Overnight snowflakes sparkle in the cold morning sun outside my window and I smile to feel how they brighten my world. Blue, blue, my world is blue but it’s that happy blue where everything seems possible.
Wintering shrubs wear a mantle of white, dressing up their frozen brown branches, now stripped of summer’s green.
A few years ago I heard Andrew Borkowski speak about setting at a conference and this morning I was reminded of the link between setting and story. I was changed this morning by the scene outside my window. In the same way your story setting can and should enhance your words. There must be a deep connection.
Here I’ve summarized the notes I took at that event as they are still meaningful for writers everywhere. As a bonus, above I’ve linked Andrew’s bio on his website. It is hilarious.
My Andrew Borkowski Notes on Setting Etc.
Character, plot and setting. You can’t have one without the others.
Authenticity transports the reader who needs to know what you’re talking about.
Put setting throughout the novel, not all at once. Use all of the senses.
Research is ongoing, keep a journal.
Author needs to know 10 times more detail than she/he actually uses. 10-1 rule.
Do supplementary research as needed.
If detail is important, use library. Otherwise use wikis.
Setting can vary as to its substance. For Richler setting is the people.
Visit your setting on site, if possible.
Setting can sometimes be an idea or a person.
For an author the most important question to answer is what is his/her book about?
Don’t forget that setting can change. Remember last fall?
As I hurried into the library for my assigned period at Glendale High School, my friend, fellow reader and the librarian where I taught English hailed me. Well, perhaps ‘hailed’ is not the right word for a library setting, but Lynne rushed over to tell me about a new book she thought I’d enjoy.
She had it in her hand just waiting for my arrival and passed it over. With my briefcase and extra textbooks, I had no extra hands, but dropped my load on the table and reached for the thick tome.
“The Sunne in Splendour. Wow! It’s heavy. And the title has ‘interesting’ spelling.”
“Never mind that. You will love this book.” Lynne nodded her head and I could see she was serious.
A couple of weeks later I caught Lynne again. As she had every day for the past week, she looked at me as though I had something of hers and she wanted it back. Sure enough, I opened my briefcase and handed her the book. I tried to keep a straight face but I couldn’t hold in my excitement.
“Yes! It’s fabulous!”
From then on, Lynne and I shared our love for this author’s work. I had enjoyed Penman’s first book so much, I promptly bought the hard cover to add to my burgeoning book collection at home and she kept me current on when Penman’s next book might be coming out.
A few of my SKP books on my ‘favorites’ shelf.
Fast forward to my leaving my teaching career, trying out pottery, quilt making, painting and other such creative joys until the day my son asked me, “Mom, is there anything you wish you had done in your life?”
“Write a novel,” I said. I surprised even myself and have told that story in its entirety many times from the podium since then. A week after that scene with my son, I was on a holiday in Hilton Head, SC and went into the local Borders store. I bought How to Write and Sell Your First Novel” and devoured it. During the weeks following I found my topic, got into a writing schedule, and The Loyalist’s Wife was born.
It took me six years. I had so much to learn. I decided the Loyalists deserved a trilogy and had started the second book before the first one was out. Somewhere along the way, I found the Historical Novel Society. Can you imagine? Here was a magazine that gathered together all of the historical novels coming out??? Of course, I joined.
When I decided to attend the HNS conference in Denver a major part of the reason was that Sharon Kay Penman would be there. I had to go! Many workshops caught my eye but the one I simply had to attend was given by Sharon. I can’t remember now just what her topic was but it didn’t matter. If she was speaking I was going to be there.
In fact, I was so anxious to get a good seat I was there at least 20 minutes ahead of time. All by myself. Yes, I was outside the right room. Almost alone except for the facilitator who also was waiting in the hall until the room might be open.
Oh my gosh. Is that? Could it be? Yes, it was. Sharon Kay Penman came to stand beside me and lean against the table, waiting as I was. Well, we had 15 minutes alone, talking about writing, about related topics–she told me she, too, had looked at the American Revolutionary War but there wasn’t enough material for her to write her kind of book. (Hers are about 900 pages and FULL of interesting historic detail. Mine are about 330 pages and lean a little more heavily on the fiction part of historical fiction.)
After the workshop I waited my turn to talk to Sharon again. She agreed to a photo together and in her own way made me feel as though it was the highlight of her day. I’ve treasured that picture and used it in other ways before this post, not because I look particularly good but because Sharon was and is Sharon and I got to have that special time with her. I hope some of her rubbed off as she put her arm around me and I clasped her tiny person.
This past weekend one of my heroes left us. We are all bereft. Certainly those who, like me, had the chance to share in her glow, no matter for a long or short time, or those who missed out entirely. Whether we know it or not, Sharon Kay Penman was a writing icon for her time and for all times to come.
Check out her website. You will feel you’ve made contact with her kind and gentle personality and you will want to know more. Read her books. You will see her search for deep and hidden history and her love/hate relationship with her characters. You will see a shining star.
Because of Sharon, thousands and thousands have followed her path and have read more happily, have written more knowledgeably, and–dare I say it?–have lived more kindly.
Usually I keep my newsletters in a certain tone as I want my readers to get a specific product from me, one that they can count on. In that way I build my list and give people what they want; indeed, what they expect.
Yesterday, I varied my plan.
It was my last newsletter before this huge season of celebration. I thought my readers might like to hear from my heart rather than from my business, albeit a business I love.
I hardly mentioned my writing. Instead I talked about this past year’s highs and lows. Especially about a personal goal reached, one that no one really knew about. No, it’s not that my 5th book was published!
And people reacted!
People who had never responded to my newsletter wrote sweet notes full of warmth. I thought, just this one time, I would share parts of that newsletter with the wider world of my writing blog audience. (If you want to receive my newsletter twice a month, sign up in the left column box.)
Winter Wonderland and Singing Siblings
It’s the time of all sorts of celebrations and I wish each and every one of you great joy as you celebrate in your own special way. My husband and I decorated early this year to help keep our spirits from sinking into COVID crappy thoughts and it has worked very well. We’ve been turning the lights on all day every day to create our own bit of joy. A couple of weeks ago we had a Sunday where lovely snow fell all day and at night we took a walk in our neighbourhood. The houses above and below were just gorgeous!
I’ve tried to sing and play the piano much more these days and I find those pleasures remind me of happier times when we got together with my huge family–I grew up with 9 brothers and 3 sisters–and ours was a home filled with music. Singsongs were wonderful, especially as my brothers grew older and took all those male parts. One year in our singalong, my sister playing piano, we sang Hallelujah Chorus. Most of us knew it by heart. I remember the deep bass of my brother, Roger, the stirring soprano of my sister, Linda, (I joined her) and my sister Donna’s rich alto, along with the sweetest tenor voice I ever heard coming from my brother, Keith. By that time my mother had passed but I know she would have revelled in that performance.
My Highlight of 2020
This has been such a year for ups and downs. It’s the toughest one I can ever remember for so many reasons but it has also had many highs for us. We are so fortunate to be at a time in our lives when we are not worrying about losing our own livelihood, but watching friends and family, indeed, the world struggle to live in these new times has been tough. I found I had to get a short bit of news in the morning, maybe a story or two at noon and virtually go incommunicado for the rest of the day. It was and is the only way I could and can survive.
And I had to find new ways to still my creative mind. I wrote a new book, I tried to sort out my email woes (ongoing, still), I pulled out my songbooks and starting playing and singing again, I planned back porch safely distanced visits, I thought about flying to visit my daughter and her family at Christmas (it never happened), I wrote a short essay for inclusion in a London author’s anthology (it’s launching soon), I walked with my husband and walked and walked, we laughed and we cried as friends’ life events came along, and I joined my sister, Donna Garner’s alley jam (YouTube video) one Friday night in August. No, I’m not in the video as they did that after I had been.
Many people know that I have been a lifelong singer, member of many choirs, sometime choir director, music director and lover of singing forever. What people don’t know is that I have written many songs over the years, about 20 or so, and they have helped me sing out my life’s paths, good and bad. Music has been my shelter in almost every storm.
So this summer my husband and I already had a short errand in Guelph and decided we could safely go on to one of Donna’s alley jams. She did allow us to use her Covid-sanitized bathroom–thank goodness–and we bought takeout supper on the way to her house in Toronto. It was a lovely evening and as the sun sank the musicians began to gather. Ron and I took a seat at the back to watch and listen. We sat in our lawn chairs for the show, me clutching my music and getting a sense of the group around us.
Donna’s contacts are many and multi-faceted. (Donna’s website) Guitars, keyboards, violins, cellos, a bass viol, and a few other instruments took part. To hear them was thrilling. After about an hour Donna introduced me and I stepped up to the front. Unlike all of those other people, I don’t play any instruments except some pretty crappy piano. Donna was on keyboard. I had copies enough of the music for everyone. We started.
“I Can Hear My Mom Singin'” is my own composition and the song I chose to sing and I felt Mom was there watching two of her daughters perform the way she taught us to all our lives. I don’t sing as well as I used to but it didn’t matter. I did my best. The musicians seemed to love my song and a lovely round of applause accompanied me back to my seat.
I had always yearned to sing on a professional stage, wondered what it would be like, but never got beyond my amateur status. This night, at 74 years of age, I sang with pros. What was it like? It was fabulous!
So that picture above with the sunny cloud shows you what I felt like. It was the highlight of the year for me.
Donna’s Alley Jam behind her garage in Toronto. She is on accordion, one of about 9 instruments she plays.
Find Elaine’s books on Amazon and in other fine stores in print, ebook and audiobook formats.
The Loyalist’s Wife
The Loyalist’s Luck
The Loyalist Legacy
The Loyalist’s Daughter
The Man Behind the Marathons: How Ron Calhoun Helped Terry Fox and Other Heroes Make Millions for Charity
So there I was, all prettied up and wearing my best smile, and starting my book launch on the Facebook platform. I welcomed everyone. I told them how the 45 minutes would go. I was excited.
Whoa! Little messages started popping up in the other Facebook window I had open. Fast and furious. Why was everyone bothering me?
I took a look.
People couldn’t get in with the link Facebook had given me to send to them. Grrr. I started searching for the problem. No luck. Texted my techie daughter. She had no ideas. Wonderful screen shots came in to me with the message people were getting. Double grrr for the mess I was in.
I had to shut it all down and answer the messages to let people know there was a problem. I felt so frustrated because I am the person who always tests out the equipment before the event. I make sure everything is working.
This morning I worked out a different way to reach my people. I did my short presentation on my Flip Camera. Checked it and saw that the whole file (14 min) had my head cut off. I did another version. Uploaded it to my computer. Found out that the Flip camera I have is old tech now and my desktop Mac won’t support the 32-bit old technology. I decided to do the video a third time.
I used my lovely late model iPhone. Surely it would work. Uploaded the file to my computer and started the upload to YouTube. Of course they have changed the platform so I had to figure out how to upload again. Grrr. As I write now, it has been ‘uploading’ for about 20 minutes and has about 3% done. At this rate, I’ll have it for Christmas. Maybe.
Here’s the Whole Cover
Pricing
You can order your print copy from Amazon at a reduced price up to and including Tuesday, Dec. 8. You can also pre-order an ebook copy there and it will be sent out Dec. 15. OR You can order your print copy from me for porch pickup on Dec. 15 from 1-4 pm EST. Use the contact form to reach me for my address if you don’t know it.
If you buy it from me the price is $18 Canadian. And I will autograph it for you. Your choice.
I hope I’ve made all of this clear and that you get your copies. It does make a great Christmas gift. Thank you to all of my wonderful supporters through all of this.
Here is my existing trilogy with its matching covers.
This morning I opened my iPad to check my email and my FB messages and a couple of significant things popped out.
First I saw a notice about a rally being held Sunday in my small city to protest the COVID “hoax”. I shook my head, read a few words, and wondered how a pandemic (Pan is Greek for world; that means this is happening ALL OVER THE WORLD.) could actually be a hoax. That would be some stupendous organizing, wouldn’t it?
I went on to check my FB news and views from people I like, love, respect, and want to keep in my list of friends.
One of my lovely sisters, Joyce, passed along an email that I’ve reprinted below.
REMEMBRANCE DAY NOVEMBER 11TH
Port Rowan, Ontario was put on the map by this extraordinary teacher from Valley Heights High School back in 2005
On September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a History teacher at Valley Heights High School in Port Rowan, Ontario , did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks in her classroom. When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks. ‘Ms. Cothren, where are our desks?’
She replied, ‘You can’t have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.’
They thought, ‘Well, maybe it’s our grades.’ ‘No,’ she said.
‘Maybe it’s our behaviour.’ She told them, ‘No, it’s not even your behaviour.’
And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom. Kids called their parents to tell them what was happening and by early afternoon television news crews had started gathering at the school to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.
The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the desk-less classroom. Martha Cothren said, ‘Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he or she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.’
At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it. Twenty-seven (27) Veterans, all in uniform, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall. By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.
Martha said, ‘You didn’t earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. They went halfway around the world, giving up their education and interrupting their careers and families so you could have the freedom you have. Now, it’s up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don’t ever forget it.’
By the way, this is a true story. And this teacher was awarded Veterans of Foreign Wars Teacher of the Year in 2006. She is the daughter of a WWII POW.
Year after wonderful year, the Remembrance Day theme prompts words and music that all show we do still remember. Since November 11, 1919, the first Remembrance Day, people the world over have celebrated the coming of that peace. That hasn’t always meant that peace perseveres but it does show the underlying wishes of ordinary people. We don’t want war. We don’t want our sons and daughters, wives and husbands facing the bullets of hate in a hail of gunfire.
We, the people, want to live in harmony with our neighbours, secure in the preservation of our peaceful world. I hope that all of those who think of fomenting hatred and of acting with hate in their hearts will stop. And be the golden rays of shining sun that can cover our world so that Remembrance Days will finally fade out because no one remembers a world without peace, harmony and happiness for all.
I have a new book coming out soon, The Loyalist’s Daughter, the prequel to my Loyalist trilogy. More on that soon. For now, here is the lovely cover.
Thanks to my creative and supremely clever cover designer, Sharon Clare, for this luscious cover. I love that Sharon worked so hard to give us the suggestion of the young Lucy, just coming into full bloom in Boston Tea Party Boston.
Currently The Loyalist’s Daughter is in the editing stage with many pairs of clever eyes looking her over. All of those people are working hard to help me make this book the best it can be, another in the series featuring Loyalists caught in Boston leading up to the American Revolutionary War. It’s an exciting but dangerous time for Lucinda’s parents to be planning her marriage.
Young Lucinda Garner and her father are taking a late-night walk on Boston’s Long Wharf when disguised men run past their hiding place, jump into small boats and rush out to the Dartmouth anchored in the harbour. They scramble up its sides and begin throwing chests of tea into the water. —from Elaine’s Goodreads description. (click)
Here is my existing trilogy with its matching covers.
Click to purchase on Amazon.
I chose to have this current book really focus on Lucinda, so the cover had to do the same thing also. We even gave her the gorgeous blue eyes that I mentioned so often in the trilogy, both for her and for her father.
Release Date: December 15, 2020
Watch for pre-release notices and the chance to win a free book, all in my twice monthly newsletter. (Sign up at the top left of any page on my site.)
Born and raised in a small town in Ontario, Canada, Karen Quevillon grew up running through the woods and escaping into the book worlds created by authors like L.M. Montgomery, Monica Hughes, and Richard Adams. She wrote short stories at a young age, but the joy of fiction did not seem a “serious” enough career to pursue.
Instead, she wrote lots of essays, eventually earning a PhD in Philosophy from Northwestern University in Chicago. While researching her dissertation in Paris she binge-read English novels to counteract her feelings of isolation. There, she awoke to the idea that the problems she was analyzing in her academic work—problems of power, agency, and identity—might be more richly explored and encountered through narratives. Mental note: write a novel. (Read the rest of Karen’s bio here.)
Along my own writing journey, I took an extreme editing course held weekly in Oakville, Ontario and it was there I met Karen Quevillon. Brilliant, unique and extremely talented, Karen always held my attention as she commented on others’ work from around the table.
Several months ago, Karen asked me to read her book with a view to having my words on her cover. What a thrill! Today I am excited and gratified to welcome her to my weblog with her new book, The Parasol Flower.
Elaine’s Interview with Karen:
Elaine: When did you first realize that you wanted to be a writer/a storyteller?
Karen: I’ve always loved reading. As a kid, I often took a book into my bedroom and read for whole days at a time. Back then I wrote a few stories and some angsty teenage poetry. But I didn’t take writing seriously until much later, in my late twenties.
What inspires you to write?
I’m inspired by many different kinds of things. There could be something I’m going through in my life, or something someone I know is going through. Or I might hear a snippet of conversation in a coffee shop or a store that makes me want to create. I’m inspired by songs that I enjoy. Sometimes it’s a strange item in the news that I come across that piques my interest. I went hiking the other day and passed by the gated entrance of an enormous wooded estate that was so well barricaded that I began to imagine a novel about what crimes could be going on in that perfectly hidden-from-the-world mansion. I have a little notebook in which I jot down any of these “sparks” and keep them handy for when I might have time to do something with them. I am often moved by ideas, by reading about or learning about something and then when I start to truly absorb it in my consciousness I began to imagine how to depict it and do it justice as scenes and a narrative, dialogue, interpersonal relationships. The current book I’m finalizing was inspired by an actual dream I had as a teen. The one I’m beginning to research is inspired by an investigation into the civilization that invented writing.
How did you come up with the idea for The Parasol Flower?
The Parasol Flower changed quite a lot from one draft to the next, but the original idea for the book was something that occurred to me while I was researching for my dissertation. I was reading about colonial Java and considering how the inter-racial intimacy worked amongst Javanese servants who were working for Dutch colonist families. I thought, this stuff is quite interesting to lay out in a scholarly analysis, but when it comes to intimacy there really should be a story, characters, emotions, an experience. So, mental note: when you’re done your dissertation, write a novel! I wound up transposing the context to Malaysia and its British colonial era as I felt a bit more comfortable dealing with British history.
Did you write this book all at once or spread over years? Why?
Over many, many years. So many I dare not say. 😉 This was firstly because with The Parasol Flower, my first novel, I was also learning at the same time how to write a novel. In my case, that involved to a certain extent unlearning argumentative essay writing, which is what had become ingrained to me and which is a totally different mindset and kind of writing. It was also because when I finished one of the middle drafts of the manuscript, I decided to leave it in a drawer for a number of years. I couldn’t face overhauling yet another draft, but I knew that even though that version was complete, it was not truly “me” and not what I wanted from the project.
What else have you published?
I’ve published short fiction, flash fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, essays, literary reviews, book reviews, scholarly articles, a dissertation. I’ve also worked as a freelance copywriter and blogger so I’ve published content related to those roles. You can find my work in various magazines. My website, theartofwriting.com, has a page that list links to different projects I’ve had published.
What is your favourite genre to write and to read?
As you can see from the above answer, I enjoy many different kinds of writing, and reading as well. I read more nonfiction than fiction, probably. When it comes to fiction I enjoy novels that are literary on a prose level, very well crafted, but also have good movement and read in a compelling way. I like a good mystery. I enjoy writing and reading poetry as well, which is a completely different experience.
What is your writing process?
It involves coffee or tea and snatching as much time as a can from any given day to work on a project. I always begin with pen and paper, with research and notetaking. There is a phase of that with any project. Then I switch to my laptop. I usually create a semblance of an outline at some point. However the outline will change, and I also begin drafting before the outline is formed. For example, I will begin writing a few chapters and then sort of regroup to take stock and see what is happening. From there I move back and forth from draft to outline, making changes. I might write additional backstory or sidestory scenes if I want to get to know the characters better or I’m trying to figure out where to go with plot or something. If possible, I try to arrange an unbroken period of a few days to work on stretches of the drafting. I find it takes me some time to “travel” mentally to the storyworld and if I can stay there for longer, there will be greater success and momentum for creating. Editing and certainly proofreading are tasks that I can jump in and out of much more easily and so I can schedule shorter periods of work time when it comes to the later phases of a project. I try to draft the entire manuscript before starting on a second draft, but realistically I end up overwriting patches along the way.
Optimally, I work at home in the middle of the day for a few hours, but life is never optimal. I’ve written whenever the babies were (finally!) napping, or at 5:30 am before toddler kids woke up; I’ve written while riding the bus to a class, I’ve written in the car in the parking lot at my son’s sports practices; I’ve written a lot in coffee shops or restaurants while “killing time” between work and kids’ school functions or at dental appointments or whatnot; I’ve written while I’m attending (very boring) meetings. I used to put a timer on and hide in the library and write as much as possible over my lunch hour break from the office, for example. You just have to make do, and write whenever you can. I’ve also been fortunate enough to have made a few individual writing retreats at various times and written in near total isolation in idyllic rural spots, away from the demands of work, family commitments, and the temptation of surfing the Internet.
What is your favourite scene in the book? Why?
My gosh, that is such a tough question! Hmmm….I honestly like so many of them! 😉 I suppose I would say the last scene we are with Hannah, the heroine in the 1896 storyline, is my favourite one. I can’t really explain why, as it would spoil the ending for readers. You’ll have to read the book, as they say!
Did any of your characters inherit some of your own quirks?
Sure, yes. Nancy, the contemporary narrator of the book, inherited my love of research and my dry sense of humour.
What is your most interesting writing quirk?
I don’t think I have writing quirks, let alone interesting ones! I like to put square brackets around any words in drafts if I am not settled on a phrase or a word or how best to describe or name something. It’s sort of pointless because any words on the page can be revised during re-writing, they are all merely provisional. But it makes me feel a bit better to flag to myself that I’m obviously not happy with the current formulation and I’m only using those words in a pinch so that I can keep going; I’m not standing behind them as my best possible product.
Do you read? Who are your favourite authors and how have they influenced your writing style?
I read fairly widely. I read less now than have done in my life up to now, and it’s really irritating me. At any rate, my favourite contemporary authors would be J.M. Coetzee, Kazuo Ishiguro, Edward St. Aubyn, Sarah Waters, so many others. Historically speaking, I love Chekhov, Dostoyevsky, Dickens, Orwell. I suppose their influence on me in terms of style is that I too aim for prose that is truly well crafted. By which I don’t mean that it’s flowery, far from it, but that at the level of the sentence every word is optimal and apt and simply packs a lovely punch. I need dialogue to ring absolutely true. I grew up with wonderful storyworlds from writers like L.M. Montgomery, Monica Hughes, Richard Adams, and it’s also very important to me that I immerse a reader in a fully furnished place, where setting includes not just the physical surroundings but a rich landscape of the characters’ emotional lives and their expectations and hopes for themselves and each other.
What is the best piece of advice you have received, as a writer, to date?
Oh my god there is so much advice out there to writers, it’s truly difficult to know what to do with it. Do this, don’t do that, blah blah blah. I’ve taken workshops and courses and been involved with lots of groups. Perhaps the best piece of advice I’ve had comes from my writing coach, Sherry Coman, and that is to always stay connected to the sacred source of your project. Ask: why are you writing this in the first place? What is the spark or the throb or the image that you can return to when you are feeling things have gone astray and how can you stay true to that as you keep going? Writing a novel is a very long process and finishing what you start out to accomplish is not something you can ever take for granted. At least if you can honour the moment or the reason why you are doing it in the first place, you’re more able to sustain yourself over the long haul.
What is the best piece of advice you would give to someone that wants to get into writing?
Do this because you enjoy the process, because you feel called to the practice. Do not do this because you want a book published with your name on the cover.
What would be the Dream Cast for your book if it was to be turned into a movie?
Ooh, this is fun! I mean, truly, unknown actors are probably preferable so people can sink themselves fully into the performance, but let’s say Kiera Knightley to play Hannah, Dev Patel for sergeant Darshan Singh, and George could be played by Ray Winstone. Eva needs to be a frumpy-fied Gina McKee or someone like that. In the contemporary storyline, maybe Shailene Woodley for Nancy and Bill Nighy playing Barnaby Munk. Barnaby needs a bit of a comedic air.
If you were to be stranded on the famous deserted island, what three things would you carry?
Oh, I might carry a hammock, a massive notebook with pen attached (ha! So that I can count that as one item!), and a never-ending supply of lentil soup. I feel like I should have put more thought into this question…
How do you spend your free time? Do you have a favourite place to go and unwind?
Writing! Right now, I’m fitting writing into the margins of my time. (My day job is a college professor.) My favourite places to go and unwind are local hiking trails and paths. I love nature, I love gardens.
Can you share with us something off your bucket list?
Sorry, no, I don’t want to jinx myself! Let’s just say I would like to travel internationally.
Tell us three fun facts about yourself.
I can do cartwheels and juggle.
I once accidentally took my kids on a 6 hour hike. (But the scenery on the southern shore of Lake Superior was truly stunning.)
I’m into online art auctions.
What do you have in store next for your readers?
I’m finishing off a middle grade novel, Spirit Rock, which is a departure from The Parasol Flower. It’s a fantasy novel that’s rooted in indigenous cultures. I’m also in the very early stages of another work of historical (adult) fiction that may be set in Babylon or ancient Sumeria, the “cradle of civilization.”
Is there anything else you’d like to share with your readers?
In case any readers out there are interested in getting some help in their own writing life: I do work as a writing coach and developmental editor on a freelance basis. Please get in touch with me at karenquevillon@gmail.com if you’d like to schedule some help to complete your novel or work of nonfiction.
And let me know what you think of The Parasol Flower!
Praise for The Parasol Flower
“The Parasol Flower is an engrossing tale of two impassioned women, separated by a century, both hunting for treasure: one is an artist trekking through a pulsing Malaysian jungle, seeking a singular, exquisite flower; the other, a scholar trekking through the tangles of time-past, seeking a singular, exquisite woman. Beautifully written, utterly engaging and sparkling with wisdom, Karen Quevillon’s outstanding debut novel vividly explores the essential urgency of heeding the persevering yearnings of one’s creativity and destiny.”
– Janet Turpin Myers, author of Nightswimming and The Last Year of Confusion
“The Parasol Flower is a visceral, captivating novel about charisma, commitment, and the need for connection—an elegant and wistful portrayal of two women from different eras searching for each other.”
“[Karen] Quevillon shows an intimate knowledge of the problems women face today as well as those faced a couple of hundred years ago. The juxtaposition of these two timelines is more and more striking as the story progresses and leads the reader’s thoughts along the unique paths of everywoman. This is a novel for the thinking person who delights in identifying and solving society’s problems. I loved it.”
– Elaine Cougler, author of the Loyalist trilogy
“With The Parasol Flower, Karen Quevillon offers an intricate bud of a story that gradually unfurls to reveal, petal by delicate petal, a rare and brilliant bloom.”
– Sherry C. Isaac, author of Storyteller
Order The Parasol Flower from Amazon, Indigo/Chapters, Barnes & Noble, Foyles, Waterstones, The Book Depository, BookTopia, Kobo, Ebooks.com and other booksellers around the world.
My photo of the fish sculpture turned out to be double the dose of joy with the reflective pool which I didn’t really notice until I looked at the photo later.
Do you ever just get a little tired of the world we are stuck with until we find the COVID cure? I mean the distancing which is anything but social and the masks that make us all look like bank robbers?
I was feeling that way last weekend–the time when I miss people the most–and my guy and I decided to head over to the RBG in Hamilton. That’s the Royal Botanical Gardens, a place of respite and replenishing we’ve used for many years.
From the lilac gardens in May just in time for Mother’s Day picnics on the hillsides filled with blooming trees to the rose gardens a month or so later, and beyond, the RBG is well worth your time and the entrance fee to get in.
We started by buying our tickets and then heading through the building to the underground bridge, over which passes a major highway, and up out of the deep along a rising promenade. Several sets of steps beckoned us up and through the gardens on either side. We chose the one around the best vegetable garden I’ve seen this summer, past some lovely samples of annuals and towards a huge white tent full of chairs. Obviously they have events there in the middle of all the lush foliage.
Examples of many beautiful, healthy annuals.
This beckoning sculpture caught my eye immediately. Notice how the clouds parted to show off the hands so well.
One of our favourite trails was closed for renovations but I got this calming collection of green goodness anyhow. It reminded me of our walk at Roth Park back at home that morning. As soon as we walked into the trees, my mood lifted as though the trees saw us coming and wanted to welcome us with a fresh dose of oxygen given off just for me and my husband. I am reminded to get outside into the trees more often.
The Rock Garden was still beautiful although the tiny paths down through the trees and plants were closed, a distancing problem we decided. Still we enjoyed the outlooks and I wondered if the fairies were having more fun dancing with no people to interrupt their frolicking.
This Monarch butterfly stopover garden drew me in to read the sign. This is another way that botanical gardens help the environment so much. It occurred to me that back in the times I write about none of these protective things existed. Of course, nature looked after itself in many parts of our environment, although where I live used to be all forests and is now a landscape of fabulous farms feeding the world. Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.
I loved these orange lilies, like the kind we see everywhere in Ontario in July, although these are not the wild kind. They are spectacular!
Another trail beckons from the rim of the rock garden which we loved.
On the way up the path to the exit from the garden I captured these pink hibiscus. They show up so well here against the greenery overlooking the path. And the yellow bits add texture as well. I often wonder if gardeners are painters because they add in the under painting so beautifully. (Did you read The Underpainter by Jane Urquhart?)
I hope wandering through this post of gorgeous bounty has done for you what walking in the real thing did for me. And now pick up a great book to read to soothe your soul. That’s what I’m going to do!
For Stories of People Making a Difference, Click on the Images Below
Research on my iPad. 1774: The Long Year of Revolutionby Mary Beth Norton
In these new and different times, most of us have needed to use our imagination for things besides dreaming up intriguing characters and compelling plot lines. When I started my prequel to my Loyalist books, no libraries were open. No historic sites were open and no bookstores were open. My speaking gigs were all cancelled with no more being booked.
My life had drastically changed.
Here are some of the decisions that have kept me sane and able to write:
The first and best decision was to put aside the new book about the one-room schoolhouse I attended as a little girl. This was a new genre for me and I waffled between writing a children’s book, a young adult book or an adult memoir book. When COVID-19 came along I realized my need to write what I know and not to reinvent myself; hence, my as yet unnamed prequel to the Loyalist trilogy. To date I have over 45,000 words written and the book is coming along well. And so am I.
I soon realized that as much as I wanted to be informed about what was happening during this world pandemic, I had to spend 99% of my day NOT steeping my brain in the non-stop facts and factoids being spewed my way by various media. I thought about the influenza disaster during WWI and realized we have much more information coming at us today than they did. In some ways this is good. We can learn about the pandemic, the disease, and the ways to protect ourselves very quickly. The trouble comes when we allow the negative stories to take up all of our time. Our peace of mind disappears. That happened to me. Until I stopped watching the news, started working on jigsaw puzzles, spent the mornings in my office writing and started calling people I knew were alone and helping them in their loneliness.
I finished 8 puzzles of an artist’s beautiful paintings.
Rather than focusing on the things I couldn’t do, I began to look for alternate ways to fill the rest of my day (after my writing mornings). Prior to COVID-19, I had just finished recording my fourth book as an audio book. With my technician I got the files ready to send to ACX. This turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. With my previous 3 books, all on Audible, the process was quite speedy and only slowed down when I had not done something just right. With this book I thought I had straightened out the learning curve and I guess I have but I am still waiting to have my files approved and it is about 3 months since I started this. Part of this was my fault in the beginning. My file was finally ready for them to review 3 weeks ago but I do not expect that to happen soon. Another writer friend of mine says it took 2-3 months for several of his books. These days, I log in and check but, so far, I keep seeing Pending Audio Review. Feel free to check out my first three books in audio format!
Though I love doing library research, I found that online research could work well. One thing needed was to always cite the source on any material I printed out as I know the day will come when I write that Sources I Have Used section at the end of this book. Giving credit for others’ ideas is important, especially in this world where shysters, thieves and others try to use writers’ works. I spend part of every month sending Cease and Desist notices to people who try to steal my books and sell them on their sites. There is also a case pending in Canada where certain credible institutions are using writers’ work for nothing. This is stealing and I sincerely hope that the higher courts stop this practice.
Pages of research (and sources) that I’ve been excited to find on the Internet.
Finally, I’ve been doing more reading of other authors. My bedside table pile has shrunk considerably, to the point where I will soon have to replenish it. A lot of my books I get from my daughter who shares my love of reading. I take her books and she brings me books. That practice is difficult just now as she lives on the other side of the country and we cannot visit. Thank goodness for FaceTime! I just wish I could send her books by using that platform or a similar one.
The final thing that is helping both me as a person and in my writing is that my husband and I get out in the car whenever we can. We are careful about self-distancing–I even had to hold up my hand in traffic cop mode to stop a young lady from invading my space in a busy store one day. She just had not been thinking. She did stop immediately and I was able to leave the store without feeling compromised. I take pictures with my iPhone–thank goodness for phone cameras!–and concentrate on our beautiful world. Spring came late this year where I live but has been so much more appreciated because of it.
A lovely herd of mustangs a few miles from where we live. Gorgeous!
Keep reading and writing or doing whatever is your special thing!
Last Sunday my husband and I decided to drive to a favorite spot just to see if and how the St. Jacob’s Farmers’ Market might be open. We really just wanted a drive up through Mennonite country where some of my ancestors lived. After we checked out the market–yes, it was open but in a diminished sort of way–we drove further northeast to a place that is a remarkable piece of Ontario history–the West Montrose Covered Bridge.
It is a one-lane bridge spanning the Grand River and has signs on either end warning cars to yield; it’s the last remaining covered bridge in Ontario. You have to be polite and take your turn to get across as it’s just one lane.
A car going across
We had to ask the two couples who had settled for a chat in front of this sign to move so that we could read it (in this time of Covid, you see), but they were most cooperative.
Built by John Bear in 1880. About the same time the Donnellys were causing havoc on the Roman Road near Lucan, Ontario.Wild phlox bloomed beautifully across the Grand River, so aptly named.Here you can see the length of the gorgeous structure.A boat downriver and more wild flowers in the distance. What a beautiful place!
For those who love historical romance I’ve put The Loyalist’s Wife into this Giveaway! (even though my book is really historical fiction.) You’ll love it! Check out all the books included at the link access icon below.
Contest is from June 8-June 17.
Another contest I’ve entered with The Man Behind the Marathons: How Ron Calhoun Helped Terry Fox and Other Heroes Make Millions for Charity is the Inspirational and Non-Fiction contest run by BookSweeps from
June 21-July 1.
There will be beautiful graphics coming soon but I wanted to give you an early heads-up. Watch my Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages for more info on June 21. Meanwhile enjoy your reading!
As I hurried into the library for my assigned period at Glendale High School, my friend, fellow reader and the librarian where I taught English hailed me. Well, perhaps ‘hailed’ is not the right word for a library setting, but Lynne rushed over to tell me about a new book she thought I’d enjoy.
Usually I keep my newsletters in a certain tone as I want my readers to get a specific product from me, one that they can count on. In that way I build my list and give people what they want; indeed, what they expect.
