Blog Tour: Johnny Worthen

ELEANOR, the UNSEEN

I recently had the privilege of interviewing the fabulous Johnny Worthen about his new novel: Eleanor, book one of The Unseen. Johnny is a publisher-mate, and his story releases July1st. I was lucky enough to get my hands on an ARC, and it's a great read!

On to the interview!

*  *  *

B: Welcome to my blog, Johnny and congratulations on your release of ELEANOR!

J: Thank you Brenda. I’m pretty excited to have Eleanor coming out. She means a lot to me.

B: So, questions. When did you start writing Eleanor?

J: The idea for Eleanor the character came to me on a vacation to Taos New Mexico with my family. Driving along a lonely high desert road, I first saw my young vulnerable girl in a small western town hiding in plain sight. The idea stayed with me and grew. After months pondering and planning,  I dropped my pen on February 20, 2012 and had a rough draft on March 28. It just flowed out my fingers.

B: Describe the process from start to finish. Are you an outliner or a pantser?

J: I know some people who’ll write a forty-thousand word outline for a sixty-thousand word novel. I’m not like that, but neither do I start out without a map. My prewriting stages are all about characters, setting, scenes and theme.  Theme is the most important. I’m not talking about morals or lessens, I’m talking about central questions. In Eleanor’s case it was change the ideal metaphor for adolescence and the contradictions I foresaw in her. Using the theme as a beacon to navigate the characters through the scenes I planned, I wrote. The scenes are the way points, the theme a guiding light, my daily writing the progress.

B: Where did you get your inspiration for the character of Eleanor?

J: I envisioned an ultimate outsider, someone special but unnoticed, deliberately ordinary but truly extraordinary. I saw a powerless being with great power, but having to keep it quiet. I saw someone who’s lost much and about to lose more, struggling with the very notion of survival while trying to form a family. The inspiration for all this came from many places. My niece in particular was an inspiration. She was shy and yet had a noble strength. Native American legends played a big role, as did my grandmother who showed strength when she was weakest.

B: What is your favorite part about being an author?

J: The feelings of completion. There’s the completion of my daily word goal, the thrill of having completed a book – that’s a huge one. Then there’s completing a sale of a book, contacts and all that, and finally and ultimately the excitement of holding it in my hands and knowing other people will read it too.

B: Least favorite part?

J: Rejection. It’s part of the job, a big part – bigger than anyone outside this world can imagine. You never really get used to it and it happens. All. The. Time.

B: Totally agree. It's a very 'NO' world in publishing. Glad you could turn that into a 'YES' for Eleanor. In an ideal world, what would happen next for you in your writing career?

J: A movie deal for Eleanor, The Unseen, after it achieves best-seller status. Or before. I can go either way.

B: Wouldn't we all love that. Ah, a movie deal!  Sigh. So...Dogs or cats?

J: Cats. My writing buddy is Junior. The kids named her. Her. She’s a she and she stays up with me when I need to the quiet of the small hours of the morning to work.

B: And lastly, the most important question of all…Coffee or Tea?

J: Coffee. My muse talks to me in hot cups of espresso.  I’ve considered naming coffee on my dedication page before

Johnny in his signature tie dye shirt!

B: Yes! I knew you were a coffee person. Yay Coffee! Thank you so much for coming over to visit! And best of luck making that ideal world become reality.

J: Thanks!

Want to find out more about Eleanor? Check out these links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Eleanor-The-Unseen-Johnny-Worthen/dp/1939967341/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400344815&sr=8-1&keywords=eleanor+by+johnny

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/eleanor-johnny-worthen/1117389206?ean=9781939967343

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18754928-eleanor

You can find Johnny Worthen online here:

https://www.facebook.com/JohnnyWorthenBooks
https://twitter.com/JohnnyWorthen
http://www.johnnyworthen.blogspot.com/

Until next time!

Brenda

DEPENDENT Cover Reveal!

       I am extremely and utterly thrilled to share with you the fine work of the design team at Jolly Fish Press! They've taken my story and turned it into a picture (a difficult job, let me tell you), and I LOVE it! It's fabulous.

Ready to see it?

       Well, before I show you, may I just add that DEPENDENT is now up on GOODREADS! Pop on by and click on that little 'to read' button!

       And if you like what you see there, did you know that it is also up on AMAZON for pre-order? This blows my mind. The release day is in July of 2014, but there it is.

Ready to see it now?

       Oh, if you want to keep up to date with what's going on, the best place for updates is my FACEBOOK page. 'Like' my page to get my posts in your feed.

Now are you ready to see it?

 

OKAY!

Scroll down for the big reveal!

*Drum roll please*

 

*

 

*

 

*

 

*

 

*

 

*

 

*

 

*

 

*

 

*

 

*

 

*

 

 

TA DAA!

 

 

 

       SO? What do you think? Pop your thoughts in the comments block below!

 

 

       I LOVE it. I love the lower case 'dependent', the simplicity and femininity of her hair. I love that she is bare beneath the cage of her title. I love the black and white. And I love the purple, a mix of Air Force blue and feminine pink. When you read the book, you'll see why these things matter to me.

 

       Here's the teaser blurb from Amazon:

 

 

      When 45-year-old Ellen Michaels loses her husband to a tragic military accident, she is left in a world of gray. For 25 years her life has been dictated by the ubiquitous They—the military establishment that has included her like chattel with John’s worldly goods—his Dependents, Furniture, and Effects. They—who have stolen her hopes, her dreams and her innocence, and now in mere months will take away the roof over her head. Ellen is left with nothing to hold on to but memories and guilt and an awful secret that has held her in its grip since she was 19. John’s untimely death takes away her anchor, and now, without the military, there is no one to tell her where to go, what to do—no one to dictate who she is. Dependent deals with issues ever-present in today’s service families—early marriage, frequent long absences, the culture of rank, and posttraumatic stress, as well as harassment and abuse of power by higher-ranking officials. It presents a raw and realistic view of life for the lives of the invisible support behind the uniform

 

 

       Thank you, and please SHARE!

 

       Brenda

ELEANOR Cover Reveal!

So the amazing team at Jolly Fish Press have been SUPER busy this week, and I have the honor and privilege of sharing not one, not two, but THREE new covers for my JFP friends over the next few days! So exciting...as I'm looking at the results of their work and am SUPER EXCITED to see how DEPENDENT turns out!

So without any more preamble it is my pleasure to reveal to you the AMAZING cover for Johnny  Worthen's upcoming young adult/paranormal title...

ELEANOR

Drum roll please!

(Scroll down)

 

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

 

“Eleanor is a modest girl, unremarkable but extraordinary, young but old, malleable but fixed. She is scared and confused. She is a liar and a thief. Eleanor is not what she appears to be.”

 

Ooooo! Aaaaa! Ohhhh!

 

What are your thoughts?

 

You can find out more about Eleanor at Johnny's website... www.johnnyworthen.com or on the Jolly Fish website here.

 

Another cover reveal tomorrow... LK Hill's  CITADELS OF FIRE! Have a fabulous Tuesday!

 

Brenda

Book Review: Here Without You by Tammara Webber

I bought my first Tammara Webber book about two years ago, based on a best-seller/inexpensive e-book recommendation on my Kindle.  It sounded fun, light, and cheap so I paid the three or four dollars and downloaded BETWEEN THE LINES.

I finished it in a day.

I downloaded the second book, WHERE YOU ARE. I devoured it. Then I waited...not very patiently I might add...for book three: GOOD FOR YOU. Same thing.

So when book four, HERE WITHOUT YOU, released I couldn't even wait to dig my Kindle out of the back seat of my car...which my husband had taken with him on a business trip. I downloaded it on my iPhone. Twenty four hours later, I'm writing this blog. For no other reason than I can't contain my gushing praise for a great book.

The Synopsis (From Ms. Webber's blog):

Everyone has secrets.
Some are buried so deep, their existence is forgotten.
But a secret never told can turn into a lie.
And in love, a lie is one thing:
Poison.
 
 
 Reid is in love with Dori, though she hasn't told her parents she's fallen hard for the guy they'd forbidden her to see. Now she's leaving for college, and Reid's promise not to push her to go public is wearing thin, especially when she can't - or won't - return those three important words he wants to hear.

 Five years ago, Brooke and Reid were a Thing. That relationship is long gone, detonated amid allegations of cheating - but they still share a secret that would stun everyone they know and alter public perception of them both if it ever comes out. And it's about to do just that.

 Here Without You is the fourth, final installment in the Between the Lines series, which includes: Between the Lines, Where You Are, and Good For You.


The BETWEEN THE LINES series is a New Adult series that follows Hollywood starlets as they discover love and learn that life can't be scripted. Emma, Reid, Brooke, Dori, and Graham have to deal with some serious issues, always underscored by the paparazzi's take on things. Lies get magnified and truths get altered by one picture, one rumor or one misunderstood gesture. In Reid and Dori's case, his past destructive behavior and his present celebrity status become a deterrent to her feelings for him. And the secrets they both hold could completely destroy the one good thing that's happened to either of them in a long time.

As a writer, I've found that I read more and more for pure enjoyment. If something doesn't catch me, doesn't entertain me, I don't want to read it. I'm not looking for deep literary tomes. I'm looking to fall in love with characters and live their problems with them. I'm looking for small truths revealed amidst real-to-life dialogue and story telling. Regardless of age range or genre. And if you're looking for something similar, this series is for you. Tammara Webber is...I don't have enough superlatives to put into words her amazingness. Or what a fabulous job she does at bringing characters to life. I want to shake Dori. I want to swoon over Reid. I want to hug River. I want you to READ THIS BOOK. It's just that good.  Two HUGE thumbs up.

Only down side? The 'fourth, final installment' part. Nooooooooooooo! Say it isn't so! I want more.


Brenda

Up In The Air! A Canada Day Blog Tour Post

Happy Canada Day! For Canada Day this year, I'm taking a slightly different approach, and am hosting Ann Marie Meyers on her Blog Tour for UP IN THE AIR, her soon to be released middle grade novel. Ann Marie is a Jolly Fish Press publisher-mate of mine, and she lives in Toronto. I had the opportunity to meet her while in Toronto this week!

The interview...

BCD:  Hi Ann Marie and Happy Canada Day! And congrats on your upcoming release of Up in the Air!

AMM: Thanks Brenda. It’s wonderful to chat with you today. Oh, and Happy Canada Day to you as well.

 

BCD: So because it’s Canada Day, and I know you hail from Trinidad, I thought maybe you could tell us a bit of your journey that brought you to Canada. What brought you north?

AMM: My husband, no less. And a bit of synchronicity. We had just moved back to Manhattan after spending several years in California (long story there). After all that time, the city felt strange to us. Manhattan was busier, noisier, so much more intense. I think our absence for so long had softened us, though I have to admit that my daughter, who was three years old at the time, took to the city like a shark in water. J My husband, to my utter shock and horror, wanted to leave for somewhere ‘calmer’. Coincidentally, around that time, he decided to fulfill one of his dreams of riding (on his motorcycle) to Toronto; which he fell in love with instantly. And so after lots of discussion, preparation, formalities etc. etc., we ended up moving here.

BCD: Wow, quite a journey! Were there any Canadian influences in the writing of Up In the Air?

 

AMM:  Not at all. I started writing Up In The Air while I was still in the States. The idea came to me while I was meditating one day, and it resonated with me so strongly that I knew I had to write it.  

BCD: I know one of the questions I had as a new author was: how will being Canadian affect my journey to publication? So I’d like to talk about that with another fellow author on the northern side of the border. Do you have an agent in Canada? How did you meet him/her?



Ann Marie and I in Toronto, with
an Up in the Air ARC!

AMM:  Actually, I signed directly with Jolly Fish Press. I had taken a year off from writing to clear my mind and recover from so many rejections. However, in April of 2012 I got this overriding drive to tackle Up In The Air again. In June, I submitted the manuscript to Jolly Fish Press and they signed me up shortly afterwards.

 

BCD: Wow, that's great! I know that Jolly Fish Press is located in the US, what are some pros and cons of living in one country and publishing in another?

 

AMM:  One big pro is that my book will have an immediate and greater presence in the US. I will also have a wider audience where the books can sell and I can even do readings in the US. The flip side is that it takes longer for books to be shipped to bookstores here in Canada, not to mention the added taxes and duties involved.

 

BCD: Good points. On a slightly different tack, what is your favourite place in Canada you’ve been to so far? And why?

 

AMM:  Montreal! Old Montreal, in particular, reminds me a bit of Manhattan, NYC. There is a vibrancy to it, a life all its own that resonated very strongly with me when I visited with my family. Montreal has a certain character that leaps out at you, and which I fell in love with immediately.

 

BCD: Is there anywhere in Canada you haven’t been to yet that you’d like to go?

 

AMM: Many places. PEI, Vancouver, Victoria. One of my dreams is to rent a RV and travel within Canada for at least a couple of months.

 

BCD: All great places! I loooooove PEI. And Vancouver, and Victoria... So many places, so little time. Thank you so much for stopping by on your very busy month, Ann Marie! Best of luck with your book!

 

AMM: Thanks Brenda!

 

A little bit about UP IN THE AIR... (taken from Goodreads)

Ever since she can remember, ten-year-old Melody has always wanted to fly.


And when she leaps off a swing in the park one day and lands in the mystical realm of Chimeroan, her dream finally comes true. She is given a pair of wings. She can fly! Life cannot be any better.


Yet, dreams do come with a price. Even with wings, Melody realizes she cannot outfly the memories of her past. The car accident that has left her father paralyzed, and her unscarred, still plagues her with guilt—she believes that it was entirely her fault.


In Chimeroan, Melody is forced to come to terms with her part in her father's accident. She must choose between the two things that have become the world to her: keeping her wings or healing her father.

 

Looking to purchase this fabulous story? You can find UP IN THE AIR on Amazon here, on Barnes and Noble here, and on Goodreads here. In Canada, it will be able for order at Amazon here and Chapters/Indigo here. Make sure you ask at your local bookstore first!

You can find Ann Marie Meyers online at these links:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AnnMarieMeyersauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnnMarie_Meyers
Website: http://www.annmarie-meyers.com/

Hope you have a great CANADA DAY, wherever you are!

Brenda

A Dream Come True

 

(Drum roll, please...) 

 

***GUESS WHAT?***

 

I am EXTREMELY excited to announce that my Adult Fiction, DEPENDENT, has...

 

FOUND A PUBLISHER!

 

WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

 

I've just signed a contract with Jolly Fish Press for publication tentatively SUMMER 2014!

 

Me, signing my contract!

 

DEPENDENT is the story of a military spouse--a story of love, loss and inner-strength. It's raw, emotional and very real...very different from anything I've ever written. After 8 years of slowly picking away at it, it took only a few weeks to find a home! My agents at Literary Counsel are THE BEST! I'm so excited to work with Christopher Loke and Jolly Fish Press in bringing this story to the world. It's going to be a busy and exciting year.

 

See? Dreams DO come true!

 

 

 

Brenda

Quick Update

Hi fabulous followers et al!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter/Passover/Spring Break or whatever you celebrate!

Sorry I've been so quiet on the blog as of late, but life has been very busy with a new day job (which I love), crazy edits (which I'm, ah-hem, learning to love), chats with my agents (who are AMAZING), book signings (so much fun!) and the regular day to day insanity that is the life of a working mom, writer, and military spouse. Things should be quieting down for a few weeks, and I'm hoping to focus on getting some new words down on at least one of my projects.



At Chapters Pinecrest, Ottawa. A great day!

I spent Easter at home with family, and managed to fit in a few book signings at Westminster Books in downtown Fredericton and at Chapters Regent Mall. I had a great time, met some wonderful people, chatted with some potential young authors and even sold a few copies of TREASURE! It's truly rewarding to hear the feedback from readers, and I had several people pop by just to tell me how much they loved reading my book.

One of the biggest compliments I've recieved--and now I've heard it twice--is that reading TREASURE was not only enjoyable, but that it encouraged the reader to read OTHER BOOKS. That reading my book gave them so much pleasure, it made them want to read more--to "get back into reading". Now THAT is a compliment! So happy to reunite readers with the wonders of a good book!

My PR guy has been working overtime, and I've also been in several papers in both the Ottawa area and the Fredericton area over the past few weeks. My favourite was an interview for the EMC. You can find a link to the story here.

One quick note: I've had a couple of people comment that when they go to a Chapters store, my book comes up as "0 copies in this store" on the store computers. TREASURE is IN STOCK at the Chapters stores listed on the tab above. Self-published books do not show up on their computer system because they are stocked differently. Go to a store clerk/employee and ask them. They'll help you find where they are! If you have any other problems, please comment below, and I'll happily connect you with a copy.

Have a great week! Brenda

Be Prepared

I was thinking about advice last night after a chat with the Twitter #writersroad folks. I've been at this for a while now, and though I don't count myself an expert, I've certainly got a bit of experience in the world of writing. So if I were to give advice to someone just starting out, just getting their feet wet, what would I say to them?

Be prepared.

Novels do not give birth to themselves, magically springing forth onto the earth. Sure some people have lucky rabbits feet surgically attached to their forehead, writing full novels in 25 days and walking into contracts with Big Six publishers after their first drafts, but it is very, very rare. It takes a lot of guts to work through the mechanics of writing a novel. And a lot of perseverance. Pushing a novel through to success is not an easy task, whatever route you take--self published or traditionally published. Be prepared for a long road ahead.

1. Be prepared to work. Writing a novel is work. Long hours at a keyboard. Emails. Phone calls. Networking. Reading. Research. Editing. Editing. Editing. Numb hands and sore butt cheeks. Sweat, tears and more editing. Writing is a 'profession' for a reason. You have to work at it to be successful.

2. Be prepared to learn. When I started writing--really writing--about eight years ago, I thought I knew everything. Sure, I'm smart. I'll just pop a few words down on paper, send 'em off, and voila! I'm an author! Wow, was I an idiot. My education began then and it is ongoing. Every day of this journey I learn something new. How to format a manuscript for submission. How to get my self-published book into Chapters bookstores. How to build a platform (still working on that!). The dos and don'ts of writing--don't start with a dream, a prologue, a mirror, a purple frog...oh my goodness there are a lot of don'ts (my self-pubbed novel starts with a prologue! Oh horrors!)! The dos and don'ts of querying (made tons of mistakes there, too...). How to make an em dash on Blogger (how the heck do you do that anyway??). The learning does not end. The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know. Each step is another door to learning. Embrace it.

3. Be prepared to spend money. Unless you are fortunate enough to have a superskilled and generous friends, a rich spouse, or an inheritance big enough to pay the bills and then some, don't give up your day job. No matter how skilled you are sooner or later you will need to cough up money to pay someone for their professional services, especially if you are planning to self-publish. Good books take money to produce. If you skimp, it will show. HOWEVER, there are also a whole lot of people out there willing to take your money for sub-standard work or fraudulent reasons. Before you give anyone your money, do your research.

4. Be prepared to step WAY out of your comfort zone. The first time external eyes looked at my first manuscript I was an emotional wreck. My first radio interview was insanity (can you believe I used to aspire to be a TV journalist?). And surprisingly, what I view as my best writing so far was also the hardest to write, because it was an expression of some of my deepest fears and required me to take risks. Stepping out of your comfort zone opens your writing to new possibilities. Take a deep breath and go for it!

5. Be prepared for curveballs. This one became very evident to me last month. After self publishing TREASURE, and months of flogging my new manuscript SKIN to anyone who would listen, I was disheartened and on the verge of going the self pub route with that too (and not because it wasn't good enough...but because I hadn't found the right agent yet). As you now know, I took one last chance at the encouragement of my CP friend Tina, and was thrilled to be offered an agenting agreement with Jennifer Mishler at Literary Counsel! Whodda thunkit? Thanks to my 'why not?' attitude, I made what could potentially be my most valuable publishing connection yet (Yay, Jenn!)! Writing is like that. Sometimes the unplanned is the magic.

6. Be prepared for criticism. The most well-known writers are also the most highly criticized. There are people out there who make a living criticizing writers. If you publish anything, in any way, people will comment and not all comments will be good. Those comments will hurt, but keep going. Highly polished manuscripts go through draft after draft of revisions. My self pubbed novel went through at least six drafts, and probably could have gone through more. Be ready to hear bad things about your writing.

7. Be prepared to SHINE! Conversely, the BEST part about writing is having someone read your stuff and tell you they like it! I am a praise junkie. I eat it up. Every single bit of praise fuels me to write more, do better, learn more and work harder. It's even better (and somewhat shocking) when a complete stranger comes up to me and says "I read your book in an afternoon! I loved it! Please write another!" I grin ear to ear and want to shout out to the world--"DIDJA HEAR THAT? She liked it! She really liked it!" What a wonderful feeling!

Most important of all...If writing is your dream, do not give up. Believe in your writing. Be realistic, and ready for the unexpected, but keep writing. Believe in yourself.

And that, my lovely writing friends, is what it is all about.


Brenda

Snow Day!

Today is our first 'Snow Day' of the school year. In our house snow days are stay-in-your-pjs, playing-games-and-watching-tv, baking kind of days. They're sitting-by-the-fire-and-drinking-hot-chocolate kind of days.

Because travel is unsafe (there's a half of inch of ice on the roads--rather like a skating rink out there), all pre-planned activities are off until further notice. Who doesn't love a free day off?

One of the projects I'm currently working on, a YA pre-dystopian set in rural Maine, opens in a blizzard. A 'weather bomb' as they sometimes call it. What if our beloved snow day was set in a rural area when the world's oil had all but run out? What if there were no plows, salting trucks and snowmobiles to help us get out of the mess? I've tentatively entitled it 'FROZEN' and I'm about 16,000 words in. Here's an excerpt for your stormy-day reading pleasure...

He’s taller than me, almost three inches taller. He looks like Dad in many ways, just skinnier. Tall, dark hair and freckles. He twiddles a piece of timothy in his hands—hands that likely harvested that very piece of timothy. Hands that have seen more work than some of his friends will see in their entire lives.

“Do you think we’ll ever see Dad again?” he finally asks. I should have seen that coming. Of all of us, he understood Dad the best.

I look away, watching as Smoke paces in his stall, then puts his head back down, looking for more hay.

I don’t want to lie to Frankie. I love my little brother, and in some ways I’m the closest thing to Dad that he’s got right now.

“I don’t know,” I say quietly, and that’s the truth. I don’t know if he’ll survive whatever he’s thrown himself into. And if he does survive, I don’t know how he’ll be able to make it back to us. Anything that can cross the ocean needs oil to do it, and the government wouldn’t risk sending its soldiers in a wind-powered ship. At least I don’t think they would.

“You miss him a lot,” I say.

“Yah.” His voice does that pitch see-saw again.

I don’t reply. I miss Dad, but I’ve learned to live without him. Frankie misses him more, needs him more. How can I help a fourteen year old boy find his way? I’m just a mall-queen turned tom-boy. I put my arm around him and rest my head on his shoulder. Instead of leaning away, like a boy, he leans back…like a man.

We sit there listening to the animals chomping and squawking until the wind begins to blow.

 

Brenda :)

Christmas is coming!

Christmas preps are in full swing and I've been having a great time sharing my story with others this week! I hired a PR guy (*cough* my husband *cough*) and he has been a huge help in getting the word out to everyone! He even got me a spot in the local paper!

On Thursday morning I was fortunate enough to have a chance to talk to Drew and Diana at Star 97.5 in Kemptville on their morning show! It was a lot of fun chatting about my book and how it came into being. I even left a signed copy for them to give away, so stay tuned if you live in the Kemptville area! You can find out more here.  I also did a taped interview for 1310 news/ Y101 in Ottawa. My PR guy had suggested I call them and set up a time...so I did so from the side of the road on my cell phone. I was completely cought off guard when the call turned into an interview! Y101 covers most of Eastern Ontario...so if you heard it, please know that I was in my truck on the side of the road as I spoke with them. Yeah, I learned my lesson! Always be prepared when talking to the media! I believe they ran it yesterday, and again this morning.

Today, December 1st, I will be signing books from 11:30 to 2:30 at Mirick's Landing in Merrickville as part of Christmas in Merrickville celebrations.  You can find out more here. And tomorrow I will be doing the same thing at the Jack Purcell Centre in Ottawa (just off of Elgin street) as part of the Ottawa Authors and Artisans Fair. Info is here. I'm looking forward to attending both events-- and maybe get some of my Christmas shopping done!

Also a gentle reminder...If you'd like to buy a book off of my website (Paypal button to the right of this post), the best time to do so is before December 7th. I can't guarantee that the books will get there before Christmas if you order later than that, and I'd hate for it to arrive late!

Hope you are all enjoying the build up to the holiday season. I'm really looking forward to spending some time with my favourite people in the world...my family...as the big day approaches. And maybe even read a book that I didn't write! Any good suggestions? 

Brenda