Category Archives: What’s New

Milestone Birthdays and Donald Maass

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It’s a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up.  ~J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

My darling boy is nineteen years old today. In my part of the world that’s a big deal because it means you can walk into a bar and legally order an alcoholic beverage. Sigh. He’s just finished his first year of university with plans to switch to technical college. Two days ago he started his first full-time summer job.

Thank goodness he stills lives at home and we have that reality to deal with or I might completely collapse into a whimpering, simpering puddle of where has the time gone. Okay, I’m going to do it anyways. Just not here.

Instead I’ll tell you how excited I am to be getting ready to attend a Donald Maass workshop given by the Calgary Association of the Romance Writers of America. I’ve got my copy of Writing 21st Century Fiction and my half-written manuscript, Obsession, ready to go.

The characters who resonate most widely today don’t merely reflect our times, they reflect ourselves. That’s true whether we’re talking about genre fare, historicals, satire, or serious literary stuff. Revealing human truths means transcending tropes, peering into the past with fresh eyes, unearthing all that is hidden, and moving beyond what is easy and comfortable to write what is hard and even painful to face.

Get out of the past. Get over trends. To write high-impact 21st century fiction, you must start by becoming highly personal. Find your voice, yes, but more than that, challenge yourself to be unafraid, independent, open, aware, and true to your own heart. You must become your most authentic self.   Donald Maass, Writing 21st Century Fiction

We’ll be making the 8 hour trip from Regina to Calgary Friday morning. Three of us are traveling together. That means talking writing all the way there and all the way back. Yay!  Then back in time for extended family birthday celebrations.

Here’s hoping you have weekend plans of your own?

Tuesday’s Table: My New Obessions

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New obsessions and places you can find me!

Pinterest 

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Quinoa

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

Very yummy and one of our family’s favs!

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup quinoa, uncooked

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 small English cucumber, chopped

1 small red onion, cut crosswise in half, thinly sliced

1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil Greek Feta Dressing, divided

10 cups of torn romaine lettuce

1/2 cup of feta cheese

(I make my own vinaigrette salad dressing with 1/3 cup of olive oil, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, heaping teaspoon of dijon mustard, 1 clove of minced garlic, salt and pepper)

Directions

Rinse quinoa unless the packaging says it’s unnecessary. Doing this gets rid of the bitterness. Bring broth and quinoa to boil in saucepan on high heat, simmer on medium-low heat for 15 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed. (You can also tell it’s done when it develops a tiny white ring around the grain.) Cool.

Combine tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions in medium bowl. Add 1/4 cup of dressing, toss to coat.

Cover platter with lettuce, top with quinoa, tomato mixture, cheese and remaining dressing.

I usually serve it with grilled chicken and you got yourself a healthy, filling meal. Also, it’s looks very impressive served on a large, rectangular platter. I wish I had a picture, but I don’t! Next time I make it I’ll definitely take a picture.

Are you showing up in any new places? Love quinoa? Hate it? Haven’t tried it yet?

Manic Monday

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It’s the second last Monday of August. How did that happen? Harvest is in full swing here on the prairies. Wheat being one of our staple crops with the first attempts at planting dating back to 1753. Stats like that one always make me smile. When I was a little girl I remember thinking everyone’s grandparents had come from somewhere else. Mine were immigrants to this country by way of Poland, Norway and Sweden. It wasn’t until I started school and began learning about the long and rich history of our First Nations people and that of the first European settlers coming later at the beginning of the 18th century that I realized how new our roots were to Canada.

My romantic suspense novel, Backlash, takes places in the month of September. My fictional setting of Aspen Lake, being a resort town located at the foot of the scenic Moose Mountains, would still be surrounded by farmland. Frost is on the ground in the morning. Days are still warm. Nights are filled with stars.

I love to savor the approach of autumn. Warm enough to enjoy the beach during the day and cool enough for backyard fires in the evening. The air smells different. It’s heavy with dust of harvest, the scent of ripening fruit, and the bittersweet smell of brand new back-to-school supplies. We’re mixing the daytime summer fashions of shorts and flip-flops by adding jeans and light jackets to our evenings.

And let’s not forget the stars. So bright. A startling reminder of the vastness of the universe. With the sun setting earlier we have more time to enjoy them. I never fail to look up and wonder what others in past centuries have thought about as they gazed up at the same stars.

What is your favorite part about this time of the year?

I’ll sign off with this is a snippet from page 97 of Backlash. It’s early evening in the middle of September. Chase, Lily and Jason were involved in a incident earlier in the day. Lily is waiting for Chase to come by and let her know what’s happening.

Lily led Mike out onto her front steps and lifted her face up to catch the leftover heat from the setting sun. It didn’t help. The bone deep chill remained. She rubbed her arms, wishing for a sweater.

She wondered where Chase was and why he’d sent an emissary. “So, he’s with his aunt?”

 Here’s What Reviewers Are Saying About Backlash!

5 Stars

“Chase and Lily are made for each other; they complement each other so well.”

“The description of the enforcer was so vivid that it seemed that I could actually envision the soulless enforcer in front of me.”

CozyReader at The Romance Reviews

4 Stars

Ms. Good sure spins a tale of deceit and a trail of clues that lead right to a climax I never imagined.
Need some suspense to keep you up long into the night? Why not giveBacklash a chance. Immerse yourself in the strong sense of right and wrong, with a great cast of characters.

Sunflower at Long and Short Reviews

 A Rating

Add to that, this book is fabulous on the suspense side. Lots of high-stakes danger, really evil bad guys (super-creepy spider tattoo guy), and it kept me guessing how the author was going to resolve it all till the very end. Overall this was a fabulous book and definitely one that reminds me why I LOVE to read! Perfect entertainment and escape!

Christi Snow at Smitten With Reading

 5 Stars

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW… could i say WOW anymore? You bet! I don’t have time to write my full review now, BUT if you enjoy romantic suspense with killer sexual tension and a smokingly HOT yet tortured lead, then y’all need to read this!!

Sheryl on Goodreads

Lucky 7 from Backlash

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Back in the middle of June I was tagged by the wonderful and talented author Monica Enderle Pierceto take part in the Lucky 7 meme. In the mood for some romantic dystopian/sci-fi? Check out her novel that releases this July, Girl Under Glass.

Here are the oh-so simple rules:

  1. Go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript
  2. Go to line 7
  3. Copy down the next seven lines/sentences exactly as they are
  4. Tag 7 other authors

So here are 7 lines from page 77 of my romantic suspense, Backlash.

Mike continued on, “If you could provide us with a list of friends and places to look that would be great.”

Mike laid a paper and pen down on the cold metal table and pulled out a chair for Lily. Lily sank into it. Mike claimed the one next to her. Chase gritted his teeth as he made his way to the opposite side of the table. 

Jason, Lily’s student, is missing. Constable Mike Davenport, Chase’s partner, has called Lily into the station to assist them.

The authors I’m tagging are all talented and engaging writers, some I know in person and some I’ve met online. A bouquet of authors all worth reading.

Joanne Brothwell

Jana Richards

Annette Bower

Lesley-Anne McLeod

Silver James

Jannine Gallant

Jessica E. Subject

So, tag! Your it!

In Other News:

Recently my husband and son went on a bike tour of Holland and I couldn’t resist sending a long a little piece of me with them. I hope Chase and Lily enjoyed their tour and I hope someone finds their story in the Amsterdam airport and decides to read it. Perhaps they’ll pass it on and Chase and Lily will continue their travels.

Travelling anywhere interesting this summer?

Carnivalesque: Creepy Occurances

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It’s Thursday and we’re taking our Travelling Blog Show on the road to Joanne Brothwell‘s blog. This week’s topic? What is the creepiest thing that ever happened to you that you couldn’t explain? I kid you not, that’s what we’re dishing on this week. Come join Janet Corcoran, Hayley Lavik, Jana Richards, Joanne Brothwell and myself as we confess to the creepy. We love to hear your about your experiences and hear your opinions!

 

 

 

Appearances

This Saturday, April 21st, at 1:30 pm I’m at Chapters (in my home city of Regina, SK) reading from my writing group’s anthology: Love, Loss and Other Oddities: Tales from Saskatchewan. I’ll be sharing my time with four other lovely Saskatchewan authors: Annette Bower, Jana Richards, Anita Mae Draper, and Jessica Eissfeldt. Join us for an afternoon of reading.

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday, April 26th, at 7:00 pm I’ll be at the Regina Beach Library reading from my upcoming release, Backlash. I’ll be joining Annette Bower as she reads from her new release: Moving On: A Prairie Romance. 

What he’s sworn to protect, she’s willing to sacrifice to save those she loves…

 

My New Home and Other News

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Welcome to my new website! I’m so thrilled to finally show it off. Huge thanks to Jo at Glass Slipper WebDesign for doing all the work. She is wonderful to work with and very helpful, especially if you’re a luddite like me. I’m learning the ropes here at wordpress, like I said I’m not tech savy, but I’ll get the hang of it. Eventually. So, please, take a moment and have a look around. Let me know what you think.

In case you’re interested, a little bit about the color purple, one of my favorite colors. A rare color in nature, it lends itself to mystery and intrigue. Often associated with royalty, of which my characters are definitely not, it is also the color of passion and romance. And I’m a huge fan of those two things! Which leads to the sexy couple in the corner. Hot, yes?  They’re having fun over there wrapped up in each other?  I think so.

How about you? What’s your favorite color?

Other NEWS

I’ve signed on to do a reading at our local Chapters. I’ll be reading from our anthology Love, Loss and Other Oddities: Tales from Saskatchewan. Look for us there on Saturday, April 21. More details to follow.

Saskatchewan Romance Writers Anthology

Timing is everything isn’t it? Or ask and the universe will provide? The March edition of the Romance Writers Report arrived with the following handy article: The Art of Reading Aloud by Janet Mullany. I need all the help I can get! I’m grateful not to be doing this alone, but with fellow members of my writing group, The Saskatchewan Romance Writers.

I’m also busy booking my first Virtual Blog Tour with the help of the wonderful ladies at Goddess Fish Promotions. My first one ever! There will be prizes and everything. So excited. And just a little bit nervous.

Schedule to Follow

That’s it for now. Hope you enjoyed your look around my new home. Come back again!