Guest Blogger

Loucinda McGary Guest Blog, author of The Wild Irish Sea

Tuesday 20 July, 2010 by knittingmomof3 Leave a Comment

Exotic Settings

Everyone who knows me, or who has looked at my website or one of my blogs, knows I’m a travel fanatic. I’m always on the go to some new place foreign, domestic, or sailing off on yet another cruise (sixteen so far with number seventeen booked for November). I’ve always had the yen to see new and exotic locations, but my dream finally started to come true in the mid 1990s when my DH overcame his twenty year fear of flying.

Once he cleared that not-inconsiderable hurtle, we became a pair of traveling fools! At last count, we have visited 47 states and 32 foreign countries. I believe that travel broadens a person’s outlook in a way that few things can. I’ve discovered fun and fascinating things in almost every place I’ve ever visited, and almost everywhere I’ve been I have met lovely, friendly people.

Before I became the traveling fool, I loved to read books with exotic settings and enough lush details that I felt I was right there with the characters. Mary Stewart was one of my favorite authors who was a master at this. Whether you were on a Greek Island or a cottage in the English countryside, you were right there experiencing the sights, smells, and feel of the flora, fauna, views, and everything else surrounding the characters. Diana Gabaldon is another author whose settings are so real I feel like I’ve been in the Scottish highlands, or onboard a wooden sailing ship, or in a log cabin.

When I decided to seriously commit myself to writing with the intent to publish, I wanted my novels to have settings that put the reader firmly in the place with my characters. Fortunately, by then I’d been to a lot of wonderful places and soaked up plenty of experiences that I could draw upon for authenticity in my writing. But one thing I never know is what will come in handy, or turn up in my prose. For example, the childhood home of my hero in The Wild Sight was actually the house where my DH’s grandmother was born and raised. It still remains in the family and I remember the first time I saw it, I kept thinking about raising ten children in two rooms and a loft with no running water or electricity!

Here’s a peek at the house as I described it in an opening chapter of The Wild Sight:

“…Rylie looked around the room, which was dominated by an enormous stone fireplace that had once served for both cooking and warmth. She peeked through the open doorway into the adjoining room, where the same fireplace had a second hearth. …

“Cold seeped from the flat gray stones of the floor through the rubber soles of her sneakers, a testament to the uncomfortable reality Donovan had mentioned earlier….

“…He motioned to a steep set of stairs build into the wall behind the front door. ‘My sister and I slept in the loft, same as my mother and her sister had done… The roof was thatch when my mum and Aunt Fee were little, but my grandfather replaced it with tin.’”
© Loucinda McGary, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2008

I’ve always thought Venice was one of the most unique, atmospheric, and romantic cities in the world. It was a no-brainer for me to set one of my books in such an exotic but at the same time recognizable location. I’ve only visited Venice once, but it was a very memorable three days. I always keep travel journals where ever I go along with photographs. So even though it had been several years since I’d been in Venice, when I sat down to write, after a few hours of pouring over my photos and journal entries, I was instantly transported back. Here’s a scene from the book that eventually became The Treasures of Venice based on a late night walk my DH and I took through the streets of La Serenissima:

“It was eerily dark out on the street… Mist hung in wet wispy spirals over the water, and deeper shadows pooled in the darkness beside buildings. The chilly dampness distorted sounds so that the creaking of wood and slapping of water seemed to come from living entities….

“Sam followed as Keirnan snaked his way down a tight path right next to the water. The four and five story buildings on either side of the minor canal blotted out all light….

“Another diminutive bridge, this one with iron railings, arched up next to them where another canal intersected the one they followed. Instead of crossing, Keirnan crawled down next to the footings, then motioned her to join him.… A pale light filtered down from a second story window to reveal a profusion of orange peels and cigarette butts floating in the nearly motionless canal…. Sam scooted slightly to one side and noticed the building had a yawning mouth of black water where the first floor would have been.”
© Loucinda McGary, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2009

Sometimes places that aren’t actually in the location I’m writing about fit into the story so beautifully that I take ‘artistic license and put them in anyway. This was the case with my current release The Wild Irish Sea. When the hero and heroine discover a sea cave being used by a colony of seals, I remembered a couple of visits I’d paid to Sea Lion Caves on the Oregon coast and was inspired to include my impressions (especially of the smell!) even if the actual cave was far away from the Irish coast:

“Nearly overcome by the stench, Amber followed Kevin inside the cave without further protest. After climbing down and around a pointy sentinel of rock, they were out of the rain. She heaved a sigh of relief and almost choked on the over-powering odor.
“They scrambled over a few more jutting rocks onto a stone ledge. A large pool of water spread below, and on the sandy shore opposite their perch lolled dozens of seals…. More than half seemed to be babies and the cave echoed with their cries.
“Trying not to breathe too deeply, she leaned an elbow against an upright boulder and surveyed the interior. The shelf where they stood appeared to be the only flat spot on their side of the rocky cavern, and it looked too high for the sea lions in the pool to climb up.”
© Loucinda McGary, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2010

So whether it’s a tiny cottage in the Irish countryside, a Venetian canal, or a mysterious sea cave full of seals, I hope I’ve given you some insight into the way I use my travels to create exotic settings for my books.

THE WILD IRISH SEA BY LOUCINDA MCGARY – IN STORES JULY 2010

Title: The Wild Irish Sea
Author: Loucinda McGary
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: July 6, 2010
Paperback: 320 pages
ISBN: 978-1402226717
Genre: Fiction, Romance

Drawn to a force he can’t resist…
Former police officer Kevin Hennessey is running from his past—choosing to battle smugglers instead of dealing with his personal demons. When a desperate, rain-drenched American woman appears on his doorstep with wild tales of danger, Kevin is drawn to helping her, despite his reservations…

She never saw him coming…
Amber O’Neill knew without a doubt that her brother was in mortal danger. Rushing heedlessly to the rocky shores of Ireland, Amber was stunned to find her rescue mission derailed by a gorgeous, but deeply flawed Irishman…

The tumultuous sea, the intertwined fates of the coastal villagers, and unearthly tales of a hidden selkie prince bring Kevin and Amber together in a connection of mind, body, and soul that neither can deny…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Loucinda McGary took early retirement from her managerial career to pursue her twin passions of travel and writing. She sets her novels in some of the fascinating places she has visited. She was a finalist in the 2006 Romance Writers of America Golden Heart contest in Romantic Suspense with the manuscript that eventually became her second novel, The Treasures of Venice. Her first book, The Wild Sight won the Best First Book category in the More Than Magic contest. She lives in Sacramento, CA. For more information, please visit http://www.loucindamcgary.com/ .

My gratitude to Loucinda McGary for taking time to guest post and to Sourcebooks for making the guest post possible.

My review of The Wild Irish Sea by Loucinda McGary can be located here.

Filed Under: Guest Author, Guest Blogger, Uncategorized Tagged With: Loucinda McGary, Sourcebooks, The Wld Irish Sea

Guest Author: Lois Herr and her new novel Dear Coach: Letters Home From WWII

Friday 4 December, 2009 by knittingmomof3 Leave a Comment

Author Lois Herr has stopped by to share with us an excerpt taken from her new book Dear Coach: Letters Home from WWII.

I’ve compiled together a variety of the letters mom and I stumbled across in the attic written to dad, Elizabethtown College coach Ira Herr, by his athletes during WWII, with pictures, scrapbook clippings, newspaper articles and a wide variety of historical information from the time to paint a picture of what life must have been like for these small-town college men and women as not only their country went into war, but so did their friends and family. I hope you enjoy the following excerpt taken from Chapter One of Dear Coach: Letters Home from WWII.

“Known in the campus family as “Coach,” Ira Herr covered all sports plus intramurals, physical education, and health classes, and thus he knew every student. Coach believed that sports had a definite role in the educations of the whole individual. In one of his talks he said, “Participation in competitive games is invaluable in training youth for life.” He believed that life itself was a struggle, with each individual competing with forces seen or unseen in his fight to better his position in life. “The keener the competition,” he would say, “the greater the value and the more satisfactory the victory.” He felt, however, that the win-at-all-costs approach was dangerous and would teach disregard for rules as well as lead to dishonest. He practiced what he preached and controlled his own behavior, never inciting either the players of the crowd to poor sportsmanship. Known for his low key, non-emotional style, Coach did have rules and insisted in his own quiet way that they be followed, as those caught smoking or missing games discovered. He cared about each player as a person, on and off the field. He helped with guidance, arranged financial aid, found jobs and just listened. What mattered most to him was that the students on campus would develop their own best selves—physically, mentally, morally, socially, and emotionally. He was “like a father.”

Coach defined his role as a politician, diplomat, psychologist, parent, teacher, trainer, weatherman, and sometimes laborer. A good coach, he would explain, “Dare not be an optimist and cannot afford to be a pessimist.”

When war came and Elizabethtown’s athletes went off to military or civilian public service, they wrote letters home to their coach, talking about the school, each other, and opportunities they had in sports. They talked about the war itself, but mostly they shared their lives and confided in him how being away from home affected them; they wrote about the decision they made and those that were made for them. They gloried in new skills; they chafed at waiting. They wanted to know how the teams were doing without them and how Coach and Mrs. Coach were getting along with their baby.”

As you continue in the book, you’ll meet the men and women athletes who wrote to my dad more intimately. Their journeys are ordinary ones but their connection to my father as a friend and mentor is something quite extraordinary. I can’t wait to share it with you. Thank you so much to Rundpinne for allowing me this opportunity!

I hope you have as enlightening of a time reading “Dear Coach” as I did writing it. Thank you again to Rundpinne for having me!

Follow the rest of Lois Herr’s virtual book tour by stopping by her official blog to see where she’s headed next!

I have not read Dear Coach: Letters Home from WWII by Ira Herr, but I am enjoying the tour and look forward to obtaining a copy of the novel. * Standard disclaimer: I have not been compensated in any manner for posting about this tour.

Filed Under: Book Tour, Guest Blogger Tagged With: Dear Coach: Letters Home from WWII, Lois Herr

Guest Author: Mary Lydon Simonsen

Monday 30 November, 2009 by knittingmomof3 3 Comments

Please welcome Mary Lydon Simonsen who will be guest blogging today about her upcoming new release Searching for Pemberley.

Thank you, Jennifer, for inviting me to write a guest post for your blog! I’ve decided to talk a little bit about why I chose to write about two of Jane Austen’s most famous literary creations, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, for my first novel.

I could tell you that Pride and Prejudice is my favorite novel and how much I admire Austen’s brilliantly crafted characters and finely woven plot. I could also mention that Austen provided me with a solid foundation on which to build my own story. But the reason I wrote about Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy is much simpler than that. I have a crush on Mr. Darcy, and I am not alone.
I really love the character of Elizabeth Bennet. I admire her spunk, her wit, and her independence, but as for Mr. Darcy, he had me from hello. My relationship with the estimable gentleman started many years ago when I was introduced to him in my senior-year high school English class. He was my dream guy: good looking, wealthy, owned a large country estate, came from a prestigious background, and looked great in breeches. All those things were definitely pluses, but the main hook for me was that Darcy’s love for Elizabeth was transformative. By loving Lizzy, he became a better man.
According to a youtube.com video, an impeccable resource, there was a recent survey taken in Britain in which women of all ages were asked to pick their dream guy. The overwhelming winner: Fitzwilliam Darcy. I don’t think the results would have been much different on this side of the Atlantic, especially if they polled my friends. But why a fictional character?

When we first meet Mr. Darcy, he is behaving badly at a ball by refusing to dance with any of the local lasses and insults Lizzy when he says that she is “merely tolerable.” Things do not improve during Lizzy’s stay at Netherfield or at Lucas Lodge, and most definitely not at Hunsford Lodge where Lizzy refuses his offer of marriage. Even so, we still want our girl to fall in love with this flawed character, because once Lizzy straightens him out, Mr. Darcy becomes her Prince Charming. This is the Regency/Georgian Era version of Cinderella with Caroline Bingley and Louisa Hurst as the stepsisters.

When I decided to write my first novel, I wanted to include the love story of Darcy and Elizabeth, but I didn’t want to write a sequel or prequel. Instead, I wanted to pen a story that included some of my other interests, especially the histories of World War I and World War II. As it turned out, I had plenty of time to think about the plot.

Four years ago, following knee-replacement surgery, as I lay flat on my back with my leg strapped into a continual motion torture device meant to work the muscles in my knee, I started to formulate a plot for the story. When I was finally able to go vertical, I started to write Searching for Pemberley, the story of 22-year old Maggie Joyce, who leaves behind the bleak landscape of her Pennsylvania coal-mining hometown to go to work in post World War II London. A devotee of Jane Austen, she learns that there are some who believe that the characters of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy may be based on the real life Elizabeth Garrison and William Lacey of Montclair Manor in Derbyshire. While exploring the truth behind these rumors, she meets a couple who lives in a nearby village, and who knows if the stories are true. A friendship develops, and she is drawn into their love story, which took place against the background of World War I. As her search continues, she meets both a dashing American pilot and a handsome descendant of the Darcy/Lacey line, and Maggie must decide how her own love story will end. Just like thousands of Austen’s readers across the decades, Maggie wants to find her own Mr. Darcy.

This is the genius of Jane Austen. She manages to have us like an unlikable character right out of the gate. In Lizzy, this author has given us a wonderful, well-rounded, witty character, and such a wonderful lady must have the perfect man to share her life with. According to the survey taken in Britain, a lot of us agree with Austen’s taste in men. Is Mr. Darcy your ideal?

SEARCHING FOR PEMBERLEY—IN STORES DECEMBER 2009

Set against Regency England, World Wars I and II, and postwar England, three love stories intertwine in surprising and fateful ways

American Maggie Joyce, touring Derbyshire in 1947, visits, Montclair, an 18th century Georgian country house, that she is told was the model for Jane Austen’s Pemberley. More amazingly, the former residents of the mansion, William Lacey and Elizabeth Garrison, were the inspiration for the characters of Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice.

Through letters, diary entries, and oral history, Beth and Jack Crowell, a couple who lives in the nearby village of Crofton, share stories of the people they say inspired Jane Austen. They also tell their own love story, made difficult by their vastly different backgrounds—she was one of the social elite while he was the son of a servant. When their son, Michael, travels home from his RAF station in Malta, Maggie may have just found her very own Mr. Darcy.

About the Author:

Mary Simonsen grew up in North Jersey with the exciting venues of New York City easily accessible. She is largely self-educated and is especially interested in American and European history and 19th Century novels. In Searching for Pemberley she was able to combine her love of history (World War II and postwar England) with Austen’s characters, Miss Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, and being a romantic, the novel includes three love stories from three different time periods, all thanks to Jane Austen. She lives in Peoria, Arizona. For more information, please visit.

Thank you Mary for being a guest blogger and I look forward to the release of Searching for Pemberley.

Filed Under: Guest Blogger Tagged With: Mary Lydon Simonsen, Searching For Pemberley, Sourcebooks

Writer’s Workshop-Guest Blogger

Thursday 16 April, 2009 by knittingmomof3 Leave a Comment

This is Jen’s PDH writing tonight. Oh yeah me. (KEY: P = Poor)

The Prompts and the answers:
1.) If I sent you four hundred dollars today what is ONE thing you would spend it on and why. ps I want my change.

I would find a couch, yes, I believe I can find one for that cheap. It may fluoresce under black light from prior “oopsee daisies”, but it might have enough cushion and lumbar support to keep DW’s back comfortable while she is doing all this Internet stuff. No change – I’ll splurge for the tax on this fine $399.99 luxury item.

2.) What are your kids talking about?

Do kids still talk? I thought they only “text”. When they aren’t fighting with each other, they are texting friends. When they do talk to us, we get to hear how everything we decide for them is not fair, fun, or cool. The teens years are so exciting!

3.) Tell us about a local news story that’s all the buzz right now in your neck of the woods.

School tax levy not passing last Nov, blah blah blah, no more money from state, blah blah blah, better vote for levy this time, blah blah blah, or schools will suck. We voted in favor before, but all this blah blah blah may make me change my mind.

4.) Share some blogging advice.

B.A.R.E. – Blog Awareness and Resistance Education
Just say “NO”!

5.) Tell us about that time at the playground when that thing happened.

What? I’m too old to remember “that thing”.

I want to now thank DW for giving me this opportunity to share my thoughts with her blogosphere. Without her constant love and support, I would be constantly AFK and WBP. (KEY: WBP = Without Blog Presence)