March 25, 2009 – 3:52 pm
Though I’m in “Deadline Hell” right now (an affectionate term, I assure you…) I am excited about an upcoming workshop being held by our Calgary Chapter this Saturday. Mary Balogh is coming to Calgary! There will be a booksigning at the Dalhousie Station Chapters from 4 – 6 on Friday night. I plan to stock up on some books!
Then on Saturday we have our workshop, and I’m hoping for major inspiration. I have two sets of revisions and a manuscript to complete by May 4. (See aforementioned reference to “Deadline Hell.”)
At any rate, in preparation for the workshop, I bought one of Mary Balogh’s books, which I’m reading bits of every evening. Is anyone else out there a fan of her work? I don’t usually read historicals, but I’m finding this one a lovely escape. I clipped the cover from Amazon, to show you which book I mean. It’s the first of a new series and I’m hoping to get it autographed on Friday!
March 24, 2009 – 3:47 pm
Did I say there was going to be one winner? Because…surprise!…there are two! Congratulations to Marcie from Middletown Ohio, who requested a copy of The Dad Next Door, and to Tammy who has read the last two books of my Summer Island trilogy and was hoping to win You Made Me Love You. Well, guess what Tammy…you did win.
Suprise contests are fun. Stay tuned…there will be more!
March 10, 2009 – 3:12 pm
For the next couple of months, I won’t be running my usual monthly contests, but every now and then I’ll post a surprise contest on my Desk Diary. Today is one of those days!
If you’d like a chance to win an autographed book & exotic bookmark, just send an e-mail to cj@cjcarmichael.com and put “CJ’s Contest” in the subject line.The winner will be selected at random two weeks from now. If you tell me which book from my backlist you’d like to receive, I’ll try to send you your prefered book (if I have any on hand).
Special…for FTHRW Members….If you participated in my on-line course on conflict for the RWA Chapter ”From The Heart”, please tell me one thing you learned from the course and you’ll have an extra chance to win.
March 10, 2009 – 3:01 pm
On my return flight from Mexico, I was struck with the similarities between taking a vacation and reading a great book. Both provide an escape from everyday living, and both–when finished–leave you feeling vaguely disoriented as you attempt to return to real life.
Of course you can always combine these two pleasure…take a trip and read a book at the same time! On my recent trip to Ixtapa I picked a real winner of a book–The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.
This is a story steeped in gothic atmosphere, with a little mystery, a little romance, and a lot of beautifully written prose. It helps if you are a fan of books written by the Bronte sisters, particularly Jane Eyre, as this story is written in that tradition.
I believe it was on the Tuesday of our holiday, that I took this book, sank into a hammock, and read until the sun went down…
February 12, 2009 – 2:40 pm
It wasn’t how the weekend was supposed to go. Mike and I had been invited to friends’ ski chalet in Kimberly B.C. and we were almost two hours into the trip, when Presto! The car stopped working. We were traveling at 110 km an hour, so this was quite a disorienting feeling, to suddenly have no gas, no power brakes, no power steering…nothing. Fortunately traffic was light and we were able to safely pull over to the side of the road. Where we waited, with no heat in twenty below weather, for a tow truck to come…
So much for our fun ski weekend! Back in Calgary, we regrouped and came up with new plans. We spent Saturday doing chores, then rewarded ourself on Sunday with a trip to Banff (using Mike’s car this time!). Tunnel Mountain is one of those hikes that is very accessable almost any time of the year. So although we had snow and very frosty temperatures, we decided to head up. It took an hour and a quarter of brisk walking to make it all the way, then all the way down. As you can see, the view was totally worth it.
Now…does anyone want to buy a used Audi?
February 9, 2009 – 2:04 pm
Harlequin is celebrating 60 years of publishing by offering a selection of free downloads…don’t miss out on this opportunity to sample some wonderful stories.
Here is where you go to download your free books: HarlequinCelebrates.
Happy Reading!
February 3, 2009 – 5:52 pm
Yay! I just put book 2 of my next trilogy in the mail to my editor. I’m writing about a Detective Agency in New York City. Book One was titled: Her Perfect Parter, Book Two is: The Partner Quest, and Book Three (due to my editor May 1) is: An Unlikely Partner. Anyone spot a theme here? 
Anyway, the important thing is that Book 2 is done! What a lovely feeling…now I can catch up with the rest of my life.
I used to try to write 8 – 10 pages a day so that I could meet deadlines without shifting into panic mode, but now I’m finding that the writing seems better when I totally immerse myself into the story and aim for 20 – 30 pages a day. That’s a pace, though, that I can only keep up for so long.
Now it’s time to pay bills, catch up on reading and organize the house!
December 26, 2008 – 6:27 pm
Would the world be a better place if people read more books? I think it would. This year I challenge you to:
- Read a book to learn more about another part of the world. Recently I enjoyed The Book Thief about a young girl’s experiences in World War II Germany.
- Read a book on a non-fiction topic that you think is important. Read about the economy. The environment. Breaking health issues. Whatever you care about.
- Read a historical novel. I’ve chosen Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth which is set in the Middle Ages.
- Read a book of poetry and rediscover the beauty and power of words. My daughter gave me Leonard Cohen’s Book of Longing as a Christmas gift and I’m planning on savoring the poems and drawings.
- Read a book that reminds you of all the good things there are in the world. Read a romance and remember that love is the greatest gift.
May we all be wiser and kinder people a year from now.
December 2, 2008 – 11:46 am
I just found out from my friend, Harlequin Author Donna Alward that eharlequin has a “bargain basement” section and that Matthew’s Children (The second title in my Three Good Men trilogy) is now available for just over $3! There are lots of great books here…the perfect place to go shopping for Christmas Stocking Stuffers. Check it out: eharlequin.
November 15, 2008 – 5:21 pm
Most of us have at least a passing interest in astrology. We know our “sign” and can’t seem to pass up the chance to read our horoscope if we see one in a magazine or newspaper. But how familiar are you with numerolgy? Do you know that you have a life path number? How to calculate it? What it means?
When I was writing Christmas With Daddy, I wanted my heroine to have special skills that would allow her to assist the detective hero in finding a missing teenaged girl. I wanted these skills to be unusual…something that the hero might find hard to take seriously.
Having recently read The Power of Time by Pauline Edward, I decided to make my heroine a numerologist. Based on my research (primarily reading Pauline’s book and with additional help from Pauline) I know the following neat stuff:
My life Path Number is 3. According to Pauline’s book this means I have “excellent communications skills, a lively and positive outlook, resilience, lots of charm, wit and enormous creative potential.” Hey…I like that! On the flip side, I’m prone to speaking before thinking, tend to hog the stage and need to work on being responsible and organized.
If you want to calculate your life path number, it’s quite easy. Basically write down your birthdate in numbers (month, day and year) then add them up and keep adding until you end up with one number. Here’s how I found mine: Birthdate: 3 (March) + 3 (day) + 1 + 9 + 5 + 9 (my birth year is 1959) = 30. Simplify to 1 digit by adding 3 + 0 = 3. Now, that’s a little simplified, so if you want to make sure you’re doing it right and find out more about the meaning of various life path numbers, you’ll have to check out Pauline’s book.
See the cool stuff you learn when you’re researching romance novels?
