Don't you just love a good snowfall? Not the one that is hurried, windy and whipping at your face, but the slow, peaceful, romantic one that conjures up images of sitting by the fire with a hot brew and the company of your loved one.
With Valentine's Day fast approaching, I sit here with my Toshiba Satellite laptop, amid the company of a nice Oriental stir fry, a hurricane lamp of flickering candlelight, and a hot Tim Horton's Chai. Outside my window, snow is gently falling, and my little town looks like the vision of a Marshmallow World, as Dean Martin once sang.
The sun has set, and drivers are making their proverbial crawl home from work on the snow-covered roads. Inside my rustic farmhouse, I revel in the comforts of home life, daughter and faithful dog.
As usual, I've got love on my mind. Well, after all, isn't that what EVERY romance writer has on her mind 24/7?
Recently, I went to a Dollarama and stocked my basket full of Valentine's Day decorations. Shoppers eyed me, completely puzzled, wondering what grande shin dig I was hosting that consisted of this red hearts decor that overflowed from that basket. There was huge, pink and red shaped heart candles, a red table cloth, silver and red votive holders, a red sign that said LOVE, and red candy dishes shaped like a heart.I had chocolates with cute, brown labs on the box, heart gummi's, and fuzzy pink socks. Perhaps I went overboard, but I don't care; I justified it as the most important date on my calendar so far this year. Red hearts and romance are at the core of this old soul's existence.
Love, inherently, is the most important thing one can have on their mind. Cozy like a blanket, love warms the heart, renews the soul, and gives a writer plenty of inspiration for the next great novel. Love and a romantic snowfall are two great aspects that complement one another well, don't you agree? There's a good reason why the hot tub suite's are sold out in the winter months at all the romantic hotels and getaway spots. Winter time is a cherished haven in which love is born, and I'm sure this season has spawned some fantastic real-life love stories.
Snowfall has a way of getting to me. It always kick starts my next novel, puts me in the mood, and gives me a glow from the inside out. I cannot begin to express what bliss I find in the midst of a good snowfall. Some of my best characters have been created during a good ole blast of the white stuff.
I am actually jealous of the folks on the eastern seaboard who got up to 90 cm this past week. Send some MY way? Yes, please, Mother Nature.
While I write this, I ponder all the good that has come to me in 2015 so far. Yes, it is premature to judge the year on just a scant 29 days into the annual calendar, but I can't help it. Each New Year, I embark on the tradition of creating a "Blessings & Miracles Jar" that will encompass that entire year. The last two jars from 2014 were filled to the brim!!! I can't help it, I'm just grateful.
We, as humans, have a LOT to be grateful for. I know I certainly am. While living in a country known for its vast freedoms, clean drinking water, good food, and amazing people, I also take into account the simple things of life that matter most. I've got a teenage daughter who loves me and thinks I'm a hero; my dog is madly in love with me (can you blame him?), I have friends who've got my back, no matter what. They don't care whether I look like a Victoria Secret model or not, live in a palatial home in Rosedale or a simple, 100 year old farmhouse, or if I make $1 million dollars a year as opposed to $77,000 annually. No, these friends embrace the real, authentic woman who has taken the hard knocks of life, and turned them into gold. Within the pages of these novels, you will find the tears, the tragedy, the laughter and the triumphs of a conscious woman who fully knows her worth and who she is.
Gratefully, I honor the men in my life who've inspired my writing and shown me that life gets better, that not all men are A-holes, and good people are abundantly in our Path at all times.
To the dear friends who have stood by me when marriages crumbled and backstabbers slandered, I salute you all today.
My wish for each of you is that 2015 will be richly abundant enough to fill your Blessings & Miracle jars to the brim, and then some.
Hopefully, this evening you are sitting by the fire with a loved one, watching the warmth of the flames dancing in the grate, or enjoying a candlelight dinner and smiling fondly with the radiance of love in your hearts, knowing how blessed you truly are to have this love.
To those of you out there who are single and still searching for that ONE GREAT LOVE, please do not give up your search. Love is waiting in the wings, it has heard your call. It knows what you want.
Love is infinite. Love is worth the wait.
Remember, to always keep the passion alive,
RR xo
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
The Polar Vortex and Cabin Fever: Writing Passages
While this part of Canada has been hit with a heavy Polar Vortex, I sip my Starbucks Holiday Blend in a white teddy bear covered robe at my desk in the cozy country living room, making plans for February and March publications.
Two of my books will be in print soon, from amazon.com and I could not be more proud.
This announcement gets me a little hot under the collar, I must admit. TEMPEST, my latest work, comes from a labor of love very near and dear to my heart. It's the powerful story of unconditional love between a ranch girl and a city slicker who's lost his wife and is raising three teens alone.
Stormie McClelland is a woman to be reckoned with. She is smart, sassy and headstrong, but under her prickles burns the warm heart of an Empath.
Don Castle, oozing with money, status and charm, meets a roadblock in Stormie. She is the first woman who can't stand him, and that spells excitement for any strong alpha male who is bent on winning female adoration. He sets out to win her over, not knowing what adventure he is being pulled into.
My second book, THE PERFECT STORM, was written during last winter's Deep Freeze. I am equally proud to be launching this one, as it contains a self-fulfilling prophecy in the hero, Rhett Steele.
Just 35 days after penning the first chapter, the real life Rhett Steele showed up -- IN THE FLESH -- on my doorstep! As a romance author, you can imagine the profound significance of such an event. The very hairs on the back of my neck are standing up now, just thinking about it.
In THE PERFECT STORM, heroine Rose Wilder flees an abusive husband who leaves her for dead one night, so she skips town with her teenage daughter, Beth, and rents a Kinkade-inspired cottage in the middle of nowhere.
While healing from the aftermath of that incident, Rose is caught in the ice storm of the century. High winds and freezing rain cover the town in a sheet of treachery, knocking out power region wide and uprooting trees.
Enter tall, hunky Rhett Steele, the hydro lineman, who comes to restore the power at the Kinkade cottage. The last thing Rose needs is another man to add to her heartache. But something about Rhett slowly starts to break down her walls...
In this Deep Freeze of the Great White North, I find the most inspiration comes during the winter months, beginning with November's annual NaNoWriMO contest, where a novel must be completed in the 30 day allotment. Tempest was written in that month. I have now started working on another, called PEARLS, and I am stoked to see how this story unfolds.
Stay tuned for the exciting launch of my two books, TEMPEST and THE PERFECT STORM.
As always, stay warm, grab a hot beverage, and sit by the fire. I will be posting excerpts of these books soon to make your fireside reading more enjoyable.
Until then,
Keep the passion alive,
RR Xo
Two of my books will be in print soon, from amazon.com and I could not be more proud.
This announcement gets me a little hot under the collar, I must admit. TEMPEST, my latest work, comes from a labor of love very near and dear to my heart. It's the powerful story of unconditional love between a ranch girl and a city slicker who's lost his wife and is raising three teens alone.
Stormie McClelland is a woman to be reckoned with. She is smart, sassy and headstrong, but under her prickles burns the warm heart of an Empath.
Don Castle, oozing with money, status and charm, meets a roadblock in Stormie. She is the first woman who can't stand him, and that spells excitement for any strong alpha male who is bent on winning female adoration. He sets out to win her over, not knowing what adventure he is being pulled into.
My second book, THE PERFECT STORM, was written during last winter's Deep Freeze. I am equally proud to be launching this one, as it contains a self-fulfilling prophecy in the hero, Rhett Steele.
Just 35 days after penning the first chapter, the real life Rhett Steele showed up -- IN THE FLESH -- on my doorstep! As a romance author, you can imagine the profound significance of such an event. The very hairs on the back of my neck are standing up now, just thinking about it.
In THE PERFECT STORM, heroine Rose Wilder flees an abusive husband who leaves her for dead one night, so she skips town with her teenage daughter, Beth, and rents a Kinkade-inspired cottage in the middle of nowhere.
While healing from the aftermath of that incident, Rose is caught in the ice storm of the century. High winds and freezing rain cover the town in a sheet of treachery, knocking out power region wide and uprooting trees.
Enter tall, hunky Rhett Steele, the hydro lineman, who comes to restore the power at the Kinkade cottage. The last thing Rose needs is another man to add to her heartache. But something about Rhett slowly starts to break down her walls...
In this Deep Freeze of the Great White North, I find the most inspiration comes during the winter months, beginning with November's annual NaNoWriMO contest, where a novel must be completed in the 30 day allotment. Tempest was written in that month. I have now started working on another, called PEARLS, and I am stoked to see how this story unfolds.
Stay tuned for the exciting launch of my two books, TEMPEST and THE PERFECT STORM.
As always, stay warm, grab a hot beverage, and sit by the fire. I will be posting excerpts of these books soon to make your fireside reading more enjoyable.
Until then,
Keep the passion alive,
RR Xo
Friday, January 9, 2015
Start The New Year With A Bang: Superstition
We all have heard that famous New Year's Eve statement, I'm sure. Ring in the New Year WELL, and the rest of the year will be a success. Celebrate the waning hours of Dec 31st in a mediocre mood, and you somehow jinx yourself with a bad luck year.
Like a huge make-or-break moment, the superstition puts a sort of pressure on the person receiving the challenge.
Readers, I am here to tell you that my New Year was quiet. Did my year start off "bad" or seemingly doomed? Well, it might be too soon to tell, but I CAN tell you that I came into a small windfall on Jan. 6th. If that's any indication of how a quiet evening at home, spent with family and tons of good food, should play out in the forecast of good fortune, then by all means, make an assessment.
The last New Year's Eve I spent home was 2008, the year my marriage ended and I was grieving the loss. Now, anyone who has suffered the loss of a loved one, whether through death or marriage, knows how painful the holidays can be. It's like a piece of your soul has been hi-jacked, and the pain is so debilitating you feel consumed and lost. Constant reminders swirl around you, of how happy others are, and it evidently jolts you into a rude awakening.
That New Year was spent with family, surrounded by a king-sized table of food and feasting, with beautiful holiday music and three older couples. I was invited, naturally, by my mother who did not want to see me grieving in a dark house alone on the last day of 2008. We ate til we could eat no more and laughed til our insides hurts, playing Balderdash, a classic game of bluff where you outsmart your opponents. I made the most of that N.Y.E. and went to sleep somewhat contented, with a little less heartache lingering.
This is where the adage arises again. That brand new year, 2009, was eventful, with new friendships and adventures to add to the Passion Chronicles memory book. So the superstition that a N.Y.E. spent at home without the traditional, hyped festivities celebrated out of the house, does not always hold strong in its perceived notion.
The next five New Year's were spent out on the town, celebrating in high spirits, in the conventional way.
While these years were equally good, I have arrived at the conclusion that whether I spend New Year's Eve home with a quiet dinner or it's spent in Niagara Falls at an outdoor concert, I know the symbolism will be no less valid, that the year being rung in will be no less or more worthy of great happiness.
So here's a toast to years bygone and brand new years to come. Let's not get stuck on superstitions that may or may not bring us good luck. Let us celebrate every day like a miracle from the heavens. Trust that it will bring what you truly deserve: the heart's content. At the end of the day, that is what really counts.
KEEP THE PASSION ALIVE,
RR
Like a huge make-or-break moment, the superstition puts a sort of pressure on the person receiving the challenge.
Readers, I am here to tell you that my New Year was quiet. Did my year start off "bad" or seemingly doomed? Well, it might be too soon to tell, but I CAN tell you that I came into a small windfall on Jan. 6th. If that's any indication of how a quiet evening at home, spent with family and tons of good food, should play out in the forecast of good fortune, then by all means, make an assessment.
The last New Year's Eve I spent home was 2008, the year my marriage ended and I was grieving the loss. Now, anyone who has suffered the loss of a loved one, whether through death or marriage, knows how painful the holidays can be. It's like a piece of your soul has been hi-jacked, and the pain is so debilitating you feel consumed and lost. Constant reminders swirl around you, of how happy others are, and it evidently jolts you into a rude awakening.
That New Year was spent with family, surrounded by a king-sized table of food and feasting, with beautiful holiday music and three older couples. I was invited, naturally, by my mother who did not want to see me grieving in a dark house alone on the last day of 2008. We ate til we could eat no more and laughed til our insides hurts, playing Balderdash, a classic game of bluff where you outsmart your opponents. I made the most of that N.Y.E. and went to sleep somewhat contented, with a little less heartache lingering.
This is where the adage arises again. That brand new year, 2009, was eventful, with new friendships and adventures to add to the Passion Chronicles memory book. So the superstition that a N.Y.E. spent at home without the traditional, hyped festivities celebrated out of the house, does not always hold strong in its perceived notion.
The next five New Year's were spent out on the town, celebrating in high spirits, in the conventional way.
While these years were equally good, I have arrived at the conclusion that whether I spend New Year's Eve home with a quiet dinner or it's spent in Niagara Falls at an outdoor concert, I know the symbolism will be no less valid, that the year being rung in will be no less or more worthy of great happiness.
So here's a toast to years bygone and brand new years to come. Let's not get stuck on superstitions that may or may not bring us good luck. Let us celebrate every day like a miracle from the heavens. Trust that it will bring what you truly deserve: the heart's content. At the end of the day, that is what really counts.
KEEP THE PASSION ALIVE,
RR
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