Angeline Fortin's Blog, page 134
November 15, 2013
Authors Fair
I will be attending the Dakota County Library Local Authors Fair tomorrow (Sat Nov 16th).
If you are in the area, please come by and see me. I would love to meet you.
For more information, visit my website at www.angelinefortin.com
If you are in the area, please come by and see me. I would love to meet you.
For more information, visit my website at www.angelinefortin.com
February 14, 2013
Valentine's Day Giveaway Winners
Congratulations to Jodi B., Chris B., Sharon C., Terri N. and Kristine C., winners of Angeline Fortin's Valentine's Day Giveaway. These winners will received a signed copy of Angeline's latest time travel romance My Heart's in the Highlands.
February 1, 2013
Valentine's Day Giveaway!
It's February! Love and romance are in the air and to celebrate I am giving away five copies of my latest time travel novel My Heart's in the Highlands!
To enter, just visit my website and submit your name and email address for a chance to win. Winners will be notified on Valentine's Day and will receive a signed paperback copy of my latest romance!
Happy Valentine's Day and good luck!
To enter, just visit my website and submit your name and email address for a chance to win. Winners will be notified on Valentine's Day and will receive a signed paperback copy of my latest romance!
Happy Valentine's Day and good luck!
January 15, 2013
One of those months
Did you ever just have one of those months - not just days - but months when it seems that everything is just piling up and up and up?
I'm having that month so far and the entire year isn't looking too good either. I guess there comes a time in everyone's life when it happens, though in truth, I was sure those days were gone when I left the corporate workplace behind and my youngest turned 12. It looked like easy sailing until...
Da, da, daaaa
Along came a veritable cataclysm of events, largely of my own making (ie I tried to do everything at once).
#bigmistake
Between having a high school senior and all that goes with it (all those apps!) and my newest deadlines and the need to meet them, my plate might have been full enough but to it I added my family's relocation to Minnesota: househunting trips (4 of them!), offers, counter offers, inspections, failures.
I could give details but in doing so might provide enough evidence in my ranting to be provided a nice escort to the nearest padded cell.
Any solutions out there? Ideas?
My husband would only say "Fine, we don't have to move."
Men.
Perhaps the answer might be found at the bottom of a bottle of Pinot Noir?
Within the shiny brown wrapper of a Hershey bar?
What do you do to relieve the stress when you're at the eye of the storm?
I'm having that month so far and the entire year isn't looking too good either. I guess there comes a time in everyone's life when it happens, though in truth, I was sure those days were gone when I left the corporate workplace behind and my youngest turned 12. It looked like easy sailing until...
Da, da, daaaa
Along came a veritable cataclysm of events, largely of my own making (ie I tried to do everything at once).
#bigmistake
Between having a high school senior and all that goes with it (all those apps!) and my newest deadlines and the need to meet them, my plate might have been full enough but to it I added my family's relocation to Minnesota: househunting trips (4 of them!), offers, counter offers, inspections, failures.
I could give details but in doing so might provide enough evidence in my ranting to be provided a nice escort to the nearest padded cell.
Any solutions out there? Ideas?
My husband would only say "Fine, we don't have to move."
Men.
Perhaps the answer might be found at the bottom of a bottle of Pinot Noir?
Within the shiny brown wrapper of a Hershey bar?
What do you do to relieve the stress when you're at the eye of the storm?
December 3, 2012
December Already?
It's been a couple months since I've written here but I've been busy writing my next time travel romance. Since I sent it off to the editor last week, I've been at loose ends. Xmas shopping is almost done (not easy with 4 kids and more than a dozen nieces and nephews!), trees are up but it's been hard to get into the spirit when the temperature is more September than December.
I miss the snow in winter and am very excited that next June I will be moving back to my native land of Minnesota! I can't wait! They don't have snow right now but I'm hoping next year I will see my first white Christmas in many a year. I picture myself writing in front of a cozy fire with a world of white outside my window.
More great news - my new book will be available before Christmas, if only just that week. It's called "My Heart's in the Highlands" taken from a poem by Robert Burns. I hope you will enjoy it!
Check out the yummy cover on my Facebook page!
I miss the snow in winter and am very excited that next June I will be moving back to my native land of Minnesota! I can't wait! They don't have snow right now but I'm hoping next year I will see my first white Christmas in many a year. I picture myself writing in front of a cozy fire with a world of white outside my window.
More great news - my new book will be available before Christmas, if only just that week. It's called "My Heart's in the Highlands" taken from a poem by Robert Burns. I hope you will enjoy it!
Check out the yummy cover on my Facebook page!
August 5, 2012
Discovering My Daguerreotype Boyfriend
I've recently been reading about the concept of using Pinterest as a tool to assist in plotting novels. Given that I love to "pin" and do love to use visuals of buildings and dresses anyway, I thought it a worthy use of my time to see if it would add anything to my writing.
While I've enjoyed it so far, I did come across something recently that just made me laugh and I have to share.
I was searching through historic photographs and came across one of a young man with the description 'my daguerreotype boyfriend' in the description - then not just one but another and another then a dozen more.
Then I followed the picture to it's source and found this : My Daguerreotype Boyfriend on Tumblr, "where early photography meets extreme hotness". A dedication to handsome men in history. From cowboys to criminals to pilots and poets, some compared to Brad Pitt or Matthew McConaughey. An old pic of a young Teddy Roosevelt with the tag "Who knew?"
Some, reposting onto Pinterest, comment as to whether is creepy to find a very dead man so very hot. Maybe?
While overall I find it all simply hilarious, I've decided that it would be fair to say that our time does not have a lock on producing dashing young men.
Check it out is you have the time.
While I've enjoyed it so far, I did come across something recently that just made me laugh and I have to share.
I was searching through historic photographs and came across one of a young man with the description 'my daguerreotype boyfriend' in the description - then not just one but another and another then a dozen more.
Then I followed the picture to it's source and found this : My Daguerreotype Boyfriend on Tumblr, "where early photography meets extreme hotness". A dedication to handsome men in history. From cowboys to criminals to pilots and poets, some compared to Brad Pitt or Matthew McConaughey. An old pic of a young Teddy Roosevelt with the tag "Who knew?"
Some, reposting onto Pinterest, comment as to whether is creepy to find a very dead man so very hot. Maybe?
While overall I find it all simply hilarious, I've decided that it would be fair to say that our time does not have a lock on producing dashing young men.
Check it out is you have the time.
July 9, 2012
The power of a La-Z Boy
I've been on vacation these past several weeks. Took a trip to New York to to view the museums, churches and other examples of 19th century Knickerbocker $$$. It was fun, educational and my feet are in need of some serious TLC.
So, since the 4th of July, I've been visiting my mom (the source of a wonderful amount of TLC). Mom has 2 recliners and 2 sofa recliners in her living room.
Generally, I'm not a big fan of the recliner for purely aesthetic reasons. I'm a modern furniture person - clean straight lines - but boy! these things are comfortable. Currently, when I write, I occupy the chaise end of our sectional with a laptop. Comfortable, but nothing like the cushy comfort of a La-Z Boy. Feet up, good support.
I think of all the lost hours of writing on my sectional because I can't get comfortable enough for the long haul & wonder if a small sacrifice in style might just be worth it...maybe. Possibly?
Definitely worth some consideration.
Maybe.
So, since the 4th of July, I've been visiting my mom (the source of a wonderful amount of TLC). Mom has 2 recliners and 2 sofa recliners in her living room.
Generally, I'm not a big fan of the recliner for purely aesthetic reasons. I'm a modern furniture person - clean straight lines - but boy! these things are comfortable. Currently, when I write, I occupy the chaise end of our sectional with a laptop. Comfortable, but nothing like the cushy comfort of a La-Z Boy. Feet up, good support.
I think of all the lost hours of writing on my sectional because I can't get comfortable enough for the long haul & wonder if a small sacrifice in style might just be worth it...maybe. Possibly?
Definitely worth some consideration.
Maybe.
June 7, 2012
Focus, girl!
There are stories that just seem to tell themselves. Characters, who I know in my mind like they are old friends,have their tales spill out with amazing ease.
Then there have been times when writer's block hovers menacingly, when you're not really sure where to go or what's going to happen. What does my character really want? Sometimes I just don't know.
Then there are times like these.
It's happened before and it seems to take forever to sort it all out. I have so many stories filling my mind these days that they are overlapping one another and fighting for attention.
I lay awake in bed a night (sleep, as much as I love it, is often hard to find) with ideas, dialogue, plots and stories racing through my head. I'll leapfrog from one to another only to have something completely new pop up. I plotted an entirely new time travel romance the other night between 3 and 5 am. It just popped into my head. Of course, by the time I got to a pen and paper at 7 am, a good portion of it was gone and other ideas were already taking its place.
These past few weeks, with this internal struggle going on, I've been madly making notes and sorting them out. Little here for this story, little there for that one. Trying get it all out
and on paper.
Crazy as it sounds, it's all good. I love having so many new ideas, I just hate ignoring the story I've been focused on in order not to lose something profound. Dialogue is particularly hard to recall if I can't get it down right away.
Once the clutter is purged :) it'll be back to business as usual.
Then there have been times when writer's block hovers menacingly, when you're not really sure where to go or what's going to happen. What does my character really want? Sometimes I just don't know.
Then there are times like these.
It's happened before and it seems to take forever to sort it all out. I have so many stories filling my mind these days that they are overlapping one another and fighting for attention.
I lay awake in bed a night (sleep, as much as I love it, is often hard to find) with ideas, dialogue, plots and stories racing through my head. I'll leapfrog from one to another only to have something completely new pop up. I plotted an entirely new time travel romance the other night between 3 and 5 am. It just popped into my head. Of course, by the time I got to a pen and paper at 7 am, a good portion of it was gone and other ideas were already taking its place.
These past few weeks, with this internal struggle going on, I've been madly making notes and sorting them out. Little here for this story, little there for that one. Trying get it all out
and on paper.
Crazy as it sounds, it's all good. I love having so many new ideas, I just hate ignoring the story I've been focused on in order not to lose something profound. Dialogue is particularly hard to recall if I can't get it down right away.
Once the clutter is purged :) it'll be back to business as usual.
May 17, 2012
Summer is Coming
This is quite a bit different from George Martin's "Winter is Coming" tagline from Game of Thrones.
Having kids at home as I do, I generally - and by necessity - approach writing as a job/joy I immerse myself in from 7:30 to 3:30 Monday through Friday. From time to time, I can stretch that a little later or into a weekend but otherwise my evenings are reserved for the family and jotting down notes and ideas whenever they pop into my mind. (FYI - they pop often)
But summer is coming. Summer means kids home 24/7, trips to the pool, vacations and very little quiet in the house. Now, my two kids are older and fairly self-sufficient but their presence is hardly conducive to the thinking of romantic thoughts. Don't get me wrong, I love having all that time with them but writing a romance and teenagers creates a huge conflict in my mind.
In previous years, writing would be put on the back burner of my mind and simmer there over the hot summer until fall. This year I have higher hopes. My oldest will be working part of the summer and going away for a few weeks for a summer session at college before her senior year. Now my nerves will be jangling away that entire time she's gone, but on the other hand I find myself neatly presented with a 50% vacancy in my days for more than half the summer.
So... I'm thinking a nice summer camp might be in order for my 13 year-old at least for a week or two... or three. LOL, it would probably make him happier than being stuck with me all day long and give us both something to look forward to. Beyond our family vacation together, it provide the quiet moments I need to keep working on my next book. I've been torn between a sequel to my Questions for a Highlander series and an idea for another time travel.
But what is there for teens out there? We're nowhere near a beach but do have a rock climbing gym. I'll have to look into it, I guess.
What about you? What tricks to you have to give yourself a little 'me time' when the kids are on summer break?
Having kids at home as I do, I generally - and by necessity - approach writing as a job/joy I immerse myself in from 7:30 to 3:30 Monday through Friday. From time to time, I can stretch that a little later or into a weekend but otherwise my evenings are reserved for the family and jotting down notes and ideas whenever they pop into my mind. (FYI - they pop often)
But summer is coming. Summer means kids home 24/7, trips to the pool, vacations and very little quiet in the house. Now, my two kids are older and fairly self-sufficient but their presence is hardly conducive to the thinking of romantic thoughts. Don't get me wrong, I love having all that time with them but writing a romance and teenagers creates a huge conflict in my mind.
In previous years, writing would be put on the back burner of my mind and simmer there over the hot summer until fall. This year I have higher hopes. My oldest will be working part of the summer and going away for a few weeks for a summer session at college before her senior year. Now my nerves will be jangling away that entire time she's gone, but on the other hand I find myself neatly presented with a 50% vacancy in my days for more than half the summer.
So... I'm thinking a nice summer camp might be in order for my 13 year-old at least for a week or two... or three. LOL, it would probably make him happier than being stuck with me all day long and give us both something to look forward to. Beyond our family vacation together, it provide the quiet moments I need to keep working on my next book. I've been torn between a sequel to my Questions for a Highlander series and an idea for another time travel.
But what is there for teens out there? We're nowhere near a beach but do have a rock climbing gym. I'll have to look into it, I guess.
What about you? What tricks to you have to give yourself a little 'me time' when the kids are on summer break?
April 4, 2012
London Calling
I've decided that I just really need to go to London. Not want to... need to.
I've studied and I've researched but in working on the prequel to my Questions for a Highlander series - which is set in London - I've been having a hard time picking the right neighborhoods for my characters to live in.
Lady Hyde, the MacKintosh clan's grandmother, has a townhouse previously mentioned on Half Moon Street. Given the proximity to Green Park, this was considered a fashionable address in Victorian times.
In A Question of Love, Richard & Abby also mention that they will be spending time at the Glenrothes townhouse while in London. I didn't want to go with the usual suspects - Grosvenor, Berkeley, etc. Research shows that the most exlcusive neighborhoods in Victorian England were actually Park Lane, Piccadilly west of Devonshire House, but Francis MacKintosh, being who he is,isn't all about fashionable. In 1886, he was a man on a mission, a politician, so I'm thinking St. James Square. Fashionable, near the Home Office, not far from Parliament but I can't find very many pictures of what it was like! Was it good enough for my former hero? Good enough for my newest one?
It would just be so much easier to see it in person, don't you think?
Honey!!! What are we doing this summer? I have an idea... ;)
I've studied and I've researched but in working on the prequel to my Questions for a Highlander series - which is set in London - I've been having a hard time picking the right neighborhoods for my characters to live in.
Lady Hyde, the MacKintosh clan's grandmother, has a townhouse previously mentioned on Half Moon Street. Given the proximity to Green Park, this was considered a fashionable address in Victorian times.
In A Question of Love, Richard & Abby also mention that they will be spending time at the Glenrothes townhouse while in London. I didn't want to go with the usual suspects - Grosvenor, Berkeley, etc. Research shows that the most exlcusive neighborhoods in Victorian England were actually Park Lane, Piccadilly west of Devonshire House, but Francis MacKintosh, being who he is,isn't all about fashionable. In 1886, he was a man on a mission, a politician, so I'm thinking St. James Square. Fashionable, near the Home Office, not far from Parliament but I can't find very many pictures of what it was like! Was it good enough for my former hero? Good enough for my newest one?
It would just be so much easier to see it in person, don't you think?
Honey!!! What are we doing this summer? I have an idea... ;)
