wider range of experience into my life. Before Cassandra, our Vancouver outings fell mostly into four categories: dinner, movies, shopping, visiting friends.

Now that Cass is in our lives, we get outside a lot more.  I search out new parks to visit and free events to attend. Since we moved back to Vancouver in December, I’ve had so many city firsts: taking the Aquabus, visiting the Bloedel Conservatory, riding the Stanley Park Train, communing with bunnies at Jericho Beach, jumping in the fountain at Queen Elizabeth Park, and now, walking trails at Pacific Spirit Park.

All these moments were designed to add variety, richness and beauty to my daughter’s life. I never anticipated the joy they would bring to my own.

Kim Family life, Vancouver goodness Family life, Forest Symphony, gratitude, I love Vancouver, Pacific Spirit Regional Park

This blog is now one year old. I’m celebrating with a new WordPress theme. Feel free to tell me what you think.

It was also my birthday last week. Cassandra chose the wording on the cake. I think she did a fine job.

Kim Family life birthdays, Family life, Hey Mommy you're awesome, love my kid, new theme

You may think, based on my last post, that I’m spending the next two months hiding in a dark room with my laptop. I *may* have exaggerated. A little.

I am working hard but the work is fun. Also, I’m beginning to see the fruits of my labour, and that’s gratifying. I received the proofs for Meriel’s Brownie from Leading Edge this week. Complete with illustrations! Seeing the print version with my name at the top — that felt good. Issue #59 of Leading Edge will be available soon. I will keep you posted.

I’m still having a summer. There’s still time to play at the Granville Island Water Park. There’s time to stop by the Market for fresh local raspberries to put on my cereal and Maui ribs to put on my BBQ. There are, occasionally, long lunches with old friends. There are evening walks on the beach.

And I may not be swinging in a hammock, but I did just spend half an hour rocking in a chair while my child’s head grew heavy against my chest. Which is at least as good as a hammock session. Probably better.

Kim Family life, Vancouver goodness, Writing life better than a hammock, exaggeration, Granville Island, I love Vancouver, Jericho Beach, Leading Edge, Meriel's Brownie, summer

It’s been a long, gooey-eyed, feverish, sleepy week. Cass came down with viral conjunctivitis (aka the dreaded pink eye) which morphed into a vile sinus infection/flu thingy, variations of which have now assaulted the rest of us. Other than the grocery store and four trips to three different medical clinics, I don’t think I’ve gone anywhere.

Lots of inside time has its advantages. I got reacquainted with my novel, for one. Finally, forward motion. Progress! I also dove back into some earlier chapters. It’s amazing how one small change in a character’s motivation can change the entire direction of a story.

And Cass made her own leap forward this week. She learned how to draw. This is the cat she made last night.

This picture fascinates me to no end. Because until yesterday, she had only ever scribbled. If you asked her, she’d draw a circle, or a line, but that’s it. And a day later, she’s making actual pictures. As I type this she’s back at the chalkboard drawing birds at a bird feeder. Kids are awesome.

Kim Family life, Writing life Family life, Illness, kids are awesome, The Glass Doll

Having a hard time getting into the noveling zone this week. Most of my writing time this month has involved work that is not related to The Glass Doll. And, thanks to some fine weather and a lot of consulting gigs for Shane, I’ve spent almost as much time at the playground as I have at my laptop. As a result, I am further from finishing the second draft than I’d planned.

It’s always a good thing to have money coming in, and I never regret a single moment spent running through tunnels with Cass. But my novel and its characters feel distant to me. Is it odd to miss imaginary people? To feel guilty for neglecting them?

Enough stalling. I shall go visit them now.

Kim Family life, Writing life excuses, Family life, imaginary people, not writing, The Glass Doll

There was a downpour this afternoon, the kind that seemed to come out of nowhere because in the kitchen, where Cass and I were playing an intense game of freeze dance, the sun was warming us through the windows and the clouds were of the white cotton ball variety. Out front, however, all was dark and ominous. And wet.

Perfect weather for rainbow hunting, right? So I rushed us both into raincoats and boots and we ran outside. Alas, no rainbows anywhere. No real ones, anyway. Cass saw lots of pretend rainbows. And we jumped in some good puddles, so it turned out all right.

We did a lot of things today. There were cupcakes and leaf rubbings and squirrels in the yard. There was freeze dancing! But when Shane came home from a day of teaching and asked Cass what we did, the thing she remembered was rainbow hunting.

Some of the best memories I have with Cassandra are the times I act on my childlike impulses, like running into a storm to look for rainbows. It makes me happy to know those are her best memories too.

Kim Family life Family life, happy Kim, love my kid, puddles, rainbows, storms

This is the title of the last assignment for my photography class. For a change, I wanted to stay away from my customary subject — my daughter. So yesterday I went to the park and took many photos of ducks in motion.

I ended up with a few nice ones. However, organizing my 200+ duck images and trying to find five that worked for my assignment was a bit laborious. While I worked, I heard my family out in the front yard, playing with the bubble machine my daughter got for her birthday. Naturally, I had to go take more pictures.

I figure photography is a lot like writing. When your subject fascinates you, it shows in the final product. If there’s no love, that shows too. When I began writing I didn’t intend to write fantasy. But magic and oddness always crept into my stories. I stopped fighting it a long time ago. I write what excites me. I think I’ll do the same with photography.

Don’t get me wrong. I like ducks. But I just can’t get as excited about them as I do about watching this girl play with bubbles. Sorry, ducks.

Kim Family life, Writing life bubbles, ducks, Family life, I love Vancouver, love my kid, photography, Writing life

On the sixth day we hung freshly painted planets from our living room ceiling. And on the seventh day, we ate a lot of cupcakes.

They turned out better than I hoped. We still need to add rings to Saturn and Uranus, and you shouldn’t look too closely at Earth’s geography. But they served their purpose — to thrill this little person:

Next, I will perform the same transformative magic on my work-in-progress. Prepare to be amazed!

Kim Family life birthdays, Family life, love my kid, making magic, space girl

I’m writing a blog post to avoid the above project. My daughter’s third birthday party is this weekend. She wants a space theme. So I decided to make a model of the solar system out of balloons covered in papier mache. It’s one of those ideas that seems great until you realize just how much time it has eaten up, and how misshapen and lumpy your planets are.

This is what I’ve been up to lately.

Also, revising that novel, which is coming along. If writing a novel were like a movie, I’d be at the point where there’s a montage. You know, Rocky’s training hard, Eye of the Tiger and all that. Stuff is happening, but it’s not very interesting to watch. Or read about, which is why I haven’t been boring you with the details. All is well. Soon I will be ready for the big fight.

Now, off to make my planets a little more…round.

Kim Family life, Writing life birthdays, Family life, making magic, papier mache, revision, solar system, stuff you do for your kids, The Glass Doll, Writing life

Although a lot of good stuff came out of 2009, I have to say I’m glad to leave this year behind. It was a tough one for me. I won’t get into it other than to say that a long Canadian winter (which I’d never experienced before, having spent my entire life in and around Vancouver, where the temperature rarely dips below zero), plus the isolation and boredom of playing the role of small-town housewife, did not suit me one bit. The second half of the year, thankfully, was much better than the first. Summer arrived, we sold our house, I wrote a novel, we moved West.

Our new life in Vancouver is the culmination of everything Shane and I have worked toward over the last decade. Way back in 2002, Shane was making BMX videos for a living, I was writing my first clumsy short stories and we were drowning in debt. We made some decisions – to clean up our finances, take our relationship seriously and build a family. Once we accomplished those things, we began to dream of a life where both of us could spend our days following our passions. For me, of course, that meant writing. For Shane, it ultimately meant making games on his own.

We’re there. Both of us working from home, creating things we’re passionate about, raising our daughter together, surrounded by an incredible network of friends and family.

2010 can only be amazing.

Kim Family life, Writing life Family life, I love Vancouver, living the dream, Writing life