Work In Progress Update...

After weeks of barely time to to think, let alone write, I finally managed to sit down to work on my WIP (Adult Contemporary, tentatively titled DEPENDENT) this week.  Thought I'd share a little Monday teaser. I'm sure some of you will recognize these feelings...

I gradulally rein in my emotions, taking slow, even breaths as John tells me about his trip—the flight over the Rockies, the turbulence over the prairies, the obnoxious jokes bantered around in the cock-pit. I make the required noises, the “Uh-hums” and the “Yeahs” and the “Ohs” that he wants to hear. The normalness of the conversation is soothing. He goes places, I listen to his stories, and live my life through his excitement. He longs for time with the kids, sitting at home, and I long for the excitement of new places and unknown skies.

“I gotta go,” he says after a few minutes more. “Meeting the crew for a debrief at seven.”

“Okay,” I say, and the panic starts to rise again.

“I’ll call you tomorrow if I get a chance, ‘kay?”

“Okay.”

“Love you,” he says.

“Love you too…” I reply, and then he hangs up.

I put the phone on the cradle slowly, the familiar emptiness expanding within me. I’m a thousand miles away in his hotel room, and I’m right here on this slowly disappearing mound of laundry. I shouldn’t really miss him yet, he’s only been gone a few hours, but I miss what he is to me. He’s safety and warmth, and someone to talk to. He’s a raft in a windswept sea of insanity. He’s normal and happy and calm and silly and all of the things that make life bearable. I miss that.

I’m still staring at the phone when it rings again.

 

 

I just hit 47,000 words with this one and am hoping to finish it by the end of October.  And then it's NaNoWriMo time! November is all about a a sequel to Treasure in the Flame. I'm rolling around ideas for a name for Treasure #2.  Hmmmmm....

Have a great Monday!

 

Brenda

Launch Week Recap

Six days, 2500km of driving, numerous meetings, two signings, a school presentation and a whole lot of learning later, TREASURE IN THE FLAME is now well and truly launched into the world. What a fabulous time! And what better place to launch my book than in the place that gave birth to the story itself, my home province of New Brunswick? And even better, I got to spend Canadian Thanksgiving weekend with family and friends in my home town.  Wonderful.

Rather than bore you all with the details, I'll share some of my favorite pictures of the day below.  I'm sad I didn't get a picture of the students and teachers at Woodstock Middle School (who were so welcoming and fun), but believe me when I say it was a great place to visit...and my dry throat after speaking to two consecutive classes (for 48 minutes straight each) gave me a new respect for teachers!

Hanging out with owner Greg MacFarlane of Ryan's Pharmacy in my hometown of Nackawic!

I spent a few fantastic hours signing books at Ryan's Pharmacy on Friday morning (October 5th).  They have generously offered to sell my books there! Met up with many, many familiar faces from the past, and a few new ones. So nice to see everyone!

After the morning at Ryan's I drove to Westminster Books in Fredericton, who have also agreed to sell TREASURE.  Hope to get back there to do a signing sometime soon.

 

LAUNCH DAY!



October 6th "Launch at the Landing"...me all ready to sign and say hello!

Launch day dawned a bit dreary, but what better way to spend Thanksgiving weekend than to visit a historical settlement?  Not sure how many people came through the door, but I had visits from friends I hadn't seen in YEARS and met so many wonderful, interesting visitors.  The staff at Kings Landing are FANTASTIC. So kind, helpful and supportive of my book. 

The Printmaster

One of the great things about launching a historical fiction in a living, working museum is the fact that the staff not only know history, they live it every day.  When I asked if Jim, the Printmaster, would mind making up a bookmark with his fancy 1890's hand press, he knew just what to do. It's mind boggling how many little bitty metal letters, numbers and symbols are in his shop. But the result was gorgeous... See?

Beautiful bookmark!

I have hundreds of other pictures, but I leave you with one last shot...and save a few for another time.  This is a picture taken in the Ingerham house...hot fresh baked biscuits (from a dutch oven heated by coals at the fireside) and handcrafted raspberry butter.  YUM. You cannot know how good this was. I'm sure Caroline couldn't have done much better herself.  It was warm and cozy in the kitchen with the hearth fire blazing, and the ladies were working on needlework and knitting as we snacked.  A perfect afternoon in a 19thC kitchen. 

 

All in all it was a great week!  Thank you so much to everyone who made it possible.  I couldn't have done it without you.  And now to finish my work in progress and prepare for NaNoWriMo (ie-writing a sequel to TREASURE)...  Have a great week!

 

Brenda

 



Launch at the Landing!

Where: King's Landing Historical Settlement in New Brunswick (more information HERE)

When: October 6th, 2012 (opening hours from 10-5, best time to catch me is between 2 and closing at the Visitor's Centre)

Who: ME!

What: It's Thanksgiving weekend at the Landing, so it will be a great time to pop by, have a look around, try some apple pie and enjoy the atmosphere.  I'll be in the Visitors Centre, so say hello on your way in, and buy a book (and have it signed) on your way out! Or join me at the King's Head Inn for lunch, where I might just crack open a book and read a bit while I sip some yummy apple cider. Can't wait to see you all there!

Look What's New! -->

Okay, so after several looooong days of fighting with PayPal set up, I think I've succeeded in posting a paypal button!

LOOK OVER HERE :) --------->

 

I am no techie genius, so I haven't a clue if it will work. Cross your fingers and let me know if you try to order and there are problems.

For now, this option is only available to Canadian residents and only for the print copy (paperback) of TREASURE IN THE FLAME....to all of my other friends around the world who are looking to purchase direct, leave me a comment below and I'll see what I can do. Thank you for your patience! You guys are the absolute best.

~Brenda~

Sleepy Saturday Morning.

Words, put together with other words in the right way, can be wonderful things.

-me, in a conversation while snuggling with my handsome son this morning.

"Mom! You should put that on your author-page-thingy," he said to me.

So there you go. Hope you find some wonderfully put together words on this rainy Saturday morning.


Brenda

Wednesday Word-tease.

Was reading over my completed manuscript, SKIN, and this little bit asked me to share it with you....so here you go.

The sun has now set behind us but in front of us, beyond the beach, a huge orange moon is erupting from the waves. It slowly peeks over the horizon and then explodes above the ocean like an atomic balloon, up and up until it frees itself from the world and floats alone. I’m mesmerized.

I flick my eyes over to Sam to see if he is seeing this but he’s not looking through the window. He’s looking at me.

“You don’t see a lot of moonrises in the city,” he says.

“No, not like this.”

He’s studying my face. I’m too shy to study him back, so I fiddle with the hem on my skirt.

“I…I never thought to look,” I finally say to fill the silence.

“You should. The moon is important, it orchestrates the tides.”

Ah...but why would the moon be important? Why would Sam care about the tides? And that, my friends, you will have to find out another time.

Happy Hump Day!

Brenda

 

Paperback Now Available!

Hooray! Yahoo! Dance for joy!

TREASURE IN THE FLAME is now available to purchase in beautiful paperback format from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Amazon Europe (.it, .sp...)! I am so excited to share it with you!

Don't live in the USA, UK or Europe? Amazon will ship to most other countries (including Canada!). The shipping charge is small for one book.

If you are wondering... Amazon.ca will eventually carry TREASURE, but they lag a few weeks behind the other Amazon companies. In the meantime, I have books on hand, and will be offering them for sale for anyone in the local area. If there is enough interest I may also offer a purchase option via my blog using PayPal. (please comment below if you like the idea of this option.)

In the next few weeks I hope to bring my book to gift shops in several historical places, to indie bookstores, and to other places of interest. I am also planning a trip to beautiful New Brunswick for signings and maybe even a 'Late Launch at the Landing'. Please keep checking back for more information.

Don't forget to 'Like' me on facebook (Brenda Corey Dunne-Author) and 'Follow' me on twitter (@overdunne) for up to the moment updates!

Happy reading!

Brenda