Carla Neggers's Blog, page 5

An Irish castle walled garden

It’s no secret I love visiting gardens. On our recent trip to Ireland, we once again wandered through the walled garden at beautiful Dromoland Castle, now a stunning hotel near Shannon Airport.

My photographing abilities don’t do the garden justice but hope you get the idea! 

 … Read More

Ireland’s Black Valley

Ireland’s Black Valley is one of our favorite spots to hike on our many visits to this beautiful part of the world. When I came up with the idea for my next Sharpe and Donovan installment, I knew part of it would be set in the Black Valley. Tentatively titled Return to Declan’s Cross, it doesn’t have a pub date yet but I’m working on it. I’ll be offering a “sneak peek” in the coming weeks.

Here’s a photo I took on our first hike in the Black Valley. The cottage ruin is a well-known site on the Kerry Way, a marked hiking trail we crossed on our own route. … Read More

The Killibrew Sisters are back

Life has changed a lot since I wrote Trade Secrets and Family Matters early in my career as a published author, but Juniper and Sage Killibrew and their adventures are as much fun as ever. I’m delighted these two short, classic romances are now available as eBooks.

As Harlequin put it when Trade Secrets was first published, “Carla Neggers is one of seven children, so she knows all about the ties that bind. Which could be why she handles the family shenanigans in Trade Secrets with such aplomb.”

I wrote Family Matters amid two moves and the birth of my son, now a web developer in Boston. Time d… Read More

Late summer reading, writing and hiking

Summer is holding on here on our hilltop. We went hiking with the grandkids recently. We took the popular Bridle Path trail up Rattlesnake Mountain overlooking beautiful Squam Lake. Afterward, Joe and I hung out with my brother and his wife in Meredith on Lake Winnipesaukee. A memorable late-summer day.  

Like so many places, we need rain here in northern New England, but my pot of basil is hanging on. I made pesto and froze it in a heart-shaped ice-cube tray. Not sure if the gang will go for heart-shaped pesto instead of sherbet! A nice late-summer drink is to freeze sherbet in a cute tray and drop a c… Read More

COLD PURSUIT on sale!

Cold Pursuit is on sale in eBook for a limited time. Just $1.99!

Here’s the Kindle link: https://amzn.to/3pt9GoX

Enjoy!… Read More

Christmas in…August!

≠Summer is flying by here. The holidays will be upon us before we know it.

Well, before I know it. This year I mean to break my habit of waiting until the last minute to shop for Christmas presents. I won’t buy everything because I love to shop when everything’s decorated and feeling festive, especially on Wassail Weekend here in Woodstock, Vermont.

For shoppers early and late, a fun gift for audio lovers (yourself included!) would be Christmas at Carriage Hill, a Swift River Valley romance novella. I’m delighted that it’s now available in audio. Reader-favorite Sus… Read More

Summer means blueberries!

It’s blueberry season in New England. I just pulled a batch of blueberry muffins out of the oven. Never mind I didn’t add enough baking powder, they taste great. Hard to go wrong with blueberries.

Wild blueberries in particular have featured in a number of my books, including the first book I ever submitted to a literary agent and publisher. I remember typing The Venus Shoe on a rented typewriter with my then infant daughter beside me. It’s a favorite of longtime readers, available in eBook if you’d like to dip into my early days as a writer.

Emma Sharpe in my Sharpe and D… Read More

The Elusive Finian Bracken

Creating and now working with the characters in my Sharpe & Donovan suspense series has been fun, difficult, exciting, exasperating, creatively fulfilling and…interesting.

Yes, interesting!

Take Finian Bracken, an Irish priest and whiskey man who appears in every Sharpe & Donovan tale. Writing about him has meant I’ve learned more about whiskey, sheep in Ireland, Maine bean-hole suppers, early Irish saints and so much more.

Finian came together and started to feel real for me during a writing getaway to Ireland. One afternoon, I took long walk to a historic cemetery on the sout… Read More

THE WIDOW on sale in April!

The Widow is my first hardcover novel, a New York Times bestseller and a story I enjoyed writing. I often hear from new fans of the book and readers who’ve re-read it many times.

And now it’s on sale in e-book, through April, for just $1.99!

Here’s the original 2006 cover. It’s had several incarnations since then.

The photo at the top is from one of our trips to Acadia National Park. As always, we can’t wait to return.

Enjoy!… Read More

Recipe: Strawberry/Berry Meringue Roulade!

It’s not yet our local strawberry season but good strawberries are available in the grocery store, and I’ve decided to prepare strawberry meringue roulade for Easter. With two young grandchildren with celiac, I’m always on the lookout for naturally gluten-free recipes. This is a favorite. See below and print out the recipe here.

We first had meringue roulade in Ardmore on the south Irish coast, a key setting for my Sharpe and Donovan series. Here I am in my orange Irish raincoat a few years ago on Ardmore’s famous, and beautiful, cliff walk.

 

Strawberry Mer… Read More