Dependent Giveaway!

To celebrate Dependent's re-release, I'm offering up paperback proof copies to two lucky winners!

Head on over to Goodreads and enter by clicking below!

 

Brenda

Dependent Re-release

New cover! Design by Streetlight Graphics.

Dependent's second edition is now ready for pre-order and will be available December 9th! 

It's been a few complicated months of rights discussions, editing, cover art and formatting work, but the Fortunate Frog Fiction edition of Dependent is ready to go and will release next week. This story is darker than my YA writing, and deals with some heavy issues. Sexual assault in the military setting, the culture of rank, deployments, moving...many of the things our military spouses deal with every day. 

If you haven't read it yet, please consider it for your reading list. There will be a Goodreads giveaway posted here next week and you could win one of two copies of the new edition. I'm also part of small blog tour to celebrate the re-release.

If you have read it, please share your thoughts in a review (Amazon and Goodreads are very easy platforms...), and don't forget to share with your friends!

Thank you to all who have supported me through this transition. 

Brenda

Dependent update

A few weeks ago you may have seen that Dependent's original publisher, Jolly Fish Press, was closing its doors.

Jolly Fish Press is closing its doors - https://t.co/7ut97xR47I

— Jolly Fish Press (@JollyFishPress) October 17, 2016

They later followed up by an announcement, stating that they weren't really closing, but instead were being purchased by North Star Editions. 

North Star Editions Acquires Jolly Fish Press - https://t.co/2bnTWZGOn7

— Jolly Fish Press (@JollyFishPress) October 28, 2016

As can be imagined, it was a relatively turbulent time for other JFP authors, as information was limited, and their writing dreams were pinned on some shaky ground. I'm happy for those who stayed the course and have moved with JFP to the new publisher, but many of my writing friends had their rights reverted, and are moving on either by seeking a new publisher for their stories, or by self publishing. 

I was one of the lucky ones, as I had already moved on, receiving my rights back in the spring. Dependent is no longer available as a JFP title. As I began the process of publishing Dependent under my teeny-tiny press, Fortunate Frog Fiction, I was saddened to see others dealing with the same issues, only not by choice. As their new editions become available over the next few months, I'll be promoting them whole-heartedly here on the blog and on my other social media channels!

Regardless, the time has come to announce that Dependent will be re-released BEFORE CHRISTMAS. 

I'm in the process of finalizing the cover and formatting, and hope to be ready to upload as early as next week!

I will be revealing my cover in the next week or so, so stay tuned. Things are moving fast! 

If you haven't read Dependent, please consider purchasing the new edition, either in ebook or paperback format. It brings up some very real issues.

Now, more than ever.

Women should not have to fear men in power. 

Brenda

NaNoWriMo Take Five (?)

All decked out, and no
place to go

Happy Halloween! 

Hope you are ready for the influx of ghosties and superheroes and Harry Potter lookalikes! :) I'm going through a bit of nostalgia as this will be the first Halloween we have spent without a full cadre of dressed-up Dunnes. With my eldest away at university and my other two teens in a new city with busy lives, I'm not sure any of them of will dress up.  The witches brew and mummy dogs will still be cooking up in the kitchen, and I'll be wearing my favourite purple and black striped tights.

So. October 31st also means preparation for one of the busiest months of my year... November. Remembrance Day. Diabetes Awareness Month (one of my teens is a juvenile (Type 1) diabetic). Christmas preparations. American Thanksgiving. And--when I'm feeling particularly crazy--National Novel Writing Month.

And this month I'm feeling particularly crazy.

The truth of the matter is, with all that's been going on, I'm in a bit of a writing rut. Not blocked (I'm not a believer in writer's block), but significantly decelerated. My mojo needs some gojo. There is nothing better than a month designated to not just pick away at, but to FINISH a project when you're an author. A suspended inner editor and a permission slip to let the laundry pile up...with several hundred other crazy nut-bars write (miss-spell intended) there along with you.

My first NaNo project!

If you've followed me since the beginning, you'll know that Treasure in the Flame started out as a NaNo project in 2010.

In 2011, a little idea I'd titled Red Sand Selkie battled it's way through to becoming SKIN.

2012 was Dependent's year.

2013 I worked on Off Grid (currently under sub).


In fact, just about every year since I found NaNo, I've used November as a month to do something with my writing.

This year for NaNo I'm HOPING to barrel through and finish at least one of the sequels I've got on my laptop... And I'm starting with the much requested sequel to SKIN, tentatively titled SWIM.

 Ocean and Sam are in trouble. Deeeeeeep trouble. And I have to get them out of a very nasty mess. I'm about 25k words in, making it a perfect 50k+ word winning NaNo project.

And that's the great thing about NaNoWriMo. You can't really 'lose'. Any words down at this point will be winning words. And in the end, you get a sequel. Wish me luck!

And now, back to my regularly scheduled Halloween candy pilfering... ;)


Brenda


*Nano Image Courtesy of National Novel Writing Month

The Art of Just Sitting

Attwood Bay, BC

Life is busy.

Life with three teens, two careers, and a husband in the RCAF sometimes borders on the insane. I love my life, though, and all of the amazing opportunities it presents. I love that I get to meet so many interesting people. I love that at my day job I can comfort the elderly in their final stages of life. I love the unique experiences that come from being the mom of three active kidlets and the wife of a serving member of the Canadian Armed Forces. And I love that we've seen so much of the world because of the fact that my hubby serves.

But sometimes--like now, for instance--I need to just sit.

Okay, maybe I'm not just sitting. I'm writing. But, For me, writing's like reading. It's an escape. I'm one of those extroverted introverts, and my batteries require a few minutes of calm and peaceful now and then to recharge themselves. A coffee, a comfy chair, some quiet music, a book or a laptop, and--my special treat--a warmed hot pack on my back. Oh, yeah. Bliss with a capital B. Heaven.

I need that time to rest my brain. Free time is so rare these days that when it happens it's almost a shock.  Wow! Is that really an hour in my schedule where I don't have to drive, work, organize or clean? I don't have groceries to buy, or checks to write, or meetings to attend, or laundry to do or kids to pick up or phone calls to make or forms to fill out or prescriptions to pick up or appointments to make...

Today, I have a day off. Imagine! What a strange concept.

Daddy-daughter moment

The problem is, in today's society our brains and bodies get so programmed to go a thousand miles a minute that it's hard to do nothing. It's hard to put the smart phone down (are they really that smart?), forget about the to-do list (oh yeah, we need bread...Must. Write. That. Down.) and be comfortable with simply existing. We may understand that the world will not cease because we are stepping away from it, but it's darned difficult to let ourselves pull back. We have to force ourselves to just sit.

So here's a scenario. Five days on a thirty-five foot sailboat. In a place so isolated it's called
Desolation Sound.

If you follow my Facebook page, you'll have seen some of the pictures. It took months of planning, hours and hours of preparation, and a big, circled no-you-may-not-book-anything-here slot on the calendar, but the Dunne Family were able to sail away to a place where there was no cell phone service. No wireless internet, and sometimes the mountains were so tall around us that they blocked our GPS.

Three teens, three books...

When you are that far from civilization on a tiny boat with four other people, just sitting is not just a necessity, it's an art.

We read a lot of books. In the five days, my eldest daughter read six. We played cards. We scanned the water for sea creatures (we saw porpoises, seals, thousands of jellyfish and even a pod of orcas), and the shore for bears (sadly, didn't see any). We snacked and fished and slept and sailed and at times we just sat.

It was awesome.

And when we came back, even though our bodies were tired and our laundry bins were full, our brains were rested...and our familial batteries were recharged for the insanity of the fall.

It's been two weeks since we returned from our holiday, and there's been barely a moment to think since, so days like today--with empty day planners and kids at school--are a treat to be savoured. Precious time to reflect on a summer well-spent, and maybe to read a little, write a little and just sit. I don't think you can ever perfect the art of just sitting...but I perhaps today I'll give it a shot.

And now to re-heat that hot pack...


Brenda

Strange humans...what are your rushing for?