A Valentine’s Day Gift Hop

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Karyn Good

Valentine’s Day approaches! Welcome to the Valentine’s Day Gift Hop celebrating all things romance, and that includes books and chances to win. Yes, there are prizes to be won, new authors and review sites to discover. So, come on and join in some sexy fun!

I don’t know about you but sometimes I forget to put in the time and give a little care and attention to the man in my life who deserves it most. Life is full of things tempting our attention away from each other. We take each other for granted. More and more often we forget to say thank you. Nothing wrong with a day that reminds us to be loving, or romantic, or grateful.

So, I guess this Valentine’s Day I’m gonna flirt a little over dinner.

Comment below to be entered to win a digital copy of my romantic suspense, Backlash and a $5 Amazon gift card! Have fun hopping around and visiting and entering to win all kinds of prizes including two grand prizes.

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I also have a new romantic suspense coming out on November 7, 2014.

A committed doctor to Vancouver’s inner city, nothing fazes Sophie Monroe—until a pregnant teenager shows up at her clinic on Christmas Eve requesting sanctuary and claiming the baby’s father is one of the city’s most influential businessmen. Sophie is in over her head and thankful when aid shows up in the form of an attorney who’s a little too confident and a lot too sexy.

Family Law expert Caleb Quinn just wants a date, a chance to prove he isn’t the elitist jerk Sophie assumes. Helping deliver a baby is not what he has in mind. But before long protecting a traumatized teenager and her son become his first priority. Even if saving them pits him against the baby’s father, a childhood friend. A man who will do anything to keep his dark side private.

But justice never comes cheap. Will doing the right thing cost Sophie and Caleb their reputations? Or their lives?

Excerpt:

Bookmark_Off the Grid 7x15

“What about you? What matters to you?” Her gaze settled on him and didn’t waiver.

She was countering with a move of her own, looking ahead to putting him into check because she didn’t think much did. He wondered what she’d do if he mentioned her. Suggested she mattered more than was comfortable. More than was reasonable. How fast would he find himself out in the snow?

“Justice. Fairness. Liberty.” Chess was his game and he still had a few moves left. “We’re not so different you and I.”

Now back to the Valentine’s Day Gift Hop!

Refilling The Creative Well

Posted on January 23, 2014 by Karyn Good

My creative well is feeling a bit shallow these days. I blame the dreaded January malaise. My work-in-progress is coming along. I’m about halfway done the first revision pass and the whole mess is sitting at about 87,000 words. But I’m at that point in my process where my imagination needs a little rejuvenating.

I love live theater! I don’t live in a huge city, we’re about 200,000 strong, but there are lots of arts and culture events to choose from if one is in the mood. Becky’s New Car is the latest offering by the Globe Theater. Done in the round, with minimal props, it’s all up to the actors. What a fabulous job they did. If you ever get a chance to see this play, I recommend it. So funny.

Becky’s feeling the effects of a humdrum, middle-aged life when she meets an beguiling millionaire. Stuck in middle management at her job, married forever, twenty-something son still living at home, trying to be everything for everybody, she inadvertently gives the wrong impression and finds herself at a fork in the road. With plenty of laughs along the way, it was the perfect way to fill my creative well.

“When a woman wants a new car, she really wants a new life.”

What’s you’re favorite way to rejuvenate your imagination?

Our Gratitude Jar

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Last year we started a new tradition, a Gratitude Jar. Throughout the year we stuffed different bits and pieces inside the jar with the intention of opening it on New Year’s Eve. That didn’t happen. But we did open it one afternoon in early January.

The idea was to remember all the good times we had shared the previous twelve months. It was a lot of fun to sit down together and go through it. Race bibs from the first ever 5km race my husband and son ran. The coaster my son’s alcoholic beverage sat on on his 19th birthday (legal drinking age here). My daughter’s campground maps. The receipt from my Donald Maass writing workshop. Etc, etc, etc.

Now it’s empty and sitting on the counter waiting to be filled with another year of memories.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Melody Beattie

What was one of your favorite experiences from 2013?

Keeping Warm: A New Fireplace!

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Karyn Good

We are having a new gas fireplace insert but in today. Yay. Our current one no longer works. So, while I”m waiting and before I phone to see where the installer is at I’ll tell you about my writing group’s January writing challenge. We used to do something called BIAW (Book In A Week) but this year we decided to have an all month challenge. I was feeling quite productive until my cold resurfaced, now I’ve slowed down to a crawl. Time to get back at it. This year I’ve set revising goals instead of first draft goals. I’m finding it a challenge to keep track of progress because there is a lot of backtracking and a bit of jumping around.

Right now I’m stalling over a sex scene. You’d think those would be terribly exciting to write. They aren’t. They’re complicated. It’s a plot pivot in the relationship between the main characters and it’s a very important scene which will set the tone for the second half of the middle, if that makes any sense.. Hopefully things are stirring around up there in my brain and it’s working on sorting out a couple of things.

Here is the old one, and I’m informed by the installer unsafe fireplace. Yikes. Good thing we haven’t used in a couple of years.

Here’s the new fireplace, which is very attractive and modern looking even if you can’t tell from the picture!

I love it! But it’s a bit smelly in here right now as we have to let it run for about five hours so it can season. Good thing it’s a nice day here (only -2 C) and we can open a window.

Have a lovely weekend! And remember to include a little romance in the weekend, like maybe a cuddle in front of the fireplace.

The Book Club Slacker Fine

Posted on January 10, 2014 by Karyn Good

I have a confession: Tonight is book club and I’m not quite done the book. Because I’m a slacker that means I have to pay a ten dollar fine That’s right, I’ll be paying my dues to the book club Night Out Fund. Even though I haven’t really been a slacker. I’ve been busy revising my second Aspen Lake story and spending time with Kate and Seth. Still, you do the crime, you pay the fine!

And this was one of those books–well it’s not fair to talk about a book you’ve yet to finish. I just say I’d rather be reading a different book. I will say this about A Light Between Oceans my ML Stedman. If you like Jodi Picoult you’ll like this author. I’m not a big Picoult fan, so that might explain things. Also, if you love lighthouses, enjoy wonderful description, post world war II stories, and tear jerking moral quandaries you should pick up this book and give it a read. If you enjoy tumblr and want to see my ode to A Light Between Oceans, pop on over here. Just because it wasn’t my favorite book doesn’t mean it won’t be yours! It really is worth checking out.

That be said I’ll be over here reading a Kristan Higgins book and giggling.

Have a wonderful weekend! Don’t forget to share what you’ll be reading!

Off The Grid Postcards!

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Karyn Good

I love them! Thank you Elizabeth Lang for doing up these wonderful postcards!

They’re so pretty I had to share. These are my favorite type of promotional items, along with bookmarks. A reader can always use more bookmarks, right? What do you think? Do like seeing postcards with quotes from books on Facebook, blogs, etc? Do they peak your interest? Tempt you to investigate further? Share your thoughts on promotional items?

Cover Reveal For My New Romantic Suspense – Off The Grid

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Karyn Good

It’s official. Off The Grid, my next digital romantic suspense, will be available November 7, 2014. It will be available from Amazon with their Kindle Direct Program in late July or early August.

I am so excited to share this story. I’m so in love with these characters. From the hero and heroine to the villain to the secondary characters. I love the setting and thoroughly enjoyed researching the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, infamous for being Canada’s poorest postal code. I miss Sophie and Caleb. I miss their sparring and their loving. I could have happily taken this couple and developed a series around them, pitting them against all kinds of adversaries. Ah well, I’ll have to settle for the next installment of the story, Christine and Zach. I wonder what kind of trouble will spill over and mess with a socialite and the private investigator who’s tasked with keeping her safe. Away from the slums of Vancouver to the troubles of the rich and richer.

But first – Off The Grid

But justice never comes cheap. Will doing the right thing cost Sophie and Caleb their reputations? Or their lives?

So there you have it! The cover has been revealed. The date has been set. Now I wait.

A Christmas Story – Open Hearts

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Karyn Good

Merry Christmas! Here’s a sweet story I wrote one year as a Gift of Writing for my writing group, The Saskatchewan Romance Writers. This year I’m sharing it here on my blog. I hope you enjoy it.

Open Hearts

For Abigail Kelley working retail at Christmas equaled worst job ever. Small talk? With strangers? Not her strong suit. Even on a good day and good days were harder to find than Waldo. But a girl had to eat and she’d already proven she was a glutton for punishment. Besides it worked nicely with the whole ‘sucker’ theme she had going on this year. Broke, adrift, and one blinking engine light away from over and done.

She glanced at her watch. Ten minutes until closing time on December 23^rd. The supersized big box store across the street was crammed to the rafters with late night shoppers. Not a soul crossed the street to browse at Adornments and Jewels with its swaying antique sign and out-dated window display. No one crossed the threshold where the dusty tiny bell waited to announce eager shoppers, or any shopper, and the scarred counters shined in preparation for inquisitive customers. Indeed, it was quiet as a mouse.

The quiet didn’t bother Abby, in fact, she preferred it. But noise equalled customers and paying customers equalled commissions. A pay check meant no more blinking engine light. No more blinking engine light meant the open road and finding her way back to the place she left her self-respect. She swiped her polishing cloth over the gleaming countertop glass as she leaned in and wondered over all the pretty baubles. Her mom would love the vintage silver locket. Maybe next year…

The tinkling of the bell startled her and she tripped as she turned to face the door. Clumsy as always. She stuck her dust rag out of sight and shoved a bunch of curls out of her eyes and got her first glimpse of the shoppers.

Continue reading →

Need An Easy Supper Recipe?

Posted on December 12, 2013 by Karyn Good

‘Tis the season! We’re decorating gingerbread houses today. Gingerbread houses are one of my favorite things. I love walking past bakeries and seeing them in windows. Or seeing them in restaurants or displayed at parties. Some of them are so elaborate. We also have gingerbread men and women waiting to be decorated.

And because we’re all so busy, here’s an easy recipe to make things a little simpler.

Apricot Chicken

Whole warehouse package of skinless, boneless chicken thighs
One package Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 Cup of French Dressing
1 Cup of Apricot Jam

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place thighs in a casserole dish, mix together remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cover. Bake for a couple of hours.

I made this the other night and it was delicious! Kind of like sweet and sour chicken. Yummy!

Our Christmas Tree Tradition

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Karyn Good

The Wild Rose Press is giving away 25 $25 gift certificates this December. That’s a lot of books! All you have to do is enter the Rafflecopter at The Wild Rose Press blog. Each day there are entertaining posts about all things Christmas.

Today is my day and I’m talking about Christmas trees. Come over and join me and enter to win.

I love Christmas trees and I put up two of them each year. One real tree and one artificial tree. I display my ornament collection on the real tree and my kids creative talents on the other tree. All the ornaments they’ve ever made hang there. So many wonderful memories.