In 2010, my husband and I left the city to escape to rural life in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and we're savoring every moment.
I update my blog with everything I love through prose and photography, as well as posts about writing. My first novel was released in March 2016 and its sequel was released in March 2017. My third novel, The Women of Wild Cove, was published in September 2025, this time of the speculative genre.
I’ve been a certified sofa spud all weekend due to a bout of illness, but I have company. Her name is Maisie.
Does this photo of her remind you of anyone?
Our Maisie in her usual nap pose
For those of you who are “old codgers”* like moi, you might be reminded of Dagwood Bumstead from Chic Young’s comic strip Blondie:
Or it might make you think of this guy, another legendary comic-strip couch potato:
Andy Capp by Reg Smythe
I think I’ll go with the latter.
“Andy Cat”
*Codger – derived from the expression: coffin dodger. You learn something new every day!
On another note, there is still time left to enter my Calmer Girls Giveaway. This one is for US only but next week I will be hosting one for everyone with Goodreads.
Check it out:
Enter my #AmazonGiveaway for Calmer Girls! Paperback version – NoPurchNecessary/US only: This event has ended.
“I could make you happy, make your dreams come true There’s nothing that I would not do Go to the ends of the Earth for you To make you feel my love.”
Bob Dylan wrote it. Billy Joel, Garth Brooks, Adele, Neil Diamond, and many others recorded it. These talented singers knew a great song when they heard it.
Make You Feel My Love has been one of my favourite love songs ever since Dylan released it on his 1997 album, Time Out of Mind. As it happened, that was the same year he came to perform two shows at St. John’s Memorial Stadium here in Newfoundland, one of which Paul and I attended.
A little side note here about that concert: My daughter Denise was in class during her last year of high school when she heard through the student grapevine that Dylan was coming to our fair province. Knowing full well how big a fan her mother’s fiancé was, she phoned Paul from school on her lunch break to be the first to blurt the good news. Needless to say, we were elated and scored our tickets right away for the show. But as excellent as the concert turned out to be, Paul remembers that phone call with a special fondness. It showed him how much his stepdaughter cared.
Nowadays I like to tease him about the song and how I identify with the lyrics in the last verse shared above. I am reminded of how I followed him to Newtown five years ago. Now tell me, what could be more proof of my love and loyalty – to make him feel my love – than to go to “the ends of the earth” that is Perry’s Point, a wild piece of land that juts out into the cold North Atlantic?
Mushy? Sentimental? I don’t care.
*Photos taken from Perry’s Point on April 19, 2016.
Fellow author Lisa D. Montanino from Accidental Bohemian interviewed me a few weeks back, and yesterday she shared it on her blog. To access, click the link at the end of this post. A huge and appreciative thank you, Lisa!
I couldn’t resist snapping these photos yesterday. Yes, I fully confess it felt special, and a little surreal, to see my new books hanging out with other books at my house.
dedication 🙂
FYI: Next week I will return to my usual blogging content of photography, the adventures of Maisie & Vivian, general writing and poetry, and everything Newfoundland. Sincere thanks to those of you who did patiently bear with me through my book’s release.
Enjoy your weekend, everyone. ❤
“Weekends don’t count unless you spend them doing something completely pointless.” ~Bill Watterson
Barbara Vitelli is a book reviewer and bloggerat Book Club Momhere on WordPress. She also shares author interviews, indie author profiles and blogging advice.
In addition to all of that, Barbara is a book-clubber, an avid reviewer on GoodReads, and she has over five thousand followers on Twitter.
I chose the following post from her lovely blog, not because it is her most recent, but because I appreciate that she reviews the well-loved classics by famous authors as well as newer selections by current and lesser-known authors.
This gorgeous convertible is the vintage car 18-year-old Ben Swift drives in my YA novel, Calmer Girls. It belongs to his dad but he gets to borrow it often.
Interesting trivia: Out of 69,176 T-Birds built in 1966, 5049 were convertibles. This generation of the Thunderbird played a starring role in the TV series Highlander and was also in the 1991 movie Thelma and Louise.
By the way…good news! Calmer Girls is now available in paperback, as well as e-book, on Amazon.
What does a true-blue introvert do when her debut novel is coming out the next day?
Why, she flees the country, of course!
Yep. On Wednesday, hubs and I will fly away to a warmer, sunnier clime for a little rest and recreation. Truth is, this long-overdue vacation with family has been planned since early last fall, when I didn’t know the Calmer Girls release date yet.
Murphy’s Law took over then, making sure that out of the fifty-two weeks in a year, the release had to take place during the same week I’m missing in action, on the day after I get there!
Oh well, there isn’t a thing to do about it, only keep abreast of the event via the “interwebs” and if necessary, emails and phone calls. Smart phones are wonderful things, aren’t they? I won’t be able to take a complete holiday from technology like I usually do when I go down south, but I suppose that’s the trade-off (and a cool and understandable one at that) when one has a novel published.
There will be plenty of time to work on marketing when we return. At that time I’ll look into hosting a giveaway, and as the weather improves, there will be a book-signing to plan. It’s all good.
On another note, I’m sharing a childhood picture today.
Already a hardcore bookworm at 11 yrs. old
Yes, I know it’s only a Charlie Brown Peanuts book but (besides the fact that I consider Charles M. Schulz brilliant) it was still a book to bury my nose in so I wouldn’t have to socialize at an extended family gathering. So shy and introverted, I couldn’t even bring myself to look at my aunt, the photographer. Not much has changed; I still prefer to be on the other side of the camera. 🙂
If you knew my granddaughter, you would not believe the resemblance.
~ Hey! I just realized what my long-lost natural hair colour was! ~
See you all again when I get back. In the meantime, please check out my new Author home page, and if you are so inclined, like me on my new Author Facebook page.
Spring is a long, drawn-out affair here on the island of Newfoundland.
No matter what the calendar says, we still have to endure the odd snowstorm and it seems to take forever to warm up.
Sleet storms are common. But the next day I take in the results with my camera…
…because when the sun comes out, everything shimmers and glows with a crust of rime.
Tufts of grass lay frozen and still.
harp seal on ice
Silence reigns today because the spring ice is in and the air is calm.
Our “flippery” friend lolls about, basking in the peace and quiet.
(And I do believe I made up a word. 😉 )
Turn that frown upside down!
You are free, little seal. Nothing to hurt you here.
Jennifer's Journal 