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Showing posts from January, 2021

A morning walk

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 Am at the keyboard, on this glorious Sunday, having just got back from taking Mum out for a walk. Or rather, a wheel, since she can't walk long distances much. So we went down to her local beach, a 20 minute walk there, but couldn't get down to the beach itself on account of the steep incline. It was a nice view though, although mostly obscured by the trees. The local heritage trail booklet says that in 1913, it was estimated that around 200 tents had been put up by campers one day, beneath the shade of the trees on the grass just up from the sand. The trees, Pohutukawas, would have been a lot smaller then, and I can't imagine 200 tents being put up up along that stretch, but that's what happened apparently.  Anyhow, it was a nice walk and, man, is pushing a wheelchair good exercise. But now it's back to trying to get my next book, Marrying Michelle, off to my reader, which all going well will happen sometime tomorrow. ~ Joanne

Time out

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 I went for a walk with my old mum down to the harbour this morning and it was pretty nice.  It was cool and windy, not like an Auckland summer at all, These days, I've discovered that using a wheel chair is the best option for taking mum out, since Auckland is very hilly and it's good exercise, pushing a wheel chair, up hill and down again. Really good exercise. When we get to the bay, she gets out, and we walk around, and today watched some people kite sailing . There were no family groups setting up for picnics etc as it was chilly and overcast. In other words, it was nice and peaceful and quiet. Just two old girls and the seagulls.  We shared a muffin and some coffee I'd bought from home.  So, it was a nice hour down at the water, then back home again to get stuck into writing!

Working on work

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I have four days in a row coming up where I've got some annual leave, and I shall work on some work. I have bold plans to finish the first draft of Marrying Michelle and work on rebranding the Clearlake County books which means fiddling with new titles and new covers. It's fun.   I do love the weekends. That is one of the pros to having an actual job you go to, besides the obvious thing of being able to pay the bills. The weekends have a bit of a pattern to them now and after all the Christmas and New Year and family birthday that there was over the two weeks of Christmas, its very nice to settle down and get back into a rhythm. Always, though, with the expectation that at some point we may well go into another lock down if that new strain gets out into the community. Most of my dire predictions tend to not come true. They can be rather creative fantastical. But I think on this one, the reality is it will happen here in New Zealand. We'll see if I'm wrong! ~ Joanne PS:

Some 'Best ofs'

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It's always nice to try and remember what the best things of the past year are. Best movie, best book, best this and that. Maybe I should write down everything I read so I can remember. Make lists. I love lists. Actually use my brand new 2021 Bullet Journal for things like this. With pretty doodles.  At this stage, I would say the best book I read was Diana K. Holmes The Modern Girl . I read the library  hardcover edition, then bought the e-Book as I will want to read it again, it was that good. It was also different from what I normally read but wow, what a story.  Best movie. Well, I didn't go to any movies that I can remember but I've had Netflix for a couple of years now and I still borrow DVDs from the library and buy them at times.  Two that stick out, because I have watched them several times when I feel like a really great story, was The Age of Adaline and Book Club .   Book Club was about a group of older friends who read 50 Shades for their book club and it was a

A Summer Wish new cover

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 This is the second new cover for the Clearlake County series, and this will replace Finding Farrell and, as you can see, there is a new title ~ A Summer Wish . I do like it. There's a bit of a problem with some of the text not showing up but I'l see if I can fix that a bit. I also found a really neat font called Elsie which I've used for my name, the title and the Clearlake County line at the bottom so that will go with all the books in this series to give them some consistency. I may fiddle around with this design a bit more, but as a first go (actually, I tell a lie, its' a second go) I'm pretty excited about the new look. ~ Joanne.

A Perfect Neighbor

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 I've been playing around with covers some more and have come up with two designs for the Clearlake Series. The third book in this series should be published in a few months time and I'm re-titling them from Charlottes Wish to A Perfect Neighbor and from Finding Farrell to A Summer Wish . Note to self: watch the US vs NZ spelling. I realise I've put the kiwi spelling of neighbour, not neighbor, in there. I have too  many Christian names in my book titles, so I thought it was about time for a brand new look to launch the third book.  Here's the cover to the first book, which is still for sale as Charlotte's Wish. I really like it, it's got that homely, family feel to it which is what it's about. Clearlake, by the way,  is a fictional place in the United States that I've created. I thought a county was a good way to go, as it can incorporate a small town (in this case Riverdale) and a bigger city (which is of course Clearlake). I see a lakeside cover comin

2021 Publishing Year

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 Due to some changing circumstances this year, my productivity should increase. I say that every year because every year there are changing circumstances, and no doubt this year there will be circumstances that change that I did not forsee. However, at this point, as I sit here on January 2nd 2021 in blissful ignorance of what may lie ahead, the following things should might happen. In February, Marrying Michelle , the third book in the Dating Daisy/Promising Penny series should be published. In March, the third book in the Clearlake County series should be published. After that, there will be a new trilogy. I wrote the first book in the Lockdown back in April, and my plan dream is to write two more. Then there will be a fourth book in the City of Sails series. There will also be some rebranding, starting with the romantic comedies. So far I have this cover and so far am liking it. As you can see, it needs some sort of border but you get the gist. A  bit of work to be done, but it