Here is another favourite to add to my Summer Memories collection. This post takes us back to an overnight stay on Gander River in June of 2023. Whenever my husband Paul has to travel for… More
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Snapshots from a Summer Day*
The Ragtag Daily Prompt today is Summer Memories! I thought I’d share this favourite evergreen post as an introduction to a summer series I plan to showcase in the next few months. ☀️
*Ragtag Daily Prompt: Summer Memories
All poetry and images are my own.
A Life That Matters*
When I saw the Daily Prompt on WordPress this morning: “What’s a common misconception people have about happiness?”, I couldn’t help but think about a post I made back in 2017. I’m sharing it again because it addresses that question. And with the passage of time, my own opinion has changed somewhat, so I have made a few small updates.
“It doesn’t matter who we are, what we are doing and what our station in life is, we all have the ability to contribute to something beyond ourselves and (to find) purpose in doing so.” – Emily Esfahani Smith, author of The Power of Meaning: Crafting a Life That Matters.
According to Smith’s research, it isn’t happiness that makes life worth living – it is meaning. It is rising each day with a purpose. As simple and as uncomplicated as that sounds, I wonder how many of us have been chasing the wrong thing.
Is developing a “meaning mindset” the only true answer to achieving fulfillment?
Living on auto-pilot, or chasing mostly what brings you pleasure, or working long and crazy hours, driving yourself to exhaustion to conform to someone else’s definition of success – do any of these pursuits sound like happiness to you?
Or have you already figured this out?
Update: Our purpose, or anything that fulfills us, can change with time; from education to self-expression, from career and to parenthood and beyond. The main thing is, hopefully, whatever endeavour, it gives a measure of satisfaction and meaning.
I think we are all guilty of “living on autopilot” from time to time. Life and its many challenges have a tendency to do that to you. I do believe in the randomness of life, and yet also believe in self-actualization which helps give you a sense of direction, to give those experiences more meaning than ever.
Something has to generate that singular feeling of being alive in a positive way. What will make me happy? But “happiness” is far too vague a goal to me. What passion or purpose will make me feel more alive?
Some of us may take a little longer to figure out what gives meaning to our days. Sometimes, the smallest things can give meaning, and matter a great deal to someone else. A life with purpose would also take us outside ourselves so that we can’t help but take others into account. At least that is my perception of what Smith’s book is telling us.
Have you found your meaning?
*First posted in June 2017
The Women of Wild Cove: A Thought-Provoking Future for Only 99¢*
My latest novel in e-book format is only 99¢ for all of June!
“An intriguing view of the future … I was both thrilled and, at times, appalled with its methods of survival … I love novels that make you think.” – Marie Ann Bailey
“… A love story of the land, of its people, of friendships and of justice.”
– Carol Balawyder
“A timely book – a dystopian future triggered by runaway global warming.” – Atlanta Reader
“Fascinating exploration of a peaceful matriarchal society in a deteriorating & violent world. The book is engaging and suspenseful and hard to put down.” – Luanne Castle
“… An ambitious book that delivers on all fronts … great world-building … and dimensional characters who are easy to root for. I loved the feminist bent as well, along with the Eastern Canadian setting. All in all a great read!” – Carrie
“Two hundred years in the future, society and the environment has collapsed. The story follows the life of Kat, an 18-year-old girl who lives in a matriarchal society in Newfoundland … I found the story captivating and compelling.” – Marie
“Can women rule better than men? Highly recommended to readers who enjoy post-apocalyptic thrillers that raise interesting questions about human nature, power, and control.” – D.W. Peach
“The story balances world-building with real human stakes, and the final choices Kat faces are both heartbreaking and believable.” – Elsie
“A very thought-provoking book.” – Lulu
“A broken lawless world or one ruled by women that seems to work … I settled into my reading chair for what prior experience with this author told me would be a well spun tale.” – Jacqui Murray
*Available on Amazon Kindle, Indigo Kobo, Barnes & Noble Nook, and wherever fine books are sold.
Whisker Wednesday: Can’t Share a Chair?
Gord: “Hey, Lou—I didn’t see you there!
Can we share this chair?”
“Never mind!
I’ll take the other one so I can stretch out.
🐾 🐾. 🐾 🐾
Happy Whisker Wednesday,
Everyone!”
💕💙💕
Evergreen Post: Calmer Secrets Setting in Pictures
This is Part Two of the Calmer Girls series setting in pictures.
Calmer Secrets takes place in Newfoundland in 1997-98, four years later than the first book. (The Calmer Girls Book One setting pictorial can be seen here.)
First, let’s take a look at Samantha’s school in Corner Brook, Memorial University’s Grenfell Campus on the west coast of the province. Samantha is enrolled in the Visual Arts program there.
Later in the story, tragedy strikes.
The youngest character in the book is brought to the Janeway Children’s Hospital,
the one that existed at that time.
A new facility was built a couple of years later.
Photo sources: Grenfell College, NL Tourism, Eastern Health, Pinterest, Google (public domain)
Thanks for coming along!
There is only now …
There is only now.
An open window
a fresh breeze
to welcome
this bright and beautiful
April day.
– J. Kelland Perry
Wordless Whisker Wednesday: King of the Castle
King Louis
Sunday Snaps: April Evening on Perry’s Point
As I have mentioned on my blog before, spring takes its own sweet time to show its face on the island of Newfoundland. The arrival is gradual, just as it is on most northern coastlines, with cold temperatures accompanied by the odd snowfall or sleet storm.
I love the anticipation of warmer days ahead. And there are still some lovely moments, particularly when the wind is light, the water is calm, and the sun begins to set. These photos were taken on the peaceful evening of April 2nd, and since then most of the snow and ice has disappeared.
Another reason I love spring here on Perry’s Point: the pleasure to witness the renewal of nature by observing our seabirds. Two weeks ago, it started—the sudden appearance of seagulls and other salt water birds pairing off to mate. Everyday, we now see them huddled—and even cuddled!—together on rocks and small islets off the point, or gliding through the water side by side: herring gulls, saddlebacks, black ducks, and pintails.
Seagulls squeal a spring duet
swim in pairs around ice and rock
glide as swans in graceful tandem
hush broken by caw and squawk *
*excerpt from Seagull Spring by J. Kelland Perry, April 2015
“April is the gateway to the joys of summer.” ― Fennel Hudson
“Oh, the lovely fickleness of an April day!” – W. H. Gibson
“The book is engaging and suspenseful and hard to put down…”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A new 5-Star review was published today for The Women of Wild Cove on Amazon & Goodreads, by Luanne Castle, Author. That makes 21 ratings and 12 reviews on Goodreads with an average of 4.24 out of 5, and 10 global ratings and 6 reviews on Amazon.com with an average of 4.4 out of 5.
The Women of Wild Cove by Jennifer Kelland Perry
“Jennifer Kelland Perry’s latest novel, The Women of Wild Cove, imagines a utopian community set within a dystopian world. This matriarchal village, one of several in the region, is self-sustaining (with bartering between villages) and peaceful. The book is engaging and suspenseful and hard to put down.
What fascinated me even more than the action of the plot and the characterization is to see how the community functions. These villages are a response to a world ruined by the greed and violence of a male-dominated society. As long as the community is not disturbed by the outside world, the peace holds-and the male peons and consorts seem content with their positions. But what happens when there is an outside threat? And the storyline begs other questions as well. For instance, is the tradeoff to get peace at the expense of the autonomy of the men? As a retired English lecturer, I predict that this novel would generate thoughtful and spirited class discussions.
Perry’s novel is in the best traditions of dystopian and utopian novels; however, she has interjected a thread woven throughout. The community collects the stories of women who have written down what happened to them, both in the “old” world and in their new world. Much of the stories are about the violence and abuse men perpetuated on women, making a strong case for this matriarchal society.”
Read from: Mar 25, 2026 – Mar 28, 2026
Shelved as: read, sci-fi, fiction
The e-book is 99¢ but only until the end of March!
*Available on Kindle, Indigo Kobo, Barnes & Noble Nook, Apple Books, and others.
Calmer Girls: 10th Anniversary of my Debut Novel
Ten years ago today, my first novel Calmer Girls was published. I’m sharing a post from one year later, Calmer Girls Setting in Pictures, to give you an idea of how my birthplace of St. John’s, NL made for such a wonderful setting.
CALMER GIRLS SETTING IN PICTURES
Although Calmer Girls is a fictional tale, its Canadian setting certainly isn’t.
It was fun writing a pair of novels set in my birthplace of St. John’s, Newfoundland, and perhaps the following pictorial will better explain why it had inspired me. After all, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!
All of these locations are featured in scenes throughout the first novel. Calmer Cove is not included as it is semi-fictional.
Samantha and her sister took their first ride in Ben Swift’s T-bird to Signal Hill and along the harbourfront. Later, Samantha took pictures of a cruise ship in the Narrows.
Newfoundland, Canada
Thanks for visiting my hometown, which is, in my opinion,
one of the most vibrant and colourful places on earth.
Photo sources: NL Tourism, Government sites, Wikipedia, Google (public domain)
Jennifer's Journal 