J. Kelland Perry

Finished :-)

Published on June 14, 2016June 15, 2016 by J. Kelland Perry20 Comments

ID-1008124

At last, Calmer Girls II: Calmer Secrets is finished. Yippee!

What I mean by finished is that it is out of my hands and into my first readers’ hands. Once I receive feedback and make any changes from their suggestions (and eagle eyes), the manuscript will be submitted to my editor.

Because I’ve been consumed recently with its completion, many things have fallen by the wayside around here. So I need to take a breather.

What I mean by taking a breather is not exactly a breather at all, except when it comes to my blog. I must begin getting my surroundings back in ship-shape: tackle the freakishly giant dust bunnies multiplying as I type this, start digging into the mountain of laundry piled up from neglect, and get busy on dozens of other tasks I’ve been actively ignoring.

Once I see I’m making headway, I’ll be back! In the meantime, below is the info for the upcoming Signing Event in my area. Also there’s only one week left until the Calmer Girls Paperback Giveaway ends. You can enter for your chance to win here.

Does anyone (~ GROAN ~) despise housework as much as I do? 😦

signing poster

Blogger Bouquet #37

Published on June 5, 2016March 1, 2018 by J. Kelland Perry

blogger bouquet spring

Andrea Stephenson is a gifted writer who shares her inspirations on her blog Harvesting Hecate.

From her About page, A Creative Life:

“My first writing memory dates back to when I was around 8 years old and feverishly re-writing the Nancy Drew novel I’d just read. Once I began writing, I didn’t stop. I wrote stories, the beginnings of novels, journals. Writing was a compulsion, something I felt I had to do.”

I chose the following post of Andrea’s to help illustrate an emotion I too am feeling as of late: mourning for the story that has ended and for the characters that became part of your daily life, as well as the struggle writers experience in finding the thread of a new story. When you read her colourful prose, you may also be moved to click the follow button.

Finding A Story

Comments are closed here but you can leave a comment on the blogger’s page.

Have an inspiring week, everyone!

Scenes from a St. John’s Book Launch

Published on May 31, 2016 by J. Kelland Perry34 Comments

My Book Signing Event was a success!

The Launch included an introduction and bio, a short author reading of an excerpt from Calmer Girls, question period, and sale and signing of books.

I wish to bestow a huge thank-you to everyone who took time out of their Saturday to attend. It meant the world to me. Several of you even drove from out of town to be there, and for that I am forever grateful. ❤

I also wish to thank Jewel S. Cousens, B.A., M.L.S., NL Librarian with the A.C. Hunter Public Library, Arts & Culture Centre, for all of her valuable assistance, as well as her insight and suggestions for future promotions. Ms. Cousens was happy to tell us that interest in Newfoundland and Labrador books has grown in recent years and continues to grow.

Special appreciation to my husband and family for everything you did to make this past weekend one I will never forget.

I hope you enjoy the photos and the slide show I’ve shared below.

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A Weekend Walk (…and book stuff)

Published on May 24, 2016 by J. Kelland Perry21 Comments

This past Victoria Day long weekend turned out to be a beautiful and sunny one here on the island of Newfoundland.

We headed out on Saturday hoping to find icebergs, but unlike last year’s bumper crop, they kept their distance for the most part, hugging the horizon.

Undaunted, Paul and I took a hike around the trail in Greenspond and still managed to capture these pretty nature scenes.
001 006 022 021 Icebergs big and small can be seen dotting most of the horizon.
023 042 078 I zoomed in for these two. Notice the wide band of blue, which is called looming.
068 The atmospheric phenomenon of looming made this iceberg seem to stretch -or refract – vertically into a shape that made me think of a water bomber…sort of.
064 039 These little shelters house picnic tables along the Greenspond trail.
028 066 Now for the funny and unexpected part of our hike:
007 I decided to snap a photo of this helmet someone had picked up and placed here, thinking I would show it on Facebook to help unite it with its owner. But… 009 This is where I stepped back to get a shot from the other side, and my “accident-prone” foot got caught in a crevice. Down I went. Luckily I missed the big rocks and my camera was also unharmed. At home, I discovered I’d taken the above photo by accident!
010 I got the other shot, no harm done. Hubs got a little fright (and a laugh), though. 😉

What did you do for fun this weekend?
(and did you lose a helmet?)

Author updates:

I’m running a Goodreads Book Giveaway! Enter here or on the sidebar for a chance to win a signed, first edition paperback of Calmer Girls. Though the winning entry is randomly chosen by Goodreads, I will mail the book directly to the winner.

And…I’m attending my Book Launch this Saturday in St. John’s:

Untitled Here is the link for the Library announcement:
NL Book Launch – Jennifer Kelland Perry
A.C. Hunter Adult Library

***

Have a safe and inspiring week, everyone. ❤
(and watch out for those crevices!)

Sad

Published on May 18, 2016May 18, 2016 by J. Kelland Perry

I have always hated good-byes. They suck.

There are all sorts of good-byes in this world. This past weekend, a blogger friend of mine had to say good-bye to one of her dear little cats, and everyone who knows me at all knows what cats mean to me. I feel your grief, Lois!

And you might think when another blogger friend decides to no longer continue with her blog that it wouldn’t be a very big deal, but to me, it is. A virtual, cyber relationship can be meaningful, especially when it is a relationship that has gone on for a while and you have supported each other in ways other people can’t. She will be missed. 😦

But I am richer for having known her. As a writer, I understand why she needs to do this. And we will still be in touch on Twitter (though that isn’t the same!)

I wish all the best for you, C.R., in your writing career and everything you do.

Try to drop by once in a while, okay?

That is all.

scarecrow goodbye

Gratitude

Published on May 5, 2016 by J. Kelland Perry18 Comments

**Bath Time Bliss – jenniferkellandperry.com**

Gratitude

Be grateful for the kindly friends that walk along your way;
Be grateful for the skies of blue that smile from day to day;
Be grateful for the health you own, the work you find to do,
For round about you there are men less fortunate than you.

Be grateful for the growing trees, the roses soon to bloom,
The tenderness of kindly hearts that shared your days of gloom;
Be grateful for the morning dew, the grass beneath your feet,
The soft caresses of your babes and all their laughter sweet.

Acquire the grateful habit, learn to see how blessed you are,
How much there is to gladden life, how little life to mar!
And what if rain shall fall today and you with grief are sad;
Be grateful that you can recall the joys that you have had.

~ Edgar A. Guest

Edgar Albert Guest was born in Britain but grew up and spent most of his life in the U.S.A. He was a product of “small town” America and the values and lifestyle he had as a boy permeates his writing both prose and poem. He worked most of his adult life as newspaperman, syndicated country-wide and is reputed to have had a new poem published in a newspaper every day for over 30 years. – AllPoetry.com

Travel Theme: Poetry – combine a favourite poem with a fitting photo.

Do you have any favourite poems to share? What are you grateful for?

Couch Potatoes & a Giveaway

Published on May 1, 2016March 13, 2018 by J. Kelland Perry20 Comments

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?

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:

FullSizeRender (3) (640x325) — **Andy Capp by Reg Smythe**

I think I’ll go with the latter.

*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.

Have an inspiring week, everyone! ❤

One-Word Prompt: Mask

Published on April 27, 2016 by J. Kelland Perry23 Comments

My grandson loved having his face painted, but he couldn’t stay awake long enough for his mom to wash it off. 🙂

Daily Post One-Word Prompt: Mask

The Ends of the Earth

Published on April 20, 2016 by J. Kelland Perry21 Comments

006

“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.

010

*Photos taken from Perry’s Point on April 19, 2016.

New Author Interview

Published on April 15, 2016April 20, 2026 by J. Kelland Perry13 Comments

Happy Friday, all.

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.

FullSizeRender

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

Interview Link:
http://ldmountain.wordpress.co/2016/04/14/author-interview-with-jennifer-kelland-perry/

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