We have been enjoying unseasonably warm temperatures this last week in Northern British Columbia. And by enjoying I mean wallowing, bathing, and soaking in the sunshine. We had a lovely winter, but nothing beats those first hot days of spring. That being said, this week on the Romance Writers Weekly Blog Hop, Leslie Hachtel asks: What is your favorite spring flower and why? Is it the scent? A memory? If you joined me from A.S. Fenichel, welcome! The first sign of spring where I live is the appearance of pussy willows. While not the most vibrant of blooms, these tough, furry, grey blossoms are a sure indicator the weather is warming up. When it comes to cultivated flowers, hardy bulbs like crocuses are next. While they have no scent, they are definitely cheery and bright! Because these are the first to appear, they rank as my favourite spring flowers. However, I am always thrilled when my clematis begins to sprout. While it will be months before we see the blooms fully open, knowing this rapid-growing vine is ready to grow is one of my great delights. What about you? What are your favourite spring flowers? Feel free to share below, then hop over to the instigator of this topic, Leslie Hachtel. When the last time you took a stroll around my website (other than this blog, of course)? You might be interested to see some changes, especially here. I'll give you a minute to go look...
What do you think? I love these new covers! I'm going to be celebrating by giving away a copy of each book. But you need to be a subscriber to my newsletter to end. You can do that here. I hope you'll join us!
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When I saw Jenna Da Sie’s topic this week, I couldn’t say no to joining! She asked: If you could renovate one room in your house, which one would it be and why? If you joined me from Clair Brett, welcome! One reason I was excited to see this topic is that we are actually in the middle of a minor renovation right now. Well, I call it minor, but I’m not doing any of the work. It is keeping Mr. C busy, though! Also, I love renovating in general. We’ve lived in our current home twenty-five years, and we have renovated all the bathrooms (one of them twice!), the family room (three times), and the kitchen. And I’m not just talking paint and new flooring (we’ve done that in every room of the house more than once). I’m talking taking walls down and putting them back up in new places. For some reason, the chaos and clutter of renovating doesn’t bother me at all, and the results are always worth it. Luckily, Mr. C and his brother love this kind of hands on work—and they are good at it—so we don’t have to hire people other than for some of the more specialized tasks.
If you’re a subscriber to my newsletter, then you have already seen the cover to Richly Deserved, my next release coming March 29. But for those of you who haven’t, click here to see it and learn what this story is all about! I absolutely love the the cover, and can't wait for you to meet Titus and Claudia!
My next release is a project especially close to my heart. I stumbled upon the idea for the story quite by accident, and everything fell into place after that. To be completely honest, it was the easiest book I've ever written - and early readers think it might be my best so far. Here's what AFTER WORDS is all about:
As we get closer to launch date, I'll be sharing more stories about Leeza (she loves to bake), Gavin (still waters run deep in this one) and more. To be part of all that, be sure to join my newsletter. You will immediately get a free short story, just for subscribing. I hope I'll see you around!
Why is it that celebrations and special food go together? I imagine it hearkens back to when an abundance of food was a sign of prosperity. This week on the Romance Writers Weekly Blog Hop, Jenna Da Sie asks: Do you do a holiday cookie exchange? If so, what cookies do you make? If you don’t, what treats do you and your family make for the holidays? If you joined me from Elizabeth Schechter, welcome! This topic came at a particularly opportune time. I had already planned to do baking this weekend (which is when I write and prep my blog). So I can share a photo with you of my endeavours! First off – I am not much of a baker, so holiday cookie exchanges are not in my plans. But that being said, the only time of year my family can depend on me to do any baking at all is Christmas. I have two main traditions - butter tarts and what we call chocolate haystacks. Both of these are traditional recipes from my dad’s side of the family. Butter tarts is actually a misnomer – they should be called margarine tarts. 😊 But the one time I made them with butter I didn’t like them as much. Chocolate haystacks are a coconut/oatmeal macaroon-style no-bake treat (so right in my wheelhouse!) A couple of years ago I adventured in the world of using yeast, and attempted a Portuguese sweet bread made traditionally only at Easter and Christmas called massa. That Christmas my mother-in-law was having health issues and didn’t think she’d be able to make it, so I googled the recipe and baked a couple of loaves without letting her know (in case it was a total bust). It actually turned out quite well, and I have made it since. But I’m just the backup plan – if my mother-in-law can, she still makes it for everyone. 😊 How about you? Do you have holiday baking traditions? Share your recipe in the comments below if you like, then hop over to A.S. Fenichel for her Christmas treat plans.
Today's an exciting day for me! It's the release of the last in the Bendixon Sisters Series, CROSSROADS CORNER! If you preordered it should already be on your ereader, but if you haven't, be sure to buy soon, as the price will be going up in a few days! More information is below this week's blog post. And speaking of which... The saying goes “Never judge a book by its cover,” but be honest - you have, right? This week on the Romance Writers’ Weekly Blog Hop, we’ve been asked to share a couple of our favourite book covers - whether our own or someone else’s - and explain what it is that draws us to them. If you joined me from Leslie Hachtel, welcome! I have a couple of major preferences when it comes to book covers. I generally don’t like to see people’s faces, and if it is part of a series, I want all the covers to have strong commonalities. As a reader, while the cover of a book definitely has influenced my buying decision, what I’m mostly looking for (especially in a indie book) is professional design. If it looks good on the outside, I’m hopeful it is written well on the inside. Some of Susanna Kearsley’s books are linked, although I wouldn’t call them part of a series. Her covers, though, are immediately recognizable as being from her world. I think they are wonderful, reflecting the magic and mystery that all her stories have. Diana Gabaldon’s books have been released with numerous covers, but I love this look the best. It is simple yet striking, and let’s the story stand for itself. Courtney Milan does write books in series, but no matter what series it is she has a distinctive style. For her historicals, a woman in a jewel-toned gown on each cover. I read once she designs her own, which is awesome, too!
CROSSROADS CORNER, Book Three in the Bendixon Sisters Series, is now available!
Now, I’d like to pass you on to a new member of the Romance Writers Weekly! Clair Brett is an historical romance author with three published novels who empty-nests in New Hampshire with her husband and various furry critters. Welcome, Clair! And to discover the best book Clair read lately, head to her blog here!
This week on Romance Writers Weekly, Leslie Hachtel asks: If you could have lunch with any (living) author, who would it be and why? This is a tough one for me. There are lots of amazing authors out there, but I’m not sure if I’d want to risk losing the mystery by actually meeting them. You know how you feel when something you've looked forward to doesn’t live up to its potential? That’s what I worry about. I’d hate to ruin my enjoyment of an author’s books by a disappointing experience in real life. That being said, I think I’d like to meet Jill Shalvis. Her romances are funny and sweet (with plenty of heat, though!) and from what I’ve seen on her Facebook page she seems like a pretty down-to-earth person. Kristan Higgins also looks like someone who doesn’t take herself too seriously and would have some funny stories to tell! But in many ways, the authors I’d most like to have lunch with are other independent writers who are dealing with the same issues I am – getting noticed in the sea of self-publishing, struggling to work a “real” job while keeping up with writing, honing our craft in order to be better writers. While I have an awesome online community of just these kinds of writers (mostly through Facebook) there’s something special about being in the same room and talking face to face. How about you? Which author would you like to have lunch with? And do you have the same reservations I do, or would you not worry about that at all? Be sure to visit A.S. Fenichel and see who she'd like to do lunch with! Have you seen this, yet? The new cover for RESERVED FOR YOU (formerly Chef d'Amour). What do you think?I'll be releasing the updated book soon. If you want to find out first, sign up for my newsletter (there's a form on the home page of this website). It's where I share special news and bonus features about all my books.
This week’s topic on the Romance Writers Weekly Blog Hop seems very timely. A.S. Fenichel says: Let’s talk about book covers. Pick three of your covers and tell us: what was your thought process for the design or, if you’re traditionally published, tell us what you thought the first time you saw your shiny new cover. If you have a great story about your cover(s) please share. If you joined me from Leslie Hachtel, welcome! The reason I say this topic is timely is because, just last week, a Canadian artist who designed more than 500 Harlequin romance covers, was awarded his very own stamp, based on one of his covers. Check out the full story here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/he-designed-over-500-harlequin-romance-covers-now-there-s-a-canada-post-stamp-in-his-honour-1.4607014 As for my own covers, I’ve been very involved in their creation. My first two books were published by a small press, but I was able to give them a very clear idea of what I was hoping for, and I think they did a great job. I have to say, though, the cover of my first self-published book is my all-time favourite. When Time Falls Still was actually a finalist as Best Cover in the 2017 RONE Awards. Thanks so much to my cover designer, Steven Cote, for making it look so wonderful! The second cover above is the first publication of Mountain Fire. It will always hold a special place in my heart, since it was my first published book. Just last year I revised it and self-published it with a new, extremely dramatic cover (second from right). Not everyone can see it at first, but there is a silhouette of a couple kissing above the fiery treeline. Can you see it? What do you think?
And the last is No Life But This. It may seem odd that a romance novel doesn’t have a couple on the cover, but this image spoke so clearly to me about Abigail’s journey in the story that I had to use it. Now it’s time to hop over the instigator of this blog, A. S. Fenichel. What cover is her favourite? Check it out here! This week on the blog hop, Jenna Da Sie asks: Book covers: what do you like to see on Romance book covers? Both characters, one character, shirts off, fully clothed, faces, silhouettes? What turns you off from choosing one? I hope you hopped here (how's that for alliteration) from Kate Forest's blog. If not, be sure to complete the loop so you can see what kind of covers she like best! As for me, I am definitely into covers that don't scream "traditional" romance. Even on recently written historicals, which can be forgiven having the heroine show a bit of leg and the hero appearing masterful, I prefer the understated to obvious. I was recently working on the cover for my first ever self published works – my short story The Life She Had Before and my soon to be released novel When Time Falls Still. Choosing the exact cover image was hard! I looked for inspiration, and these are some of my favourites:
So, based on the above, I guess I like the faceless heroine theme the best! :) Although I think the Girl on the Train cover is probably the cleverest - such a sense of movement in the font!
The cover on Leslie Hachtel newest release, The Dream Dancer is stunning. Click to her blog here to see it. I wonder what other book covers she likes? |