Barbara Avon's Blog, page 4
December 4, 2016
Now Available for Your E-Reader!
All four of my novels are now available for your electronic reading device!
https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/search?Que...
https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/search?Que...
November 10, 2016
Join My Mailing List!
Do you want to join my mailing list to receive EXCLUSIVE OFFERS and the latest news on my upcoming books? Do you want to just chat and talk about my favourite topic - love?
Send me a message with your email address and I will add you! I'll present you with a BONUS OFFER just for subscribing! I look forward to hearing from you!
"Love is the most remarkable magic." - BA
Send me a message with your email address and I will add you! I'll present you with a BONUS OFFER just for subscribing! I look forward to hearing from you!
"Love is the most remarkable magic." - BA
November 2, 2016
October 24, 2016
New Giveaway!
There's a new giveaway on my author's page on Facebook. Just use this link. The contest post is pinned to the top of the page. Good luck, everyone!
https://www.facebook.com/BarbaraAvonA...
https://www.facebook.com/BarbaraAvonA...
August 23, 2016
Win the Trilogy!
Do you want a chance to win all three books in the trilogy? "My Love is Deep", "Briana's Bistro" and "The Christmas Ornament" will be gifted to one winner this September 26th.
Visit @BarbaraAvonAuthor to "like" my page and enter. The contest post is pinned to the top of the page.
Good luck!
Visit @BarbaraAvonAuthor to "like" my page and enter. The contest post is pinned to the top of the page.
Good luck!
Do you read a Christmas Novel every year?
"The Christmas Ornament" is book three in a trilogy. This Christmas, I am putting out a stand-alone novel, available now! Follow me on Facebook - @BarbaraAvonAuthor, for more updates on "The Christmas Store". Here's your sneak peek:
When Daniel Walker's wife died in a freak accident, they were married only a year. Since then, he has never wanted to find love again. For him, there was only one love and now she is gone. His wife had loved Christmas and so, to honour her memory, he opened "The Christmas Store". There's a reason that he's never ventured to the basement of his store and the door remains locked to this day. Bianca Nastasi just lost the only family she had left - a great Aunt who left everything to Bianca. When her Aunt's lawyer presented Bianca with a key, she thought nothing of the faded tag that read, "Joe's Grocery and Deli". Then she lost her job in the big city. Disgruntled and jaded, Bianca chose to take a break from life and set out to unlock the mystery behind that key. It leads her to Daniel and one locked door. What is behind that door that could change everything for them both? Will Daniel's past prevent him from taking a chance at love again? Is Bianca's fate sealed from what she seeks to find? Set in Ottawa in the year 1990, "The Christmas Store" embodies everything that has become synonymous with Christmas: hope, dreams, desires and the type of miracle that comes but once a year.
When Daniel Walker's wife died in a freak accident, they were married only a year. Since then, he has never wanted to find love again. For him, there was only one love and now she is gone. His wife had loved Christmas and so, to honour her memory, he opened "The Christmas Store". There's a reason that he's never ventured to the basement of his store and the door remains locked to this day. Bianca Nastasi just lost the only family she had left - a great Aunt who left everything to Bianca. When her Aunt's lawyer presented Bianca with a key, she thought nothing of the faded tag that read, "Joe's Grocery and Deli". Then she lost her job in the big city. Disgruntled and jaded, Bianca chose to take a break from life and set out to unlock the mystery behind that key. It leads her to Daniel and one locked door. What is behind that door that could change everything for them both? Will Daniel's past prevent him from taking a chance at love again? Is Bianca's fate sealed from what she seeks to find? Set in Ottawa in the year 1990, "The Christmas Store" embodies everything that has become synonymous with Christmas: hope, dreams, desires and the type of miracle that comes but once a year.
August 14, 2016
Author's Interview
For those of you who are familiar with Barbara Avon's books - My Love is Deep, Briana's Bistro, and The Christmas Ornament - you will know that the strength of her writing lies in the honesty and sincerity of the voices that populate her novels - and most importantly, in her ability to tell a great love story. It is obvious that the Niagara native, like the fictional characters she has created, is a true believer in love and romance, and a passionate one at that, and this comes through both in her writing and in the way she has chosen to live her life. Self-published from the beginning of her career, Barbara is a fiercely independent artist, in the true sense of the word, for whom writing is both a craft and a labour of love, as well as an expression of her deepest, most compassionate self.
Barbara, who has passed on so much affection to her characters, and through them, to her readers, readily acknowledges that she has drawn strength and inspiration from her parents, and from her husband - who encouraged her to publish her work in the first place: "I have always believed in true love because I've witnessed it first-hand. The love my parents had for one another is an example of the type of love I'm referring to. They immigrated to Canada, and experienced loss and sickness and all kinds of hardship. Through all of that, their love never wavered. They would snuggle on the couch together and call each other the pet names they'd used all of their married lives. I will admit that in my own search for "the one," I felt at one time that love had passed me by. That is why I was so incredibly sure that my husband was the one for me. He didn't give up when I played "hard to get." He didn't disappear when I voiced my concerns and fears. He stayed and instead, did his damnedest to make me understand that he wanted me, come hell or high water, always and forever."
For Barbara, love and romance are two different things: "To me, there is a difference between romance and love. Romance or "sweeping someone off their feet" is not the same as everlasting love - which is when your partner has seen you through your worst times, has faced life's challenges with you, and still plans to love you for the next hundred years. Love is forever, romance is fleeting. Over the years, my views on love have always remained the same. I have always been adamant about finding "the one." I have always maintained that should I never find him, I would rather be single for the rest of my life. Of course, that is not to say that romance should be ignored. Date night, even between married couples, is extremely important. It allows the world to disappear for a while so the couple can focus on one another, so they can be reminded of why they fell in love in the first place. Romance is a tool, so to speak - and love is the outcome of being shaped by that tool."
Like every true believer - and I understand that there are fewer of us around these days - Barbara believes that romance and love play an ever more important role in a world that puts less and less value on human intimacy and connection: "Too many people are jaded these days - but I think everyone seeks love. Love stories, like the ones I write, resonate with people because they remind us of the way love used to be, of the kind of love that existed between our parents or grandparents. They give people a sense of hope, that regardless of what happens in the ever-changing, fast-paced world around us, one thing - the desire to find unconditional love - will remain constant and untarnished in our hearts. Waiting for true love is a thing to be treasured. We all seek it, and finding it is hard, but once you have it, you feel like the richest person alive."
In a world where casual hook-ups have taken the place of dating and romance, the main character of Barbara's novels, Peter Travis - a chivalrous, honorable gentleman who is deeply in love - seems strangely out of place. And yet, Peter Travis appears to have a hit a chord with Barbara's readers, young and old alike: "So many readers have said that they can relate with Peter's story or that they've fallen in love with him. Peter Travis is every woman's dream. He's a throwback to the type of gentleman you see in old movies. He's intelligent, funny in a sweet, sarcastic sort of way, patient, kind, generous, hardworking and in Briana's words, "incredibly sexy." He's made mistakes in his life, but he owns up to them. At the same time, he won't put up with nonsense, sees betrayal as the ultimate sin, will do the right thing no matter the consequences, and will fight a man's fight if he has to. But what makes Peter Travis every woman's dream is that, despite everything else, Peter knows that the one thing that matters in life - the only thing that matters in life - is that you have to fight for what you love: "Fight for love, as it is everything." What woman wouldn't want all that?"
For those who have given up entirely on the idea of true love, Barbara suggests that they take a cue or two from her main character: "I absolutely want the younger generation to learn a thing or two from Peter Travis, It makes me sad to think that today, too many people have given up on the idea of courting. Playing the field is something that everyone does at some time in their lives, but it's not everything. Anyone born before 1990 will tell you that they grew up in the "best era" - and it was the "best era" because we weren't playing with gadgets and apps all the time. We were choking back the butterflies on our first date. We were obsessing about what to wear for that special night. Men were serious about their intent to propose marriage. "Till death do us part" literally meant, "I will love you and be your life partner until the day one of us is taken." I want that for our children and for their children, too. Love should never die. It's not an old-fashioned concept. It is the most remarkable magic."
Barbara's three novels are available for sale on Amazon.ca and for rent at Anthology-Ottawa.com. Her fourth novel, "The Christmas Store" is available now. She is currently working on her fifth novel.
Barbara, who has passed on so much affection to her characters, and through them, to her readers, readily acknowledges that she has drawn strength and inspiration from her parents, and from her husband - who encouraged her to publish her work in the first place: "I have always believed in true love because I've witnessed it first-hand. The love my parents had for one another is an example of the type of love I'm referring to. They immigrated to Canada, and experienced loss and sickness and all kinds of hardship. Through all of that, their love never wavered. They would snuggle on the couch together and call each other the pet names they'd used all of their married lives. I will admit that in my own search for "the one," I felt at one time that love had passed me by. That is why I was so incredibly sure that my husband was the one for me. He didn't give up when I played "hard to get." He didn't disappear when I voiced my concerns and fears. He stayed and instead, did his damnedest to make me understand that he wanted me, come hell or high water, always and forever."
For Barbara, love and romance are two different things: "To me, there is a difference between romance and love. Romance or "sweeping someone off their feet" is not the same as everlasting love - which is when your partner has seen you through your worst times, has faced life's challenges with you, and still plans to love you for the next hundred years. Love is forever, romance is fleeting. Over the years, my views on love have always remained the same. I have always been adamant about finding "the one." I have always maintained that should I never find him, I would rather be single for the rest of my life. Of course, that is not to say that romance should be ignored. Date night, even between married couples, is extremely important. It allows the world to disappear for a while so the couple can focus on one another, so they can be reminded of why they fell in love in the first place. Romance is a tool, so to speak - and love is the outcome of being shaped by that tool."
Like every true believer - and I understand that there are fewer of us around these days - Barbara believes that romance and love play an ever more important role in a world that puts less and less value on human intimacy and connection: "Too many people are jaded these days - but I think everyone seeks love. Love stories, like the ones I write, resonate with people because they remind us of the way love used to be, of the kind of love that existed between our parents or grandparents. They give people a sense of hope, that regardless of what happens in the ever-changing, fast-paced world around us, one thing - the desire to find unconditional love - will remain constant and untarnished in our hearts. Waiting for true love is a thing to be treasured. We all seek it, and finding it is hard, but once you have it, you feel like the richest person alive."
In a world where casual hook-ups have taken the place of dating and romance, the main character of Barbara's novels, Peter Travis - a chivalrous, honorable gentleman who is deeply in love - seems strangely out of place. And yet, Peter Travis appears to have a hit a chord with Barbara's readers, young and old alike: "So many readers have said that they can relate with Peter's story or that they've fallen in love with him. Peter Travis is every woman's dream. He's a throwback to the type of gentleman you see in old movies. He's intelligent, funny in a sweet, sarcastic sort of way, patient, kind, generous, hardworking and in Briana's words, "incredibly sexy." He's made mistakes in his life, but he owns up to them. At the same time, he won't put up with nonsense, sees betrayal as the ultimate sin, will do the right thing no matter the consequences, and will fight a man's fight if he has to. But what makes Peter Travis every woman's dream is that, despite everything else, Peter knows that the one thing that matters in life - the only thing that matters in life - is that you have to fight for what you love: "Fight for love, as it is everything." What woman wouldn't want all that?"
For those who have given up entirely on the idea of true love, Barbara suggests that they take a cue or two from her main character: "I absolutely want the younger generation to learn a thing or two from Peter Travis, It makes me sad to think that today, too many people have given up on the idea of courting. Playing the field is something that everyone does at some time in their lives, but it's not everything. Anyone born before 1990 will tell you that they grew up in the "best era" - and it was the "best era" because we weren't playing with gadgets and apps all the time. We were choking back the butterflies on our first date. We were obsessing about what to wear for that special night. Men were serious about their intent to propose marriage. "Till death do us part" literally meant, "I will love you and be your life partner until the day one of us is taken." I want that for our children and for their children, too. Love should never die. It's not an old-fashioned concept. It is the most remarkable magic."
Barbara's three novels are available for sale on Amazon.ca and for rent at Anthology-Ottawa.com. Her fourth novel, "The Christmas Store" is available now. She is currently working on her fifth novel.
July 29, 2016
"Rent" my books!
If you are in the Ottawa area, you can now rent my books! An amazing family owned company has taken a personal approach to renting movies, games, books and more. I'm a member and there are no hidden fees, commitments or obligations of any kind. They deliver right to your door and pick up at your door too and you don't have to be home! I am all about supporting local businesses and this business is like a throwback to old video stores with all the modern-day conveniences you want with your hectic schedule Here's the link! Enjoy!
https://anthology-ottawa.com/collecti...
https://anthology-ottawa.com/collecti...
June 1, 2016
Now available on AMAZON!
All three books in the trilogy are now available on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com. The book covers have had a makeover. The love story remains the same :)
January 11, 2016
I've been Nominated!
Dear Friends:
I am so honoured to be nominated for FACES Magazine Author of the Year award. It's a thrill to see my name included in the list and it's a nod to all of the hard work I've put into my craft this past year. My love for the written word has been ingrained in me since I was a small child and penning beautiful stories is essentially what drives me each day and fills my heart. I would be so grateful if you could take a second every day (until January 22nd) to vote for me. Simply follow the link, click the button next to my name under the "author" category and then scroll all the way down the page and hit "submit". Thank you in advance for sharing and thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a part of my life. Love Deep, Always. http://facesmag.ca/awards
I am so honoured to be nominated for FACES Magazine Author of the Year award. It's a thrill to see my name included in the list and it's a nod to all of the hard work I've put into my craft this past year. My love for the written word has been ingrained in me since I was a small child and penning beautiful stories is essentially what drives me each day and fills my heart. I would be so grateful if you could take a second every day (until January 22nd) to vote for me. Simply follow the link, click the button next to my name under the "author" category and then scroll all the way down the page and hit "submit". Thank you in advance for sharing and thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a part of my life. Love Deep, Always. http://facesmag.ca/awards
