Tag: Calmer Girls
Throwback Thursday: She Writes
Happy Thursday, everyone!
Here’s a throwback to July 2013, when I was in the thick of creating the first draft for Calmer Girls. At the time I was also blogging twice a week, but hey, when your muse is whispering in your ear to pen a poem and she won’t shut up, you pen a poem. There’s no getting out of it.
She Writes
She wakes tangled in themes
through a cobweb of dreams
with gossamer remnants
that linger and tease,
pushes back dusty curtains
and on a page blank and white
she writes.
She deletes the clichéd
yesterday she okayed
and contemplates words
like ephemeral and moonglade
they taste like confections
with her tangerine sections
and jolts of black coffee
she writes.
She’s reminded of chores
she keeps trying to ignore
with the scatter of crumbs
that litter the floor,
shrugs her shoulders and thinks
it will be there tomorrow
she writes.
The bills wait, unpaid
And the bed’s still not made
There’s this blog post to write
and it can’t be delayed
her novel must wait
it’s a musing or rhyme that
she writes.
She reaches again
for the manuscript when
her mind can’t break free
from the plot line within
and it makes him uptight
there’s no dinner tonight
but he digests her flaws.
After all, it’s because
she writes.
***
First published here.
Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!
Happy…and Busy!
It’s a cold and snowy day here at home, but the following warms me down to my toes.
I’m thrilled to see another powerful 5-star review on Amazon for Calmer Secrets!
Take a look:
“Calmer Secrets is a fascinating and mature, well-written second look into the lives of the Cross girls which takes place some four or five years after the events of the first book. The time gap and the substantial content in each novel support Jennifer Perry’s decision to split this story into two books.
Samantha is all grown up, Ben is gone, and against her self-centred, irritating sister’s advice she tumbles into a relationship with old friend Kalen – who has turned into a hot rocker. Their mother continues to wrestle with her issues, and the charming Henry, Veronica’s four-year old boy, is Samantha’s darling. The scene is set for a gritty, realistically told and engrossing unravelling of events, and old secrets, which will change everyone’s lives.
The gripping story kept me helplessly reading on, late into the night. Hints are dropped, with a thud, or a tickle of the mind, and I yelled at Samantha not to be such a fool, at Ronnie for her attitude, at Kalen, at Ben, at Darlene, at Cash… the only one I didn’t yell at was little Henry.
*Much* is explained as the final secrets are revealed and the ends of the story are resolved, and one begins to understand the complexity and depth of these beautifully crafted characters.
This is an excellent novel of family, love, and the damage that secrets can do. Highly recommended, but you have to read the first book first. Together, they make an epic story of ordinary life.”
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1D4NN653C42PN
*Comments are closed because I’m feverishly writing this week and trying to minimize distractions. See you on Sunday!
Reflections on a Good Week
As anyone who follows me regularly can attest, I don’t use this blog too often for shameless self-promotion of my novels.
Please allow me to make an exception for today.
I am on Cloud Nine since Wednesday, when my debut book Calmer Girls peaked at Number One on the Amazon Canada Bestseller list for Teen Fiction, specifically in the Kindle Store categories of Teen Pregnancy, as well as a peak at Number Two for Dating & Intimacy.
Yay! 😀
What a nice feeling to hit those numbers.
Thank you, Canada.
***end of self-promo***
I now return you to regularly scheduled programming.
See you on Sunday!
Hello, August. Here So Soon?
July is over! Whaaa?
Can you believe how quickly it whizzed by?
This month is shaping up to be
another busy one for yours truly.
First, there’s this:
I am honoured to be making three appearances during this Author Tour.
Getting to rub shoulders with the literary talent in our fair province is a huge part of the fun. Do drop by our libraries if you’re in Gander or Clarenville on these above dates, or if you’re in St. John’s for the Grand Finale. (More about the finale later)
I will also be busy with my two grandkids + one little friend, who are coming tomorrow for a week-long stay here on Perry’s Point.
And then there’s work on the new novel in between all of this, not to mention all those chances to soak up more summer.
FYI:
I’m running an Amazon Countdown Deal
for Calmer Secrets from
August 2nd to August 9th.
Score a Kindle copy
of this sequel to Calmer Girls
at a discount on Amazon.com
and Amazon.co.uk.
What are your plans for August?
Do tell!
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)
Come back next time for Part 2: Calmer Secrets Setting
Unsettled: a Calmer Girls Excerpt*
~ A brief look back at Book One before the release of Book Two ~
Invitation to Lewisporte
Along with another local author, I was invited to do a reading at the Memorial Public Library in Lewisporte Wednesday night. It was my first time in this Newfoundland community and I had hoped to take some scenery pics there, but the weather was dull, grey and snowy so I didn’t get the opportunity.
I have fellow WordPress blogger, Brenda, to thank for the invitation. Brenda lives in Lewisporte, and we connected a while back through her cat blog featuring Buddy. After she read Calmer Girls, she suggested the reading idea to her library, and voila!
I am so grateful for the many likeminded connections and new friends I’ve made through blogging and writing. Brenda also invited Paul and me to dinner and an overnight stay in her home. Aren’t people wonderful?
Something that struck me recently is how many wonderful women are behind the promotion of libraries, book clubs, and our community of writers and readers. Making connections with these women have enriched my life, which is another reason I’m glad I got involved in writing – and blogging too!
Does your local library host author events?
What does your community do to promote all things literary?
FYI:
- This is the last day to enter the Goodreads Giveaway of 5 signed paperbacks of Calmer Girls. Click here to enter.
- If you sign up to my email list before the February newsletter is issued, you will receive a 4-page sneak peek of the Calmer Girls sequel, Calmer Secrets, being released March 21. Add yourself here.
Cover Reveal: Calmer Secrets
Today is the day!
The cover of Calmer Secrets is finally unveiled, and I’m thrilled to share it with you. Check it out:
Book Synopsis:
About Calmer Secrets:
This New Adult novel is the sequel and conclusion of the Calmer Girls Series. Samantha and the other teens you met and got to know in the Young Adult novel Calmer Girls are now twenty years old and older.
Available on Amazon: March 21, 2017
Copyright©2017 Take The Plunge Publishing.
All Rights Reserved.
Cover Design & Illustration©2017 by Fiona Jayde Media
Exclusive to Author email subscribers:
A sneak peek of the first four pages of Calmer Secrets will be featured in the February (mid-month) issue of my newsletter, so there’s still time to sign up.
As I was with the first book, I’m so pleased with Fiona Jayde’s cover art and design.
Isn’t it beautiful?! Do tell me what you think!
Book News
Happy Tuesday, everyone!
I have several book-related announcements this week you may be interested in.
1. Calmer Secrets Cover Reveal – Tuesday, January 24
On January 24th, two weeks from today, the cover for my new book, Calmer Secrets, will be unveiled here on my Author Website/Blog. This title is Book Two in the Calmer Girls series.*
The Cover Reveal will also include a teaser from the back cover blurb. I can’t wait to share it with you! UPDATE: I will be sharing the entire back cover blurb on Cover Reveal Day.
2. Calmer Secrets Book Release – Tuesday, March 21
On Tuesday, March 21st, Calmer Secrets will be released on Amazon as an e-book and in paperback form. Find out what happens to all the characters you met and got to know in Book One!
Check back here on my blog for a special promotional price on the e-book for the first week, or subscribe here to have that announcement delivered to your inbox.
3. If you haven’t read the first book yet:
Enter the new Goodreads Giveaway for a chance to win one of FIVE signed paperback editions of CALMER GIRLS. This giveaway is open to residents of Canada and the United States only at this time. Goodreads collects the info and sends me the names and addresses of the five winners. To enter, click on the link below.
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Calmer Girls by Jennifer Kelland Perry
Enter Giveaway
Rather not wait for the end of the month-long contest?
Get your copy at Amazon now, so you are caught up
before the March release of the compelling New Adult sequel.
Not interested in these promotions but like my blog?
Here’s a picture of Vivian:
*Released in 2016, Calmer Girls is Book One of a Two-Book Series.
