5 on Friday -- Set 288

Spinning Friday tunes since 2010...

For anyone who wants to join in, simply choose five pieces of music and post them for other bloggers to enjoy. Then check out the set posted by the other 5 on Friday blogger -- you can sign in over at Golch Central's Rambling Stuff.

Here we are, back at the cottage for our annual writing retreat. Shawna Romkey, Kelly Boyce and I travelled together with the keys to open the cottages, so we were up with the dawn. A gorgeous drive down, and now we've already got over half the retreaters here and it's still an hour to go till lunchtime.

Can you say, 'Bliss, thy name is writing retreat'?

1 - The Rain, The Park and Other Things - The Cowsills

2 - Happy Together - Turtles

3 - Just My Imagination - The Temptations

4 - #9 Dream - John Lennon

5 - Dreamweaver - Gary Wright

I'm blogging at The Popculturedivas today

Join me at The Popculturedivas for Our Yankee Book Swap Tradition.

I'm blogging at The Popculturedivas today

Join me at The Popculturedivas for The Power of Brainstorming.

5 on Friday -- Set 242

Spinning Friday tunes since 2010...

For anyone who wants to join in, simply choose five pieces of music and post them for other bloggers to enjoy. Then check out the set posted by the other 5 on Friday blogger -- you can sign in over at Golch Central's Rambling Stuff.

My writers' group had a busy weekend last week, making our second appearance at Word on the Street in Halifax. That's me above with fellow Romance of Atlantic Canada authors Jennie Marsland and Donna Alward at the opening reception, which took place at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design's Institute of Applied Creativity on Saturday night.

As I was heading out following the reception -- just before the East Coast literary awards were about to start -- I bumped into Stephen and Jeanie Kimber. If you can seriously believe it's been basically 30 years ago, I was the Kimber's nanny (mostly for their youngest, who is now 30!) Stephen went on to win the Evelyn Richardson Non-fiction award for What Lies Across the Water: The Real Story of the Cuban Five. 

On Sunday, RWAC prez Taryn Blackthorne and I set up our table which was then run by rotating teams from our group. Thanks to everyone who took part!

This week's set is dedicated to writers everywhere as we carry on, shaping our stories no matter that there are only 24 hours in a day, unexpected emergencies, day jobs and unco-operative fictional characters that won't behave while we're trying to get our word counts. 

1 - One Way or Another  -- Blondie

2 - Hit Me With Your Best Shot -- Pat Benatar

3 - Tubthumping -- Chumbawamba

4 - I Won't Back Down  -- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

5 - Follow That Dream  -- Elvis Presley

I'm blogging at The Popculturedivas today

Join me at The Popculturedivas for Why It's Important to Reach Out to Your Local Writing Community.

I'm blogging at The Popculturedivas today

Join me at The Popculturedivas for Time for Word on the Street.

I'm blogging at the Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada blog today

Join me at the Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada blog for a look back at one of my day jobs in It's a Glamorous Life, All Right.

I'm blogging at the Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada blog today

Join me at the Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada blog to get the lowdown on 5 of My Favorite Books.

A to Z Blog Challenge -- Z is for Zany

Welcome to Day 26 of this year's A to Z Blog Challenge where --
   

  

Z is for Zany

My attraction to all things silly goes wa-a-a-y-y back, to when I used to sit in my playpen with a bucket on my head making sounds just to hear them reverberate. At a basic level, even as a toddler, I knew it was silly to sit with a bucket on my head.

I do have to say that I come from a long line of silly people. No doubt my penchant for zaniness is genetic.

That's my cousin Charlie on Christmas Eve, 2009 -- an early photobomber.

I remember filling out a questionnaire in my bridal planning book where I had to list the top three things I couldn't live without in a mate.

One guess as to where 'sense of humor' ranked for me.

Even our dog was kooky. That's Xena crammed between the couch cushion and me in the purple shirt.

My sister gets eaten by the rhododendron during the Sisters Christmas Lights Decorating Party, 2012. We don't even try to be serious during lights decorating time.

My cousin-in-law Stephen, at right, can't even be serious at his own film premiere (at last fall's Atlantic Film Festival.)

Sure -- a mutant oversize zucchini is cause for silliness at our house. Why wouldn't it be?

My husband Brad deals with The Damage after a restaurant meal during our Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island vacation last summer.

I will confess to prompting other people to join me in my zaniness. Strangely, my writing group peeps have always been more than ready to flaunt their inner jesters. That's Nikki McIntosh and Kelly Boyce working it before a walk at the 2010 fall retreat.

Hey -- Nikki again at center, still working it at the 2011 retreat. At left, Annette Gallant, at right, Lori Robitaille.

Nikki...you are on a rampage of working it. Fall Retreat, 2013.

Maybe if I sit with my writing group's president Taryn Blackthorne, perhaps I'll settle down...

...nope...

And there you have it, folks! It's a wrap on 2014's A to Z Blog Challenge.

I'll be making my way to all of my commenters in the coming weeks. Thanks Everyone for dropping by A Piece of My Mind. It's been a pleasure to meet you!

A to Z Blog Challenge -- W is for Writers' Retreat

Welcome to Day 23 of this year's A to Z Blog Challenge where --
   

  

W is for my Writers' Retreat

As many of my longtime blog readers know, I belong to my local chapter of Romance Writers of America.

Although north of the border, Canada boasts six RWA chapters, including mine -- Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada.

We represent writers focusing on careers in commercial romantic fiction, from the four Atlantic Provinces:

Nova Scotia (29 writers)
New Brunswick (2 writers)
Prince Edward Island (1 almost-returned-home writer in transition from Nova Scotia)
Newfoundland and Labrador (2 writers)
We also have 1 Nova Scotia-based writer living in the United States, but still part of our chapter.

We meet once a month, with the exception of July and August, first informally for lunch (my favorite part!) and then formally for a business meeting, followed by a workshop on either the craft of writing, the business of writing or the writing life (my second favorite part!)

Once a year, our chapter also holds an event which has become the high point of our year -- the fall writing retreat.

It takes place at a rented cottage about two hours from Halifax along the province's South Shore. We start arriving on the Friday, embark on the retreat and wrap it all up by lunchtime on the Sunday.

So why do we start dreaming of the next year's retreat, the moment we pack up to make the drive home?

Here's a look back at the retreats in which I've taken part, for the past nine years.

photo by Jennie Marsland

As far as I'm concerned, the retreat begins when my friend Kelly Boyce picks me up for the drive to the cottage. We're already detaching ourselves from our regular lives, which is an integral part of any retreat. We chat and catch up during the drive, often discussing what we plan to work on during the weekend.

We normally have the keys, open up the cottage, turn on the heat and wait for the other RWACers to arrive.

That's Kelly to the left, me in the orange Tshirt, Jennie Marsland at center and Lori Robitaille at right, relaxing on the arrival Friday night.

We split out meal prep and clean-up, so that one dinner, two breakfasts and two lunches are taken care of by teams, leaving the other retreaters to chill. Works out great. Enjoying the Friday night dinner, clockwise from lower left: Shawna Romkey, Jennie Marsland, Lori Robitaille, Nikki McIntosh, Michelle Helliwell and Tara MacDonald.

Relaxing, catching up and getting ourselves re-settled into the retreat space is all a part of Day 1.

L to R: Kelly Boyce, Nikki McIntosh, Sara Hubbard, Lori Robitaille, Lilly Cain, Annette Gallant and Shawna Romkey

Sometimes on the Friday night, we play the Whose Muse is Whose? game, where we bring in pictures of inspirational actors or models to represent a character we're writing about, and we have to guess: who brought in the picture, and who does the character seem to be?

We just love this one! Hunting down the right picture is part of the fun, even before the retreat. Guessing who brought which picture correctly hardly ever happens, but guessing what sort of character he represents is often bang-on.

L to R: Kelly Boyce, Jennie Marsland, Michelle Helliwell, Debbie Boutilier and Linda O'Toole

Last year, Michelle Helliwell brought in this amazing storytelling card game.

We played one round of the official rules, then altered it to suit our need to make one giant rambling story out of laying down every card in the deck, as they had been dealt to us. I'm pretty certain this game is now our new tradition.

L to R: me, Shawna Romkey, Kelly Boyce, Linda O'Toole, Debbie Boutilier, Pat Thomas

photo by Lori Robitaille

Saturday starts with breakfast.

L to R: Heidi Hamburg, Stella MacLean, Elaine Skinner, me, Kelly Boyce and Nikki McIntosh

We used to schedule workshops for the Saturday, generally three spread out through the morning and afternoon. This one was a workshop on using color in your scenes, by Lilly Cain.

Clockwise from left: Heidi Hamburg, Kelly Boyce, Tanya Dawson, Renee Field, Pat Thomas, Lilly Cain and Nikki McIntosh

We've gravitated toward using the previous workshop blocks of time for personal writing time. We now come to the retreat with serious writing goals and the head space to focus on them.

L to R: Lilly Cain, Nikki McIntosh, Renee Field and Sara Hubbard

On Saturday evening, we head over to the main lodge for dinner -- walking if it's it's nice out, driving over if not.

L to R: Jennie Marsland, Sara Hubbard, Shawna Romkey and Kelly Boyce

photo by Pat Thomas

We linger over our delicious dinner with much animated talking and laughing. I swear it can't be easy to be seated near us...

L to R: me, Kelly Boyce and Nikki McIntosh

Saturday generally winds down with a movie -- if you can call it winding down...

L to R: Nikki McIntosh, Lori Robitaille, Kelly Boyce and Heidi Hamburg

photo by Kelly Boyce

One of the biggest highlights of the weekend is our brainstorming sessions. We split off into groups of three or four, often mixing up writers from different genres, and spend about 40 minutes per writer to explain what we're working on, and then taking brainstorming ideas from our group.

These sessions often lead to the following year's writing direction for many of us. It's been enormously popular.

L to R: Elaine Skinner, Annette Gallant and me

Ingredients for a successful retreat:

Copious amounts of wine

A sense of fun

Feather boas and tiaras

A writing project to work on

A good ear and speed in order to add out-of-context quotes to the mirror -- good for all kinds of fun!

A to Z Blog Challenge -- E is for Author Event

Welcome to Day 5 of this year's A to Z Blog Challenge.

Today you'll find me at the Lord Nelson Hotel in Halifax, taking part in the Halifax Author Event. 
  

E is for Author Event

I'll be signing copies of my Dark Ages vampire novel, Vampires, Saints and Lovers as well as my dark YA fantasy Bound by Dragonsfyre.

I'm a big fan of taking part in author events. I love meeting readers and chatting with you at in person book signings or presenting an author panel at conventions like Hal-Con.

I also like to meet up with the other writers and artists at events like these. It's very nourishing for my creative soul.

If you're a reader, do you like attending book fairs or going to book signings? What do you like best about them?

Thursday Thirteen -- 298 -- 13 Cadence Creek Christmas Menu Items With Donna Alward

This week I'm hosting fellow Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada author Donna Alward here at A Piece of My Mind.

Let's see what she's got cooking for her Thursday Thirteen. Over to you, Donna!

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I thought I’d do a Cadence Creek Christmas themed Thursday Thirteen!  Since food almost always plays a big part in my books, I figured coming up with thirteen different foods would be easy – especially since this is a Christmas book! Ready?

13: Pot Roast – page 20.  The food at The Wagon Wheel Diner is pretty good – and we’ve heard about it before in the other Cadence Creek books. Martha Bullock makes the best pie in Cadence Creek and her recipes are a trade secret.

12: Nacho Dip – page 41. What’s a wedding shower without some snacks? I love nacho dip and it’s so easy. Equal amounts of Miracle Whip and Cream cheese blended together makes the bottom. Spread on taco sauce and salsa, top with tomatoes, grated cheddar and some green onion and you’re good to go.

11: Chocolate Fudge Cake – page 64. Pressed into alternate arrangements for the rehearsal dinner, it’s off to the Wagon Wheel for lasagna and garlic bread. But the bakery sent over a cake to help with dessert. Isn’t it nice how the community just chips in when it’s needed?

10: Hot Cider – page 97. It’s winter. There’s more than just fruit punch at the wedding cocktail hour. I love hot spiced cider – yum!

9: Beef Wellington – page 105. Main course at the reception. After all, they’re feeding a room full of ranchers. What else would they have but beef? I love Beef Wellington, but it’s a special dish I don’t eat very often!

8: Pastry baskets filled with chocolate mousse and topped with berries and cream – page 107. Wedding dessert. Pastry. Chocolate. Whipped Cream. Berries. Did I miss anything?

7: Lavender Chocolate Cake – page 112. Come on, you didn’t expect an ordinary wedding cake, did you? The bride is a baker and her best friend and ex-boss made the cake as a gift. I knew it had to be something original and very special!

6: Coffee and Eggnog – page 132. One thing I love to do at Christmas? Add egg nog to my coffee instead of my usual light cream. The only thing better is Bailey’s…

5: Cannelloni – page 147. Enough with the meat and potatoes. Bring on the pasta. Tomato, basil, cheese… Cannelloni and Manicotti are 2 of my kids’ favourite meals.

4. Stollen, Christmas Pudding, Strudel, and Carrot Cake! Page 167. A trip to the bakery yields food for now and food for later. Taylor and Angela have strudel and cake, and Taylor buys the pud and stollen for a great traditional family Christmas she’s planning.

3: Romaine Salad - page 198. I got this recipe from my “adopted” family in Calgary. Grandma Tena makes it and it’s delicious. Romaine, mandarin orange, red pepper strips and poppyseed dressing. It’s so yummy.

2: Prime Rib and Yorkshire pudding - page 198. You knew it had to be something tasty for Christmas Eve dinner, right? My Yorkshire pudding never turns out, but I love eating someone else’s.

1: Cranberry Bread Pudding with Custard Sauce – page 199 I LOVE Bread Pudding. Almost any kind. But I had this particular one at the Banff Springs Hotel during one of our Christmas brunches and it was marvelous. Just beautiful.

A CADENCE CREEK CHRISTMAS is out now anywhere Harlequin Books are sold!








You can catch up with me at my website too – www.donnaalward.com


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Thanks for such a delicious list of thirteen things, Donna! The cranberry bread pudding does sound like I want some...like, now...

For readers wondering about the Hal-Con costume Thursday Thirteen I mentioned last week, please check back next week. Let's see which one is your favorite.