In celebration of my birthday - things I’ve learned so far in my 42 years

1. The first thing I read in the paper every morning is my horoscope and that’s it
2. The last thing I usually watch at night is CBC’s The National – seems I can handle the news at night but not in the morning
3. Baby unscented wet wipes work great as make-up removers and they cost a fraction of the price
4. Clear nail polish dapped on a run in your nylon will stop the run – why then can’t they coat nylons in the stuff?
5. Kraft Dinner is disgusting reheated the next day
6. There is nothing like peanut butter toast late at night as comfort food
7. When people ask how you are they don’t really want to know – really, just say, “Good,” even when you feel like crap
8. The older I get the more I want a dog – even though the thought of cleaning up after them makes me want to puke
9. Patience – I’m still learning it
10. I will never be as tech-savvy as my kids
11. I have no sense of direction and get lost when I’m in the mall
12. I love watching reruns of the Jerry Seinfeld show because for me they are mostly new
13. The older I get the more my roots show – not talking about hair – think heritage
14. After twelve years watching children shows with my kids I’m warped – I like Arthur, Franklin and Little Bear
15. There is nothing more annoying than going to butter your toast and opening the butter jar to find none in it! Seriously once empty how hard is it to refill?
16. I have to stop comparing what I have with what other people have – it just depresses me and in this past year I’ve learned the heart is where the home is, even if said home is in serious need of work
17. I get excited watching the birds eat from my feeder
18. I tell my best friend everything – more than I tell my hubby
19. I wish I had more time in the day to spend with my children, visit my grandmother who is 99, chat with my mom
20. I miss my youngest sister, who is very talented – I hope one day we can reconcile before it’s too late

What an Off Leash Ride - thanks Amazon

I wanted to thank everyone who downloaded the excerpt for Off Leash and wrote a review for it. While my nitty gritty story is not a finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest I have to tell you it’s been quite a ride! To the three YA writers in the final I’m wishing them all my best because honestly I think being a judge for this contest must be very hard.

I will find a home for Off Leash, the first story in my nitty gritty series, and edits are almost finished for Off Limit the 2nd story. One way or another I plan to let loose this series to the world. It’s in your face YA reality touching on difficult subjects like poverty, fitting in, molestation and the harsh world of teen life. Again a huge thanks for all your support. As one critique partners pointed out my teen life must have sucked – really, for me, it was just living.


And to celebrate my almost win for this contest by end of week I'm going to post the first five chapters of my 2nd book, Off Limit for all to read for free. I'd love feedback. Stay tuned.

Look What I found in my Soup

Had great weekend. Went out for Thai food and found this in my Thai hot and sour soup - taking the happy-evil-sort-of face as a good omen. Let me know what you think?
Couldn't stop laughing.

The Fifth Rule - Gripping Realism

Gripping realism.

I devoured Don Aker’s The Fifth Rule and must confess, I didn’t realize it’s the sequel to The First Stone, which I sooo plan to get and read. Honestly, though The Fifth Rule was totally complete on its own. I sat down at 8pm and finished it at 11:30pm because I couldn’t stop reading!

The story is about a former young offender, Reef Kennedy, who goes from Calgary, where’s he’s working as a construction worker trying to start over back to Halifax to attend the funeral of his mentor, Frank Colville. Once home Reef gets sucked back into the Halifax drama. It’s been a year since he left but during that time he’s thought of one person, daily – Leeza, the girl he met while doing volunteer hours at a rehabilitation centre who also turned out to be the victim of that first stone he threw that caused a motor vehicle accident.

I loved the layers woven into this tight-knit realistic, in-your-face story. Leeza, who is trying to find herself but unable because of her mother’s over-protectiveness, is struggling with fitting in at Dalhousie University for her first year. Then when her step-dad steps back into the picture things get even more complicated.

Circumstances unfold to pull Leeza and Reef back together, and old memories resurface for both of them. When an eager political crusader plans to shut down Reef’s former group home things quickly escalate.

It’s not often I pick out my favourite lines in a book, but I’ve got a few that really jumped out at me.

This is from Leeza – “But that period of her life is over and her memory of it no longer brings the pain it once did. Sure, a melancholy every now and then – when she allows it – a sense of loss that still tugs at her, but the pain is behind her, like that car cruising south on Connaught.” – OMG these sentences sucked me into Leeza and I totally got how Leeza felt.

From Reef – “The boy in his head wears too-short jeans and a second-hand T-shirt washed so many times it’s nearly transparent. The words being muttered, though, are much the same: dummy, numbskull, and a string of others the man snarls every time he’s reminded that his illegitimate grandson breathes the same air he does.” – That sums up an entire childhood for me.

I don’t want to give the entire plot away but I urge anyone wanting to read a YA-Adult crossover novel to read this book.

To find out more of Don Aker’s works check out at: http://www.donaker.com

My Halifax Public Library Has So Much to Offer

I just got back from an educational session about what my public library can do for us authors/readers. I have to say it was very educational. I go to the library a lot - think at least twice a week and I also browse the on-line catalogue a lot to place holds for items I want to borrow. I had no idea that under the Readers section - which is located on the top header of the library page http://www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca - the library has a tweet button and you can see what they are posting, which is anything to do with writing/authors/author readers etc. There is also a blog. And you as a reader can post reviews from what you've read from the catalogue. I also learned how to refine by search. And for me learning how to search for local authors - is under Subject - again, had no idea. This is all very helpful because I love finding local YA authors and I always try to promote them, after I read the book. Case in point I'm loving reading Don Aker's The Fifth Rule,which is set in Halifax. Aker is a local author and I only found out about him by chance while browsing Chapters.

I found today very educational and wanted to do a shout out to stress how important local libraries are. The best thing about libraries is they are free! We need to continue to champion our local city councillors to not cut library funding. This week I was appauled to learn that the Hfx Public Libraries Bookmobile funding is gone. I know less than 200 families use this service but now 200 families won't be using it and I just wonder what impact that will have on the children/teens who are in need of escaping to a good book. I grew up in a rural community and the bookmobile was essential. Without that bookmobile I'm sure my love of reading and now writing would not have been fostered. I was also lucky because my local elementary school, Robert Jamieson had a great librarian. Every week she asked me what I was reading, what I liked about the book etc and then the next week she'd have a list of new books she thought I might like to try. She opened my very lonely world (don't forget I didn't have many friends in this community because I was a newcomer) to the joy of books - so, thank you!

I can't stress enough how much I love my own local library! The staff are always helpful and after learning how limited their funding is I'm even more amazed.

Off Leash - Semi-Finalist in 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest

I'm so excited I can barely sit but I did make myself go out and edit tonight. So that's a bit of a party for me. I just found out today that my new YA nitty gritty story, Off Leash, is one of 50 semi-finalist in the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest. I couldn't believe it because the story is so different I wasn't sure what the judges would think. I mean, honestly, I know the stories great but letting a dog have its own POV can be challenging. Then there's the angry teen POV voice which strangely I can handle writing - must be that inner teen I live with.

So I sent out my mass emails to all my friends, YA loops, etc and I have to say getting a "that's great and congrats" actually does mean a lot. I try to always fire off a quick note to authors when they win something because in this digital fast-oh-so-fast day, a friendly note does make people smile. So for all the smiles I received today - again thank you they are greatly appreciated. I'm bottling them up and saving them for rainy days.

I also found out that people can actually read my excerpt through Amazon - which I will confess at first freaked me out but now I'm okay with it. The freak out part was me wanting to edit it more. But okay, it's out there. Here is the link if you'd like to read what I posted. Hope you all enjoy.

To all the authors who entered the 2011 Amazon contest - I say you are all winners! You wrote the book, told your story and for me that's sometimes the goal.

http://www.amazon.com/Off-Leash-excerpt-Breakthrough-ebook/dp/B004TEYTZA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AZC9TZ4UC9CFC&s=digital-text&qid=1303865123&sr=1-2

Home Truths by Jill MacLean - Amazing

I read reality today. It was the story by author Jill MacLean, called Home Truths, published by Dancing Cat Books. Breathtakingly real. That’s how I would describe Home Truths.

The story features 15 year-old Brick MacAvoy and when you are introduced to Brick you immediately dislike him. He comes across as a bully. Keep turning the pages here, people. Brick might be a bully but like the age out truth – it takes a bully to make a bully – and voila, here the reader is introduced to Brick’s dad, Floyd. Opal is the non-existent mother, who hates being a mother and Cassie is Brick’s sister. The tenderness, adult way Brick interacts with Cassie is what makes this story unique and special. By the middle I wanted to kill Floyd with my own hands so

I was pleased when MacLean introduced Brick to Karate. The twists and turns of this boy coming into adulthood made my heart speed up with each interaction, whether it was the girl he at first dislikes, who is Tully (she has her own story inserted into this book), the dog Igor who he hates at first but comes to save, or the neighbours who help him out with odd jobs.

Home Truths could be set anywhere but MacLean hints it’s on the Eastern Shore, but she also says you won’t find Hilchey Bay but I have to say this book could have been set in my community on the Eastern Shore, NS. This book left me thinking—love that in a book. I highly recommend Home Truths as a must read!

Check out Jill MacLean's website at http://www.jillmaclean.com for more information on the author and her wonderful books.