Category Archives: Miss Penny Speaking

At the Vets & New Novella

Leave a reply

*** “I’m not sure I’ll like that!

Miss Penny Speaking. I don’t remember going to this place before, it’s called The Vets. I’m not sure I liked it. Oh, the people were nice and I put on my charm, who can resist me, but I was prodded about and then unexpectedly poked with two needles and it hurt and Susan seemed to think it was okay. I thought it was rather rude. Susan said it was my vaccinations and the vet said I was too skinny, I thought that was rude too. Anyway, the skinny part is good because I now get some very tasty food — meat in gravy — that was good for a couple of days but now I’m full. Susan is fussing because I’m not eating enough. Let’s see what she tempts me with next. And… can you believe I was left alone all day, well not quite, grandson, William came to look after me in the morning and Sheila came in the afternoon. You may have noted that the blog is a day late because Susan was selling her books at the Hintonburg Craft Fair. I had better, pass you over to Susan as she has some book news.

More Romance is in the air! I have excellent news, Christmas at Lavender Cottage click here – A Christmas novella in The Narrowboat Series is available from a variety of online retailers as an e-book and both e-book and paperback are available from Amazon. Link to your retailer of choice. Or if you prefer to wait, I will have paperback copies $10 on Dec 8th. Did I mention that this novella includes recipes and I broke down and I am sharing my coveted, yummy, Scottish Shortbread recipe in this book?

If you didn’t get your copy of When Love Ends Romance Begins I still have copies. I think the two books would make great Christmas gifts? As a bonus, I have matching coffee mugs to give away. (pick-up only. Sorry postage is too expensive and unreliable) Live on Youtube; readings coming next week

Books I’m Reading: Fiction: I finished  The Kingfisher Secret the headline that sucked me in — The author is a respected writer and former journalist. His identity is being kept secret in order to protect the source of the ideas that inspired this novel — was not deceiving but I found the story lacked something, perhaps because of all the secrecy and anonymity. It definitely was not in the James Bond category for a spy novel. If, and I understand this was the target, it was written to reveal the political truth and point fingers at a governing president and his wife, it succeeded in the sense of similarities of characters and some events, but I fail to see the intended impact. Perhaps if the reader can read more into the political intrigue they might enjoy it more than I did.

The books are available at online retailers. Click the title, make your choice

The Blue Pendant Book I     Anna’s Legacy Book II    Sarah’s Choice Book III

First in series The Blue Pendant  on sale on  $4.99

Anna’s Legacy and Sarah’s Choice E-book at all online retailers $4.99

Check out the synopsis on My Books page. A great Book club read

Writing Courses: I have put the marketing of these course on hold until after Christmas, Get Rid of Page Fright & Write – Course 1 is available at the discounted price of $47 at http://just-for-writers.teachable.com More updates on the other courses will come at the end of this year.

 

 

 

 

 

Humdrum Week!

Leave a reply

Miss Penny speaking! Life has been humdrum this week, no visitor and we didn’t go anywhere but we’ve had some amazing walks in Britannia Park. Out of season, the By-law officers don’t patrol as much so we get to walk down to the beach and along the Britannia pier, which is nothing more than a bunch of rocks. But did you know that back in the day there used to be a pier going out into the bay and steamboats took passengers up the river? There are no steamboats today and as the winter approaches even the sailboats are gone, leaving the bay full of Canada Geese, noisy Canada Geese, preparing to take flight to warmer climates. I almost forgot to mention that Susan updated her website this week and she added a teaser, Click title to download When Love Ends Romance Begins. if you like it, grab the e-book for FREE this weekend. Well, that’s it from me today, over to the boss.

Writing Updates:  I’m right on schedule as I complete the last chapter of the story part of Christmas at Lavender Cottage. Because the Christmas celebration comes from my own family Christmases I have shared some of our family traditions and recipes. So next week I will search for the old recipes from my mother and grandmother.

Book News: Are you an Elizabeth Gilbert fan? Even if you haven’t read the book or seen the movie most people have heard of Eat, Pray, Love, the movie starred Julia Roberts and one I have watched many times. My all-time favourite book is Ms. Gilbert’s novel, written several years ago called The Signature of All Things a historical novel set in the 1800s in America and Tahiti. It is an unusual love story about a botanist and well worth a read. However, Ms. Gilbert recently announced her new book City of Girls coming June 4, 2019. Quoted from Elizabeth Gilbert’s website – a delicious novel of glamour, sex, and adventure, about a young woman discovering that you don’t have to be a good girl to be a good person. Now that sounds interesting. www.elizabethgilbert.com

Books I’m Reading: Fiction: My reading time was diminished this week because my eyes wouldn’t stay open. I read at night before I go to sleep; depending on how tired I am, dictates how much I read. I hasten to add it has nothing to do with the book I’m reading but everything to do with my fatigue. My current read The Address by Fiona Davis is a historical time-slip novel, 1885 and 1985. The story is about an upscale apartment building in New York. I’m enjoying the 1885 part but I’m not sure about the 1985 part. I’ll update when I finish the book.

Nonfiction: Searching for family recipes.

Writing Courses:  Although I have put the marketing of these course on hold until after Christmas, Get Rid of Page Fright & Write – Course 1 is available at the discounted price of $47 at http://just-for-writers.teachable.com More updates on the other courses will come at the end of this year.

 

New release: This weekend When Love Ends Romance Begins e-book is free on Amazon this weekend  Get your copy today

 

 

 

 

 

 

The books are available at online retailers. Click the title, make your choice

The Blue Pendant Book I     Anna’s Legacy Book II    Sarah’s Choice Book III

First in series The Blue Pendant  on sale on  $4.99

Anna’s Legacy and Sarah’s Choice E-book at all online retailers $4.99

Check out the synopsis on My Books page. A great Book club read.

Doggie Coat Time!

Leave a reply

Miss Penny Speaking, imagine the shock I had on Wednesday morning when Susan pushed my paws through a thing and then snapped it around my middle. It was a doggie coat. I vaguely remember wearing something like this a long time ago. It is warm and cozy and once we got outside for our morning walk I understood why Susan thought I needed to wear it. It was cold and very windy. I’m not convinced I need a coat, they are rather prissy. I have a perfectly good natural fur coat. Shush! I wouldn’t admit this to Susan, but, it stops the wind blowing my fur about, I hate that; it feels like tickles and makes me want to scratch. I’m pleased to say as the day warmed up I didn’t have to wear it again.

One exciting event, Suzanne who works in the building came up to see us with a box. She played with me, in the hall and I barked. Of course, I’m a dog and should bark but barking is noisy and scares me so I don’t do it often but Suzanne gets me going. It was the box that excited the boss; she doesn’t bark, but, oh boy, was she excited, jumping up and down and talking so fast I couldn’t understand her. Then she ripped the tape off the box and handed me a book. Now that was exciting all those months of work and finally, we have the book. When Love Ends Romance Begins. It is a great read—I know, I can’t read yet, but I listen and it’s a good story. Get your copy $15 contact, Susan. Just a little plug. That’s all for this week, over to the boss.

Writing Updates:  A great writing week, 7,000 words. My head is in creative mode which is where I like to be.  When I’m in the zone, the story often unfolds in the strangest places and that happened this week. Then I doubt myself—a common attribute with writers—but I’m sure this is working. As more of the character’s past is revealed, we see a different side to even the evilest of characters and that happened this week too. The first draft of Christmas at Lavender Cottage is close to completion.

Books I’m Reading: Fiction: After the terrible Christmas story, not even worthy of one star, I went back to Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell. I enjoyed this book. The premise of the story was how a mother coped when her daughter went missing. The plot was about finding the truth and getting closure. Ms. Jewell did a wonderful job of–for want of a better phrase–getting into the mother’s head, and she did it well. One might think this kind of story would be morbid but it wasn’t; it was human and warm. I highly recommend this story with five stars. I just started a new book, another author I haven’t read before The Address by Fiona Davis

Nonfiction: Webinar on running an author business

Writing Courses:  Big sigh! I have put these on hold until after Christmas. I don’t have time to market or work on Course 2 & 3 as I prepare my novels for Christmas Craft Fairs and signings. More updates on the other courses will come at the end of this year.

However, if you are eager to get started the first course  Get Rid of Page Fright & Write – Course 1 is available at the discounted price of $47 at http://just-for-writers.teachable.com

New release: When Love Ends Romance Begins  Get your copy today

 

 

 

 

 

 

The books are available at online retailers. Click the title, make your choice

The Blue Pendant Book I     Anna’s Legacy Book II    Sarah’s Choice Book III

First in series The Blue Pendant  on sale on  $4.99

Anna’s Legacy and Sarah’s Choice E-book at all online retailers $4.99

Check out the synopsis on My Books page. A great Book club read.

Visiting

Leave a reply

Do you see those creatures?

Miss Penny Speaking! Well, I am glad to be back. I was ignored last week, I was quite hurt, but Susan is busy this week so I get to write the blog. Visiting!  We did a lot of visiting last weekend because it was Thanksgiving weekend. As a precocious one-year-old, I get excited about all these new things. First, we went to eldest son’s girlfriends for a family Thanksgiving. I’m very cute so I got lots of fuss, chin tickles and admiration from the family. I was then introduced to this furry thing that twitched its nose, his name was Romeo—maybe he should be in one of Susan’s romance novels. I was scared of him, which seemed to amuse everyone and didn’t impress me. Susan liked him and petted him but I declined and clung to Susan.

Next, we went to the family in Stittsville, they have the huge dog Preston; he likes to play but he’s too big and he makes me jealous because he is much to and of Susan. I cannot argue when I’m the size of his head. Now, these other creatures called cats are interesting, I’ve mentioned them before. They are my size but not friendly and it’s quite unnerving as they as stalk around me. I jump and play trying to get some life into them but it doesn’t work. And, you should hear the noise they make, it’s not even close to a bark or growl but it’s this loud hissing noise usually accompanied by a paw slapping my face. I’ve given up on these cat creatures they are just rude. That’s it for today.

Writing Updates:  Christmas at Lavender Cottage continues at a much faster pace. Olivia the evil antagonist has developed into quite the character as it’s a Christmas story redemption is coming.

Book News: I love it when I get a package in my mailbox, it’s usually a book and this week it was Kate Morton’s new book, which I had pre-ordered, The Clockmaker’s Daughter. If you are a Kate Morton fan take a trip to the bookstore. I am a big fan of Kate Morton and so looking forward to reading this, but I have to be patient as I already have two books on the go.

Books I’m Reading: Fiction: As an author, I often read books similar to those that I am writing because I like to experience how other writers write, especially if it is a genre or subject I haven’t written in before. So, I put the contemporary thriller to one side to read a Christmas romance. Well, it is so bad. I will not name the author or the book, beyond it is a well-known romance writer and a Christmas romance.  So far the story has nothing to do with Christmas and the silliest plot about a young woman blogging. I wonder who would read it. Needless to say, this book was not much help.

Nonfiction: Nothing this week

Writing Courses:  Big sigh! I have put these on hold until after Christmas. I don’t have time to market or work on Course 2 & 3 as I prepare my novels for Christmas Craft Fairs and signings. Get Rid of Page Fright & Write – Course 1 will still be available at the discounted price of $58 at http://just-for-writers.teachable.com More updates will come at the end of this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The books are available at online retailers. Click the title, make your choice

The Blue Pendant Book I     Anna’s Legacy Book II    Sarah’s Choice Book III

The Blue Pendant Book1 Anna’s Legacy Book 2 and Sarah’s Choice Book 3. E-books and print  at all online retailer

Check out the synopsis on My Books page. A great Book club read.

A gift of an e-book Ruins in Silk prequel to the trilogy. A perfect summer afternoon read. And the opportunity to sign up for Susan’s Reader’s Group.  

“Her mother’s death sets a path of tragedy; betrayal, misguided love and even murder ” 

  Click to download your gift of a free e-book