Fiona Lowe's Blog, page 10

Do you love or hate the Christmas letter?

This blog is Xposted over at Love is the Best Medicine.

It seems to me, people either fall on the side of loving to receive a yearly Christmas letter or hating it. Me? I LOVE it. So totally love it!

I enjoy hearing the news from family and friends from around the world. Yes, even from second-cousin Evelyn who has ‘gifted’ Freddy.

Personally, I think he may become the next unabomber, but let’s not go there!

I’ve always sent a Christmas letter…since the age of 20 when I left home. This year, I’ve  received cards from people saying, “We’re looking forward to your letter.” It seems, over the years, the Lowe Family letter has got some fans.

Like I said, I’ve always written a letter but one year when I came to write it, I thought how similar our year had been to every other with the exception of the mid-year vacation/holiday destination.  If I was bored writing it, surely people would be bored reading it.

(As an aside,  I have learned this is not true because it seems most of us think everyone else is leading a much more sparklingly interesting life compared to our own. Point of fact, I LOVE to read your news) So anyway, that year, I used a play on words and sent out a letter called the Lowe-Down and made headings such as Lowe-Life, Lowe-cation, Lowe Expectations…you get the idea

I got fan mail from family and friends and along with it came the expectation of, “What are they going to do next year?”

Crap. That wasn’t my intention AT ALL. Let’s add another stress to the festive season

Then Boy Wonder discovered Publisher and Photoshop around age 9 and got in on the act. Suddenly, the letter became a production. Since then we’ve done a Twitter feed letter, a Facebook letter, a blog, a Lowe’s catalogue sale and so it goes on. We’ve added a photo collage and I’ve taken to sending it as a PDF via email and just mailing the card.

This year took more planning because Boy Wonder was up the bush, so he had to create the template in the September holidays!

So why do I think our letter is well-received compared with second-cousin Evelyn’s? I reckon a lot of it is to do with self-deprecation. Throughout the year, I try to remember to write down all the dumb stuff we did. That way I can get away with sneaking in the occasional achievement

Things like: Fiona distractedly reaching for the lip balm and discovering she’d put Vegemite on her lips. * My husband complained about the Sydney transit machines not working; turns out he was using the wrong ticket. *The Lad was busy texting a girl and ended up 15km away from where he should have gotten off the bus. *DH clambored through the roof with internet cable for the PVR and knocked out the antenna in the process. There goes $300. *Fiona borrowed a tennis racquet thinking she’d left hers in the garage, only to discover she’d left it at the tennis centre for two weeks over the holidays.Oops! *Boy Wonder got a certificate for being organized and promptly lost

So my top tips for a great year-in-review letter are…’make ‘em laugh, make ‘em cry, make ‘em happy. Show your human side.

Do you write a letter? Do you like receiving them? Tell me, I’d love to hear. I’d also love to hear some corker stories from letter’s you’ve received.

And in Book news!  Runaway Groom, book three in the Wedding Fever trilogy is up for pre-order and out on January 20th…the perfect treat during the cold or heat of January.

Amy Sagar’s  life is in ruins. Fired from her fast-track job and dumped by her double-crossing boyfriend, she retreats to Whitetail, Wisconsin, to lick her wounds and regroup. Meeting an impossible, sexy Australian isn’t part of her strategy for getting back on track.

Ben Armytage is running away. After being left at the altar and publicly humiliated, he’s taking his vintage motorcycle on an extended road trip from Argentina to Alaska. Having his journey interrupted by a breakdown and sharing a house with a curvy, redheaded lawyer in a town obsessed with weddings was never on his itinerary.

Though being stuck in a luxury log cabin isn’t really a hardship, living together with their broken hearts isn’t easy. When the attraction between Amy and Ben proves unstoppable, they’ll both begin rethinking their plans. SO if you love a hot Aussie biker and a disgraced lawyer, this is the book for you!

For more weddings in Whitetail, check out Saved by the Bride and Picture Perfect Wedding, available now!

PRE-ORDER NO W!  

Amazon Kindle,
Barnes & Noble Nook
Carina Press ,   Kobo ,  iBooks
Booktopia (Australia & NZ)
Sony Store Australia ,  JB HI Books , iBooks Austra

Making Lists and Checking them Heaps of Times….

In my house, December means a lot of things. First up, it’s officially summer and the pool is open and the solar on. Second, it’s the end of the school year so it’s time to be organizing book lists, new uniform and computer choices for next year even before the holidays/vacation has even started. Thirdly, it is the Christmas season and on top of book lists I have present lists, food lists, and general job lists. Some of it sound familiar?

This year, December means that Boy Wonder’s year in the bush is fast coming to an end and we pick him up on December 13th. Right now, he’s out in the heat on a six-day hike….glad it’s him not me carrying that heavy pack!  But the flip side is that he’s in an amazing part of the world. Don’t you agree?

This time last year I was on a nine-day bike ride and like any author, I used my experiences and put them in a book!  Well, a short story, really. On The Road Again is the result. So if you have a thing for hot docs, motorcycles,  summer heat and a happy-ever-after, it’s the perfect size read for this busy, crazy time of year.

You can easily read it before bed, or while you’re standing in line to pay for those gifts you’re buying, or waiting for your kid to get let out of sport practice/music lessons.

(Caveat, the romance part didn’t happen to me although my husband did pitch the tent for me each night )

On the Road Again is 99 cents and available at  Amazon Kindle, Smashwords, Nook, iBooks USA, iBooks AUS

And, as it’s December, my website is decorated and all up to date with Christmas recipes and the complete set of books from my Wedding Fever trilogy. They’d make a great gift idea.

Meanwhile, I best get back to reading the catalogues and trying to find a gift for my hard-to-buy-for brother-in-law. Who do you find it hard to buy for?

Music Festivals

It was DH’s birthday this weekend so we spent Saturday at the Queenscliff Music Festival.

We’ve been to the Apollo Bay music festival a few times but we’d never been to this one. Technology has caught up to music festivals so we downloaded the ‘App’, spent some time reading up on the acts and listening to some You Tube clips and then basically ditched all that preparation when we got there The big distinguishing feature of the QMF is that all the acts are Australian. No overseas guests at all.

Queenscliff has a steam train and that was one of the ‘stages’ . You hopped on the train and listened to one of four acts as it chugged to Swan Bay siding and then you changed carriages and chugged back to town with another set. Too much fun!

I confess to not being a heavy rock lover so we mostly went to folk, blue grass and light rock. We stumbled across a great new young band from the region, Murdena which was some blues, some country, some blue grass and they kept producing instruments…steel guitar, double bass, even a mandolin! Their biggest fan even joined his dad on stage for one song!

It was a great day, although super long….11am – 11pm and we left early! I am sure they were rocking well into the night. DH was happy as he got to see the John Butler Trio. As we stood in the huge ‘big top’ in a crush waiting for them to come on, surrounded by drunk people and the aroma of weed, I did feel a bit old! Still, it was a happy crowd and the music was excellent.

Do you go to music festivals?

Cover Reveal for Runaway Groom!

For those of you waiting impatiently for Runaway Groom, book three in the Wedding Fever trilogy, (and I hope there are a lot of you ) the release date of January 20th 2014 is getting closer!  You can pre-order it now at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other eBook stores of your choice.

To tempt you, here is the cover. What do you think?

Here is the blurb…

Amy Sagar’s life is in ruins. Fired from her fast-track job and dumped by her double-crossing boyfriend, she retreats to Whitetail, Wisconsin, to lick her wounds and regroup. Meeting an impossible, sexy Australian isn’t part of her strategy for getting back on track.

Ben Armytage is running away. After being left at the altar and publicly humiliated, he’s taking his vintage motorcycle on an extended road trip from Argentina to Alaska. Having his journey interrupted by a breakdown and sharing a house with a curvy, redheaded lawyer in a town obsessed with weddings was never on his itinerary.

Though being stuck in a luxury log cabin isn’t really a hardship, living together with their broken hearts isn’t easy. When the attraction between Amy and Ben proves unstoppable, they’ll both begin rethinking their plans…

For more weddings in Whitetail, check out Book 1 Saved by the Bride and Book 2 Picture Perfect Wedding, available now!

View the book trailer here ! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78-leTYypnw

Basil and a new book series with Berkley.

Ah Spring, you fickle thing you! Today has a hint of summer in the air after last week’s plunge back into winter and as it’s November 18th and the chance of frost is slim, it’s time to plant the basil. Each year in the herb garden…well to be honest it is mostly a parsley and mint garden with some healthy thyme and struggling oregano.., I plant basil. We harvest it all summer and make heaps of pesto. A lot lands in the freezer so that in mid-winter we can have fresh pesto with our chicken.

Pekoe, the cat’s outdoor tower is on the edge of the herb garden. I guess I really should plant some catnip for her although she can’t roll in it so I guess that would be mean. Here she is checking me out as I plant the basil. It always amazes me how tiny slips of seedlings can survive and grow into lovely, lush plants. Well, with a bit of help from snail bait!

Book news? I’m excited about a new project!! I’m working on a new contemporary romance series set in Montana and to be published by Berkley/Penguin USA. Think small town meets Grey’s Anatomy. Titles, release dates and all that jazz will be coming later and I will be sure to post it here and on my website. 

The Publishers Marketplace announcement went out on Friday.

2012 RITA Award winner Fiona Lowe’s untitled contemporary romance, pitched as “Duck Dynasty meets Grey’s Anatomy”, in which a Chicago doctor comes to a rural community and learns how different practising medicine is when you have to get to know the patients, in a two-book deal, to Wendy McCurdy at Berkley by Helen Breitwieser at Cornerstone Literary, (World rights).

 

Gold Coast Angels; Bundle of Trouble on shelf now in Australia & New Zealand.

I have a new novel out this month called Bundle of Trouble. It’s a stand-alone novel but if you’ve been following the Gold Coast Angels series, then Bundle of Trouble is book three.

Four authors; Marion Lennox, Fiona McArthur, Amy Andrews and me, wrote the books which feature different staff from the Gold Coast City Hospital, however there is one story running quietly in the background of each book and Amy got the fun bit of finally giving this sparing couple their happily-ever-after.

But back to Bundle of Trouble  Set with the glittering Gold Coast as the background, neither Chloe Kefes or Luke Stanley are party people and that got me thinking about what it is like to live in a holiday destination that pumps 24/7.

Chloe’s life hasn’t been easy and just as she’s turning thirty and finally feeling like she’s on top of things, it changes again, only this time instead of fighting for a roof over her head and food on the table, she’s fighting risking her heart again.

Luke Stanley had it all; beautiful wife, cute baby daughter, head of Plastic Surgery at Gold Coast City hospital and then it vanished in a heartbeat leaving behind only guilt and heartache. The last thing he wants is to love again but it’s the one thing he needs.

This book is an emotional read but it also has plenty of light moments in it. How could it not when it features a Labrador puppy

Reviews have been very positive and enthusiastic. Harlequin Junkies says,

Overall,Gold Coast Angels: Bundle Of Trouble by Fiona Lowe is everything a medical romance should be about and I would recommend it to everyone who loves medical romance. 5*

It’s on shelf now in Australia and New Zealand and you can grab it at Big W, Kmart, Target, as well as buying it online at iTunes, JBHI Books,  Amazon, Booktopia  and all other eBook retailers.

My website has an excerpt and some photos as well as the background information on the story. I hope you enjoy this book!

As you may or may not know, my books get published around the world and each country puts their own cover on the novel. This is the first time I have ever had a ‘spot the difference’ cover!

Food In France.

For those of you who aren’t on Facebook or Twitter, you may not know, but I’ve just spent 3 weeks in France, hence the blog silence!  The weather was lousy but we accepted that because the country is amazing and we had THE BEST time including a week in Paris and cycling 300 km from Toulouse to the Mediterranean.

I could show you photos of splendid buildings and beautiful scenery but head to Facebook for that. Here I’m hitting you with with food! The French do food so well and we ate ourselves silly and loved every minute of it. We stumbled on some amazing restaurants with sensational food and lovely wines, but even at an average restaurant, the food was good and the presentation perfect.

So here’s Fiona’s pictorial guide to what she ate in France…..

French Onion Soup; the real deal!





Gateaux!





The French LOVE Nutella crepes and I confess to eating one or two wrapped in white paper from a street stall…





Fromage! France produces more types of cheese than days of the year!





Sausage!





Cassoulet..the famous dish of beans, sausage and duck from Castlenaudary





Lunch on the bike path.





Chaud Chocolat with style!





Hearty Alsace Food with BIG German influence





Wine from one of our favourite restaurants on the whole trip in Narbonne. Here I had mussels with aioli cooked on a wood fire. Divine!





Entrecote! My husband ate this wherever he could with or without sauce

Need I say more!

So there you have it. Oh, and I will throw in one scenery shot…one of my faves!

The Canal du Midi in autumn and me & my bike.

Do you have food memories of a vacation/holiday you’d like to share?

New Release; a short romantic story!

I ‘m really  excited to tell you about my very first Indie book..Indie as in independent . I have just self published a short story, “On The Road Again.”

It was a family affair all round. I wrote it. My son, Boy Wonder, who is 15, designed the cover for me after I had trawled the sites looking for the perfect photo, and my husband and I spent even more hours learning how to format a book. I learned about HTML, Word and a few other things. Although we spent three weekends pouring over the class notes, they were three very wet and wintry weekends so a good way to pass the time!

 

The idea for this story came last year when I was on a ten day bike ride. As I climbed punishing hills and free-wheeled down the other side, I dreamed up a story. The characters are fictitious but the towns are all real and I rode through them last December. For more pictures head here

So what is is about?

Dr. Felicity Hamilton-Smith desperately needs a change of scene so she signs up for a ten-day bike ride around Victoria. The last thing she expects is to run slap-bang into her former fiancé. For her, the past is over and best left behind, or so she thinks. The last time Dr. Drew Baxter saw Felicity was when he broke her heart when he left to serve in Afghanistan. Now, seeing her again, is breaking his.

At 12,500 words, it’s the perfect pocket-sized read to fill in the time when you’re waiting for kids, sitting on public transport, riding in the tractor, or at the end of the day when you don’t want a big read. It’s a steal at 99 cents and you can buy it at Smashwords in every eBook format or at Amazon Kindle. I hope you enjoy it!

Oh and what do you think of the cover?

Yarn Bombing and knitting for the Fistula Foundation

I’m not the world’s greatest knitter…ask my mother who spent my teenage years fixing all my mistakes…but I can knit plain and pearl. Right now, after a long time not knitting, I am making a rug for the Fistula Foundation in Ethiopia. It’s really relaxing when I don’t have to worry about cable turns or intricate patterns. 

Some people take their knitting to the extreme and “Yarn bombing” …covering still items in yarn…started in the Netherlands and is now alive and well in country Victoria. There are telephone poles in my town which have been ‘bombed’. Yesterday, I was at the Royal Melbourne Show (State Fair)and  I saw the MOST AMAZING example of yarn bombing I have ever seen.

A car and a caravan complete with a knitted Weber BBQ, knitted steaks and burgers, a bird bath and so much more. I will let the photos tell the story!

 

Meanwhile, if you want to knit a rug for women recovering from vaginal fistula surgery, here are all the details of how to go about it.

Knit on!

In book news, Boomerang Bride is now out in mass-market paperback in the USA in Target, at Sam’s Club and in book-stores!

The Community that is School

I spent the entire weekend at my son’s school attending two athletics carnivals, one Year/Grade 10 information session and a social gathering for Year/Grade 9 parents. It involved a lot of talking, a lot of listening, a lot of standing around and a lot of watching.

The athletics carnival is always a big day and because Boy Wonder is up the bush this year, this weekend is bigger than usual. All the students at the Year/Grade 9 campus come back for the athletics so it was a two-day event rather than the usual one day. The flip side to the time sink? We got to spend Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday, starting with breakfast, with the boy. He’s grown again, he needs a haircut and he was a little bit stinky but his smile was broad when he saw us as was ours.

The athletics carnival is a combination of team work, getting involved and  straight-up celebration of some awesome athletes. My husband, who was an awesome athlete in days gone by, finds it a bit hard as neither son is brilliant at aths, but each year they do a solid long jump and add a few points to their team. Yesterday, we had the pleasure of borrowing our eldest son’s girlfriend and claiming her for the day as she won her division of high-jump and was lead runner in two relay teams who won their event. YAY!

As I wandered around, chatting with other parents, sharing our experiences of this different year with our kids away, I valued the sense of community our school fosters. Although I whine and moan every year that aths day is, ‘such a long day’, I have worked out ways of getting the most out of it;a lovely picnic lunch. Inviting one or two other families to set up their rugs next to ours. Taking in the art exhibition, visiting the support group stalls and learning what great community service activities are taking place as well as chatting to the teachers in an informal environment.

At the end of this Sunday in September each year, I am left feeling weary but happy and with a sense of the hope for our youth and their rising place in the world.  Equally as important, I’ve attended seven ‘aths days’ and only have three left to go. THREE! YES!   and then both boys will be done with school