I will freely admit that I love reading or watching a good tsundere love interest – whether it is the female lead or the male lead – and just wanted to briefly touch upon the type. A tsundere character is a character that initially seems mean, harsh, cold, and/or snobbish – only later to show a warmer and gentler side. Because it is a Japanese term, it is not always easy for English-speaking people to pronounce it, but it is…
The last few days of November are upon us and, with Thanksgiving complete, Christmas preparations are taking over. That’s not to say the shops waited until this week to put up their trees and garland. Heaven forbid! Where I live in Canada, the home improvement stores decorated the trees and started playing carols in late September. My thoughts on this are best summed up in the immortal words of Ebenezer Scrooge: Bah, humbug! Don’t misunderstand, I love Christmas and all…
Happy Thanksgiving to the Americans out there! I’ve included an image of my little turkey from last year. Hard to believe how time has flown! Thanksgiving is such a great holiday–we get to gather with our family, express how thankful we are to have them, and eat delicious food! I look forward every year to turkey, broccoli rice casserole, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, rolls (Sister Schubert or Hawaiian sweet bread!), and a few other dishes. My husband does all the…
When the first Hobbit movie was in theaters, I went to see it with my sister. I remember it very well. As we watched, every few minutes my sister would lean over to me and ask, “Did that happen in the book?” On almost every occasion I told her it had not, and we went back to watching until the next instance of creative license in movie writing arose. You probably already know where I’m going with this. But there…
As some of you know, I am in the midst of writing a series titled Elizabeth Said, Darcy Said, where I take well known portions of Ms. Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and expand on them. Each book tells the story first from Elizabeth’s perspective, then reexamines it from Darcy’s point of view. The first two novellas told the story of Our Dear Couple’s initial meeting at the Meryton Assembly. Books three and four explore Elizabeth’s introduction to Mr. Wickham in…
I confess. The details in my fiction are open to interpretation by readers, as well as other authors. In my defense, though, my stories are set in a period more than two hundred years in the past, so many of the situations I put my characters into are dreamed up as I write. That is not to say the conversations and actions I thrust these men and women into are made up of whole cloth. Their words and manner of…
As an author who writes historical fiction, I try to write in the common vernacular of the time and place my story is set. There are many tools that help authors to do this, and my experience in writing many books has given me a general sense of what is usable and what is not. For anything of which I am uncertain, I can go to resources on the net that will give me a good idea of whether a…
In Canada, they call it Remembrance Day. In the U.S., they call it Veterans’ Day. For both countries (and many other countries), it is simply about honoring those who have served their country and protecting its rights. We would like to take a little time to honor some family members who committed themselves to serving their countries. Lelia My father was in the Army Reserves and could have been called to war, though he was not. He has told me…
Today is Trivia Thursday, where we intrigue the trivia buff in you with a bit of trivia! I wanted to do something with a tinge of romance to it, and the Eiffel Tower came to mind as a romantic location. Here are some fun factoids: When it comes to monuments you have to pay to visit, the Eiffel Tower is the most visited monument in the entire world! On average, 25,000 people ascend the tower every day. (I cannot even imagine…
It’s my distinct pleasure to introduce you to What’s Up Wednesday, a regular theme day where we post something of our doings, updates, and other items that might be of interest to our readers. Christmas is approaching, and most of the major things that are happening in my life revolve around music and writing. Many times I have referenced my love of music and my activities therein. I am a member of a barbershop quartet group, and we’ll be active…