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.
Snow-covered road to Lewisporte after we left GanderIntroduction before Reading
Answering questions and sharing a laughYA Fantasy author Kate SparkesBuddy!
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.
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.
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!
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 SecretsBook 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 paperbackeditions 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.
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?
Winter came early to our corner of the world, and so far it has packed a heavy punch in most areas. These photos were taken a week ago, after our first significant snowfall. We’ve had more since then.
Inspiration can come to the artist in us in many ways. I hope to expand my own horizons in the coming new year, and I wish the same for you.
Here are a few new horizons from Perry’s Point to inspire creativity through the frosty months ahead.
We live on Snowy Beach Avenue now! 🙂
I must give credit where credit is due: Paul “helped” with these next three. They were taken in the last couple of hours before sunset.
“The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.” ~ Christopher McCandless
Just as I had almost given up hope on an autumn getaway, my guy came through with a road trip in early November to Twillingate.
Being a working trip for him, I didn’t expect it to be much more, for me, than a chance to grab a few scenery photos in yet another part of Newfoundland I hadn’t had the pleasure to visit yet. Known as the Iceberg Capital of the World, Twillingate is a lovely little town that draws many tourists, and although this is not the time of year for icebergs, it is still a pretty location to drop in and take a look around.
The place we booked, the Sunshine Inn, had only opened in August after major renovations, and as it turned out, we were the only guests there that night. That meant we had the entire main floor common area to ourselves.
Take a look at our accommodations:
Our room was the only bedroom suite on the main floor.
Pretty artwork in the common area:
Taking in Twillingate Harbour as dusk settled in and lights winked on, I found myself looking forward to morning. The forecast called for sunshine, which would be perfect for a walk with my camera. Come back for Part Two of this post to see what I came up with!
In September, I blogged about how excited I was to have tickets to a local showing in concert of Come From Away, a musical that is heading to Broadway in the new year. You can read that post here.
We attended the Gander show on Saturday afternoon, and it was INCREDIBLE!
Both shows in Gander on Saturday were sold out and received standing ovations.
Flawlessly executed.
Overflowing with energy, talent, and professionalism.
And generating such love and pride for the citizens of Gander and surrounding communities – who most certainly deserved it – it was truly a moving experience.
“The Come From Away musical was written to show the compassionate response by Newfoundlanders when air space closed over North America after the Twin Towers fell —diverting dozens of planes to Gander. The community took in more than 6,000 passengers for several days while planes were grounded.”– Local CBC story on Come From Away
Can you imagine if the population of your town had nearly doubled on 9/11?
The show tells the tale through the eyes of local mayors, residents, a pilot, and stranded passengers, 100 minutes of heartfelt musical numbers that show how Newfoundlanders went above and beyond with their own special brand of hospitality.
To paraphrase Canadian playwright Irene Sankoff, cowriter of the musical:
“Not only did the {citizens of Gander} let people off of the planes who were {strangers} to them, but they let them into their community buildings. They canceled school for the entire time that “the plane people” were there, devoting all of their energy to taking care of them.
They put them up in their schools and community buildings, and then began inviting people home for dinner, inviting them to stay the night, cleaning their clothes, and giving them anything that they could ask for over the time that they were stranded.“
Countless times during the show, we laughed out loud. And many other times we wiped away our tears. And boy, did we ever applaud! I had chills several times, and it had nothing to do with the fact we were in a hockey arena.
I could go on and on about it, but just let me say, if you have the opportunity to see the show in Toronto or New York, you should. I know I’m biased, being a Newfoundlander and all, but I think anyone would enjoy such a positive showing of humanity in the face of crisis and disaster. With all the negativity in the media these days, it was a welcome change.
The cherry on top? All proceeds from the Gander shows were donated to local charities.
The Love Story. On the left, the actors who played the real-life couple on the right, a woman from Texas and a man from England. They met during 9/11 in Gander, eventually married, and honeymooned back here in Newfoundland!At a special dinner held in Gander over the weekend, the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Bruce Heyman, unveiled a new plaque thanking the people of this province.
I think our little province and its people made quite an impression on those affected that week. To illustrate, near the end of the show, one of the “plane people” from the U.S. told her new Gander friend that Newfoundlanders can’t tell knock-knock jokes.
“Why not?” her friend asked.
“Okay, I’ll be the Newfoundlander,” said the American. “You say knock knock.”
“Knock knock.”
“Come on in – the door is open!”
This is a shining example of Newfoundland hospitality and our way of life being brought to the Broadway stage. Did I mention I was proud?
What an absolutely heavenly October day it is out there! The gale of wind we experienced over the last half of the week has finally abated, and the sun is warm and glorious. When you can sit outside sleeveless and barefoot to enjoy your morning coffee, that is my favourite kind of fall weather.
A couple of Sundays ago when we held our latest book club meeting, it was a beautiful day too. We combined it with a potluck brunch at Janet and Duke’s house. Unfortunately, all our members couldn’t attend, but we had a lovely time anyway discussing our latest book, enjoying the scrumptious fare, and sharing many laughs.
We are a diverse group, with members including a visual artist, a chef, a French teacher, and a retired flight attendant (4o years!), to name just a few. I’ve posted a small gallery of the event below, where Paul took most of the pics with an iPhone 6. You can click on them to read those with captions.
October will see the first edition of my Author Newsletter arriving in your in-boxes, which I am working on. Updates on what’s going on in my writerly life will be monthly or less. If you haven’t signed up for it yet and would like to, you can do so here.
Have an inspiring week, everyone!
The book we discussed. One of my faves in the club so far.
Laughing (no, I’m not saying grace or sneezing!)
Yummy brunch with blueberries Duke picked that morning
Mmmm…
Maple syrup and blueberries make homemade waffles delish!
Come-from-away or C.F.A.: a Newfoundland slang term for a traveler or anyone who is not from here; a non-Newfoundlander.
The musical “Come From Away” will be on Broadway next March, but Newfoundlanders have the chance to take in the show here at home for $20. We have our tickets and I can’t wait! We reserved them online here, but I don’t know how many tickets are left.
The musical, which tells the true tale of a group of travelers stranded in the little town of Gander, Newfoundland during 9/11, will honour the people of Newfoundland and Labrador by holding two concert performances of the new production at the Steele Community Centre in Gander on Oct. 29th, one at 3pm and one at 8pm. Another nice feature: all proceeds go to local charities.
Mirvish Productions gives us this synopsis:
“On September 11, 2001, 38 planes with 6,579 passengers were stranded in a remote town in Newfoundland. The locals opened their hearts and homes, and hosted this international community of strangers for a week — spurring unexpected camaraderie in extraordinary circumstances. When the world stopped, their stories moved us all.”
Local actress Petrina Bromley stars in both the Broadway and Toronto versions of Come From Away which was written by husband and wife team Irene Sankoff and David Hein.
Come From Away earned wonderful reviews in California and Washington, and will run in Toronto from November to January. March 12th is Opening Night on Broadway.
For the first time, I get to see a live show that will be on Broadway, and I only have to drive to Gander, our nearest urban centre (about 80 miles) to see it! I like that.
After breakfast, I zipped up my hoodie, grabbed my camera and took a stroll around the area we were staying. Won’t you come along with me?
Jennifer's Journal 