Website Woes

Way back at the beginning when someone said I needed a website, I balked at the idea. Really? Why? Of course, now I understand about having platforms so people can stop by and check out my books and read a little about me. (I don’t really get that last bit, but I keep hearing readers are curious about writers.) Anyway, the website. I think my initial skepticism has haunted me ever since.  

I succumbed to popular opinion and paid a lot of money to have a website designed just for me. I loved that website, but the designer kind of fell off the edge of the world when, after the first year, I asked him to make some changes. So yeah, that site died. 

Then a good friend convinced me I was better off designing my own site, and therein followed weeks of pure hell. Except I got to hang out with my friend here and there as we tried to untangle the mess I’d created. Finally, another friend recommended a site specifically for designing websites to be used by simpletons who don’t know what they’re doing. I won’t say I’ve mastered the site, but I can now add information when I want to. Sort of.

Or I could until, well, I lost my domain name. Turns out you can’t have a website on-line without that handle. See? I’m cursed!

So, I’m going to be hanging out here for a while until we get things sorted out. I’ve been working hard on the third book for my Stolen Hearts series. I’d love to say it will be ready this fall, but I also write for Super Romance, Harlequin sometimes, and if they offer another contract, I’ll be on deadline with them.

I have a Super Romance, When Adam Came To Town, coming out in September. If I can figure out how to do it, I’ll post the cover here. It’s gorgeous.

I wouldn’t mind hearing other people's website woes. I can’t be the only one website-less. And as they say, misery likes company!  

Down By The Bay

Spring in the Maritimes has been cold and wet this year. I live on a fresh water bay, and the water is exceptionally high for June. Between the rain and the cold, I haven’t been spending much time by the shore lately. I meandered down today after my walk between the rain drops and sat, listening to the waves lap at the shore. Our shoreline is not a beach. We have rocks and shrubs, and we’re reluctant to alter it much because ice and high water can eat away at the shoreline, and you’re left with a muddy mess.

While I was letting my mind drift with the waves, I noticed movement amongst the shrubs that still had their feet in the water. First, one duckling paddled out, then another and another. There were eight in all, and mom wasn’t far behind. I don’t know if they’d been hiding there when I arrived or just came along. When the mother (is there a name for a mother duck?) led all eight a few feet from shore, the babes swam close to her. So close they almost looked all of a piece. They didn’t dawdle, but disappeared around the corner and into the small cove where the angry beaver used to live.   

And here I was worried because I hadn’t seen many ducks around this spring. I thought the water was too high for them to stay and make nests. Turns out I should have been worrying about the gimongous Osprey and the eagle that have been circling the cove daily. I thought they were fishing—for fish. I doubt I’ll watch them quite as keenly until those little ducklings are big enough to fend for themselves.

A Mother's Day Treat

Imagine this—it’s a cold, rainy, spring day, and you’re sitting outside in your bathing suit, every muscle in your body relaxed, roasting your toes by a roaring fire.

For Mother’s Day my son treated me to an afternoon at a beautiful spa just north of Ottawa in Chelsa, Quebec, Le Nordic Spa. I’d never been to a spa before and wasn’t prepared for the size and beauty of this one. Apparently, it’s the largest in North America. Set on a rocky hillside, the designers made use of the natural rock formations and existing trees to create waterfalls, stone paths and patios. Surprisingly (to me) the large parking lot was full when we arrived in the middle of the day, the middle of the week.

There are five saunas and two steam baths, (there could be more, but that’s what I counted) and I think we only missed visiting one on our rounds. We (well, me) were like kids—What’s next? Let’s try that one. My favorite was the Meditation sauna, a hexagonal wood building with windows in each wall that framed a different and inspiring view. Most of the saunas and resting places were marked as silent areas. People respected the silence, but if they did talk it was in hushed tones.

There were places to sit around a roaring fire, inside and out, and read a book or just contemplate the fire or waterfall, if there was one within view. I think it was the repeated visits to the steam rooms—one eucalyptus scented, the other orange—punctuated by dips into frigid pools or waterfalls, that finally knocked out a month long virus I’d been fighting.

Or maybe it was floating in the infinity pool that did it. The first time we went in the pool, we clung to the sides and looked for miles over the impressive Gatineau Park, with the city of Ottawa in the distance. When we revisited the pool a couple hours later, I free-floated on my back and stared at the sky. It was a chilly, grey day, but between the hot tubs and pools, the saunas and braziers, it wasn’t hard to keep warm.

We skipped the restaurant and the bistro, where people lounged in chairs, sipping wine or beer as they looked out at the forest and waterfalls. Of course there are sorts of treatments available. The next visit I’d like to experience the Kalla treatment, which is floating in a salt pool that emulates the Dead Sea.

And there will be a next time. One of the things I found most impressive was the number of people who were treating themselves to an afternoon of cleansing and contemplation. It was inspiring to see.

But the thing I liked best about the spa? Spending the afternoon with my son, of course! It was a Mother’s Day gift I’ll never forget.     

Book Trailer

I was fortunate to win a book trailer from the filmmaker, Magda Olchawska. I chose my romantic suspense, Sleight of Hand, and I'm hoping until I can figure out how to put a video on my website, that I can show you the youtube version here.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8_bXWv17G8

I hope the link works for you. 

It was an interesting experience to be a small part, a very small part!, of making this video. It made me realize that although I see scenes clearly in my head while writing them, I'm hopeless once I walk away from the keyboard. 

My hat is off to all visual artists.

Thanks, Magda!

On The Road

Lucky me, I’ve been in Florida for the last six weeks. The weather was perfect until the end when it turned cold. We packed up and came home because by that time we’d graduated from motels to camping. Believe me, that was upgrading for this country girl.

Hotels and motels are a strange beast. They’re a soulless territory, temporary by nature and intent. It took me quite a while to register the effect of living in impersonal surroundings. To my surprise I discovered, in spite of the stench of commercial cleansers and the creepy carpets every one of them insist on installing - it’s difficult for me to resist ranting about those nests of germs and unidentifiable creatures, but I will - there is a strange freedom that comes with living, well, nowhere, I suppose.

There are no expectations. Other than finding your toothbrush and unwrapping the miserly little bar of soap left on the edge of the sink, you don’t have to clean, cook or think about washing the windows before your mother-in-law visits. Unfortunately, thanks to the internet, you still have to pay the bills on time. But no one knows you. Well, my husband knew me and that was a comfort, but I mean all those other people, they haven’t a clue who you are. They expect nothing from you.

I can’t remember the last time I haven’t had the crazy chatter of must-dos in my head. Despite the demands of travel - renting cars, finding a hotel room for the night, admitting, finally, that yes the lady in the GPS does know the correct directions to your destination - when you enter that motel room at the end of the day, nothing else is expected of you. Or not much. It’s almost as if you’re floating, all those ties that bind are no longer there or are sufficiently in the background they can be ignored. There’s a freedom in that until, if you’re like me, and I hope you’re not, you begin to wonder if you’re leaving bits of yourself behind in each motel room. Maybe picking up vibes from others who stayed before you. If you kept at it long enough, would you eventually lose yourself and become someone else?

Wait a minute. What a great idea for a story. Er, I don’t think there was a point to what I was talking about. Truth is this isn’t what I meant to write about at all. But as you can see, I’ve stumbled on a great idea and I’ve got to go.

Bottom line? It’s time to get creative with methods of travel. I’m open to suggestions!      

A New Year

I’d like to apologize to my many readers who use ereading devices other than a Kindle. I recently advertised a 99 cent sale for Sleight of Hand just on Amazon. I’m sure many of you understand the mechanics behind self-publishing but for those who don’t, Amazon makes it easy to change the price of a book. For all I know Barnes & Noble and iTunes may as well, but for various reasons I have to publish through a third platform, Smashwords, and often the sale is over before the lower price appears on their websites.   

To all the wonderful readers out there, thank you for buying my books. I love to write them, and it’s so rewarding to hear people enjoy reading them. Don’t be shy! Email anytime.

I have five books in mind I’d love to write this year, but in reality will be lucky to write two. And that would be with great, good luck. I do have a third book planned (sort of) for the Stolen Heart series. It’s one of those stories clamoring to get out, so it should be fun to write.  

I’ve been valiantly trying to get my ‘social network’ in order. It’s a bit like mucking through a mud puddle that’s much deeper than you thought; the harder I try, the more I mess everything up. Coming soon, or in a few months, a new website. I hope to do a quarterly newsletter this year. Click on “Newsletter” in the left-hand column if you’d like to hear about new releases. And Facebook…let’s not talk about that today.  

I’m a little late, but HAPPY NEW YEAR!