Toni Anderson's Blog: Toni Anderson, page 70

Hecla Island

For our summer holiday this year we decided to go camping. Well, we didn't so much decide as had no other options. Hecla Provincial Park is one of those little gems. It's very uncommercial. The luxury resort that opened up a couple of years ago has closed down (the locals claim Mafia involvement and much milking of government funds). So basically all there is on the island is a fantastic campsite, lots of biking/hiking trails, beaches, the lake (full full full), boats, and wildlife. Here's one thing I bet you didn't expect us to have in Manitoba.  Yes—pelicans. Thousands of them. Pelicans and Polar bears. It's one of those lovely survival stories we need to hear more about. Hecla also hosts a gathering of bald eagles in the fall before they undertake their annual migration south.
Hecla is an island. Ironically, as soon as they built a causeway everyone left :) It was settled mainly by Icelanders who left Iceland for New Iceland (yes, happily in Manitoba) after one of those wretched volcanic eruptions. There are lots of Vikings in Manitoba.  It is very basic but some of the old buildings (church, school) have been preserved. The original shop is still there and has EVERYTHING. We spent more time in Gull Harbor, which has a restaurant and shop and marina.   
And on the way out we visited the marshes. A lot of trails were closed, not sure if that was because of flood or fire risk (irony?). It only rained for one morning and as the tent leaked we got off lucky. Great spot. Lovely holiday. Have you been anywhere nice?

Guest Author: Shirley Wells

Today a special treat from one of my favourite authors!! She has a new book out today...
First, a huge thank you to Toni for inviting me to her lovely blog.
For people who don't know, Toni and I share a publisher in Carina Press. We're also contributors to Not Your Usual Suspects, the blog where Carina Press mystery and romantic suspense authors tell it how it is.
Although I was published in the UK, the US was an unexplored world to me so you can imagine how thrilled I was when I heard that Carina Press, a new US publisher (so new they hadn't released a single book!) had accepted my first Dylan Scott mystery, Presumed Dead. When the Carina Press website finally went live, I saw some of the most awesome covers ever. And I mean awesome. The one that really grabbed me? Toni's Sea of Suspicion. I loved everything about that cover.
When it comes to buying books, I can be very picky. I read a lot of books so I have to be. There are a few auto-buy authors on my list, like Ruth Rendell, Jodi Picoult and Ian Rankin, and I hang out on a lot of book review sites. If I spot a good review from someone whose opinion I respect, I'll read the blurb and, if possible, read a sample before I buy. With Toni's Sea of Suspicion, however, I bought it simply because I fell in love with the cover. (Yes, I really can be that shallow.) I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but that's exactly what I did. I had to read Sea of Suspicion. End of. And wow, I loved that book. I was hooked from the first page.
I thought I'd be disappointed when I finally saw the cover for Presumed Dead, that I'd compare it to Sea of Suspicion and find it lacking. Thankfully, there were no tears or tantrums. I loved it. It was perfect in every tiny detail.
Twelve months on and I waited to see the cover for my second Dylan Scott mystery, Dead Silent. I couldn't believe it when it arrived in my Inbox. Stunning. I think it suits the mood of the book perfectly.  If you're curious, this is from the back cover:
Ten months ago, Samantha Hunt set off for work...and was never seen again.Despite the statistics of cold cases, Dylan Scott wants to believe the young woman's alive—and not just because her father, his client, is desperate to find his missing daughter before he dies of cancer. By all accounts Sam was a lovely girl, devoted to her younger stepsisters, well-liked at her work, in love with her boyfriend.But as usual not everything is as it seems in sleepy Dawson's Clough. Sam's boyfriend has a violent past. She may have been having an affair with her boss. And Dylan can't shake the feeling that her stepfather is hiding something. Meanwhile, someone is trying to scare Dylan off the case.Who wanted to silence Sam, and why? The truth turns out to be worse than anyone expected...What about you? Have you ever judged a book by its cover?
----------------------------------------------------
Multi-published author Shirley Wells was born in the Cotswolds and lived in Cyprus and Orkney before settling in Lancashire, the UK, where the beautiful Pennine Hills provide the inspiration for her popular mystery novels. She and her husband share their home with two dogs, two cats and any other strays who fancy a pampered life. Her latest Dylan Scott mystery, DEAD SILENT, is published by Carina Press. Connect with Shirley via her website, follow her on Twitter or find her on Facebook.

De Fence Less

Sunday    
 Deconstruction begins Monday--hole digging (no photos of holes)Tuesday--fence posts  Wednesday--stringers go up Thursday--boards get screwed into place   Friday--final boards in place  Hang gate  Prime gate I'll paint gate soon :)DH is amazing. Happy vacation.How was your week?

Guest blogging

At Bonnie R. Paulson's blog today.

Guest Author: Bonnie R. Paulson

Why I Write and Read Romance…  Romance has many killers, maimers, wounders, torturers. Divorce, death, adultery, addiction, alcoholism, pornography, work, money, the list goes on and on. 
No matter which way you look at it, anything that tears apart that happy-ending is death – to romance. And I don't know about you, but I like a happy ending. I need a happily-ever-after. In this day and age, romance stories seem to be the only constant source of utopic endings on supply which wasn't always the case. 
I started reading romance at the age of 8. Found my mom's Fabio-covered book folded open to save her spot. It was a Viking one.  You know, one where Fabio's leather covered legs rode the stern of a ship while in his arms he held the woman whose clothes kept falling off. I loved those books. Still love them. 
Growing up, I looked for my own "Fabio". I never really dated anyone because, let's face it, what 16-year-old boy holds up to a hero written about by an older woman? I wanted the "man" who was going to whisk me off my feet. But they all fell short. 
When I met my husband, I expected the sweep me off my feet, fall in love right away, never to have problems, happy ending. But instead I married my best friend who I fight with, yell with, dirt bike ride with, have children with, eat with, cook with, shower with (another story), play with, and do everything in between with. We've been married 10 years. Ten. That's crazy. Especially since I'm only 21. *wink*
We hear all the time, as authors, to write what we know. Well, romance is what I know. The ups, downs, ins and outs. Drama around every corner but love prevailing. 
Today at the fridge, I reached for the pickles and hubby pinned me against the wall for a smooch and a half. Hello! Our oldest of 4 kids pointed and laughed and the other 3 ignored us. Normal oddities at my house. 
Romance is what I know, in all its guts and glory, with the shrapnel and stitches. I read what I like and write what I love. Nothing better than that.   **SPOILER** When Maggie, in Breathe Again (08/22/2011 Carina Press) finds her happy ending, I wiped the tears away I'd cried along her journey. It's a romance, so how much did I really spoil? Brodan has a bit of my hubby in him. When you read him, let me know if you like him. I fell hard and so did Maggie. 
Breathe Again releases August 22, 2010.

August: Eating my Garden

       

CHOOSING YOUR CHARACTERS—OR CHARACTERS CHOOSING YOU.

I'm guest blogging about my upcoming release EDGE OF SURVIVAL at LONG AND SORT REVIEWS today. Please come keep me company here...link

My Summer...

  Help.

Movies...

This school vacation I decided to share with the kids the brilliance of Peter Sellers as 'Chief' Inspector Jacques Clouseau.

The first one, A SHOT IN THE DARK, was a little cerebral for them. A bit too 60s. But they loved the rest, A SHOT IN THE DARK, THE RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER, THE PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN and REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER, We also watched TRAIL OF THE PINK PANTHER but it was irritating and annoying (made with clips after Peter Seller's death). The kids walked around saying, 'Boom? There is a boom?' in heavily accented French. I think their favorite scene was when Clouseau gets on the parallel bars and vaults down the stairs. Also when he destroys the piano.

"That was a priceless Steinway."
"Not anymore..."

The kids also loved Steve Martin as Clouseau. What's not to love?

Then DH and I caught up with BAND OF BROTHERS. After going to Normandy last year we had a much better sense of history than before. A wonderful series. (And Damien Lewis? :) This was too gory for the kids. Too graphic.
Next up on the re-education of the Anderson kids: Charlie Chaplin. I'll let you know how a silent black and white movie goes. I've also ordered a bunch of Jane Austen movies from the library. Not sure how DH will deal with that. Might require another poker night. Man Vs Wild is a staple from the library. My son and I love curling up together and watching Bear Grylls eat spiders.
Obviously we went to see Harry Potter (or Hairy Porter as so many voice-over men call him). It was a great movie, a fine finale. We re-watched the first one yesterday and OMG--they look so young! Time flies when you're having fun :)

What are you watching?

Guest Author: Elyse Mady

Hi Toni.  Thanks for inviting me to visit your blog today.  Thrilled to be here! Nice to have you, Elyse :)  Who are you and what do you write?My name's Elyse Mady, I write contemporary and historical romance for Carina Press.  I live in southern Ontario with my husband, two boys, a cat with an identity crisis and a ragged collection of semi-feral dustbunnies I've named Flopsy, Mopsy and Killer. When I'm not writing, I teach film and literature at a local college.  When I'm not writing, teaching or ferrying my children to activities, I enjoy creative endeavours like sewing and hand embroidery.
What's your favourite place in the world to visit?I went to France this summer for the first time and loved it.  It was utterly gorgeous.  Became something of a running joke, as we'd round the corner of some teeny tiny road, only be greeted by the site of nodding sunflowers, dappled skies and some 13th century village, all soft creams and red clay, to sigh and say to each other in exasperated tones, "Ah yes, yet another picturesque French vista.  Really, I do so long for a change, don't you?"  (What can I say?  I come by my penchant for sarcasm honestly!) I do love France :)
How long have you been published or is this your first sale?"Learning Curves" is my second novel, but my first contemporary.  My first, "The Debutante's Dilemma", was a historical novella and came out last fall.  I've got two more books coming out in the next six months:  "Something So Right" in September, 2011 is another contemporary, while "The White Swan Affair," my first long historical, will be coming out in 2012.
How long have you been writing?Since I was a teenager.  I wrote my first novel in my early twenties and then several screenplays after that.  None of them were picked up but I kept at it.  When I returned to school after my second child was born to complete my masters, I started doing magazine articles on a freelance basis in order to make some extra money, since grad school does not make you rich.  While I was there, I wrote what became "Learning Curves", which was ultimately sold to Carina.
What comes first—characters or the plot?Characters all the way.  I'm a total and complete punster.  I don't even write my novels in order.  For me, it's the characters who direct the story and really tell me how they want the story to evolve.
Who's your favourite hero?Captain Frederick Wentworth from Jane Austen's "Persuasion".  He loves Anne Eliot so faithfully.  How can you not love him, too, when he says something like this: 

Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight and a half years ago. Dare not say that a man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant.  That's love, in my opinion.  Real, piercing, untidy but ultimately unshakeable.

*sniff*

Who's on your auto-buy list for authors?Megan Hart, Julia Justiss and Michelle Willingham are all authors I love.
Do you write to music? Do you make soundtracks for you stories? If so, what was on the soundtrack for your latest release? I never listen to music as I write.  I find it utterly distracting.  I can work in noise (uh, hello?  Two small kids in the house – I could probably work on a runway at Pearson and not notice!) but music is something I can't work and listen to simultaneously.  I love music – I played piano for a lot of years but not while I'm writing.
What's your biggest dream?I want to write a novel that ends up on the NYT Bestseller's List.  Barring that, having one of my novels optioned and then get either Daniel Craig or Hugh Jackman to star in it.  Or both.  Preferably acting in Speedos ;) Funny but I'm hoping your wish comes true too :)
If you were a millionaire would you still write?Absolutely.  I write when I'm very far from a millionaire and love it now.  How could I give it up?  I'd just have a fancier computer, an assistant and a must better 'research' trips to far flung places.
Cat or dog person?Grew up with a dog.  Sam.  A schnauzer of dubious pedigree.   Married a cat person though, so by default, I sort of switched alliances.  Love our calico, though and sort of enjoy the best of both worlds.  As my mom says, our cat is the most dog-like creature she's ever met and it's true.  If she (our cat, not my Mom!) ever starts barking, I won't be surprised.
Elyse Mady is the author of "Learning Curves" and "The Debutante's Dilemma", both with Carina Press.  Upcoming books include "Something So Right" (September, 2011) and "The White Swan Affair" (2012).  She blogs at www.elysemady.wordpress.com .  You can also find her on Twitter at @elysemady and Goodreads at http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4410592.Elyse_Mady.