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

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?

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.

You can also win here on my blog. I’m giving away a digital copy of my romantic suspense, Backlash.

So head on over and enter to win! Also comment here for a chance to win Backlash. Do you have a real tree or prefer an artificial one? Or no tree?

A Moratorium on Man Boob Book Covers

Posted on November 19, 2013 by Karyn Good

Romance heroes are a sight to behold. We get it. Don’t get me wrong, I like to look at nice pair of man boobs as much as the next person but could we please, please call a moratorium. The other day on Facebook I saw some promotion for a lovely heartwarming Christmas romance. It pictured a house out in the country, snow everywhere. A real snow globe moment. With a fence and a cowboy lounging against it, no coat, open shirt, man boobs on display. In the winter.

Brings new meaning to freezing your nipples off.

I mean, come one book publishers. Wake up. No one in their right minds would ever–okay football fans but they’re the exception– be outside in winter without a shirt. Not even romance heroes. Because they’re smarter than that. Hopefully. Or else I’m putting that book down and never returning.

There was another cover. This one with a huge storm brewing in the background. Dark, heavy clouds ready to break open any moment and rain down a heap of trouble. Another cowboy. Hat, jeans, nice belt buckle, oh wait – NO SHIRT. Out on the open plain waiting to get struck by lightning.

You can tell they weren’t boy scouts. They aren’t prepared. They didn’t even know enough to wear a shirt. Let alone a coat. They did have the hat part covered so I suppose they should get points for something. Or maybe those points should go to the powers that be deciding on what book covers will sell the most books.

I’ve noticed a couple of times lately, authors on Facebook asking opinions about covers or asking readers to vote on the one they prefer. I like that idea. Let’s do more of that. Then maybe publishers will get a better idea of what readers are looking for in book covers. Sexy people with their clothes on, especially during winter or a storm. Readers can see them undressed, in all their glory, later on. Inside the book, using their imaginations.

I love sexy covers. But I also don’t want a stockpile of naked man chests in my TBR pile. Whether it’s my ereader or the literal pile on my nightstand. I like the book covers with landscapes. I also seem to be drawn to ones that are black and white. or have objects significant to the story.

So I went to my Facebook page in search of a cover without a half-naked someone on the cover. I scrolled down and down, until I gave up.

So how about you? Had enough of man boobs on covers? What to see a different type of cover? Do you have a favorite book cover?

Decorating in Discontent

Posted on November 13, 2013 by Karyn Good

I hate when that happens and I’m usually pretty good at not going there. But the last couple of days I did just that. It’s time to come back from the dark side. Because it does lead to darkness. You start to question your commitment. Worse your abilities, and it’s all downhill from there. Before you know it you’re wallowing. It’s lowering to admit. I don’t want to be the person who gives into jealousy and it’s poisonous head games. That’s when I knew I had to nip this shit in the bud.

First order of business. Figure out what’s making me crazy. I’m in the midst of a writing challenge. Not NaNo but within my own small writing group. My goal is to write a 1000 words a day. By no means an impossible task. I’m two-thirds of the way through. Writing first drafts always make me in turns euphoric and cranky. Add to that, I’m impatient to get to the revising/rewriting part of the process. I love revising. But writing the last third of a story, tying up all those lovely threads, pushing towards the end, makes me double crazy. And doubtful I’ll find a resolution that doesn’t completely suck. Cue my lurking insecurities.

So what do I do? I go to Goodreads. I visited the other day and was checking out new-to-me authors and looking for something to read. Because that’s what you do when you’re doing your level best to avoid your own writing. Found a couple of books I thought looked promising with 20,000 ratings and 2,000+ reviews each. When I checked further I found neither one of the stories were for me. <delete> There I saved you from my rant on selfish, abusive heroes.

That’s when jealousy moved in, signed a lease, and decorated in discontent.

I hate when that happens. It makes me feel small and petty. Not to mention unproductive. And unhappy. That’s when I have to start asking questions. Like what’s really wrong? Because it’s not poor Goodreads fault. And people like the books they like, end of story. They don’t need any more reasons than that to talk about the ones they loved reading. We’re as unique as the stories we prefer.

So, lesson learned? Writing first drafts stress me out. What should I do to avoid more stress? Perhaps this is the month to reread a book. One of my favorites and an old friend. One I know will not only soothe my battered brain but inspire me. And I’ll try to remember I’m not trying to find a cure for cancer and stop taking myself so seriously. Sheesh. I’ll take a walk. Get some fresh air. I’ll choose to be positive and productive.

Three of my favorite writers are Tara Janzen, Suzanne Brockmann, and Nora Roberts. How about you? Do you reread books? Think of them as old friends? What do you do to keep from stressing out?

Let Them Eat Soup

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Karyn Good

There are lots of things I love about autumn and winter. And one of them is soup. Because I love soup! I love the taste, the aroma, the warmth it provides. There is nothing better on a cold night then a bowl of soup.

This is one of our family’s favorites and fits in with my new love–cauliflower. I roasted some for lunch yesterday and it was delicious. It also incorporates my daughter’s love of sweet potatoes. It makes a lot so there will be leftovers which works for my son so he has something to eat when he decides to show up. My husband? As long as he doesn’t have to cook he’s happy. And he does the clean up. Because that’s the kind of save-the-day hero we really need.

So, if you’re writing away madly or deep in a good book or wrung out from the day’s activities take a break from the trauma of trying to decide what’s for dinner and make some soup. It doesn’t need to simmer for hours like plot twists. It’s not hard to put together unlike difficult chapters. It’ll be the hero of the supper hour. The warm comfort of a heroine. And will result in the happy ending of a full belly.

Curried Cauliflower Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
6 cups Chicken or vegetable broth
3 cups Leeks thinly sliced (about 3 large)
1 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Garlic minced (I used more)
1/4 teaspoon Black pepper freshly ground
1 medium head of Cauliflower broken up into small florets
1 ½ cups Rice – any kind (You can also use frozen, leftover rice)
1 medium to large Sweet potato (but not ginormous 2 – 2 1/2 cups) peeled and cubed
1 can of coconut milk
1 tablespoon of Curry powder
1 ½ teaspoon Ground cumin

Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add leeks and garlic. Cook and stir until leeks begin to soften, about 3 minutes.

Stir in cauliflower, sweet potato, curry, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook and stir for 1 more minute. Add broth. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

Transfer soup to a blender in batches and puree until smooth. Return pureed soup to pot. Stir in cooked rice and coconut milk. Heat soup for 1 more minute. Serve hot.

Enjoy!