Summer is winding down. This week on Romance Writers Weekly, we ask: What's your favorite summer activity? Can you do it at home or does it require travel? Did you get to do it this year? Does the activity ever make it into one of your books? If you joined me from Leslie Hachtel, welcome! Our favourite summer activity is camping, and has been ever since the kids were babies. There were a few years when we didn't get out as often as we'd hoped, especially when the kids were in high school and busy with sports. But now that they are pretty much off on their own Mr. C and I have been taking advantage of every weekend we can. We don't usually go too far. There are many, many beautiful places to camp within two hours of our house, so we tend to stick in that area. But this year we did pull the trailer to a few new places during ten days of holidays in July. It's a great way to see the world – I can't wait to do it more! So far, I haven't written about trailer travelling in any of my books. But in my first romance, Mountain Fire, my heroine spent time alone on a mountain in an abandoned fire-spotting station. And in my most recent release, When Time Falls Still, my hero and heroine spend a few sexy days at his rustic cabin on a remote lake. So camping has made it into my stories – just not the kind we usually do. We are still hoping to get out at least one more time before the Northern BC fall gets too cold. But the days are definitely getting shorter already. I'm not ready for summer to be over! I wonder what Carrie Elks' favourite summertime activity is. She lives in England. Do you think camping is something she might do, too? Find out here!
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As promised – here's the first look at A.S. Fenichel's newest cover! Sadly ever after. . . unless some dreams really do come true?
Elinor Burkenstock never believed in fairy tales. Sure, she’s always been a fool for love—what woman isn’t? But Elinor knows the difference between fiction and truth. Daydreams and reality. True love and false promises. . . . Until the unthinkable happens, and Elinor’s engagement is suddenly terminated and no one, least of all her fiancé, will tell her why. Sir Michael Rollins’s war-hero days seem far behind him when, after one last hurrah before his wedding, he gets shot and his injuries leave him in dire shape. He wants nothing more than to marry Elinor, the woman of his wildest dreams. But Elinor’s father forbids it . . . and soon Michael is faced with a desperate choice: Spare Elinor a life with a broken man or risk everything to win her heart—until death do they part? This week on the Blog Hop, S.C. Mitchell invites us to remember when… Think back to that day you first decided you were going to write a book/story. Tell us about what led you to start putting those first words on the page. If you joined me from Dee Kelly, welcome. If not, be sure to hop all the way around so you don't miss her great post. I know it's not original, but I can't remember when I didn't want to be a writer. I've always been a voracious reader, and I'm pretty sure it grew out of that. But if I think very carefully, it might be possible to pin down the first times I thought "Maybe I can do that, too." Anne of Green Gables is one of my absolutely favourite series. As a young Canadian girl, it was awe-inspiring to learn how famous the red-headed imp from our smallest province was. And that the story had been written by another Canadian woman – well, it opened my eyes to the possibilities. I should also make note of my Grade Seven teacher. Brother Ivan (I went to Catholic school) was feared throughout the lower grades. But he was one of those teachers that was demanding but fair, and most students who found themselves in his class also found themselves learning well and joyfully. He assigned many, many creative writing exercises, and I can still remember how proud I was the day he suggested I try and get one of my short stories into a magazine. If he thought I could get paid for my writing, who was I to contradict? I was in my forties before I achieved my dream of publishing a novel. But since then I've added two more to my list, have another waiting to be published and a fifth in revisions. I know longer want to be a writer – I am one! I wonder how Lyra Parish found the courage to send her stories out into the world. Find out here! Be sure to make an extra visit to my blog tomorrow, as I'll be revealing the cover to RWW member A.S. Fenichel's newest romance, Foolish Bride. Stop by, won't you? It's my turn to kick off the blog hop this week! I chose a non-writing topic: What kind of animal person are you? Do you have pets? If so, how do they influence your writing, or don't they? What is the most unusual pet you've had, either as a child or adult? I grew up with animals. When we lived in town, we had a cat, and once we smuggled in a bantam chicken (I named her Henny Penny) into our backyard for a few months. But once we moved to what we called our hobby farm when I was 9 we started collecting in earnest - chickens and ducks and horses and goats and rabbits and cows (not really pets – we didn't name them so we didn't have to worry about eating them). Two unusual pets do stick out, though. My grandparents had a Yellow-headed Amazon parrot, and we inherited him. Peterwas in the family for thirty years or so, and was definitely a one-woman (my mother) bird. What a crank pot he was! We also had a chinchilla. My mother rescued him from a local farm – he had deformed legs and the other chinchillas were picking on him. We named him Rocky. But chinchillas are social animals, and he died of a lonely heart only weeks after we adopted him. As an adult, I've always had at least one cat. If there is such a thing as reincarnation I want to come back as a spoiled domestic feline like our Gilligan. Nothing to do but eat and sleep and be cuddled! Our family has also had two dogs. Our first, Kasey, was a black labrador/retriever cross that we adopted at the age of 5, and who gave us almost 10 great years. When she passed on, we waited a couple of years before we decided to get another dog. While I've never worried about leaving a cat along all day while we were at work, it just doesn't seem right to do to a dog, especially a puppy. And that's where Aspen comes in. She's our newest family member, a beagle/spaniel cross. We've never had a puppy before, so it was a bit of shock having a "newborn" for a few weeks. But she's settling in wonderfully. When it comes to pets and my writing, I've only given one of my characters a pet. Justice, from When Time Falls Still, has a Bernese Mountain dog names Chaucer. Some of my readers have said that Chaucer steal the scenes he's in, and I had a lot of fun writing him! As I write this post, Aspen is wandering around the backyard keeping herself occupied with rawhide bones and old gloves and ropes. She and I are the only ones at home, and I have to admit – while a home needs a cat, a dog is definitely good company, too. The next stop on our blog hop is A.S. Fenichel. Is she a dog or a cat person? Find out here! |