I don't think I've mentioned my green tea habit. I almost always have a cup of green tea on my desk when I'm writing. In the old days, I used to buy bags of green tea in a box, then I moved up to loose green tea (it was called Gunpowder) that I bought in Chinatown... and then... (I'm trying to build a little suspense here... good practice for the scene I'll be writing later)... and then... my friend Evadne went to Japan and brought me back... green tea. But not just any old green tea. Very fancy green tea. Very fancy, very tasty green tea. I've been able to find something like it here in Montreal and a little bag of it is as expensive as a bottle of not-so-expensive wine. Now what, you might ask, does today's blog entry have to do with writing? For me, it's about routine. Here I am, sitting at my dear old desk, sipping my tea from my favourite cup (that's another story which I'll leave for another day), listening to the familiar sounds of my house... and I can feel myself gearing up to write. I am the sort of creature who enjoys routine. If your plan for the new year has anything to do with writing, you might try finding a routine that works for you. Okay then, gotta go and try to build a little suspense in that new book of mine. There's a white-out (which means a really bad snowstorm) and a little boy who thinks he's Spiderman has disappeared. My poor main character is in a pickle -- I'm going to leave him there for a while....