Karyn Good's Blog, page 28
March 31, 2015
A Is For Attitude
So, this year I’ve decided to join the Blogging From A to Z Challenge. That means I’ll be blogging every day in April except Sundays. Yikes! Challenge is right.
We’ve all heard the saying attitdue is everything. What better way to focus on making sure my attitude remains as positive as possible then meeting new friends and reading blog posts sure to entertain and inspire me. And just maybe participating in this blogging challenge will help me be present, to appreciate where I am. To help me take a breath and take a look, and be encouraged by the writings and thoughts of my fellow bloggers.
Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning ~ Gloria Steinem
March 30, 2015
Inspiration and Bathtubs
Sexy Suspense
A person can find inspiration everywhere, in the smallest or biggest of places. Or anywhere in between. One source of inspiration for me is live theater. I adore it. I live in a small city, with a population of 200,000(ish). The largest theater company here is the Globe Theatre, and its performances are done in-the-round, meaning the audience surrounds the stage. The latest production was called The Drowning Girls.
The Drowning Girls is inspired by a 19th century serial murder case where three women in succession where found dead in their respective bathtubs. Bessie Mundy, Alice Burnham, and Margaret Lofty were all married to George Joseph Smith who used many aliases to cover his tracks as a conman, bigamist, and murderer. The case became known as “The Brides in the Bath Murders”.
One of the things I loved about this play is its focus on the lives of these three women, on their histories instead of making it about the murderer. It gave us insight into how these women found themselves at the mercy of George Smith. It is the victims’ story. A cautionary tale of what can happen, be it the 19th century or the 21st. There was plenty of pathos, sincerity, and humour. Cleverly written and beautifully acted, with three bathtubs and water as the setting.
Yes, these three young actors spent a solid hour and a half dripping wet. There was water in those three bathtubs and the play opens with each of them submerged. Water fell from the ceiling, there was a moat of sorts surrounding the small stage. It splashed on the floor, on the actors, and maybe even the first row. Not only that but they don weddings dresses, veils, and silk stockings while soaked to the skin. The choregraphy of movement and body language was perfection. They were in and out of those tubs, danced on the slippery wet wooden floor, and they entranced the audience.
If it comes to an area near you, you should check it out! Do you enjoy live theater
March 2, 2015
Once Upon A Time…
Sexy Suspense
The Romance Reviews is throwing a party with some serious chances to win! There are more than 350 participating authors and publishers with more than 350 prizes up for grabs during the whole month of March. Grand prize is a $100 Gift Certificate! There are games to play too! You do have to register to participate in the games. Click here to find your way there. Discover new authors and catch with favourite ones. Good luck!
Here’s an introduction to my latest romantic suspense!
OFF THE GRID
A committed doctor to Vancouver’s inner city, nothing fazes Sophie Monroe—until a pregnant teenager shows up at her clinic on Christmas Eve requesting sanctuary and claiming the baby’s father is one of the city’s most influential businessmen. Sophie is in over her head and thankful when aid shows up in the form of an attorney who’s a little too confident and a lot too sexy.
Family Law expert Caleb Quinn just wants a date, a chance to prove he isn’t the elitist jerk Sophie assumes. Helping deliver a baby is not what he has in mind. But before long protecting a traumatized teenager and her son become his first priority. Even if saving them pits him against the baby’s father, a childhood friend. A man who will do anything to keep his dark side private.
But justice never comes cheap. Will doing the right thing cost Sophie and Caleb their reputations? Or their lives?
Available Now
* The Wild Rose Press * Amazon * Kobo * Barnes and Noble * All Romance Ebooks * BookStrand * iBooks
In other news March is the month of my 25th Wedding Anniversay! Time for reflection and sifting through memories. 25 years seems like quite the collection of years, yet it seems to have gone by in a flash. Here’s to the beginning and the good times and the tough times that have followed.
We honeymooned in Montego Bay, Jamica. In a little all inclusive resort that wasn’t fancy but it was clean and the staff was kind and friendly. To the bar staff we were John and Mrs. John. At this point, as a someone who’d grown up on a farm in the of the Canadian prairies I don’t think I’d been further away from home than two provinces over or across the border into the northern United States. It was quite an adventure. And of course, I ended up with food poisoning. Which was also a shock for someone who’d hardly been sick a day in her life.
The rum punch was excellent!
“If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me, time after time.” Cyndi Lauper, Time After Time
February 23, 2015
Hope For At-Risk Teenagers
My review tour of OFF THE GRID continues with an chance to win a $25 gift certificate. All you have to do is enter the rafflecopter at either of the following:
Sassy Moms Read Romance, OR Undercover Book Reviews
March is just around the corner and there will be all kinds of chances to win gift cards, books, and a grand prize at The Romance Reviews 4th Anniversary Party. Join us starting March 1st.
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I was reading the paper as I love to do on Saturday mornings. This past weekend there was an article about aborginal at-risk teenagers and the very real and horrifying struggles they face.
“Before a man strangles, or shoots, or stabs a woman in a cheap hotel room or a dried-up river bed, a hundred other terrible things typically happen to that woman to put her in that vulnerable, isolated position. For policy-makers, the lesson is clear, no matter whether victims are aboriginal or not: You can’t just go after the act of murder. You have to go after those hundred other terrible things.” Jonathan Kay, Of Horror and Hope, Editorial
I like to think my romantic suspense, OFF THE GRID, touches on a few of those “hundred other terrible things”. At least, I hope it does. I hope it touches on what it takes to be a warrior, a survivor, when the odds are stacked against you, practically from birth.
Sixty-seven women disappeard from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, the setting for OFF THE GRID, between 1997 and 2002. Like me and the women I call friends, these missing and murdered women had things in common. They were mothers, sisters, daughters, poets, and dreamers. They had people they cared about, cherished, and mentored. Unlike my circle of friends, the other ties that bind them are terrifying: child sex abuse, early drug addiction, untreated mental-health problems, violent boyfriends and early pregnancies. Many fled small communities to end up alone in predatory neighborhoods, the victims of drug dealers and pimps who knew very well how to prey on the vulnerble and the isolated.
But there is hope. More than ever we have a chance to improve the odds. We are learning and we speaking out and bringing attention to a crisis that we can do something about.
A committed doctor to Vancouver’s inner city, nothing fazes Sophie Monroe—until a pregnant teenager shows up at her clinic on Christmas Eve requesting sanctuary and claiming the baby’s father is one of the city’s most influential businessmen. Sophie is in over her head and thankful when aid shows up in the form of an attorney who’s a little too confident and a lot too sexy.
Family Law expert Caleb Quinn just wants a date, a chance to prove he isn’t the elitist jerk Sophie assumes. Helping deliver a baby is not what he has in mind. But before long protecting a traumatized teenager and her son become his first priority. Even if saving them pits him against the baby’s father, a childhood friend. A man who will do anything to keep his dark side private.
But justice never comes cheap. Will doing the right thing cost Sophie and Caleb their reputations? Or their lives?
* The Wild Rose Press * Amazon * Kobo * Barnes and Noble * All Romance Ebooks * BookStrand * iBooks
February 21, 2015
#8Sunday: OFF THE GRID
Welcome and happy to see you here! It’s so much fun getting to know other authors and having a look-see into their books or what they’re working on next. Make sure and check out the other great offerings or continue on down the list @ The Weekend Writing Warriors.
I’m happy to share another 8 sentences from my romantic suspense, OFF THE GRID.
Caleb let her go but took her hand. Her nails short, her fingers long, they curled around his. He brought her knuckles to his lips.
“You’re going to dream of me. Nothing sweet. Those dreams are going to make you toss and turn.” His other hand brushed her cheek. “There’s heat between us and making excuses not to feel it isn’t going to satisfy either of us.”
* The Wild Rose Press * Amazon * Kobo * Barnes and Noble * All Romance Ebooks * BookStrand * iBooks
February 20, 2015
Cocktail Suggestions And a Review Or Two!
Sexy Suspense
February is nearly over. I have to confess it’s not one of my favourite months. I suffer from what I call my February Funk. Luckily there are birthdays and anniversaries and Valentine’s Day in there to help it speed by.
Yesterday I indulged in a little retail therapy. Tonight I think I’ll give myself a manicure. I have Dying Embers by B.E. Sanderson to read. I’m already getting chills! I might also sip a cocktail or two.
I’ve pinned some great ideas on my Cocktail Hour pinterest board. What’s your favourite beverage to curl up with in front of the fire? Or to sip while reading or watching a movie?
I’ve tried this one and I loved it: Dark and Stormy. Candied ginger, ginger beer and rum. Yum!
Two lovely reviews for OFF THE GRID you can find on Goodreads! If you head on over to either of these two lovely review sites you can enter to win a $25 gift certificate!
Huge secrets, drama, mystery, betrayal, cover ups, murder, romance, twists and turns on every corner kept me on the edge of my seat. Off the Grid sure satisfied my craving for that mystery I have been craving.
Sophie had to be my favorite characters in the book. She has a huge heart of gold wanting to help every patient in need. However, Sophie puts her own life on the line to help out a very pregnant Kellie. I loved the fact that they had scenes at a medical clinic in Vancouver.
Off the Grid’s book cover does not do the book justice.
4 out of 5 kisses
HOT DANG!!!! Yes, I’m trying to make my review as nicely worded as possible! Folks this book will have you on edge! The suspense it brings, the romance it gives, the balance it has of the characters and story plot show the remarkable skill of the author! The twist you don’t see coming… Yep, enough to expose enough truth, but why is it held back… If you haven’t read Off the Grid yet, you are missing out! I believe this will be a hot book for 2015!
* The Wild Rose Press * Amazon * Kobo * All Romance Ebooks (ARe) * BookStrand * iBooks *
Available Now
February 14, 2015
#8Sunday:
Another Sunday, another eight lines to share. This weekend it’s all about attraction and that first tumble into love.
From my new romantic suspense, OFF THE GRID.
A committed doctor to Vancouver’s inner city, nothing fazes Sophie Monroe—until a pregnant teenager shows up at her clinic on Christmas Eve requesting sanctuary.
No soft music played. The dim lighting was courtesy of an unlit dingy hallway. The smell of antiseptic and desperation laced the air. It didn’t matter. Sophie wanted to meet his challenge. She didn’t want to dodge. Or object. She wanted to kiss the hell out of Caleb Quinn.
Make sure and check out the other great offerings or continue on down the list @ The Weekend Writing Warriors.
* The Wild Rose Press * Amazon * Kobo * Barnes and Noble * All Romance Ebooks * BookStrand * iBooks
February 9, 2015
Warm Winter Recipe and Book Recommendations
Sexy Suspense
These days the sun is coming up sooner and staying longer. There is an end to winter in sight. But not an end to needing recipes that make our lives easier and yummier. One of our favourite comfort foods are Sloppy Joes. So here’s our version!
Sloppy Joes
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 cup of onions, chopped
1/2 cup of celerly, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup of roasted red peppers
3/4 cup of catsup
1/4 cup of water
1 tbsp of brown sugar
2 tbsps of mustard
2 tbsps of vinegar
2 tbsps of worcestershire sauce
Shots of garlic flavoured hot sauce to taste
6 – 8 hamburger buns
Directions:
In a dutch oven brown the ground beef, set aside. Next brown the onions, celery, and add garlic in when onions are nearly transculent. Add the beef back in along with the roasted red peppers and the rest of the ingredients (except the buns!). Simmer for half an hour.
Spoon meat mixture onto buns and enjoy!
While your heating things up in the kitchen, you can be thinking of what books to by next.
Dying Embers by B.E. Sanderson
Available on Friday, February 13th
But Emma Sweet is tired of being a good girl. When she catches her husband cheating, she hits on the perfect plan to pay back all the men who ever broke her heart. Revenge isn’t as simple as seducing her old lovers and tossing a match, but watching them burn is deliciously satisfying.
The one time in her life Agent Jace Douglas wasn’t a good girl, she lost her family. Now she would rather run far and fast when it comes to fire. Too bad for her, she can’t walk away from a case where fire is the killer’s signature. Jace needs to face her fears and catch this murderer before the flames of her past—and the smoldering heat she feels for Detective Ben Yancy—reduce her life, her career and her self-control to ash.
One More Second Chance by Jana Richards
Available Now
Dr. Alex Campbell has an agenda—finish his contract to provide medical services in Maine, pay off his medical school debt, and head back to his real life in San Diego. But when he meets Julia, all his carefully laid plans are put in jeopardy.
Julia Stewart, Lobster Cove’s high school principal, swears she’ll never let another man drag her away from the home she loves. Her aging parents need her, and the Cove is where she wants to raise her daughter. When her mother’s illness brings her and the big city doctor closer together, panic sets in. Her marriage taught her men don’t stay.
Can she put aside the heartaches of the past and trust Alex enough to accept the love he’s offering? Or will her fear of abandonment mean she’ll send him away forever?
Shift Happens by J.C. McKenzie
Available Now
Andrea McNelly’s job as a government agent is not asking questions, but then a routine assignment turns into a botched assassination of a Master Vampire’s human servant. Answers become a priority. Her search to discover the truth is riddled with obstacles, the largest being an oversized Werewolf who resembles a Norse god. Andy can’t afford the distraction he offers, because if she fails, she faces eternal enslavement.
Wick’s job is to monitor Andy, but he prefers more intimate activities, none of them G-Rated. His choices, however, are often not his own. His ability to help Andy is limited by his bond to the Master Vampire.
Facing many trials and challenges along her path to redemption, Andy learns the value of her freedom might be set too high.
Share the love and the book recommendations! What’s your favourite winter comfort food?
February 6, 2015
#8Sunday: A Sunday Snippet
What can you tell by reading 8 sentences of a story? Quite a lot, I hope! The following snippet is taken from my romantic suspense, OFF THE GRID.
A committed doctor to Vancouver’s inner city, nothing fazes Sophie Monroe—until a pregnant teenager shows up at her clinic on Christmas Eve requesting sanctuary.
8 Sentences and the opening lines of OFF THE GRID:
Dr. Sophie Monroe lifted her face to the cold sting of falling snow. The flakes cooled her heated cheeks. Their fresh scent cleansed her mind of the day’s battles. On the ground it covered the everyday debris of crack vials and castoff condoms. Litter from the urgent business dealings conducted in the shadowed alley behind her clinic. In the waning light of the gathering storm she studied the dark doorways relieved to find them empty.
Car keys in hand, Sophie ignored the angry shouts drifting down from the corner of Hastings and Gore. Further proof Christmas struggled to find its way to the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver.
Make sure and check out the other great offerings or continue on down the list @ The Weekend Writing Warriors.
* The Wild Rose Press * Amazon * Kobo * Barnes and Noble * All Romance Ebooks * BookStrand * iBooks
Great weekends need great books!
January 30, 2015
The Winter Not-So Blues: Reading, Writing, and Photographs
Sexy Suspense
Off The Grid will be touring around in February and the first part of March on a review tour.
Come join the party at The Romance Reviews for a chance to win great giveaways including books and gift certificates, play games and meet authors. The Grand Prize is a $100 gift card.
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On the homefront, January was filled with books and writing. The sun is rising earlier and setting later. But there is still much writing to be done and many books to be read. The weekends are for reading the paper, omfort food, and shoveling snow. It is for digging in and perserving against harsh conditions. At least, in my neck of the woods. Although to be fair, the conditions have been rather pleasant for January.
Over my Saturday morning cup of tea I open the Weekender section of my local paper and head to the Books page. I check out the best sellers in hardcover and paperback. Then I read the article of the week which is usually an interview with an author. I love learning where other writers get their ideas, what their process looks like, and I love it when they share their opinions. On occasion they are forced to defend their writing.
One such interesting article stayed with me. It was an interview with Val McDermid, a crime novelist who addressed the notion of female crime novelists and the voilent subject matter of their books. Or more to the point, the suggestion that because she is female, it is somehow wrong for her to write about such matters. These questions arose, perhaps in part, due to the backlash against the overwhelming number of faceless female victims in books in which their only role is to be beaten, violated, and then hacked to pieces.
What I found interesting, however, was her perspective on the psychology of females writing crime fiction.
“It’s because of the way society conditions us growing up. We’re told that there are bad men out there who will hurt us given half the chance. We are brought up to imagine our victimhood even before it happens to us. I don’t think there is a woman alive who hasn’t walked down a street late at night and heard footsteps, who hasn’t immediately thought about the terrible things that can happen to her. So when we come to this subject (violence), we have imagined it already. We have lived it in our heads. Men don’t grow up with that sense of themselves in the world.”
I know know I have walked and listened and wondered. Now I’m wondering how much my gender affects my writing, perhaps not when it comes to my vicitms but when it comes to the villains in my story. To this point, they are one hundred percent male. All dominant personalities in positions of power with violent tendancies. Not that women can’t be all those things. But maybe the things I’ve been conditioned to fear and protect myself against manifest themselves in these characters. Something to think about…and maybe think about mixing it up a little!
How about you? Any book recommendations with regards to crime fiction? Have you read any books with a fascinating female villain?
Set in McDermid’s hometown of Edinburgh, The Skeleton Road centres on a Cold Case investigation. A skeleton is discovered, hidden at the top of a soon-to-be renovated Gothic building. Detective Karen Pirie is tasked with identifying the decades-old bones and soon finds herself unearthing a series of past conflicts, false identities and secrets that have long been buried.
This month I’m happy to be visiting the Laughing Ladies Literary Book Club who’ve chosen OFF THE GRID for their January read. I’ve had a blast oming up with discussion questions and anticipating more questions about the characters and the setting and the inspiration behind the book. I’m also hard at work writing the third book in my Aspen Lake Series. Mike and Grace’s is coming along. For me, the hard part of writing is getting down the first draft. I love revising. Taking the bare bones of a story and turning it into something someone might want to read someday.
I love taking photos. I’m not very good at it and definitely fall in the amateur department. But I decided to take part in a photo challenge this year. You can read more about it here. There is a prompts to help you out every day. Here’s a sampling of mine and you can find me on Instagram @karyngoodauthor.
Prompt: Circle
So…me in a circle.
Prompt: Morning
My desk!
Hope the weather is being kind to you. And if you’re being subjected to nasty weather and storms I hope you have plenty of good books to keep you entertained.
