Thursday, October 6, 2016

The Rearview Mirror

The rear view mirror reflects home but an adventure lays ahead.  Day two has us travelling from Bozeman, Montana to Springville, Utah.   But first we head up into ski country.  It's hard to get a good picture out of a moving vehicle but in mountain country it's still an awesome shot.

Breakfast is on the road and a stop at the Blue Moon Bakery where there were fantastic scones and funky ambiance.  Nestled in the mountains this was a sleepy little town poised to come to life with the upcoming ski season.  Sadly the ambiance was quickly left behind as the road and more gorgeous scenery called.  

A small glitch where the GPS was just not cooperating and the falling apart paper map had to be consulted.

What are the odds?

Arrived in Salt Lake City and on a spur of the moment decision decided to risk driving in the dark and see the Tabernacle.  Everything was crazy busy and not a parking spot in sight.  Although in the second lap around the area there was enough time to appreciate the gorgeous historic houses that line one street.  The busyness?  Turns out they were having one of their yearly conventions.  What are the odds?

So it was off to Springville, Utah where an old bank building with marble columns and soaring ceiling now houses a restaurant.  The smile of the day was with the waiter who offered lemonade or soda as a beverage.  Expecting this, it's Utah after all, my husband asked hopefully if there was any beer.  The young man who was our waiter lit up like we'd given him a present.  "Lots of good beer," he raved.  "I know beer."  He smiled and I noticed the hole under his lip where the earring had been removed and the tattoo peaking from beneath his shirt sleeve.  Not everything is as it seems.

And the road rolls on.

In the meantime, if you haven't read about it yet, I'm hanging with some fabulous authors.  This is a fantastic chance to have some fun, find some great reads and enter for a chance to win a $100 gift certificate.  Need more books?  Want some fun picking covers and blurbs?  Check it out here:  

Safe Travels!


Monday, October 3, 2016

Meet Your Next Fave Book! And Win...Win!

I'm on the road and enjoying the sights and there'll be more of that in the next few posts.  But while I'm tripping along and looking forward to standing on the corner of Winslow, Arizona, here's what else is going on...

 It's a romantic intrigue extravaganza!

A chance to discover some great stories while entering for a chance to win a fabulous prize!

Not only that but I'm participating in this amazing contest.  Quick, pinch me!  Or better yet, just go to the site, have some fun checking out and voting for best cover and blurb, and enter to win a prize to make any book lover drool. 

Seriously, you won't want to miss this!  The prizes and the fun are completely worth checking this out.  Really!

It's all here at: 

Here's the thing, not only is this a great chance to have some fun by voting for covers and blurbs, it's also an opportunity to enter a fantastic contest that could see you winning a $100 gift certificate from Amazon or Barnes & Noble (your choice).   I don't know about you, but I love simple and this is a super easy one-click entry, no Rafflecopter or anything complicated. Winner will be announced on Oct. 18th.


Saturday, October 1, 2016

Place Is A State Of Mind

Today is the beginning of journey south.  It's a vacation to get away from it all although I'm still taking work with me.  What I bring with though, isn't really work, at least it doesn't feel like that.  When you love what you do, it doesn't feel like work.   This vacation is mostly about getting away from the usual, the mundane- the common place and the obligations for a time.  But all that is a post for another time.

In the meantime, let's state the obvious.  I love fiction and I especially love unique settings, places where I learn about people foreign to me and as I learn about them, they give me inspiration to give breath to their fictional lives.

So let's get to some places...

First stop - US customs that was slightly longer than anticipated.  Five minutes turned into fifteen, but finally we were on our way.

A few hours later, the outskirts of Sidney, Montana came into view.  Sidney is a welcoming little town, one that if we were further into our journey, would be a great place to stay but today is about making miles.  So after a slice of pizza and a coffee my husband and I head off.  Pizza and coffee, a strange combination but it worked!

Now it's off down the road and the deeper we get, unlike our shared border which is really a mirage that has you wondering if you left the country, it is so much the same.  Here though, the differences between Canada and our neighbour become clearer.  It is evident in the housing styles, in the crops and in so many other ways.  But that's travel and that's what makes it fun and enjoyable - the differences.

The differences run as shallow as they are deep.  Hours from the Canadian/American border,  we stop for gas and see - what would be a 911 call in Canada -  the armed man with the gun on his belt heading into the gas/convenience store.  Here, I take a step back and let him enter the story well ahead of me.

Inside the store, I find myself behind what I would call a cowboy, typical maybe to one born a hundred years ago but still, one born and bred to the land.  His cowboy hat is so stiff with dirt and shiny with grease that it makes me think that he was either born with it in his hand and he's worn it all his life or he inherited it.  His dirt encrusted boots indicate a life on the land and far form soap or maybe an equipment breakdown and a panicked trip to town.   Ether way, he's a character and it makes it all so deliciously foreign.

It's all intriguing and different from home, even here, these few miles over the border.   But it's all good because you know,  this is someone else's life and someone else's culture and as a writer, I greedily make a note of it all.

Seeing new sights, talking to new people, it all makes for another character, another situation and hopefully, another story.

And this is only the beginning...

...a world you never imagined