Friday, February 27, 2015

Sunny with a Twist of Olive - the cover is ready!

The magical wizard of the cover designing world has worked her magic and created this masterpiece for "Sunny with a Twist of Olive". 

Those sunglasses hide the eyes of a mischief-maker: a party-girl who is about to realize the festivities are over. It's time to clean up the chaos, sweep away the party favours, and deal with the aftermath of the shattered piƱata.

"Sunny with a Twist of Olive" is a serialized novel; a new episode will be published on Kindle each month starting March 1st, 2015. When the story is complete, it will be available on all platforms. 


Monday, February 23, 2015

Decisions, decisions, decisions... cover design for Sunny with a Twist of Olive

For years, I've had a character chittering in my ear about her escapades. She's snarky, ambitious, funny, and determined to have her story told. "Sunny with a Twist of Olive" is chick lit with a dark side. Olive is a 30-year-old divorcee who thinks she hit rock bottom when her marriage fell apart. She likes to party, sleep around, and often forgets she has adult responsibilities. It's time to set Olive free in the literary world and see where her stories take us.

The first installment in the serial is set for publication on March 1st. Each month, a new episode will be published, giving Olive lots of time to express herself. The only thing left to do is select a cover design. Because I couldn't decide between the three concepts Jo Clendening created, she gave me permission to post the raw, unedited versions on social media. 


After doing so, and reading all the fabulous responses, I might be a little closer to a cover design... 

You'll have to watch this space to see which one we decide to perfect. 

Monday, February 16, 2015

February doesn't have to be cold...

Aside from February being the shortest month of the year, it also tends to be the coldest, especially if you live in Canada. There are, however, many ways to keep toasty warm, and feel good about doing it.

1. Read romance stories... of course you had to know this was coming. In time for Valentine's Day, Morning Rain Publishing released it's second compilation of short stories. One of them is mine, the other five are also fantastic.

2. Donate to a special cause! It's cold out there and not everyone has the advantages of warm shelter and food.This year, I'm participating in the "Coldest Night of the Year Walk" to help raise funds and awareness for those who are homeless, hungry, and hurting. It's easy to donate... and if you do, I'll write a flash fiction story, just for you!

3. Bake something... nothing warms you up like a family baking spree. We often save these kinds of activities for the holidays, but when it's this cold outside, nothing warms you up like melty chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate.

4. Create something... being crafty not only takes the edge off of winter boredom, it refuels your energy, and gives you that warm feeling of accomplishment. You don't have to be a great artist to embark on a bit of crafty fun.

5. Go outside. I know, it's freezing cold out there... but, if you live in Canada, it's a simple fact of life. Build a snowman, go tobogganing, check out local winter festivals, find an outdoor skating rink, or just get involved in an old fashioned snowball fight. When you come back inside, your cheeks will be rosy, your toes will be feel toasty, and those cookies you made earlier will taste even better.

Surviving February can actually be fun and before we know it, spring will be knocking at the door, and we'll have the mud and the slush and the rain to contend with... and we might even be wishing for these cold, crisp winter days.