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Author's Notes

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Nov. 30, 2014. Hi everyone. I've just re-released my Christmas time travel romance with a new title and cover. I've also added a prologue and made a few changes here and there. So, I thought I'd explain what a Christmas Cracker is. This is a picture of a Christmas Cracker that I made. The tube is a toilet paper roll. You can't see them but a long thin piece of cardboard fits through the whole, sticking out at each end. These are pulled and a bang sounds. This is the snapper. I'm only explaining this because some of my readers may not know what a Christmas Cracker is. It is common in England and in Canada. Probably in Australia and New Zealand too. Inside the cracker there is usually a motto or joke, a piece of candy, a tissue paper hat or crown, and a prize. When you make your own, like I made this one, then you have complete control over what you put inside. The prize could be diamond earings, for instance, and the candy could be a Hershey's Kiss. It's lots of fun to pull them--usually at Christmas dinner. We wear the hats and everyone tells their joke or saying. You can buy crackers on line and try them out. I think you'll enjoy them!

June 22, 2014: Lots has happened since the last time I wrote on here. "Time For Magic", a time-historical romance, "Watch Your Step", the second book in my Look Behind You Series (paranormal contemporary) have both been published. In three days, "Julian's Chance" will be published on Amazon as an E-book. This book is part of a loosely grouped series called "Searching For". The authors in this series are varied and come from the members of the Alberta Romance Writers' Association. I particularly love the cover for this book. Kudos to April Martinez of graphicfantastic.com. The cover for "Time for Magic" is also fantastic and was done by Trifle Ink Design. They can be contacted through trifleinkdesign@gmail.com. I hope everyone has a happy and productive summer. I'll see you at the When Words Collide conference in August, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I'll be on several panels and will be moderating on others. Perhaps we can talk at the Alberta Romance Writers' table in the vendor's hall. Cheers.

 

 

Nov. 20, 2013: My novella, Untamed, goes on sale on Friday, Nov. 22 for one week. Its sale price is $1.99 U.S.. Please take advantage of this limited time offer. Happy reading!

Sept. 15, 2013: "Come Closer" is out and "Time for Magic" is about 75% completed. I'm very pleased with the progress I am making with it. I've discovered that my heroine's cat has an attitude. I've been working on this book all summer and my Alberta Romance Writer's critique group has been fabulous. Their projects have temporarily stalled but they have graciously agreed to continue reading my chapters until the book is finished. Check out the cover design under the What's Next category. I'm thrilled with it. Happy reading everyone.

 

June 5, 2013: I regret to have to tell you that "Come Closer" will not be available in June. However, I'm very excited to have a slotted, firm date for when it will be released. That date is September 5, 2013. I am hopeful of getting "Watch Your Step" to my editor this Friday so that I can concentrate on "Time for Magic", my next project. Happy reading

 

May 31, 2013: "Watch Your Step" is completed and almost ready to go to my editor. 146,000 words, give or take. I decided that I should apply what I learn from my edits to "Come Closer" to "Watch Your Step" before I send it in to Elora's Cave. Also, I've just completed the first round of edits for "Come Closer". There wasn't much to edit. I hope that's a good sign. The edits only took me two evenings and I only had to make a few very minor tweaks to the story. I'm still very hopeful of the book being published in June.



My next project is to self-publish another time-historical romance. This one is about a woman who goes back to a magical time. I haven't got a cover done yet and I'm still waffling over the title. The tentative date for publication of this book would be the end of July. Stay tuned and happy reading.

April 16, 2013: It's been ages since I've let you know how I'm progressing on "Watch Your Step". I'm nearing the end...I've just begun chapter 29 and I'm about 113,000 words in. I've promised it to my editor by the last half of May. However, I kind of have to get it done before then since she's sending me the edits for "Come Closer" on May 10th. I'm anticipating needing a week or more to get through the edits. It's hard to say, though, because I have a new editor at Ellora's Cave. A big thank you to everyone who has purchased any of my books. I really appreciate it and I hope that you're enjoying my work. Talk to you soon.

 

Jan. 10, 2013: I've been working on the second book in the Look Behind You series for Ellora's cave. The working title will be Watch Your Step. The writing has been going well and I'm pleased to say that I finished chapter four today. I'll keep you posted on my progress. Cheers.!

 

January 1, 2013: Happy New Year. I've finished the edits for "Her Place In Time" and I've uploaded it to Amazon. It should be available for sale tomorrow from the Kindle Store. I hope everyone likes it. Though it is book 2 in the Escape Through Time series, it difinitely stands on its own.

 

Dec. 27, 2012: I'm working on the edits for "Her Place In Time" and then I'll be preparing the manuscript for Kindle publication.​ The plan is to publish it in January of 2013. I must get this out in a timely fashion because it is time to start the second book in the Look Behind You series for Ellora's Cave.

 

Dec. 26, 2012: I just finished the edits for "Will She Be Mine" and sent them off to my editor at Ellora's Cave. I hope that the manuscript will move quickly through the line editors so that the book will be released by February some time. I'll keep you posted.

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Dec. 23, 2017: So much has happened since the last time I wrote in this space!  I have published more books, I have a new job, a new granddaughter, and so forth. For Christmas, this year, I'm gifting you with a short story I wrote a few years ago. You will find it under the tab, Free Short Story. I hope you enjoy it. Have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

 

Sept. 12, 2020: I have not written for a long, long while. I apollogise for that. Lots and lots has happened since the last time I wrote. One of the things is that I have published a few Pride and Prejudice variations. My brother pestered me to write one and I said that I couldn't write one until I had an idea. Finally, I came up with the idea that what if Lizzy was a witch. That got my thoughts going and I wrote "A Witch for Mr. Darcy". After that, I had another idea and I just finished publishing "Lizzy's Curious Talent", where Lizzy has the curious talent of being able to paint pictures that changed in some way. I'm working on a new book, which I've called "Searching For Darcy". In this one, I'm loosely linking it to my contemporary books, The Back Beyond Series, where Lizzy has the same paranormal talent as the ladies in the contemporary series. I've made the power come down through the Gardiner famiy. Gardiner is the maiden name of Mrs. Bennet.

2020 has been a crazy year, hasn't it? My family has not been ill with Covid-19 but my husband's family has had two members who came down with it. They live in Lancashire, England. They recovered from the illness and are back at work. I've been able to keep working at my day job and so has my husband. That was a relief, believe me. I'm a member of The Alberta Romance Writers' Association and we have been able to meet using Zoom. I'm looking forward to being able to meet i 5, 2021n person, but Zoom has been a life saver for us, particularly since it looks like we will be using it exclusively for the next 4-6 months. Afterwards, we will use Zoom to keep our distance-members in touch. I hope everyone is doing their best to stay safe and to help their friends, family, and neighbours whenever you can. Thank you for reading my books and I hope they have brought you some relief from the stresses in your life. Cheers.

July 5, 2021: Well, I caught it, didn't I? At the end of April. I had to self-isolate in a hotel because my house isn't set up to make it possible for me to isolate at home. After I caught covid, my husband caught it. Then my son. My case was a mild one. I only lost the sense of smell for a few days and it never went down into my lungs. My husband, however, had it much worse than me. He did not need to go into hospital, though. His lungs were affected and he's still recovering from that. His sense of taste altered. To him, everything tasted extra salty. My son's case was also mild but it took him a lot longer for his sense of taste and smell to return to normal. The company where my husband worked kindly covered the entire time he was off, which was a full month. Mine did not, but the Canadian government paid me for the time I was in the hotel and for the time I was off work, so that covered most of what I had lost. Fortunately, I was still able to write and I published 'Searching for Darcy'. I've started a new book and am struggling to survive the heat wave we've been having. I prefer my daytime high not to get above 20c. Thank you, everyone who has supported me by reading my books. I'm sending you a virtual hug!

October 14, 2024: So, it's been a while. A long while. My sister used to look after this site for me but stopped doing that a couple of years ago. I work full time and the only reason I have a moment to spare for updating my site is because today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada, so I have an extra day off. I've published a few books since my last entry. My biggest news is that my first audiobook is in production. I'm really hoping it will be ready before the end of the month. The title is: "A Spirited Exchange". The "Spirited" in the title refers to the matchmaking ghosts in the book. It's a fun book. Light-hearted for the most part, low angst, and full of love. Keep an eye out on Audible, itunes, and Amazon for the audiobook to go live. I'm pretty excited about this venture. I have really enjoyed listening to my narrator, Benjamin Fife. It's a thrill to hear my book. I'm working on the next one, called "Darcy's Lullaby". Darcy has a paranormal ability to assist those who have night terrors. Of course, I don't call them that in the book because that phrase wasn't invented until the 20th century. I should have the book ready for publication by the end of November, 2024. Cheers, everyone. Eat lots of turkey and stuffing!

July 6, 2019  Hi, everyone.It's been an eventful few years since the last time I posted the story. I have another new job and I'm enjoying it. Not as much as I would enjoy writing full time, but there you have it. Life must. I've published some more books-I hope you are enjoying them! I've decided to try my hand at writing Pride and Prejudice variations and the first book has gone down a treat. So, I've started another one. I'm not going to lie-it's more difficult to write in a style that at least reminds my reader of P&P than I had expected. The writing goes slowly as a result. Still, I'm enjoying the challenge. I flew back East to visit my sister and brother-in-law this last autumn. She introduced me to the YouTube site, Irish people try...So much swearing and so, so, funny. Check it out:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pua6Kc6qI14  I just watched it again and this one doesn't have that much swearing in it.

I haven't been back to England for a good long while. My husband, Chris, went back this last autumn and visited his family for ten days or so. He didn't go anywhere else, he just stayed in Lancashire, in his home town about an hour outside of Manchester. All his sisters and brother still live there and he has nieces and a nephew and great nieces and nephews and his father and they all still live in the same town, or nearby, as they did when they were growing up. I've been all over B.C., I lived in Iran for three years, and now I live in Alberta. My husband was in the British army and he's lived in Germany, Northern Ireland, and Gibraltar.  I'm not sure if we will go anywhere this year on vacation. One of our cats died. It was really sudden and it's hard to be without him sometimes, though he liked my husband best. So, we're down to one cat and we're going to try and keep it that way.

I hope everyone has a great summer! Cheers until I get back to this again. lol.

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