NEW RELEASE: Have Mercy, Book 3 in the Mercy Me series

 I know it's been a while, nearly two years actually, since I last published something but you have to admit A LOT has happened in the world over the last year and a half and of course there's always more happening behind the obvious. 

For starters I went back to school and started working towards a college diploma in Library & Information Services. As a mom of two teenagers who works at a library, (go figure) and lives on a 10 acre farm property, you can imagine my schedule was pretty packed. What was interesting though was how I never lost the yearning to write. No matter how many assignments piled up or how crazy my day planner got I felt a true and urgent need to write. And so I would carve out bits and pieces of time to gets some words on the page and move the story forward. The extra effort has been worth it though. Achieving my diploma is within spitting distance and I am nearly there. 

In addition to my increased responsibilities, I also suffered a high degree of personal loss. My house has always been a menagerie of furry friends, canine and feline mostly, and they are all like family to me with their own personalities, likes and dislikes, that makes me adore them all the more. So it goes without saying that when a furry family member passes away I am a wreck, and remain so for sometime. I don't feel I ever move past the grief but rather the grief becomes a part of my natural state of being. I become one with it. I sit with it. Cry over it. And get super, super comfortable with it.  

In total I lost 3 cats, and 3 dogs and my most beloved Grandmother all in the span of 18 months. It has been traumatizing and I feel as if the story of it all deserves a blog post of it's own, so I shall spare you the details for now, except to say each loss felt like a gash to my soul and this affected my ability to work on my writing in any true. meaningful way. 

And of course, the world-wide pandemic has certainly put a kink in many people's well laid plans. As someone who suffers from anxiety, I can say that the challenges of lockdowns and the future unknowns have caused no end of turmoil and rendered me useless some days, which also affected my ability to tackle the book. 

In short, this book kicked my butt. Taking all the challenges stated above into account, I can definitely say this is one of the most difficult books I have ever written. Match that with a deep passion of mine to produce the best story I possibly can each and every time I set out to write something, it's no wonder I had a hell of time getting this finished and polished enough to share. 

I am over-the-moon excited to finally have this book, HAVE MERCY, out in readers' hands so they can enjoy some escapism, learn something new and perhaps get lost in Victorian Toronto along the way. 

HAVE MERCY

Book 3 in the Mercy Me Mysteries

Mercy Eaton vowed to never set foot inside the Mercer Reformatory for Women again after spending nearly a year confined to one of its holding cells. When her beau, Detective Jeremiah Walker, asks for her assistance with a murder case involving the prison, Mercy outright refuses.

When she realizes the ghost who’s been relentlessly haunting her for days is the same murdered woman Walker came to speak to her about, Mercy is forced to reconsider.

Before long Mercy finds herself deep in the prison’s clutches, embroiled once again in the sordid nature of unjust imprisonment and confronted by demons she’d long since left at the prison gates. As her relationship with Walker hangs by a thread, and with her sanity in question, Mercy puts everything on the line to solve the young woman’s murder and to finally put her own tortured past to rest.

Buy Link (US): https://www.amazon.com/dp/1777842417/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Buy Link (Canada): https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09BVDN8T6/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Also available on Kobo, Nook, Apple and other places Ebooks are sold. 

Don't forget to add Have Mercy to your "Want to Read" list on Goodreads. 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58701268-have-mercy

I'm going to be at KEMPENFEST

I am very excited to announce that this year I will have a booth at KEMPENFEST at the Barrie Waterfront!

One of the premier festivals in Ontario, Kempenfest attracts 200,000 people from all over the province who come to see fine art, antique and specialty craft vendors.

Held during the Civic Holiday weekend in August, in the beautiful city of Barrie, ON. I will left you all know where exactly you can find me closer to the date. For now, come check out my profile on the organizer's website...



https://www.huroniafestivalofartsandcrafts.com/directory/listing/tracy-l-ward-author

Another Marshall House Installment!

Are you looking for something to read this holiday season? Perhaps something dark but ultimately uplifting?

Allow me to introduce to you the long-awaited installment, WARM HANDS COLD HEART, a Marshall House Christmas Mystery, 7th book in the series and the newest book that has taken a prominent position on my book shelf!

Buy link: https://amzn.to/2yH10RN

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/899135

*Description Below

Recently married and awaiting the birth of her first child, Margaret Davies takes a position at Wendall Hall, a privately funded charity for unwed, expectant women in a small town east of Edinburgh. With Christmas around the corner and a number of birthing rooms empty, Margaret and Wendall Hall founder Violet Bane turn their attention to the babies in the nursery, ensuring they arrive at their adoptive homes in time for the holidays.

Wendall Hall’s Christmas preparations take an unexpected turn, however, when a body is discovered in a snowbank outside the Hall’s side door the day following a harrowing storm. It doesn’t take long for Margaret to realize not everything is what it seems at the benevolent charity. Decades-old secrets lurk in the shadows of the old manor house, secrets that go far beyond penniless women trying to hide their scandalous pregnancies, secrets Violet Bane had meant to take with her to the grave. 

Do you remember when I said the number 7 was a meaningful number to me? Mercy Me, my book released in June, may have been my 7th published novel, but WARM HANDS COLD HEART, the newest MARSHALL HOUSE book is 7th in the series. 2018 has been a great year for sevens! I'll be a posting a different blog post about that factoid next week!

New Book Release: MERCY ME

Seven has always been a magical number for me. I am constantly looking for the number seven, or a combination of numbers to create seven in my daily life. When I signed up for my first cell phone I refused to take any number without three sevens. When we purchased the house we currently live in I took the seven in the street number as a good sign (which has also featured prominently in the street address of the last 4 homes we've lived in). Right now we own six cats and I'm constantly telling my husband we are lopsided because we don't have seven. So it's no surprise that I feel a special connection to my newest book, my seventh published novel.

Surprisingly it's not the 7th in the Marshall House series (that one comes out in the fall), but rather a the first book in a new series set in Canada, my home and native land. While the number seven is magical for me, my new book, MERCY ME, is pretty magical too. Mercy Marigold Eaton is a very special character, able to piece together the lives of those who have passed with a single touch.

It's a safe to say she has one special gift, but what she can't do is divine the future, or actually communicate with the dead but don't tell any of her clients that! Forced to raise her daughter alone Mercy turns her connection with the dead in a thriving livelihood and does well for herself in the bustling Victorian city of Toronto, far away from the troubles of her past.

Her world is turned upside down, however, when she is unwittingly swept up in to a double murder investigation led by the dashing, and exceedingly skeptical, Jeremiah Walker, detective with the Toronto Police. Fighting her own demons rooted in a deep distrust of the law, Mercy quickly finds herself falling for his charms until she finds out he's a married man.

MERCY ME is currently available in ebook format and will be in paperback soon!

Follow this link to start reading today... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DM2R9TF/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1528667611&sr=8-4&keywords=Tracy+L+Ward

Writer Resolutions

I've never made a resolution I haven't kept... I almost wrote that with a straight face. Why, I nearly spit out my tea. Let's be honest, shall we? In the past I've fallen short in so many ways whether its resolving to lose weight, pay off debt, or become more organized I always seem to fall short of the initial image in my head. Sometimes by a smidgen, sometimes by a mile. 

 Truth is, resolutions are challenging but that doesn't stop us. Year after year we resolve and fail. Resolve and fail. I love resolutions myself.  For one day we are allowed, nay encouraged, to dream big. We are shown a blank calendar, 365 days of promise, and are told to make something of it. That something can be anything, anything our little hearts can dream up. The prospect is both thrilling and disheartening at the same time. 

It's times like these that I think of Anne Shirley's famous quote, "Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it." How encouraging, yes? Each day, each year we can make our lives what we want of them. But any true Anne fan will remember the reply Anne received from her school teacher, Muriel Stacy who says, "Ah, no mistakes in it yet."  

Was Miss Stacy merely attempting to burst Anne's bubble, to bring her down and make her more sensible and realistic (ie: boring)? In my opinion, no, she wasn't. It's easy to dream big. We can't help ourselves, but often times in dreaming so large we create an almost impossible feat. We set ourselves up for failure by not recognizing the realities of the task and the limitations of our own abilities. Resolutions can be achieved but only if we approach them like we do any other goals in our lives. We need a plan of actionable steps. 

Action plans are the blueprint for success. We start with a mission statement, a goal that is measurable and by measurable I mean, is it something with a tangible finish line. Resolving to lose weight is far too vague, whereas resolving to lose 20 pounds is far more measurable. When thinking of your resolutions think of how you will know you have reached success? What will be your signal to yourself that you accomplished what you set out to do? My mission statement for 2018 is a big one, bigger than anything I have ever done before. 

I am going to finish writing 3 books before December 31, 2018. 

Holy crap, that's huge. I can feel my heart bouncing even as I wrote that, but let's step back a notch. Is this a goal I can reasonably achieve? Well, given that each of my first drafts run approximately 60,000 words, to reach my goal I will need to have written over 180,000 words. If I divide 180,000 by 365 days I get 493 words. That tells me I will need to write a minimum 493 words a day. That's not too bad. Even on my worst days of writing I average 1000 words a day, sometimes I can achieve as many as 3,000 words a day. Given that I am already 18,000 words into the first project (Thanks NaNoWriMo!), I think it's fair to say my goal is achievable. 

The next step when planning out your resolution is to break it down further into smaller chunks. How do you eat an elephant? (Forget the why, OK? Assume you have no choice.) The answer is simple, one bite at a time. I want to take that 180,000 words and break it down by project. I want a measurable goal for each book. A finish line. An end date. A champagne and chocolate kind of day.

For my resolution, I have set one deadline for end of February 2018. The next is set for June 2018 and the last is set for sometime in November. This gives me a nice 4 week buffer in case of any mishaps. Yay! 

So now, instead of trying to keep on track for an entire year, all I need to do is make sure I am on track for each project. Three to four months is a far more immediate time frame than 12. But I never stop there. Each week on my planner I have written down goals. Sometimes it's words written, other times is revision progression but the end game is always the same. I have an action plan to follow. I have measurable goals to gauge my progress. I have the means to get me where I want to go. 

That's not to say I won't have hiccups. I will. I've made allowances for that so hopefully I can make up time if I fall behind and not get too far off track. Once I took my 2018 goal and broke it down into project goals and then monthly or weekly goals my resolution became far more achievable. The real resolution becomes following the blueprint I've laid out. 

In the end, this means a lot of new material coming from me over the next year, new stories, new challenges, new murders. I'll try to keep you up to date but, as you can see, I'm already planning on being very, very busy. 

Happy New Year, Dear Readers! All the best for a happy, healthy, prosperous 2018! 

RECIPE: Gingerbread Not Gingerbread

Let's face it, Christmas is 70% food. We plan food, we buy food, we gift food, we consume food. Christmas Cookies have practically been made into it's very own food group.

Every November I sit down with my recipe book and write out my family's favourites: fudge, whipped shortbread, mini cheesecakes, magic bars, chocolate truffles etc. I write down all the ingredients needed using tally marks to let me know quantities. Then I hit the grocery store in one single shop. I do this so I can just make something whenever I have a hankering and I never need to worry about whether I have everything I need. Sometimes if I am really on the ball, I make everything over a week or two in November/early December and put it all in the freezer. Whenever a child or husband of mine comes home and tells me about a last minute potluck or last minute teacher gift I break out the cookies. I may not be domestically inclined the rest of the year, but damn when it comes to Christmas cookies I am freakin' Martha Stewart.

Today, I am sharing my secret Gingerbread Not Gingerbread Christmas Cookie recipe.

What is Gingerbread Not Gingerbread, you ask? Well, as traditional as I am, the one tradition I don't like at Christmas is gingerbread. I've tried countless recipes and the verdict is always the same. Bleech. However, I do like the look of gingerbread on my cookie plates and baskets. So I came up with a cut out cookie recipe that looks like gingerbread and can be iced like gingerbread but is actually CHOCOLATE. Perfect.

So here it is...

INGREDIENTS

I cup of Butter, softened
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2  & 3/4 cups of flour
1/2 cup of cocoa
1 tsp baking soda

icing and sprinkles to decorate

This is how you put it together.

In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla.

In a separate bowl combine flour, cocoa and baking powder. Slowly add to large/mixer bowl and stir.

It looks like this.  

You can cover and refrigerate or you can use right away.

Roll out on a floured surface and cut into desired shapes. Bake at 375 degrees F for 7-9 minutes.

That's it. It makes a ton of little ones or a number of larger ones. Heehee. No exact numbers as it all depends how thinly you roll them out. This recipe can also be used at Halloween  to make skeleton cookies!! So cool.

The Most Underrated Christmas Movie of All Time

Two weeks until the big day. If you haven't sent out your Christmas cards, bought most of the gifts on your list and watched at least one Christmas movie by the time you read this, you might want to get your butt in gear. For something that happens every year, at the same time on the calendar too, Christmas has a way of sneaking up on people. I've been shoulder deep in writing and revisions for the better part of autumn. Most of our winter preparations here on the farm have been two (sometimes even three) weeks behind but we finally got there. Our Christmas tree and other decorations are up and I even got a head start on my annual holiday baking. (Winner!)

With winter prep taken care of, and a head start on Christmas, I think it's safe to say we've entered the second phase of Christmas. The second phase is the phase that comes after writing out your naughty & nice list, casually hitting the craft shows and the mall, and non-noncommittally eyeing decorations in the store. It's the phase that comes before the packed grocery stores on Christmas Eve-Eve, office potlucks, last minute stocking stuffer purchases. The second phase is essentially the calm before the storm phase, the 'this is so lovely' phase. Twinkling lights. Gently falling snow. The odd Christmas song on the radio. In my opinion this is the phase where panic doesn't live and the Christmas Season is at it's PEAK. Forget Christmas Day. I mean sure, that's fun too, but my favourite time of the entire season is right now.

It's the best time sit down with the family to enjoy a Christmas movie or two. I bet you've seen a ton of blog posts/articles listing the top 10 Christmas movies of all time. There's that repetitive list spanning decades of legendary Christmas classics... White Christmas (meh), It's a Wonderful Life (a fave of mine, for sure), Home Alone (definitely fun) and Elf (candy, candy canes, candy corn & maple syrup). But I'm going to remind you (or perhaps introduce you) to one you may never have thought of as a Christmas movie. In fact, many people I know challenge my assertion that it even qualifies as a Christmas movie.

No, I'm not talking about Die Hard. I'm talking about WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING with Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman. If you haven't heard of it here's a link to the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6JuJKsHDeU

I think the main mix up regarding WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING 's status as an official Christmas movie is based on it's marketing. I mean, look at the promo cover, no where is there any Christmas decoration or tree. It looks like any old, ho-hum romantic comedy but if you ask me, it's much more than that.

Since her father's death Lucy has spent her Christmases alone. It's such a sad state of affairs for someone so funny and bright. As a character, Lucy is such a treat (in fact, the child in my fifth book, Prayers for the Dying was named after this Lucy, not Lucy Maud Montgomery, another heroine of mine who preferred the name Maud). From the get go, we know Peter is not her type. Sure he's handsome, and suave but he's not for her. Jack, a down to earth guy next door, is way more Lucy's type and he proves it as the story progresses. We begin rooting for them early on.

But it's not just Jack we love, it's Peter and Jack's family, the Callahan's. Who doesn't wish they had a loving, dotting mother and a cheeky and welcoming grandmother? The family (and neighbour) are just the sweetest which only further emphasizes Peter's short comings because he's never appreciated them. The saddest part isn't that the Callahan's have accepted Lucy into their lives based on little more than a few words said under her breath, it's that they all deserve to be a family together. They deserve Lucy just as much as Lucy deserves them. But they are expecting her to marry Peter when she really should be marrying Jack.

The story of Lucy and Jack's relationship is the main thing, and Christmas appears to be just a backdrop. How exactly does that differ from other romantic comedies like THE HOLIDAY? These are movies about people at a pivotal point in their lives who are alone, people who don't deserve to be alone at a time in the year when no one should be alone.  In WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING Christmas simply magnifies Lucy's loneliness. It makes us root for her success. We want her to find love, be happy and finally put a stamp in her passport, damn it!

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING, in my opinion, is the quintessential Christmas love story about loneliness, family and enduring hope. I watch it every year. I cry when Lucy finally confesses the mix up.  I smile when it all turns out in the end. Honestly,  it's the perfect Christmas movie (and I mean this because I didn't write it though I often wish I had). It should be played regularly on television within the standard rotation right up there alongside Elf, Home Alone and all the others. It should be part of the Holiday Movie displays in department stores. And it should be a regular part of your holiday tradition too.

Black History Month: The Town of Buxton, Ontario

In the fall of 2015 my family and I were required to make a long 5-hour journey south-west to Windsor, Ontario to retrieve something we needed for our farm.  It seemed a long way to go to just pick up something yet that was exactly the situation we were in. Usually when faced with this sort of 'business' travel I try to think of what else we can do in the area to make it more worth while. We were spending the gas and time any way, why not enjoy something else in that neck of the woods.

As it happens, there are a number of historical sites and museums in that part of Ontario which I am never able to visit. While my kids were growing up I made it a point to take them to every pioneer village and museum within three hours driving distance. How I longed to be able to take them further afield to see all those places just out of reach. The Buxton Museum was always on my list.

Buxton, or the Elgin Settlement, was one of four organized settlements in Ontario reserved specifically for former slaves who had escaped to freedom in Canada.

This is a plaque at the modern day site that shows the original division of plots in the Elgin Settlement. The settlement was comprised of 9,000 acres, which was subdivided into farms of 50 acres each. It's main purpose was to provide the black population with the same education and prospects as white society. 

The idea, which was first proposed by Rev. William King in 1848, did not sit well with neighbouring communities but George Brown, who would later become a Father of Confederation, championed the proposal and became a great ally in the cause.

Settlers were able to purchase the land at $2.50/acre and were given ten years to pay off their loan at a rate of 6% interest. By 1850 the Buxton Mission School was built which also offered night classes for adults instructed by Rev. King.

A 550-pound bell was erected at the school, a donation from the African American community in Pittsburgh, PA. Whenever a fugitive slave found their way across the border and into Buxton they rung the Buxton Liberty Bell as a symbol and celebration of their newly won freedom.

Our trip to this museum was inspirational to say the least. Not only do the exhibits showcase the horrific capture, transport and treatment of early British slaves, but it progresses to a message of hope and prosperity. I found myself staring at one black and white photo in particular of one of the early classes displayed in the school house. I couldn't take my eyes from the little faces looking back at me. Were they haunted by memories of slavery? How were they treated once their families made it to Canada? Was there anyone they lost and were still waiting to join them? Were they able to achieve the dreams their parents imagined for them; the dreams of education, fair treatment and freedom? I would love to go back in time to ask them these questions and to find out what more can we do to remember them and their race to freedom.

New Release! SHADOWS OF MADNESS

Shadows of Madness is finally out, Dear Readers. 

Here's the Kindle link: https://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Madness-Marshall-House-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B06XMQN4K6/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Paperback coming soon!

I'm so excited to share with you all the 6th book in the Marshall House Mystery series. While I've said before this is the last book in the series, I have very much decided that this is not the last we will see of Peter and Margaret. Stay tuned for more details or follow me on Facebook for all the latest news and developments. 

Summoned to Edinburgh after another inexplicable vision, Dr. Peter Ainsley and his sister, Margaret Marshall, are shocked to discover their good friend, and Margaret’s secret lover, has been arrested for murder.

Dr. Jonas Davies, a celebrated surgeon and newly appointed professor at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, was found at the grisly scene with the bloodied surgical knife at his side, but both Ainsley and Margaret know that is hardly enough evidence to convict a man.

With a police inspector determined to prove Dr. Davies’s guilt and his medical colleagues distancing themselves from the nightmare, it falls on Margaret and Ainsley to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that their friend had no motive to kill his fellow professor and didn’t perpetrate the crime.

As the investigation moves forward, however, it becomes clear it won’t be enough to convince the court Dr. Davies didn’t kill the professor. They have to find the person who did, along with enough evidence to convict him before the Scottish judicial system sentences Jonas to hang. 

Cover for upcoming Marshall House Book #6

It's finally here, the last cover for the Marshall House mystery series.

SHADOWS OF MADNESS will be ready for devouring in a few short weeks, but in the meantime you can feast away on this gorgeous cover designed by Jessica Allain at EnchatedWhispers. A fellow Canadian, Jessica is an amazingly talented digital artist who took my rambling word-image and made it into something that surpassed all my expectations. I am deeply indebted to her and her creative eye.

You really can judge a book by it's cover and this cover clearly says "This book is AMAZING!"

Choosing & Working with a Cover Artist

It's that time of the process again. I've nearly signed off on the final proof of my cover for SHADOWS OF MADNESS, the sixth and last book of the Marshall House Mysteries. As a self published author I have final say in how my covers will look. That can bring about great excitement but also great trepidation.

It's often said, you can't judge a book by it's cover, but I could argue, that's not true, at least not when it comes to actual books. Readers do judge books by their covers and that's why it behoves any author to ensure they've put their best cover forward.

A cover is a book's most valuable advertising piece. It sets a tone for the story and gives readers a sneak peak into what they can expect. A bad cover can cause an otherwise brilliant book to sit on a shelf unread. When it's time for me to acquire another cover, I remind myself of a few simple rules for choosing a cover and working with my designer.

1) Before you start, look online at other published books in your genre. See what covers look like for books that are performing well. Obviously, it's performance is relative to how well the story is written but sales can also be indicative of how eye-catching the cover is. Make a note of elements you like on certain covers. Create a Pinterest board to keep notes and keep all your favourite cover styles in one easy to view place.

2) If you don't have a regular go-to designer yet, scope out the internet for premade covers. Premade covers are (sometimes) less expensive and are easy to evaluate. Signing on with an untested artist for a cover may turn out disastrous (as it did for me once) and you could end up losing a lot of money if the proofs they provide are horrible. Avoid signing any contracts for a custom cover with a artist you haven't worked with before. Instead chose a premade cover where all the design elements are visible and rest assured that the cover you have selected is what you will get. Self publishing is a big money maker for those looking to cash in and unscrupulous people often advertise themselves as having more skills than they actually do (this goes for editing as well). If you've signed a contract and provided a down payment/deposit you may be out of luck when the proofs they provide are not AT ALL what you were expecting. Buyer beware.

3) When evaluating a cover check for these things:

use of colour (are the colours used pleasing to the eye. Look for complementary colours -red/green, blue/orange. yellow/purple. Remember, if a colour is used on one part of the cover, such as in a title or even a small detail, that same colour must appear somewhere else as well. Otherwise that element will stick out and look like it doesn't belong)

use of composition and balance (watch where your eyes go. It should flow across the image like a backwards S, starting at the top left hand side, your eye should move down into the centre of the page, circle around and stay there. It doesn't matter if the title and author name are on the top or at the bottom of the page but the image should look balanced. I would also advise against using any model who has their back to the reader unless there is something else interesting to look at like a detailed dress/corset, extravagant hair style or complicated weaponry.

4) If you decide your ready for a custom cover with a trusted, proven artist, remember communication is key to a happy transaction. Show them your Pinterest boards, give them ideas but allow them to chose what works best visually. If you don't like something say so. It's your cover after all but remember working with artists can be emotional (I should know, I'm an artist myself) so make sure you praise your designer sometimes. Tell them what elements you like before asking for changes or tweaks. Always keep the communication professional and respectful.

5) Pay them on time! Some contracts require all up front, others are good when half and half while others are cool to accept it all in one instalment at the end. The process you both decide on doesn't matter (though I would caution you to never pay all up front) as long as you respect their time and talents. Just like you like to be paid promptly so do they, especially when they've already committed a substantial amount of time to your project.

6) Make sure you give yourself lots of time to find and/or design your cover, especially if you intend to offer your book up for preorders. It's not your artist's fault if you are under pressure. This is not something you want your designer (or editor) to rush on. By the time you are nearing the end of the first draft you should have an idea what you want for your cover, if not then you are already behind.

Did I miss anything? Any tips you'd like to offer your fellow writers? Leave a comment below.

Experience: the best way to learn to write

Are you squeamish?

I'm not. I once watched (perhaps a little too intensely) as an emergency room doctor stitched an inch deep gash on my daughter's thumb. Before he started he told me I could wait in the hall if I'd be more comfortable and I laughed and laughed (not out loud though).

You're probably not squeamish if you're a fan of my Marshall House books. I tend to write certain autopsy scenes in great, unforgiving details. A professional reviewer once called my style "unsympathetic". It can be quite a shock for any readers who are used to Agatha Christie or other mild whodunit writers. I've received a few negative comments regarding this particular style, enough to make me question whether I should tone it down. In the end, after reflection, I don't concede. I merely tell the story as it wants to be told.

 I don't set out to make things extra gruesome and I certainly wouldn't want my books to be fluffed up. I like to think my style represents the Victorian culture in that death was all around them and they didn't shy away from it. Some loved it and all it's salacious details. Others dealt with it and moved on, knowing they could not run from it. Death made an impression on every parlour (where the dead where laid prior to burial) and in every dark corner in every back alley. In an age when germ theory was still in it's infancy death came to everyone; young, old, sick and healthy. It did not discriminate.

I learned how close death was to us all as a 22 year-old newly married mother of one with another on the way. As the result of a car accident on a wintry road every single member of my family looked death in the eyes. I nearly lost my baby and my husband in that horrific crash and I am forever changed by it... but that is a story for another day.

Today I want to speak about an experience I had last night that presented itself as a responsibility to another family member but ended up being an opportunity to better myself and my writing. My daughter needed to complete an assignment for a senior high school chemistry class. Students were required to interview someone who works in the field of science. While most students chose to interview relatives, nurses, engineers and the like, my daughter wanted to give herself a bit of a challenge and chose to interview a funeral director.

I was asked to come along to film her while she asked her questions. It was a mundane task that I thought would at least get me a ballot for the "Mom of the Year" award. Never in a million years did I expect her interview subject to take us in the room where three bodies lay ready for their funerals. His intention was to show us the chemicals he uses and some of the devices at his disposal. It was a highly educational experience in more than just chemistry.

I had never seen a dead body other than relatives and I will admit I was taken aback. I repeat, I am not squeamish. The sight of the dead bodies did not affect me. My shock came more from the fact it had never occurred to me that we would be permitted in that space, that sacred space for the dead. The more I thought about it though, the more I realized how many others interact with the dead on a daily basis; doctors, nurses, police officers, medics, soldiers, anyone in funeral services, pathologists, medical examiners, archaeologists. I mean, death is all around us, and I, a full time author who writes about murder and death on a daily basis, have been so sheltered from it.

I write my stories, and conduct my research without ever having to witness it or touch it. My books seem so sterile now, so abstract. The Victorians knew death. Infant death was common, diseases had no cures. Daily life was one big gamble. Anything could take you out.

So what exactly has changed? We have medicines now, vaccines. We have experienced leaps and bounds in the medical field. We understand the impact of diet like no generation before us, as well as environmental impacts (smoking and work environments). We have instituted seat belts, helmets, air bags, and any number of other safety protocols, but even with all that there are no guarantees. Daily life is one big gamble. Anything can take us out.

Like I said, I'm not squeamish. The room did not jar me because of the bodies in it. The longer we stood there, talking and asking questions, the more I understood what had been missing from my writing. (There's a circle of life analogy somewhere here, but I'm purposely avoiding it.) We spent the better part of twenty minutes in that room which was only a quarter of the time we spent at the funeral home. We were given a tour of the offices, the casket showroom, the consultation rooms and the chapel. So many questions were answered and at times our guide must have wondered who the student actually was (guilty).

All in all, I am grateful for this experience and the time our host granted us. I think  my views on death, and my manner in writing about it, will change going forward. But I have no intentions of changing the tone of my books, not unless I decide to write a romance. In that case the gothic, murderous undertones might be a bit too much.

Two Local Events Coming Up

I've had a very busy schedule this fall with a few appearances and signings in Toronto, including one at Word on the Street, which was fabulous.

The next week is looking pretty busy for me as not only do I have to muddle my way through SHADOWS OF MADNESS (Marshall House #6) revisions but I also have two events coming up.

The first is at a AUTHOR MEET & GREET at the Barrie Public Library (Painswick Branch), Saturday December 3, at 10 a.m. I'm going to be there with seven other authors of various genres with books to sign. I've also been asked to give a presentation on Historical Facts in Fiction.

And... on Thursday December 8 at 7 p.m., I am a guest at WORD UP @ Unity Market & Cafe in Barrie at. I'll be reading a selection from THE DEAD AMONG US and the signing books afterwards.

If you are local to either of these events, please stop by.

GIVEAWAY!

Want to win a signed copy of THE DEAD AMONG US?

To celebrate the print release of THE DEAD AMONG US, the 3rd book in the Marshall House Mystery series, I am giving away one signed copy to one lucky reader. Head on over to Goodreads to enter your name. Contest is open to residents in the US, Canada and Australia, and closes Dec. 19.

Link below:
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/212891-the-dead-among-us

GOOD LUCK!

Sacrifice & Remembrance

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada. It’s a day where we pause to remember and reflect on the lives lost during international conflict. It’s a day to give thanks for the sacrifices made by the men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice, their lives, in pursuit of justice and freedom for their loved ones back home.

It is also a day to recognize those hurt by war, not simply those maimed through physical injury, but mental injury as well. Novemeber 11^th is for all soldiers, those who fought in battle and those that continue to fight a battle after they return home. It is in remembrance of all the soldiers who have taken their lives since returning from war, and those who fight the hard fight to this day.

As the wife of a military veteran, I have seen the sacrifice first hand. I have seen families destroyed. I’ve known children who have lost. The pledge soldiers make in service of their country is a pledge made by each spouse and offspring standing behind them. Without the full support of their loved ones, the men and women who serve our nation would not be able to do what they do, see what they see and live how they live.

My husband and I were newly married and our daughter was only one years old when he turned to me one day and said “What would you think if I joined the military?” It was a question I hadn’t been expecting but perhaps I should have. We were both patriots, with a deep love for the Canadian flag and all it stood for: our free health care, our welcoming nature, our neighbourly outlook. 

He was sworn in a week before 9/11, and left on a plane for Basic Training September 18. During that week of uncertainty, with the news replaying the collapse of the Twin Towers and the politicians vowing to kill the terrorists responsible we knew our time of peace was coming to an end.  We knew Canada, an ally to the United States, would be called to action. Our resolve never wavered.

We told our families and friends “We are not fair-weather patriots.”

I was scared and so was he, but in the end we couldn’t stop thinking “What if that was a Toronto skyscraper and mostly Canadian lives lost?” How could we back down at such a time?

My husband spent 18 months living apart from us, first in Basic Training, then in his technician’s course in Kingston, a six hour drive away. We were not allowed to join him. In 2001 spouses and children were akin to furniture and affects.  Weekend visits were sometimes impossible given his workload and small income.  So, as the months passed, my daughter and I got used to not having him around. He’s not fighting a war, I told myself. Canadian women have endured far worse than this.

Our time in the military was a short 8 years, brought to an end by medical needs sustained after a car accident. Even now, my husband works alongside those in uniform and sometimes laments not being in one himself.  The time he spent in service and the time we spent living on a military base, meeting families, making friends, seeing the effects of military life has given me new perspective on what it means to be Canadian, what it means to sacrifice.

Sacrifice isn’t just about losing your life but losing moments, connections, and friends. It’s about having little power and say in the great military machine but still seeing the necessity of it. It’s about learning to roll with the punches, getting up and marching on another day. This is the sacrifice of military families. This is what we should remember.  We remember those enduring long separations, late night doubts, and crippling pain brought on by the unique manner of military life.

For me, Remembrance Day will never be the same as it was before my husband joined. It’s not about men who died in distant wars a hundred years ago. It’s about those in uniform who serve and sacrifice for our freedoms today.

Remember to take a moment today, a moment of silence, to think of those we lost and those we still need. May we never forget the savageness of war, and the courage required to face it.

Guest Blog... Come on by.

Today I am guest blogging at Anastasia Pollack's Blog, Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers. 

Want to know more about the setting and inspiration of my Marshall House Mystery novels?

In this blog I give details about three stops on my research trip to London, UK.

anastasiapollack.blogspot.ca/2016/07/travel-to-london-with-guest-author.html

The Old Operating Theatre at the original St. Thomas hospital, now open as a museum.

Reading Maud: LM Montgomery Heritage Society Book Club - The Blue Castle

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending a new book club hosted by the LM Montgomery Heritage Society in Norval, Ontario. The book club is a new venture by the group to help the community celebrate their most famous resident, LM Montgomery, and bring more attention to her vast legacy of literary works.  From 1926-1935, Montgomery lived at the Manse, a Victorian red-brick charmer that still still stands next to the Norval Presbyterian Church. The LM Montgomery Heritage Society has recently launched a fundraising campaign to buy the Manse with the intention of transforming it into a museum about the author.

Even though I live a fair distance away from Norval (a good 1.5 hours driving), I knew as soon as I heard about the book club that I had to join. Not only is LM Montgomery one of my favourite authors, but the first book to be studied was THE BLUE CASTLE, which is my absolute favourite book written by her. The book is the only book solely set in Ontario and features an area known as Muskoka, Ontario’s cottage country north of Toronto, and actually only a very short drive from where I currently live.

The book is about twenty-nine year old Valancy Stirling, a self-described homey woman  who has never had any marriage prospects in her entire life and as a result is forced to endure a dull, suppressed existance with an overbearing mother and ruthlessly disapproving aunt. In fact, the entire Stirling clan seems determined to cut down Valancy at every turn, comparing her to her cousin Olive, who has beauty and beaus aplenty. Things take an interesting turn though when Valancy’s doctor tells her that she has a severe heart condition and can only expect to live for another year. Facing her own death, Valancy begins her own kind of rebellion, defying her family’s firmly held beliefs and forging her own path into the future that eventually leads her to love and a freedom she never knew before.

What’s great about the book club is that many of the attendees not only know the story of THE BLUE CASTLE, but they also know the story of Lucy Maud Montgomery as well. Many parallels were drawn between the life of Valancy and Maud.  Firstly, Montgomery did not marry Rev. Ewan Macdonald until she was well into womanhood. Instead she remained in Cavendish caring for her grandmother, who had raised her, while keeping her engagement secret. For this, Montgomery most likely endured the same demeaning comments directed at Valancy for being an old maid or "spinster". During this period in history, women were often believed to have little value without a man which forced unmarried women to rely on their families to support them. Valancy was one such woman, afraid to say or do anything to contradict her family whom she depended upon for her livelihood.

It was also observed that the strict rules of the Stirling home were similar to the strict upbringing experienced by Maud. For instance, as a child and young woman, even after earning a tidy sum from the success of her early books, Maud was not permitted to change the décor of her bedroom.  As well, both Maud and Valancy were not permitted to do much outside the regular routine set out by the exacting standards of their caregivers.  In the book, Valancy escapes her daily drudgery by dreaming of her Blue Castle, a fantasy world where she can change and move about anything at will.  In her diaries, Maud confessed to have a fantasy world of her own in which she says she often retreated to when her days with her grandparents were particularly difficult to bare.

I noted during the book club meeting that to me the book had a very feminist message embedded in it, where Maud depicts the constricted life of a Edwardian/post-war woman and then gives her the fortitude to set her own path breaking free of the tethers of society, in this case the exacting standards of the Stirling clan. A book club member pointed out that when THE BLUE CASTLE was first published it was banned by a number of schools as being too risqué. Authorities feared it would encourage rebelliousness. It was also noted that the book was released at the same time Maud moved with her family to Norval from Leaskdale, Ontario, a change that saved her from having to face any disapproval from parishioners of her husband’s congregation. The move allowed Maud a fresh start and a clean slate with which to make an impression.

From my perspective THE BLUE CASTLE is one of the best works written by LM Montgomery. In it she explores many themes including societal expectations and breaking free from the bonds of fear, but it also explores the meaning of real friendship and Christian charity. The romance as well is very sophisticated, reminiscent of Gilbert and Anne, but with a connection to the natural world of Ontario’s Muskoka that makes it shine all on its own.

Next month we are reading JANE OF LANTERN HILL. Join in and check back for a full report on what was discussed at the meeting, until then, happy reading Kindred Spirits!

PRAYERS FOR THE DYING Cover

I'm so pleased to reveal the cover for my new book, PRAYERS FOR THE DYING. 

It's the fifth book in the Marshall House Mystery series, featuring Peter Ainsley and Margaret Marshall. Now available for pre-orders with Amazon for release May 31st. Tell your friends. Add it to your Goodreads. Help me celebrate an amazing milestone for what is quickly becoming a must-read series in historical mysteries.

Another Creative Side of Me

A little known fact about me is that I went to art school for four years in place of traditional high school. A bit like a Canadian Juilliard, I auditioned in Grade 8 for entry into an Integrated Arts Program at Eastwood Collegiate Institute in Kitchener, Ontario. While doing the standard school credits, my timetable also included a HEAVY dose of drama, visual arts and vocal music. It also included a specialized English stream that focused heavily on Shakespeare and other aspects of the arts community.

 Due to my lack of confidence and an abundance of anxiety, my drama performances left a lot of room for improvement. My artwork, as well, lacked refinement. I tried and tried, but I wasn't able to convert that masterpiece in my head into something equally stunning on canvas. Somehow, in the four years of school, I was able to make a name for myself as a writer. I loved writing and was often called upon by my classmates to write skits and plays. My writing seemed to be only place that I felt comfortable, even though I never won awards or much recognition from others.

While many of my fellow graduates went on to study the arts in post-secondary I couldn't. Not only did I lack the funds, but I also lacked family support which required me to get a diploma as quickly as possible. I needed to work to support myself and four years of university with low employment prospects (that starving artist trope holds true in many cases) wasn't the type of employment that could pay back my student loans.

So I went to Journalism school and never looked back. I always said I would go back, maybe work in community theatre, perhaps volunteer, and maybe get back into painting one day.

But then I got married and had children.

As time went on my adult life separated me farther and farther from that artistic side of me. I did, however, raise my children with frequent visits to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). I've done art projects with them and taught them about Van Gogh, Matisse and Renoir, to name a few. We listen to classical music and they've taken music lessons. I've loved teaching them about Shakespeare and taking them to the Stratford Festival Theatre and Shaw Festival in Niagara. We don't live near Kitchener any more so they don't have access to the same school I did, but they are still active in their regular high school's arts activities and that makes me happy.

My intense study of the arts has affected my life in surprising ways. Not only can I paint baseboard trim WITHOUT the use of painter's tape, but I can also decorate a cake like nobody's business.

My son's 13th birthday cake. He had a Dungeons & Dragon's party.

Both my kids' birthdays are in March and ever since they were little I've made their cakes. I'd ask them what theme they wanted their cake to be and have gotten a range of replies over the years. Pirates. Princesses, Lego, Minecraft,  I have to say my skill with icing has improved more than my skill with a paintbrush.

My daughter's Sweet 16 cake.

A Fairy House cake for my daughter. 

A Minecraft cake I made last year, complete with checker board insides. This was finicky but fun to reveal at the party. 

A Lego Pirates cake, which is really a Bundt cake and ramekin dish inverted and covered with icing.

My first rosette cake. 

I used fondant once and we all hated it. For the most part I stick with the basics and haven't resorted to buying every gadget and gizmo available for the budding cake artist. I have a few piping bags, and have purchased maybe six tips total over the years often buying just one tip at a time when I have a specific technique in mind. Buttercream icing is my go-to recipe and this year I stumbled upon this video on Youbtube that has helped me make the most mouthwatering icing ever, 

Getting creative and coming up with a design is the funniest part of the process. I am often surprised at how well some have turned out, but there have also been times when it didn't work out as well as I had planned. It doesn't matter because according to my kids they have all been wonderful.

The last time I stepped on stage may have been over a decade ago (ahem..or more) and I'll never be a famous artist, but my background in the arts has impacted my life in so many other ways. I don't think of those years of study as a waste, but rather a huge step in the culmination of skills that I can draw upon to do some fun and amazing things, including, but not limited to, writing some stellar novels. 

Ending the Hangover; Loving the Process

You know the feeling... you've devoted numerous hours of your free time lost in a fascinating book, learning about new locales and befriending interesting characters. Somehow in the process you've become enraptured and begin looking for any excuse to ignore your daily life so you can crack open your new favourite book hoping to get lost in its pages. So rare is this feeling. How wonderful it feels to have found a story, an author, a protagonist that speaks to you like no one else. And then...

It's over.

If you're lucky the author will have a backlog of material to dive into while you wait, but sometimes you're not so lucky.

The book hangover is the same for authors as well. A writer like me can spend a year or more on a single book, researching, plotting, writing and revising. The book becomes my lover and nemesis. My friend and foe. I get used to the rhythmic push and pull of storytelling. One week I am on top of the world, pleased with the progression of my story, and the next I fight the urge to highlight it all and hit 'delete'. As I come closer to the end, the crescendo, the piece takes on a presence all it's own. With one final read through I can feel the pride blossoming deep within me. My imaginary friends have come through for me once again, aiding my desire to write really, really good stories. We are one, them and I. We did it. We produced another tale to enthral and entertain.

And then it's over.

 The only way I know to end the sagging feeling of the book hangover is to dive into the next one almost as soon as the draft gets to my editor's email inbox. Months later, while readers are busy devouring my new release, leaving pleasant reviews (and sometimes not so pleasant ones) I am already deep into the next project. It's a feeble attempt to revive that feeling of euphoria, the feeling of escape and acceptance granted to me by my characters.

Don't get me wrong, I love hearing from readers about their experiences with Peter and Margaret. Often those notes come to me at very serendipitous times (usually when I am pulling my hair out over a particularly tricky passage or when I'm reeling from another lack lustre review). This period of reader celebration becomes a part of the ebb and flow of novel writing as well. Their enthusiasm becomes infectious, spurring me on when I feel like giving up and sometimes bringing plot ideas to light that I hadn't thought of before. And so it goes.

In the end, it's not about book sales or Amazon rankings. Writing a book is really about the intricate relationship between author, reader and the characters they cherish.