Sarah Butland's Blog, page 20

New Tricks by Kelly Moran

A mix of heart break, anticipation and racy bedroom scenes to keep the heart pumping and the blood boiling.

Zoe and Drake have been through enough. While they are successful in making an income through their love of animals, Zoe being a groomer working out of Drake’s vet clinic, everything else seems to have been a test. Zoe, living at home and doing everything she can to care for her Dementia ridden mother in her childhood home, is scared of many things but puts on a brave front.

Drake is the talk of the town for own as the mourn the love of his life’s passing, but is slowly waking up and feels like he is wanting all the wrong things – or people.

Moran is masterful at creating characters a reader easily connects with, situations that are both tragic and filled with hope and spinning it altogether to make for an intriguing read!

https://www.amazon.com/New-Tricks-Red...

Thanks for reading,

Sarah Butland

Let’s Celebrate With a Cover Reveal!

If you’ve joined me before you already know I’m a fan of sharing in the success of authors as the world needs more helping hands and literacy! Today I invite you to share in D.H. Gibbs, an author from Trinidad and Tobago, as she reveals the cover for her newest book – A Touch of Kindness!

To learn more about her and her whacky adventures please visit my children’s book page where I interviewed her about her writing process and children’s book – Don’t Go Mango Picking.

Feel free to comment your thoughts on the cover:

I Want to Write, Not Speak

Despite some opinions of those I live with, talking really isn’t my thing. When I do talk I want to talk about the meaning of life and happiness, what makes someone’s heart beat a bit faster and the like – big talk, as mentioned in a previous post. Otherwise, I want to write.

Writing is just something I’ve always preferred – not wanting to take up someone’s time with sorting through all of my crazy emotions. So I take out a journal, or sign into my website, and spill – not knowing if anyone will ever read it. In my writing I’m most raw and honest as I’ve always just written with no expectation of a wide readership.

Yet I Want One

I have wanted on since I was a child. Always vowing to the world and myself that I would write, be an author and yes, I have to admit, make money with it.

I’ve been making some money and completely delighted to have experiences to read to children and participate in various events and, though it scares me tremendously, I love being in those moments! But I am still not making enough to pursue my passion full-time so I’ve been listening to authors who are for tips and encouragement.  There are people, authors, who do make a wonderful living through the written word even though so many people still feel this dream is impossible.

Unfortunately, too many of these webinars, despite their titles promising tips on making a living through writing, focus on giving speeches and creating online programs and anything other than writing.

I know there are readers still out there, even ones who buy books instead of downloading and hording freebies, so I know there’s a way to do this and I know I’ll find it sooner or later.

What do you think?

Are you living your own dream against all odds?

Thanks for reading,

Sarah Butland

Are You a Fan of “Big Talk”?

As an introvert, or maybe more as a curious soul – whatever it is about me that makes me fret over making a phone call, chat about the weather or tell you what’s new motivates me to find those who feel the same way.

I’ll have you over for a cup of your choosing but what I’m wanting to do is fill my soul with your wisdom. To listen to you talk about your life decisions and goals, your aspirations and how you’ve come so far and not so much about the deal you found on a dress you’re wearing.

So when I listened to this Ted Talk I felt at home. That Ah-Ha moment that comes so seldom sent shivers down my back. It makes sense now of why I do get annoyed with some people and crave others and what I want to get past the chit chat and really dive into what makes you tick. It’s also why I often as questions in my posts – because I really do want to have that conversation which debates controversial topics and I’ll almost always take the opposite side as you just to learn more.

Social media is the best form of small talk but also is the reason so many of us still feel very much alone. I don’t share in Memes or tell you how my chicken is doing daily and I’ll only share my meal if it’s something I’m very proud of or am supporting an amazing passion in the effort.

I want to talk big and I want to find others who want that, too! Are you one to talk? Learn more about it at Make Big Talk.

Let me know how you feel and please, be big and be honest!

Sarah Butland

Canada150 in Authors!

I am on a mission and I hope you’ll joint me.

I would love to list 150 Canadian authors before the end of July to celebrate Canada, literacy and the people who make it such a memorable country!

I’ll start this list in this post and ask that you comment who you can think of and I’ll add them to the final list. Let’s go!!

Canadian Authors (not in any particular order…):

1) Angella Cormier

2) Pierre Arsenault

3) Rhonda Bulmer

4) Kate Merlin

5) Jennifer McGrath

6) Deborah Carr

7) Gerard Collins

8) Gary Chisholm

9) Louise Boulter

10) Cathy Krawchuk Donaldson

11) Wendy Kitts

12) Chad Pelley

13) Helene Boudreau

14) Zara Steen

15) Alexander MacLeod

16) Jennifer Hatt

17) Susan Whistler

18) Sheree Fitch

19) John Ashton

20) Monica Graham

21) Christina Fletcher

22) Lesley Crewe

23) Robert Rayner

24) Jason Lawson

25) Donna Belanger

26) R. A. Giggie

27) Jenn Carson

28) Leigh Winterstine

29) Dennis The Prescott

30) Kathy Reichs

What’s incredible is that there is only one of all of these people I haven’t met in person but do need to rectify that soon. For additional fun – who do you think that one author is?

From Ant to Eagle by Alex Lyttle

An 11 year old boy trying to find his way without his pesky little brother getting in his way or slowing him down comes to regret his actions. While he tries to encourage his brother through the idea of levels in life, Cal gets a lot more than he’s ever bargained for.

Sammy is unlucky in that he’s the younger one, still learning to read, shoot baskets and keep up pedaling with his brother while Cal seems to have all the luck. When a new family moves in close by and connect with Cal and Sammy in church their lives change dramatically.

The characters Cal meets along the way while trying to balance just being a kid each have a message for him and the reader.

This book was filled with so much emotion and imagery it seemed to me that it was written from an 11 year old with 30 years of life lessons. Complete with book group or class questions at the end this book has everything!

Amazing and highly recommended for anyone who has lost a loved one and took on the blame.

A heartbreaking tale of guilt that offered beauty where you’d least expect it.

Are You Busy?

Often times people complain they are busy – I admit to saying it way too often myself – because really we all have 24 hours in a day and some people truly make the most of it.

Being busy is simply a matter of perspective and priorities and people prove it all the time. Yes, we always have stuff going on and fill our day with complaining, cleaning, watching tv but if you think about it, can’t all of those things wait?

Sure they can! You are what is important and as the concerns of mental health rise so does it seem our lack of time for ourselves. Time to enjoy nature, to enjoy who we are and breathe on a regular basis. But all it takes for some of us is to look around and recognize that other people are thriving in that same 24 hours of a day that we have.

Sheree Fitch comes to mind for me. As an author, a traveler, a mother, a teacher – she is a woman who does so much and smiles through it all because it’s all related to who she is. That’s not to say she doesn’t have bad days but that her great ones are what define her.

And with all of these aspects in her life she still manages to continue to build her dream and live life to its fullest with her newest project – Mable Murple’s Book Shoppe & Dreamery opening less than a month from today!

As a Canadian author and somewhat neighbour of mine, Fitch is creating such a world where children can wonder, breathe and embrace and in doing so motivates me to ensure I can start living more of my own dream!

What is your dream and how are you making time to live it?

Thanks for reading,

Sarah Butland

Meet Mystery Author Linda Berry

What I love about Linda is her willingness to connect with and support other authors from around the world! While finding the time to write her own haunting stories, she also ensures others know of new opportunities and ways to promote their own stories! Authors like that are definitely friends of mine! Please read on to learn more about her.

 

Your latest mystery, Pretty Corpse, was recently released. Tell us about the story.

The year is 1999. A serial rapist is targeting teen girls in San Francisco. While on patrol, Officer Lauren Starkley discovers one of the victims, and she’s shocked to find out the girl is a close friend of her daughter. The case instantly becomes intensely personal. Because she isn’t a detective, Lauren is restricted from investigating, but she does so nonetheless on her own time. Lauren has an uncanny ability to find obscure clues and link them together. Her relentless pursuit of the rapist draws her deeper into his world. He in turn, starts getting closer to Lauren and her daughter. Lauren needs to lure him out of hiding, fast, before her daughter becomes his next victim.

You populate your novels with an interesting mix of characters. Tell us about that.

My stories reflect the range of characters each of us knows in real life. We all have people we admire, people who threaten us or are just plain luny. I like to keep a reader alert and surprised by creating several interrelated stories that and ebb and flow through the main story. We are all multi-dimensional, and have many stories happening simultaneously in our lives, and sometimes conflict erupts on many fronts. I like to get into those emotional tsunamis and explore a person’s breaking point, and how they deal with the challenge. Complex characters that are bitterly wounded or pathologically twisted are interesting to me. I like to contrast the most vile and repugnant aspects of human nature to the most heroic and noble, and throw some quirky characters in for good measure.

How did you research this police thriller?

To write authentically, I do extensive research. That doesn’t mean I let my fingers do the walking. I have to give a big thank you to the police officers at Mission Station in San Francisco in 2001, when I wrote this first draft. My research for Pretty Corpse came in the form of dozens of ride-alongs I did with various female patrol officers. I chose the night shift when the city was rife with criminal activity, and I got to see these courageous women in action. Several of my characters were inspired by the female cops I came to know, and also by the captain of the station, who gave generously of his time to help me authenticate my writing. Many of the side stories in Pretty Corpse are based on actual events relayed to me by police officers from Mission Station.

 Where do you write?

I write in a sunny office in my home overlooking a canal and peaceful wooded area. I live in Central Oregon, a resort town in the shadow of the Cascade Mountains.

You were an award-winning copywriter and art director for twenty-five years, and worked part of that time for the film industry. Did that experience shape your decision to become a novelist?

Absolutely. I had the privilege of collaborating with talented writers and some of the best editors in the business. I love books and have been an avid reader my entire life. I wrote novels as a passionate hobby. In fact, my three novels released this year by Winter Goose Publishing are the result of my efforts spanning a decade. Now that I’m retired, I write every day. It’s so much easier to produce good work when you can keep your train of thought moving forward, and are not constantly interrupted.

What do you love most about your work?

I love the creative process itself—the challenge of developing and constructing plots that continually surprise the reader and hold them in a state of suspense. Writing is both a passion and a compulsion—a truly satisfying form of escape. My reward comes when a reader tells me they couldn’t put my book down and they talk about my characters as though they’re real people. Then I know I did my job well.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Happiness comes to me in many forms. Appreciation of life itself is the foundation of happiness. I find this planet miraculous, from subatomic matter to the galaxies in space. I enjoy the beauty of ecosystems, how so many forms of life—plants, birds, mammals, reptiles, insects—the smallest creature to the largest, are dependent on each other for survival. My idea of perfect happiness is living on a healthy planet where people live together in peace and are trusted guardians of nature.

What is your greatest fear?

Being impoverished, homeless, or mentally or physically impaired and dependent on others. I did undergo some terrible threats to my health six years ago. I had a bout of debilitating pain for about 8 months, which diminished my ability to enjoy life. I’m now completely recovered, and feel I’ve been given a second chance at life. The experience sharpened my awareness of how fragile life is, how it can be taken away in an instant, and how one might be forced to languish in pain for a period of time. It heightened my appreciation for the quality of life I have now, for every precious moment I’m healthy and independent.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

Lack of patience. Sometimes I get caught up in the every day demands of life, and the illusion that I don’t have enough time to do everything I want to do.  I have to remind myself at times to live in the moment, address what is happening right in front of me, and listen to people, even when I feel I’m short on time. Giving another human being a few minutes of conversation can make a huge difference in that person’s life. Kindness goes a long way.

Who in your profession do you most admire?

I read everything, and admire countless writers, from journalists to screen writers to poets to authors. I especially love mysteries, and I read an average of two books a week. If the writing is solid, and the story is well-constructed, I’ll read it regardless of genre.

What is your greatest extravagance?

Disconnecting from the world. Getting out in nature with my husband and our dog in our motorhome. I love being on a lazy schedule and disconnecting from social media, where the only decision I have to make is when to eat and what hikes to takey. I can write in uninterrupted peace for hours at a time, surrounded by nature, sometimes listening to the gentle patter of rain, watching water drip off leaves. I love going to national parks, off season. We went to Bryce and Zion and Arches and the Grand Canyon two years ago. Last year we went to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, and this year we may be going to Yosemite.

On what occasion would you lie?

I don’t tell big extravagant lies, but I do tell baby lies frequently, mostly when complimenting people. For example: “no, your ass doesn’t look big in those jeans” or “you look marvelous” when in actuality, you look hungover, and you have stains on your shirt.

What do you dislike most in your work?

When I hit a brick wall and I have to stop writing, sometimes for days, while I process my story and play out different scenarios in my head. I never force the creative process. What generally helps me break through the logjam is reading. I’ll bury my nose in a good book, and before long, ideas start percolating to the surface. I also have a muse. My nail goddess, who’s held captive doing my mani/pedi for 2 hours, and I bounce ideas off her. She has a creative mind and has been a wonderful contributor to my stories for years.

When and where were you happiest in your work?

This current period in my life is the happiest. Now that I’m retired, I have the luxury of writing every day. I wake up eager to get to work. I take my coffee up to my sunny office and dig in. I believe I’m at my most happiest when my husband and I are traveling and we’re parked in a beautiful wilderness area and the peace of the place seeps into my bones. I can write with no interruption.

If you could, what would you change about myself?

I would take twenty years of physical wear and tear off my body. Mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, I would change nothing. If I had to lose twenty years of life experience to be in a younger body, I would say no. I’m more at peace with myself at this stage of life than I have ever been.

What is your greatest achievement in work?

Having three novels completed and coming out this year, 2017. It’s a wonderful sense of accomplishment to see the culmination of years of work and endless rewrites in a physical book. Hidden Part One and Pretty Corpse are out, and Hidden Part Two comes out in September. I’m expecting my fourth mystery, Quiet Scream, to be out in December or January.

What is your most marked characteristic?

My friendliness, and my sense of humor. I have always had a keen interest in people and I’m a good observer, passionately interested in humans and the world around me. I’m an optimist at heart, and I’ve been blessed with a jolly spirit. I enjoy socializing but the greater part of my waking life is spent in solitude, writing, reading, and doing projects.

What is your most inspirational location in your city?

I like to get out on the wilderness trails with friends and dogs. We have a beautiful river, the Deschutes, that meanders through town and its character changes every foot of the way. There are many meadows, sagebrush flats, waterfalls, and breathtaking views of the Cascade Range. The look of a wild river, the various sounds of water rushing, falling, cascading over boulders, is invigorating and soothing. Hiking clears my head of thoughts and worries and puts me in a state of peacefulness.

What is your best advice for beginning writers?

Write about something you love and then your passion will come out in your words. Write often, everyday, if possible. Read, read, read. I read one or two books a week, and I also watch movies and TV productions that tell good stories. I take notes. I have volumes of notes, and refer to them daily.

What do your friends think of your writing profession? Do they encourage it and try to understand or are they interrupting you every chance they get?

The majority of my friends are writers, so they certainly understand, and in fact, are facing the same challenges—trying to keep our butts in the chair and our fingers typing. My friends who are not writers have gotten use to the fact that writing comes first. I write in the mornings and socialize in the afternoons and evenings.

And how do you encourage others to review your novels?

What worked with my last two novels was asking my friends on Facebook if they would read my novel in exchange for an honest review. I never ask for, or encourage, review swaps. I also ask all my friends, and the women in my book club.

Watch Linda’s Youtube trailers

Hidden

Pretty Corpse

 

Follow Her:

Facebook

www.lindaberry.net

@LindaBerry7272

 

 

Just Breathe

We all do it, we have to or else we simply aren’t living but I often wonder how many people are doing it properly. And further to that, I wonder what is considered the “proper” breathing technique.

It All Started

I was in elementary school, learning how to play trumpet in the school’s concert band, with a bit of Jazz lessons mixed in, when the director changed. For years I had a dream of an advisor, motivating and strict but while being kind and understanding and I loved it. Then things changed.

A new director took over and, although she seemed eager to help, her methods were a little off-putting for me and I struggled (something I hated doing, especially knowing how costly my lessons were). There was tension and it came to a head when one day she took the trumpet from my hands, had me lay on a table on my back and just breathe.

I did so, as I had been doing for about 12 years of my life and that’s when she lost it. I truly believe she started talking nonsense and I simply couldn’t believe what she was saying.

“You’re Not Breathing Right”

After many years of being alive, playing a brass instrument, basketball and being able to speak this lady was telling me I was doing what I did naturally all my life all wrong.

I did all the things I feel a 12 year old student would naturally do – I laughed and then told my parents. Apparently my belly was rising when it shouldn’t so I wasn’t getting enough oxygen into my lungs to be able to play my instrument of choice required.

I didn’t give up, it motivated me more as I couldn’t just switch what my subconscious had always done and, to me, done well. So I played that trumpet and did so very well through elementary and a bit in high school.

Years Later

Now  that I’m older I still find myself puzzled and monitoring my breathing habits on occasion and now, quite often, am hearing that others are doing so as well.

With meditation and a general focus on well-being through Yoga etc, breathing correctly is a best practice and a basic one for many to start with so I have to ask… how do you breathe?

Inhale, exhale.

Thank you for reading,

Sarah Butland

Cooking with Dennis the Prescott

Full disclosure: I know and love Dennis’s wife and bought this book based on that and the fantastic story of discovery how Eat Delicious came to be.

So when it was on sale and available for pre-order I didn’t hesitate and am so glad, along with my family, that I did.

Flipping through the book I quickly spotted some recipes I wanted to attempt right away. The first one I made was the chicken wings with Sticky BBQ Sauce and, although I did things a bit differently based on my impatience, they turned out amazingly!

Then it was the Slow Cooked Pulled Pork but we put it on nachos instead of on sandwiches and yup, it was delicious!

I let my 7 year old pick next and because he was confident in the recipes already he trusted that whatever he chose it would work out. He was right and this time we did follow the recipes very closely to make the BBQ Chicken Pizza and Garlic Fingers, with donair sauce. My son wanted to modify things when he saw the red peppers on it but I carried on and am glad I did. We couldn’t get enough and it was one of the first pizzas I didn’t scrape the onions off of!



Every recipe has a gorgeous picture, taken by Dennis himself, which I appreciate tremendously with respect to a cookbook.

We are definitely eating deliciously these days and all eager to continue doing so!

If you eat, and want to enjoy your food… go get Eat Delicious now!

Thanks for eating and reading,

Sarah Butland