Today’s book signing…

Things went well today at All About Books Internet Cafe all about booksin Gananoque. Owner Debra Savoy, was a lovely and gracious hostess. We hit it off immediately and before the end of my time there, we agreed to a date to do it all again in 2013!

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My table set-up

According to Debra, Saturdays are slow at her shop but traffic was brisk during my two hour time frame. There were the regulars who come for coffee/tea and a chat and folks off the street.

We had the opportunity to talk before people came into the shop about writing in general, my inspiration to write, my journey to publication along with some good “girlie” chat.

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Having a good natter
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Posing with my book and one of the “regulars” in the background

I took some time to pose for a picture with my book (hubby came along to take pictures in addition to fetch and carry). Suffice it to say, he was quite chuffed when the box of books was lighter on the walk back to the car.

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Signing a copy for Debra

My first sale of the of the day, and personalizing the copy for my wonderful hostess.

The afternoon went well. I sold 4 books and left a further 5 copies there. Debra assures me she’ll be able to sell them  with no difficulty.

What can I say other than I’m chuffed to little mint-balls to make this contact!

I’m looking forward to returning on February 16, 2013 (weather permitting). Winter in these parts can be truly unpredictable but we’ve got plenty of time to work things out and come up with a game plan for my next visit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Signing…

From 1:00-3:00 this afternoon, I’ll be signing copies of my debut novel, A Shadow in the Past, at all about booksAll About Books Internet Cafe, 126 King St East, Gananoque, Ontario, K7G 1G3.

The weather man has promised us good weather for the entire day.

This will be a great time to wrap up your Christmas shopping for the avid reader on your list and can your copy personalized for that special someone.

My novel's cover created by Aidana WillowRaven
My novel’s cover created by Aidana WillowRaven

Nineteen-year-old Sarah Shand finds herself thrust back into the past. There she struggles to keep her real identity from a society that finds her comments and ideas strange and her speech and actions forward, unlike Victorian women. When Sarah verbally confronts confining social practices, including arranged marriages, powerful enemies commit her to a lunatic asylum. After falling in love with the handsome Laird of Weetshill, Robert Robertson, she must decide whether to find her way back to her own time or to remain in the past with him.

Hope to see you this afternoon! You’ll recognize me because I’ll be the one wielding the silver sharpie behind the stack of books 😉

 

Things are starting to look festive at the House of King…

Dare I say, “It’s beginning to look like Christmas…?” Well here at the House of King it is. It took two  days but the tree is up and in its full glory.

This was as far as I got yesterday. The tree assembled, the branches fluffed and the angel on top. I felt like a walking pincushion by the time I got this far. My arms were scratched and pricked by the “needles”. Whoever said artificial trees were soft and don’t shed were telling a huge untruth.

IMG-20121212-00074However, after reading Living Doll by Famous Five Plus author Serena Fairfax, I’m not so sure I want her on top of my tree. If you read the story, I think you might agree.

Today after getting some more shopping done, including warm white, mini LED lights, the tree took on its full beauty. Things are taking shape – burgundy ribbon and lights (200 of them).

IMG-20121213-00076Add some ornaments… including loads of nutcrackers. What can I say, I love them. I’d do the entire tree in nothing but nutcracker ornaments IMG-20121213-00077And still some more…

IMG-20121213-00078And finally one special one… IMG-20121213-00082Hmm… it looks like my book cover there in the middle of the picture. Made that this afternoon and it has pride of place on the front of my tree.

Warrant for Love by Sheryl Browne – today’s excerpt

But before we get to the excerpt from Sheryl’s novel, a bit about the author, herself…

Sheryl Browne grew up in Birmingham, UK, where she studied Art & Design. She wears many hats: a partner in her own business, a mother, and a foster parent to disabled dogs. Sheryl has been writing for many years, the road along the way often bumpy. She was therefore thrilled beyond words when Safkhet Publishing loved her writing enough to commission her to write for them.
Sheryl’s debut novel, Recipes for Disaster – combining deliciously different and fun recipes with sexilicious romantic comedy, is garnering some fabulous reviews and has been shortlisted for the Innovation in Romantic Fiction Festival of Romance Award. Sheryl has since been offered a further three-book contract under the Safkhet Publishing Soul imprint. Somebody to Love, a romantic comedy centering around a single father’s search for love and his autistic little boy, launched July 1. Warrant for Love, bringing together three couples in a twisting story that resolves perfectly, released August 1 and A Little Bit of Madness releases Valentine’s Day 2013.

Take it away, Sheryl!

Hi Melanie! Thank you so much for hosting me! I’m thrilled to be here on your beautiful site! Today, I’m sharing the fifth of eight excerpts from Warrant for Love. I hope you enjoy!  Please do leave your comment and (appropriate) suggestions as to what YOU might do if you found yourself in Lee’s situation.

Warrant for Love

Love, blackmail, lies, adultery, entrapment.
Three couples in a twisting story that resolves perfectly.

 Life for Paul sounds like your typical country song. He comes from a broken home, his wife is divorcing him, he’s got no place to live, he’s losing custody of his son, and his sergeant, who’s sleeping with his wife, is a loud-mouthed braggart who won’t let up on him – not even at work.

Leanne’s caught her (now) ex cheating on her again, but before she can give him the what-for, she’s wrongfully arrested for soliciting – by Paul and his partner. One thing leads to another and things could be looking up for Paul, except for Leanne’s friends – quarrelling mom Nicky and financial goddess Jade – have it out for her ex.

Leanne wants closure, Paul wants a home, and Nicky and Jade want revenge. Blackmail, lies, adultery, entrapment. Will it all work out in the end or will Paul uphold the law? It sounds like he needs a Warrant for Love.

 Excerpt:

Lee tugged her vest top over her shorts… jimjams grass-stained she’d discovered… and perched herself on the edge of her bed.

She tried not to listen to Paul move around in his room. Clunk his wristwatch onto the bedside table. His shoes onto the floor. Unzip… Ahem.

Lee couldn’t fall into a relationship with him. It would be madness with her emotions flying all over the place and, anyway, Paul had obviously changed his mind.

But, oh, it was torture, knowing he was just the other side of that wall. Reassuring, too, but she couldn’t help wishing there was no wall at all.

She had a quick gulp of water as her errant mind conjured up his handcuffs, then travelled slowly around front and attempted to tiptoe below belt level.

Blooming frustrating, it was.

Ah, well. She kicked off her flip-flops, and would have snuggled under the duvet, had not a great fat spider sat down beside her.

Lee squeaked, terrified, and leapt fast for a flip-flop. It was huge. A house spider as big as the house, with huge, hunched… scurrying…

Aaaaargh!’

She hit it.

Missed.

It dropped to the floor. Lee sprang on the bed.

‘Help!!’ she screamed, woman of substance nowhere in evidence.

In an instant, Paul banged through the door, wearing boxers and not much else. ‘What? What’s wrong?!’

‘I’ve got no shoes on,’ Lee said feebly.

Paul scratched his head. ‘You’ve got no clothes on.’

‘There’s a spider!’ Lee squealed as it scurried towards him.

‘Christ, Lee…’ He ran his hand over his neck. ‘I thought there was someone… ‘Oh, blimey.’ Paul backed off. ‘It is a bit big, isn’t it?’

‘Get it!’ Lee danced on the duvet.

‘Lee, just calm down.’ Paul skirted around the intruder as it came to rest in the corner. ‘It won’t hurt you.’

‘It’s huge!’

‘Lee…’ Paul laughed. ‘It’s just a spider. It’s probably more scared than…’

‘It’s not! I’m arachnophobic! And don’t laugh at me. I can’t help it. I’m sick of apologising for my shortcom… Oh, my God, it’s moving.

Get it!’ Lee clutched a pillow and a useless flip-flop to her breast and backed up on the bed.

‘Okay. Okay.’ Paul said, his voice calm, his face serious. She was petrified, he realised. Pretty in the shorts and vest, but petrified.

He actually wasn’t far off petrified, himself. He hated spiders. ‘Just stay calm and stay where you are. I’ll get it.’ He headed for the landing.

‘Where are you going?’ Lee almost climbed up the wall.

‘To get a glass.’

No-o-o. It’ll be gone when you get back. And it’ll creep out again while I’m sleeping. Please get it.’

‘I’ll get it. I’ll get it. I promise. Just stay calm.’ Paul tried to reassure her. ‘Flip flop,’ he said, surgeon-like as he turned to face his own worst nightmare. Under-stair cupboards were crawling with the bloody things. Or that’s how it seemed, if you were four years old, and locked in there with them.

He braced himself, flicked it out of the corner, and flattened it. Felt like a murderer, but flattened it anyway.

Felt pretty good actually. He smiled as Lee flung her arms around him.

‘I feel really stupid.’ She sniffled into his shoulder.

‘Don’t.’ Paul stroked her hair. ‘We all have our private demons.’

‘It bounced off the bed.’

‘Bounced?’ Paul chuckled. ‘Did it test the springs first?’

‘You’re laughing at me.’ Lee pulled away.

‘I’m not, Lee.’ Paul pulled her back. ‘I’m laughing at me. I’m terrified of the buggers.’

Lee blinked up at him. ‘You are?’

‘Yep.’ Paul smiled. ‘Almost as terrified as I am when I meet some psycho on the streets, but I guess it’s easier to face it than admit it, if you’re supposed to be macho-man.’

Lee scanned his eyes and must have realised he was telling the truth.

‘Sorry,’ she said, her face nestled back in his shoulder. ‘I’d get them myself, if only they’d stand still long enough. They only ever seem to come out when it’s dark, don’t they? When you’re alone.’

‘I know.’ Paul pulled her closer, recalling how alone he’d felt in the dark. ‘Tell you what,’ he said, his mouth close to her ear, his hand tracing the curve of her back, ‘we’ll get one of those sonic insect repellent things. Innovations sell them, I think.’

‘Do they work?’

‘Dunno. It’s worth a try though.’ Paul brushed his cheek against her hair. Lee lifted her head, and…

‘Hello, Mumsie-wumsie,’ Drew said, from right outside Lee’s door on the landing.

Paul and Lee hastily disengaged.

‘Shoot.’ Paul hurriedly left, thinking that more prudent than hiding under the bed. ‘I, er… ‘ He raked his hand through his hair as he met Drew’s eyes. ‘Spider,’ he offered, by way of explanation.

Ye-es.’ Drew looked him up and down. ‘So, where’s the white charger? Parked next to the Mondeo?’

‘Sorry?’

‘Word of advice, Paul. Knights don’t do it naked.’

Paul nodded soberly, arms folded over his nakedness. ‘I guess I’d better go and get dressed. Undressed. Go to bed.’ He coughed and stepped past Drew.

‘Good idea.’ Drew clumped onwards. ‘Oh, incidentally, that’s the airing cupboard.’

‘You don’t say.’ Paul closed the door to the linens within.

****

Pssst,’ Lee hissed, when Drew’s door closed. ‘Everything okay?’

Paul smiled. ‘I think he thinks you were after my body.’

Drew yanked his door open and headed for the bathroom. ‘She is. But only if you promise not to scream.’

‘I won’t.’ Paul laughed and risked a step closer to Lee, whose adoring smile made him feel as if he had ridden in on a white charger, rather than charged in wearing his boxers.

‘Night, Lee,’ he said, running a finger down her nose. ‘And you’re not alone, by the way. I’m right next door. If you need me, just call.’

Finding footprints on the windscreen for her boyfriend’s car as evidence of his infidelity was worst case scenario for Lee. What would YOURS be?  What would you do about it?  Witty but NOT too rude suggestions, please.  One name will be randomly selected from the blogs taking part to receive a copy of Warrant for Love.

Find out more about Sheryl:

Sheryl’s Website

Safkhet Publishing

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com

Author Facebook     

Romantic Novelists’ Association

Sheryl is a loveahappyending featured Author and Editor.

Twitter: @sherylbrowne

MEMORIES OF CHRISTMASES PAST

Yesterday, the local writers’ group I belong to held their annual Christmas tea, hosted by one of the members in her lovely home on the river.

Every month, as a group, we write something to the same prompt, which has to be exactly 250 words in length. The theme for Sunday was about Christmas – one particular one that stood out or just memories. I went with the memories and this is the piece I wrote (dedicated to my grandmother and my father).

MEMORIES OF CHRISTMASES PAST

For Minnie (1892-1971) and my Dad (1913-1969)

As a child, spending time at my Grandmother Minnie’s farmhouse east of Athens was something I always looked forward to. Christmas Day was even more special because all the aunts, uncles and cousins were there, too. No matter how horrendous the weather or long the journey, everyone always made it. Without fail, the Petawawa faction was always last to arrive, leaving the rest of us chomping at the bit so that Christmas could begin!

You have to picture the scene – nine kids, six parents, Minnie and my Uncle Winston cheek and jowl in the two rooms downstairs and without benefit of indoor plumbing until 1970. Dishes were washed and rinsed in two large galvanized washtubs that were hauled up onto the table and filled with hot water from the kettle on the woodstove and cold from the buckets on the counter brought over from the well on the other side of the road. And if you had to go, it was either make the long trek to the outhouse or use the thunder-mug upstairs in Minnie’s room or the one on the stairs.

My love of reading began during those Christmases at Minnie’s. My cousin from Toronto gave me a book every year from the time I turned ten.

1970 was the last year for family Christmas at Minnie’s and the first with indoor plumbing. It doesn’t sound like a big deal but to us it was. With how commercial the holidays have become, I long for those simpler times.

 ***

I still have most of those books (I think I only ever parted with one – a book of fairy tales).

What are some of your favourite Christmas memories?

“I’ve got the LOOK!” (The ziggy zig zag challenge)

I don’t know who exactly started this, but a week or so ago I was tagged with “I’ve got the LOOK” by the wonderful Gilli Allan. She sent me the challenge of talking about my latest work in progress. The idea is to search for the word “look” then post some of the surrounding text or paragraphs around the choice you have made.

So my latest WIP is my NaNoWriMo project (there I go mentioning it again) but I found umpteen mentions of the word “look” but I think I’ve found a great excerpt from my piece tentatively entitled Shadows from her Past

Jenny (ignored his jibes and) ran back to Weetshill clutching the foreign object tightly in her hand. “F-father,” she yelled as she charged through the front door. “L-look wh-what I f-found!”

Mrs. MacEwen intercepted her. “Slow down child. Whatever has you in such a state?”

“I-I f-found th-this,” she stammered holding the foreign object out.

 ****

Robert entered the great hall from the library. He knelt by Jenny and looked at what she held in her hand. Was this the thing that Sarah was so upset over losing when she first arrived at Weetshill? The advanced technology of it was nothing like he’d ever seen before. “Calm down, Jenny. Deep breaths and tell me where you found this.”

Jenny nodded. “A-a t-tree. S-saw it b-bigger. F-found th-this in th-the g-grass n-near it.”

***

The challenge to this is coming up with a few good paragraphs and not include spoilers, which can be a pretty tall order, but as this is a work in progress, there’s not guarantee this snippet will still be there when the final product rolls off the line.

Now I have to bestow this honour on five more people… and they are:

  1. Janice Horton
  2. Dorothy Bush
  3. Barbara Ehrentreu
  4. Janet K Brown
  5. Gina Dickerson

 

Liebster Award


Thank you to Irish author, Joanne Clancy, for awarding me this. Joanne is the author of The Unfaithful Series; Unfaithfully Yours and Revenge, The Secrets and Lies Trilogy; Secrets and Lies, Aftermath, Redemption and The Wedding Day, Unforgettable Embrace and My Love. The third book in her Unfaithful series, Web of Deceit, will be available in January 2013. You can visit her amazon author page here.

The Liebster Award is an award for up and coming bloggers with less than two hundred followers so you can imagine how chuffed I was when Joanne nominated me.

Instructions for Nominees:

Post 11 random facts about yourself and answer the 11 questions asked by the person who nominated you.

Pass the award onto 11 other blogs and notify each blogger that you have nominated them.

Write up 11 NEW questions directed towards YOUR nominees. (Do not nominate the blog who nominated you!)

Paste the award picture into your blog.

Random facts about me:

  1. I love to travel, especially to Scotland.
  2. I’m not a huge fan of chocolate.
  3. I’m an avid reader and am happiest when I have my face stuck in a book – physical or e-book.
  4. My debut novel, A Shadow in the Past, was released in September 2012.
  5. I love to nap on the sofa.
  6. My Scottish heritage is extremely important to me.
  7. I’ve been writing off and on since I was a teenager (although lately, more on than off).
  8. I love my morning coffee.
  9. I’m addicted to Coronation Street.
  10. After fighting it for a long time, I finally got on Facebook earlier this year.
  11. I collect stuffed animals.

Joanne’s questions for me:

  1. What’s your favourite book and why? My all time favourite book is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The conflicts between the races in the deep south during the time before desegregation were coming to an end when I was born, but the idea of a white lawyer defending a black man back in those days was unheard of. I applaud Harper Lee for writing a novel on such a controversial subject.
  2. Do you have any recurring dreams or nightmares? Not so much anymore but when I was younger, I used to dream about a road that disappeared over a hill behind a house. It terrified me back then.
  3. Do you believe in life after death? Yes.
  4. What do you like or dislike most about Christmas? Dislike – Shopping and the hassles that go along with it. Like – all the classic Christmas movies and spending time with family.
  5. Why do you blog? I love to talk about my Scottish heritage, my writing and showcase up and coming authors.
  6. What inspires you? Beautiful sunrises and sunsets, and the panoramic views of the St. Lawrence River that I love so close to.
  7. What is your top health tip? Don’t stay glued to your desk and chair all day. Get up and move around. Your eyes, wrists and butt will thank you for it – not to mention your heart.
  8. What is your top beauty tip? Be yourself and be comfortable with who you are. Real beauty is below the surface.
  9. What’s the best book you’ve read in 2012 and why? I’ve read a lot of books in 2012 so it’s hard to narrow it down to just one. I would have to say it was Saving Max by Antoinette van Heugton. I loved the lengths the mother went to in order to prove her autistic son is innocent of murder. There were also elements in the story that rang really close to home.
  10. What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you? Coming out of the ladies with my skirt tucked up inside my pulled up pantyhose.
  11. What’s your guilty pleasure? Guilty implies that I sneak it but I do love red wine – but I’m very open about it.

My questions for my nominees:

  1. Who is your favourite author?
  2. What is the best book you’ve ever read?
  3. What is your favourite travel destination?
  4. If you had a choice to visit any country in the world that you’ve never visited before, which one would it be?
  5. Books or movies – which do you prefer?
  6. What is your favourite food?
  7. Do you have a favourite hobby?
  8. Sitcoms or dramas? Which do you prefer?
  9. Do you have an all-time favourite movie?
  10. iPhone or Blackberry?
  11. What are you most afraid of?

And finally – drum roll, please – my list of nominees:

Miriam Wakerly
Pauline Barclay’s Scribbles blog
Chris Longmuir
Jontybabe’s Brook Cottage Books blog
Dorothy Bush
Joe Mossman
Jo Lambert – Writer
Rosemary Gemmell’s Reading and Writing blog
Stephanie Keyes
Gina Dickerson
Gilli Allan’s Writer Cramped blog

My final NaNoWriMo update for 2012

I’m willing to bet you’re glad to see the end of them. I’m not a linear writer by any means and tend to write standalone scenes in separate documents and insert them later on. Nightmare you say? Sometimes it is… sometimes it isn’t. In this case it was. Multiple documents, a semi-started manuscript for the sequel to my debut novel. So when I was updating my word counts, I was only including my “new” words. What was there prior to Nov 1st, I always subtracted from my new total and that was the number I posted.

This past week, I had refrained from updating my word count on a daily basis on the NaNo site and now I’m kicking myself in the butt for not doing so. Not that my final total was overly impressive, but when you consider I had a busy month promoting my novel, taking part in events where I could sell myself and my novel, and working full-time (not making excuses), I’m thrilled I got as many words in during the month as I did.

Anyway, I managed 20,024 words which is more than I had at the beginning of November so I’m happy.

I love the idea of NaNoWriMo but with November being such a busy month with the lead up to Christmas, and taking part in BBC Scotland’s Write Here Right Now in February a number of years ago before they changed the format, I think NaNo would be a perfect fit for the after Christmas, winter doldrums…