Category Archives: romantic suspense

Merry Christmas, wreaths, garlands, swags

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Do you make your own Christmas wreaths and garlands? I went out to cut branches for my Christmas swags for either side of the door, and came back with the following –

  • red cedar (you can tell by the colour of the stems and bark)
  • balsam fir, with the delightful light green tips to the branches
  • fir, with fuzzier needle formation
  • salal, which gives great berries but stays green all year
  • hawthorne, for the beautiful red berries
  • broom, which is a weed, but adds a lovely straight sweeping component

This is what I came up with for my front door. What do you do for your Christmas greenery? Merry Christmas everyone!

 

What do readers want?

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A very interesting bit on what kindle owners read and where they get their information for buying new books.

So, who do they listen to for recommendations? 53% said they heard about a book from friends or family. We are still talking about word of mouth here. Next came websites and blogs at 24%. Bestseller lists was quite low on the roster at 11%.

In terms of social media, facebook is by far the most influential in getting word out on new books, with twitter and instagram near the bottom. It’s interesting because I know a lot of authors spend a great deal of time on some of these sites, so it’s nice to get some information on what works best.

Although there is a huge push on ‘series’ books right now, the information shows that 70% of readers enjoy series and stand alone books equally.

Best of all, kindle owners purchase 8.9 books a month. That’s a lot of reading material. I’m sure it doesn’t all get read, but most of it probably does, and it’s an exciting number for authors to contemplate.

Have a look at the Anatomy of a Kindle User –

http://www.writtenwordmedia.com/2015/09/09/anatomy-kindle-owner/

Book Release – The Last War: Book Two

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Book Release –

Son of the Emperor

The Last War: Book Two

Buy link – https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sylvie+grayson

Abe Farmer may survive the Sanctuary, but he won’t escape the Emperor

Hunted by her stepmother, Julianne Adjudicator flees to the north of Khandarken and is welcomed into the Sanctuary, a place of refuge for women in a rough world where the dispossessed of The Last War rove the wilds of the countryside. But even there, she finds chaos and betrayal.

Abe Farmer seeks help for his badly wounded bodyguard at the Sanctuary but ends up leaving under cover of darkness with young Julianne in tow when he discovers the fate that awaits her there. Soon the trio attracts the deadly attentions of the New Emperor.

Can they reach the Catastrophic Ocean and safety before disaster strikes?

The Last War series is a stunning portrayal of a new world created from fire and consumed at the edges even as the people strive to build a future for themselves …

…a whole new world with the same old problems – sci fi and fantasy at its best…

Writers retreat on Vancouver Island

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I just finished a two day get away for a writing retreat. It was fantastic. I’d never done this before and didn’t know exactly what to expect.

But having the time set aside turned out to be the first big gift. When do you get a chance to set aside two days dedicated to writing? It’s never happened for me. It gave me a freedom to just get started. I haven’t been writing for a few months – too many other issues arising including health problems, business concerns, family responsibilities. I began to think I’d lost my muse. 🙂

It wasn’t automatic and the words didn’t flow smoothly at first, but the process did get me going. I’m so grateful.

Then to have other writers there to bounce ideas off of, to ask for suggestions and receive their support was a real gift. It meant having some serious intense discussions, and laughing a lot. Thank you to my writer community for taking the time. I’m definitely going to do it again.

Above is the fabulous place we stayed on Cowichan Lake, Vancouver Island. The water was fabulous.

Hot and Dry – wildfires in BC

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Red dahlias

We have had an incredible summer of heat and dryness in British Columbia. Yes, we’ve had wildfires, some from nature, some manmade. Our rivers are low, the salmon are suffering as they swim upstream to spawn. The forests show the effect of lack of rain –the cedars especially seem able to let whole branches go brown and drop to the ground so the rest of the tree continues to survive.

My garden is struggling. The tomatoes on the deck are too hot, even with lots of water, and the fruit starts to rot even as it ripens. Those growing in the upper garden are coming more slowly and most seem to survive long enough to turn a lovely red. I have a huge zuchini plant which gave me one fruit, about 20 inches long and weighing 5 pounds. Everything seems to be out of whack!

The dahlias? Only the red pompoms are blooming. It is so weird. I have 16 different varieties. I don’t know them by name but by description, yet other than red pompoms, I have 1 white, 1 adobe, 1 yellow (with stems so short I can’t cut them and put them in vases). Does this mean only the red ones like this heat? Hard to tell.

How are you surviving the hot weather? I”m not writing and not at work, so I’m going to cool off with a swim in the lake. 🙂