Category: Uncategorized

Enjoying Vancouver’s West End

Posted on August 1, 2016 by judyhudson@shaw.ca

Vancouver has an amazingly livable downtown. The area known as the West End is snugged between fabulous shopping on Robson Street, the beaches of English Bay and the forest of Stanley Park, all within walking distance to hotels, the art gallery and the commerce district of the city. People live on these streets lined with mature shade trees, where street-corner gardens are in bloom and everyone and their dog are out on the streets enjoying the hip urban atmosphere.

I’m lucky to be able to visit my daughter Rosey in her lovely third-floor walk up, like so many of the beautiful old apartment buildings in the West End. Some of the large, old, three-story houses from Vancouver’s prosperous early days still remain, many now converted to condos but still looking lovely, along with a sprinkling of taller apartments (see the video at the end). A fabulous safe place to walk and people watch, night and day.

I went over on the ferry last Wednesday to catch Australia’s entry into the Celebration of Lights, a eye-poppiing fireworks and music show held out in English Bay every year to the delight of hundreds of thousands of happy Vancouverites who converge on the beaches at dusk three times over the course of a week for the three shows. A must-see event! We walked down from my daughter’s apartment in fifteen minutes to snag a great spot on the beach to watch the show and, when it was over, walked back with a hundred thousand of our closest friends. Amazing.

Friday morning I walked over to Hamburger Mary’s on Davie Street for breakfast and enjoyed the people out getting ready for the start of the Pride Celebration that night. Unfortunately we couldn’t stay, and caught a ferry that night for the Island again.

It’s all on my facebook and instagram pages. Friend me if you haven’t already.

Love, love, love Vancouver’s lovely West End. Check it out if you get the chance.

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The Saga of Children’s Delight

Posted on July 27, 2016July 26, 2016 by judyhudson@shaw.ca

A story is woven from the threads of a writer’s life.

The recipe for Children’s Delight cookies has been in my recipe binder forever. Just looking at the old card, written in my mother’s scrawl, brings back a rush of memories. The recipe card is stained and had comments written in after the fact (more butter!). And up in the corner, in brackets it says “Raylene Ewing”

Raylene was my good friend in Toronto, while I was in grades seven and eight. Just seeing her name is always an emotional blast from the past.

I didn’t plan to put the recipe in Summer of Fortune, but there it was. (You writers out there know what I mean.)

On the top shelf rested a wooden box. Stretching to her full height she carefully brought it down, wiping the dust from the top. She held it in one hand, studying the scenes of the lake carved into the lid. Inside, yellowing recipe cards were written in a spidery hand: Sunday Blackberry Cake, October Relish, Children’s Delight Cookies.

An old fashioned drop cookie, they make the kitchen smell like cinnamon and cloves, an aroma that, in the story, comes to introduce the presence of Aunt Augusta the previous owner of the cabin who is, ahem, no longer with us.

The recipe also provides an introduction to Maddie’s backstory.

Maddie didn’t have any hand-me-down recipes. Most of hers came from magazines. These recipe names conjured up visions of a woman in an apron with streaks of flour on her face, like a character in an old movie. Her own mother had never cooked and Maddie was sure she didn’t own an apron. She had spent most of her time on the couch, watching her soaps with a beer in her hand.

Maddie inhaled deeply the unfamiliar scent of cinnamon and cloves that lingered in the box, and then, closing the lid, she placed the box on the windowsill over the sink where she could admire the carving.

Maddie ended up making the cookies, again and again, a sensory lure her handsome landlord couldn’t resist and a symbol of her move to another kind of life.

Here’s the recipe. Enjoy! (Are you out there Raylene?)

What mundane everyday things have inspired you?

Until next time,

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:3]

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Summer Reading – Sweet Romance Contest – this week only

Posted on July 25, 2016July 22, 2016 by judyhudson@shaw.ca

To celebrate the summer, I’ve teamed up with

more than 35 fantastic sweet romance authors

SOF ZEE PROMO

to give away a huge collection of romances,

PLUS a Kindle Fire to one lucky winner!

You can win my novel Summer of Fortune, plus books from authors like Debbie White and Ginger Chambers and Lisa Mondello.

This is one week only – Monday, July 25th to Monday, August 1st. Don’t miss out.

Enter the giveaway by clicking here

Good luck, and enjoy!

Judy sig

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Jacquie Biggar – Summer Lovin

Posted on July 18, 2016 by judyhudson@shaw.ca

Today I’m happy to welcome my friend Jacquie Biggar, the last of my small town romance guest authors.

Hi Jacquie. Tell us about your latest published book.

Summer Lovin’ will be the fifth in my Wounded Hearts series. It releases May 24th in the multi-author box set Summer Heat: Love on Fire, and then separately the end of June.

I see that’s the ebook we’ll be giving away to one reader who comments this week. Here’s the cover blurb, as we writers call it.

Summer Lovin’

Mitch Taylor and Rebecca Sorenson share a secret.

Rebecca’s job as secretary of Cascade Elementary, the same school she attended as a child, is rewarding. She has a great group of friends, many of whom are married now. And if sometimes she wished it were her up there in that sparkling white dress…

Except, wait—she did get to wear bridal white. Granted, it was a slinky party dress and the justice of the peace was Elvis in a gold lame jacket, but still, the deed was done.

She’d tied the knot.

Mitch Taylor doesn’t do regrets. It would be a waste of energy bemoaning the mistakes he’d made in his life. The end of his promising football career taught him nothing in life was a guarantee.

Like love.

What were the chances two people from the same po-dunk town in Washington would end up together in a nightclub in Las Vegas? A few too many drinks later, a hasty ceremony performed by the king of rock ‘n’ roll, and they’d been hitched. The night that followed lived on in his dreams, but when he’d woken the next morning she was gone.

Can these two mismatched lovers find a way past their mistakes, or will they keep their lonely hearts forever guarded?

Fun set-up. We’ll put an excerpt at the end of this post. Where is the rest of the series set?

My first series, Wounded Hearts, is set in the fictional town of Tidal Falls, Washington, and my second series, Mended Souls, is a paranormal set in Chicago.

Love it. What sets “your” town apart?

The amount of sexy ex-SEALs who live there? 🙂

What attracted you to the small-town romance genre?

I like the closeness of a small town. Everyone knows you, cares about you, and wants what’s best for you, whether you agree or not! This mentality can make for some interesting storylines.

How much has your writing been influences your own life?

A lot. I was born and raised in a small town, and I owned and operated a restaurant like Grace and Grits, featured in my books.

How would you describe your writing process?

Hap-hazard 🙂 Seriously, I usually spend the day on emails and social media, then approx. two-three hours a night writing.

What do you feel are the pluses and minuses of writing a series?

All pluses for me. As a reader I like the connection I gain from a set of characters, they become almost real over a series of books. As a writer I think it’s easier to build one world and then expand on it, than to create a new one for every story.

Where do you get your story ideas? Mostly news stories I hear on TV

Why did you decide to self-publish?

A good friend once told me I could take the months, possibly years, polishing my work and submitting to agents and publishers and then give them a large percentage of my profits, or I could self-publish and be my own boss. She’s a smart lady 🙂

Do you listen to music when you write? No, I need silence to write. Too easily distracted, I guess, lol

What do you find easier to write, male or female characters?

Male, I’ve been told more than once my male voice is strong. I’ll take that as a compliment.

What themes does your most recent book explore?

The theme for Summer Lovin’ came to me when I heard some friends were going to Las Vegas for a convention. It made me wonder how many hook up with someone and then regret it later. Or do they? Maybe instead they wish for a second chance. I like to think we all deserve a second chance, don’t you?

Do you have a new book coming up?

I’m just finishing a Christmas novella for a multi-author box set releasing in October 2016. It’s near and dear to my heart. The heroine is a single mom with a type 1 diabetic daughter who meets a surly mystery writer and sparks ensue.

What do you enjoy doing when you are not writing?

Gardening and spending time at the beach with DH (Darling husband :))

Can we expect more books in your current series?

Yes, I have ideas for two-three more books in the Wounded Hearts series, and the Mended Souls series will have at least two more stories.

What makes you laugh? My husband. He has a knack for lightening any bad situation we’ve ever been in, and I love him for it.

What is your favourite TV show and why?

Toss up between Blacklist and Lucifer, both for the same reason. The bad guy isn’t all bad. I like how the writers draw us into their lives with flashes of kindness and caring from these characters. One is a known killer and the other is, well, Lucifer, what’s not to like?

Do you prefer coffee or tea? Coffee in the morning, tea at night, preferably herbal.

Wine , whisky or beer? Beer, I’m a Corona girl.

Thanks for taking part Jacquie. And how can readers get in touch with you?

You can contact me on you favourite social media platform.

http://Facebook.com/jacqbiggar

http://Facebook.com/jacquiebiggar

Facebook Street Team:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1051448161572521/

http://Twitter.com/jacqbiggar

http://amazon.com/author/jacquiebiggar

https://www.goodreads.com/JacquieBiggar

http://Pinterest.com/jacqbiggar

https://plus.google.com/+JacquieBiggar

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jacquie-biggar

Or follow my website below. Check out the giveaways page – you’ll find tons of great prizes every month!

http://jacqbiggar.com

And readers, don’t forget to comment for a chance to win the ebook Summer Lovin. Now, here’s the excerpt.

Excerpt from Summer Lovin:

Rebecca was in Hell.

What other explanation could there be for the reappearance of Mitch in her life when she’d worked so diligently to avoid him for the best part of eighteen hundred and eighteen days—not that she was counting.

The divorce papers sitting on the desk at home were burning a hole through her brain, making her ache with things she dared not admit.

He looked amazing, by far the handsomest man in a room full of fine-looking men. His white dress shirt emphasized the breadth of those impossibly wide shoulders, honed to steel by years of honest manual labor. But then she’d always admired that about him. When his football career had come to an abrupt end he could have turned to a bottle and no one would have faulted him for it. Instead he picked himself up, went to a community college, got his welding ticket, and opened a business. Now his work was often sought after from all over the state and his shop had grown from a backyard garage to a fully equipped warehouse on a prime piece of Tidal Falls land. Mitch Taylor was a local success story.

He grasped her hand and she reluctantly followed his lead across a floor now packed with swaying bodies. He didn’t stop until they reached a shadowed alcove off to one side of the stage. When he turned and held out his arms she stepped forward like a lamb, letting his jacket drop onto a nearby chair. The moment his arms wrapped around her and his calloused fingers found the bare skin of her lower back, Becky knew she was in trouble.

Her startled gaze rushed upward and tangled in the molten heat of his amber eyes. The light and shadows created by their surroundings turned his face lean and mysterious and oh-so-hypnotic. Someone bumped into them but she barely noticed, she was so caught up in his aura. It had been like this before—in Las Vegas.

Rebecca tried to pull away, her heart beating double time, an out-of-sync counterpoint to the drums playing on stage. Mitch simply tugged so that she had to grasp the front of his shirt to keep from falling—not that he would have let her. There were many things about Mitch Taylor that bothered her, but she never doubted his kindness.

He bowed his head and rested his cheek against her temple and his voice rumbled through her soul. “It’s just a dance, sweetheart. What are you afraid of?”

Everything.

Him.

Herself.

Check back next week to see who the contest winner is.

Thanks for reading.

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Sarah Daniel – No Regrets

Posted on July 11, 2016July 10, 2016 by judyhudson@shaw.ca

This week I’m interviewing Sarah Daniels. Sarah writes what she loves to read—irresistible romance, from sweet to steamy and everything in between. She grew up in a small town and was once a landlord of two uninvited squirrels. She has no regrets about turning her back on her accounting degree to write romance, but she deeply regrets her inability to keep track of her car keys. Subscribe to Sara’s newsletter: http://eepurl.com/rx_AL

We’ll be giving away a copy of her ebook, The Bad Boy’s Guilt , book two of The Bad Boys of Regret Hollow series, to someone who comments on this week’s post. We get a lot of reads but not a lot of comments, so the odds are good you’ll win a copy, so say Hi! at the end of the post.

The Bad Boy’s Guilt

Nicole trusted Wyatt with her heart once. She won’t make the same mistake twice.

A broken-down car destroys Nicole DeMonde’s plan to be cool and self-sufficient when she returns to her hometown for her brother’s wedding. The cop who comes to her rescue is none other than local hottie Wyatt Truman, who slept with her then dumped her when they were teens. She has no choice but to accept his help. However, she knows better than to trust him with her heart twice.

Wyatt is determined to earn Nicole’s forgiveness and make amends for his callous past. Once he lays eyes on her, he can’t help wanting more than forgiveness. In fact, his intentions are starting to bear a suspicious resemblance to the forever variety.

If she can’t avoid Wyatt, a one-night stand might be just the thing Nicole needs to work him out of her system. Or will her recovery plan destroy her heart once and for all?

Hi Sara, thanks for being this week’s small town guest author. I’ve read The Bad Boy’s Gift and really enjoyed it. Tell us about your latest book.

Thanks so much for hosting me and showcasing my small town series, Judy. I launched The Bad Boys of Regret Hollow series this spring, starting with The Bad Boy’s Gift (which is currently free on all retailers), followed by The Bad Boy’s Guilt, The Bad Boy’s Guarantee, and The Bad Boy’s Goodness.

Where is your series set, and what sets your town apart?

My series is set in Regret Hollow, a fictional town in southeastern Wisconsin, a little over an hour’s drive from Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison, with a population of 2,631. The residents love to play off the town name. Their welcome sign professes, “Your only regret will be leaving.” You can eat breakfast and lunch at the No Regrets Café and enjoy dinner at The Hollow Leg Pizzeria. There’s also a notorious make-out destination off a dirt road and into the woods on the edge of town, and more often than not, my characters end up there engaging in an activity that one or both of them may regret.

What attracted you to the small-town romance genre?

I grew up in a small town, and if something happened with kids at the high school, my dad (who knew and talked to everyone!) usually found out about it before I was home from school. I love the small-town community where everyone knows everyone, looks out for everyone, and often sticks their nose (and opinions) into everyone else’s business. Many times, the true stories are stranger and funnier than fiction. A couple years ago, a woman I’d never met stopped her full-size van in the middle of the street. She then asked me to open the passenger door and move her boxed frozen turkey from the floor onto the passenger seat. She explained that she was 87 years old and had just had hip surgery, so she couldn’t pick the turkey up from the floor. But she was apparently cleared to drive!

– What themes does your most recent book explore?

Because my series is titled The Bad Boys of Regret Hollow, I’m naturally exploring the interlocking themes of bad boys and regrets. Both have been more nuanced than I expected. In The Bad Boy’s Gift, the hero has been labeled “bad” since he was kid and carried that label as part of his identity, even though there was never anything truly bad about him. In The Bad Boy’s Guilt, the hero is the ultimate good-guy cop who has to come to terms with the regrettable, bad actions of his past. In The Bad Boy’s Goodness, the hero truly was a “bad boy” and believes he’s unworthy of the good-girl heroine.

Coffee or tea?

Coffee with extra cream, please.

Wine , whisky or beer?

Red wine, thank you very much. And now you know my weakness! Thank you so much for hosting me and my bad boys, Judy. I’m pouring you a virtual glass, right now.

My weakness too. Thanks for coming by the blog today.

And now everyone, be sure to comment to enter the contest, and come back next week when Jacquie Biggar will be my guest again, and find out who’s the lucky winner of the contest.

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