Archive | January 2013

Inner Peace Through Calligraphy

Once you try this you will want to know Cheryl forever.

Once you try this you will want to know Cheryl forever.

email: cheryl@writehand.ca
phone: 519 634 5503
web: http://www.writehand.ca

More details about the one day “Play Day”:

The sewing machines will be humming, the hot glue guns dripping as we create. Cheryl has a collection of fabric scraps to share with you, however you may choose to bring some yourself. Maybe you have an old piece of clothing that has significance that you would like to incorporate.
Saturday January 12 9:00-3:00 $48.00 + $7.00 supply fee
-includes a simple bowl of chili at noon

 

Beverley is a friend and fellow follower of Jesus. A few of the items on her list of “how to be courteous” hit me between the eyes. I shall take my lumps and work at strengthening this attributel

Interview with Carolyn Arnold, Crime Author

Exceptional Crime AuthorCAROLYN ARNOLD

Exceptional Crime Author
CAROLYN ARNOLD

I contacted Carolyn after reading a couple of her books. I was impressed on no small level with the amount of technical knowledge she possessed, how accurately she depicted crime scene investigation, lab work and evidence tracking. Readers are savvy these days and winging it just won’t work any more.  This gal knows how to build a dynamite story with credible, sympathetic characters and the foibles of the reality of day to day living in any profession.

Carolyn and I live an hour apart yet we have never met. I do hope we can remedy that in the near future.

Enjoy this interview:

Tell us about you.

My name is Carolyn Arnold, and I am the author of the best-selling Madison Knight Series, and the Brandon Fisher FBI Series.

I was born in 1976 in a rural town of Ontario, Canada. I currently live with my husband and two beagles in a city near the well-known Canadian center Toronto.

Tell us about your book.

JUSTIFIED Final Cover 500 x 800

Justified is the 2nd in the Madison Knight Series.

Book Overview:

This Christmas, murder doesn’t take a holiday.

Madison Knight should have ignored the call. Now she is spending Christmas Eve dealing with her least favorite thing…blood and lots of it.

When a female victim is found in her home it has Madison and her partner tapping into the vic’s personal life. With a rash of former business partners and lovers, all of whom wanted her dead, there are not enough hours to question them all.

But trying to find the person who had the most motive isn’t all that’s on Madison’s mind. As she struggles to establish balance in her own life, she knows she has to get her focus back. Justice requires it.

What inspired you to write this book?

Really the entire series was inspired by the fact I love to be entertained in the crime/mystery genre.  The movies, television shows, and the books I read are all anchored in this genre.  It was a natural transition to start writing it.  (It also provides an outlet for my devious mind, but we won’t dwell on that. LOL)

As for a female lead, I wanted to do something a little different.  I wanted her as the lead, not the submissive, supportive partner in the background.

What can readers expect when they open your book?

The entire Madison Knight Series is what I would term “clean murder mysteries”.  This means that foul language and violent graphic portrayal are kept to a minimum.

The series, including Justified, is also perfect for those who love the forensics side of investigations.

The Madison Knight Series by Carolyn Arnold

The Madison Knight Series by Carolyn Arnold

Tell us more about the Madison Knight series.

It is designed as a stand-alone mystery series, which means you can read these books out of order and still pick up on the series’ characters and story line.

Major Crimes Detective Madison Knight, fueled by determination to find justice for the victims, is a strong, independent female amidst a career dominated by men.  If you love a strong protagonist lead, I invite you to meet Madison for yourself.
To find out more about Madison Knight, you can also peek inside her psyche in a fictional piece written just for this purpose, or read her interview with a real life police officer.

What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment as a writer?

Publishing my books.  It’s one thing to write, and it’s quite another to have others read your work.

Who is your favorite author and why?

David Baldacci is my favorite author because his writing style and pacing are spot on.  He has a way of describing and fleshing out his characters that I strive to emulate.

Do you have any suggestions for writers just starting out?

Keep writing, and be adventurous.

The standard point of view is third close, why not try first?  I found it helped me tap into my characters’ minds even when I went back to third close.

What is your favorite quote?

Dream big, or don’t bother.  Not sure if that’s a quote, but what I like to subscribe to.

What does writing mean to you?

Writing, even at the risk of sounding cliché, is like breath to me.  It’s an outlet for stress and a release for the imagination.

Anything else you would like to share with us.

I’m a strong believer in supporting my fellow authors, and because of this I run a site called Celebrating Authors where I post a daily feature highlighting a new author.

Tell us 5 random things about you the person, not the author:

1) I married a man who is truly my best friend.  With us I believe in “meant to be”.

2) I have two beagles.  Their names are Max and Chelsea, and I couldn’t imagine not having their little furry bodies around.  (Suppose the same goes for my hubby. lol)

3) I love to read almost as much as I love to write.

4) I tried skiing once as an adult and decided the “bunny hill” worked just fine.  With most things in life, I aim to excel and improve.  With this sport, no desire at all.  Risk my life speeding down a hill on little slats of wood?  No thank you.

5) I was reunited with my older sister after being apart for 13 years and found a good friend.

Where to connect online

Twitter

Facebook

Website

Web Header

Amazon Author Page

FEATURED BOOK:  Justified

Genre: Crime, Mystery

Buy on Amazon

 

This entry was posted on January 6, 2013. 4 Comments

I love my home town! If you are going to be anywhere in the Southern Ontario area this summer visit this fair city. You won’t regret it.

www.stratfordfestivalblog.com

January 3, 2013… The Stratford Festival’s box office opens to the public this Saturday, January 5, at 9 a.m., with an online advance sale beginning at noon on Friday. Facebook fans, who want to use the Festival’s new social ticketing app will be able to purchase tickets as of 9 a.m. today. Tickets are being offered at up to 25% off until January 31, with an opportunity to exchange dates with no added expense.

This season, the first under Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino, features 12 productions, from classical to contemporary, with Shakespeare as the centerpiece, and a new initiative, The Forum, which offers an extraordinary series of events to enrich the play-going experience. The playbill and The Forum have been designed to explore a number of themes related to community, and especially to communities in conflict and the role of the outsider in those communities.

“The plays and…

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Interview with Canadian author Ian G. Watson

Ian G. Watson, author

Ian G. Watson, author

Ian Watson was born and raised in England, arriving in Canada as a young groom with his bride, Tina.  We met when he was looking for an editor and I had no idea at the time that both couples would become such close friends.

Usually quite talkative, although blessed with a soft-spoken, slow, dry British wit, I was surprised at his short answers to my questions. Not one to enjoy the limelight – many authors are introverts – he seemed almost reticent when I proposed the interview suggestion.

Without further hesitation:

1.  Have you always been a story teller?

I got it from my Uncle Edwin, an editor with Sampson-Lowe, and maybe my maternal grandfather.

2.  Is it difficult for you control the urge to insert clever dry humour?

Yes, extremely, and also corny jokes.

3.  Who has been the greatest influence and inspiration in your writing?

Jerome K. Jerome, Neville Shute, P.C. Wren

4. Do you believe in your own talent?

Sometimes.

5. Was it difficult to zero in your primary genre?

Yes – still not sure.

6. Are you a “pantser” or a “plotter”?

Definitely a ‘pantser’, but a planner as I chapter-write. I think I’m a ‘Method’ writer.

7. Do the characters you write ever surprise you?

No. Most are based on people I have known in life, others are characters I would like to have known.

8. What genres have you dabbled in only to reject them?

Fantasy. Prediction. Stage drama.

9.  Have you found your niche?  Do you know what kind of writer you want to be when you grow up?

No, probably not. As I am close to 80, I had better grow up awful fast.

10. When will you consider yourself successful?

When I am making regular sales of a successful genre.

Ian’s current genre, mystery/suspense, seems a perfect fit to those of us who are hooked on his writing style. His Wren series does contain that irrepressible wit and tongue-in-cheek humour Ian cannot seem to forsake. His fans are happy about that.

Book one: “The Just’s Umbrella tells of two deadly secrets left from the Second World War; a deadly chemical weapon and a clandestine pact between enemies. If either weapon or pact surfaces, all mankind will face a Third War – the War of Total Annihilation. Two people, newly in love, unravel these mysteries of Secret Conflict and dedicate their lives to World Peace.”

Book two: “Following the short conflict in the Falklands between Argentina and Great Britain, Chris Wren and Doris Judd reprise their Secret War activities against Neo-Nazi fanatics in the Andes Mountains and the South Atlantic. They search for a scuttled submarine laden with treasure and a deadly biological weapon called ‘The Final Solution’. This is a sinister novel set in savage places with murderous people, where savage practises are carried out with unbelievably cruel methods. The ‘Sunless Treasuries’ is a page turner to the end with a twist of plot second to none. Look for a third ‘Secret War Thriller’ with Wren and Judd, ‘The Washington Rose.”

The first two titles of the Wren Series are available through Amazon.ca, Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

Wren Series

http://www.amazon.ca/Justs-Umbrella-Wren-Series-ebook/dp/B00A1AS58S/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1357164426&sr=1-1-catcorr

http://www.amazon.ca/Sunless-Treasuries-Book-Series-ebook/dp/B00A9KCHUC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357164346&sr=8-1

Be watching for, you guessed it, “The Washington Rose”, book three in the series due out later this year.

To learn more about Ian:

http://www.iangwatsonauthor.com/index.html

http://ianwatsonblog.wordpress.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ian-G-Watson-author/213238318720870?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/ian.watson.10004?fref=ts

ian.watson@rogers.com

Tina and Ian