Just Roll With It: Updates on All the Things

This morning, I got up, got dressed for church, and had almost finished my makeup before it was decided as a family that we weren’t going. Monkey is still getting over a nasty cold which has been making the rounds (so far, it’s hit me and Superkid, and Skipper mentioned this morning that he’s feeling something coming on), and the freezing rain that landed on the snow for most of the night means it’s probably for the best. Given recent events (which I’ll get to in a bit), I’m feeling more cautious at the moment.

“How should I use this extra time?” thought I.

So here I am, rolling with it.

Speaking of rolling with it, I’ve had a few adventures lately that have to do with rolling. Well, mostly one, which could have had really, really terrible consequences, but since it didn’t, I’m able to just call it an “adventure.”

Last Saturday, I went to the Coles Totem Mall bookstore in Fort St. John, BC, for a book signing. I love this store and this location. The staff are great, and the customers are awesome and super supportive of local authors. And, since it’s only a three-hour drive from my home, it’s also one of the least expensive and easiest bookstores for me to get to.

And it’s the closest. Yep, I live in the boonies. (I have a local Christian gift store that carries books right in Peace River at which I’ve done a signing before, but that’s the closest thing.)

The Thursday before, I kept getting snowfall warnings for this area all the way from Peace River to Fort St. John, starting Friday and ending Saturday at midnight. I hemmed and hawed. Would it be worth the risk to go?

My mother and a guest from New Zealand she and my stepdad had staying with them, Vanessa, were intending to come with me. Vanessa had never been to FSJ and Mom hadn’t gone in years, so they wanted to check it out, and despite the fact that there is not a whole lot to see there (especially in a snow storm), the idea of spending the day around a bookstore and wandering through even that tiny mall seemed like a fun outing, even if it required six hours of driving through snow to enjoy it. (That’s what happens when you live in the boonies.)

But even this born-and-bred Alberta girl was hesitant about the drive. It was the first major snow storm we’ve had this winter, and even though Jason assured me that both Mom and I are very good winter drivers, there are always a slew of people who aren’t or who seem to have forgotten how to drive in the winter since March. So it wasn’t just ourselves we had to consider.

Still, after much debate, we all decided to go. We got up at oh-dark-thirty, left my place in the snow and dark at around 7 a.m., and by 8:30 had slid through an icy T-intersection with little-to-no warning about the upcoming stop sign into a farmer’s field.

The saving graces were that the ditch was not very deep and the snow was all powder, with no snow pack underneath. After we got out and inspected everything, Mom figured I could back up and drive out of the field to the left onto an access road, and she was right. None of us were seriously injured, having only to deal with a few minor aches and pains for the next several days.

Unfortunately, my car can’t say the same. It’s still totally driveable and, I’m relieved to say, nothing was broken that can’t be fixed. However, what did get broken isn’t going to be cheap to repair, which was an expense that I wasn’t planning on.

I find it ironic that I managed to do five solo book signing trips (while promoting Finding Heaven) all the way to Calgary and back in the middle of winter in this car with tires that were practically bald, and never had a close call like this. But now, with good tires and company and a little day trip, this is what happened.

But that’s life.

I guess if I amortize the expense out between all the trips I’ve done, it’s not so bad. Even still, I’ve decided that I won’t be booking any more November signings. (I’d previously ruled winter signings out after the stress of that Finding Heaven book tour. But I thought early November would be pretty safe. Wrong.)

Thankfully, other than that little adventure, the day was awesome. There were quite a few people in the mall, despite the weather (which was much worse in FSJ than here), and we avoided any more such “adventures” for the rest of the day.

All set up and ready to meet new readers.

Evidence. Photo taken by Vanessa.

In other news, I took some yearly photos of the boys way back in September. I still haven’t gotten them processed, posted anywhere, or printed. Sigh. That’s ma vida loca these days.

However, yesterday, Superkid did some hat modelling for me, and I ended up with this wonderful shot of him.

He turns fourteen this week, which is hard to believe. Where did my adorable little munchkin go? Oh, right. He grew into this sassy, spunky, witty, handsome young man. (Who normally wears glasses, but I had him take them off so I wouldn’t have to worry about reflections in the photos, which were challenging enough with the poor winter afternoon light available.)

Love this face. :-)

Lately, I’ve been “studying” sweet romance novels, because I want to put out more stories along the lines of The Friday Night Date Dress. I thought it would be fairly easy to find books like this, but honestly, I’ve been pretty disappointed.

Confession: I’ve never been a big romance reader. I LOVE stories with a strong romantic subplot, but after trying a few straight “romances” when I was younger, I quickly veered towards other genre interests.

However, I adore rom-com movies and even dramatic romance movies. They are my favourites of all time. And the subgenre of romance doesn’t really matter. Far and Away, You’ve Got Mail, Pride and Prejudice, Beauty and the Beast, Penelope, Mr. Deeds, 17 Again, Maid in Manhattan, Ella Enchanted, The Princess Bride… the list goes on and on. But the one thing all these romantic movies that I love have in common?

They are clean.

And, silly me, I thought that I could find some romance books like that, too.

Actually, the silly part was thinking that’s what “sweet romance” meant.

Apparently, it’s not.

The other problem is that, the better I’ve gotten at writing and editing, the higher my standards have become. I have such limited time for fiction reading that I’ve gotten to the point that I would rather walk away from a poorly-written book, even if I’ve spent money on it, than slog through poor writing and editing just to say I finished.

In the last three weeks, I’ve purchased eleven romance novels. I’ve started seven of them. I finished two. And only one of those was a book that I really enjoyed, despite not fitting the “clean” stricture I’d been looking for.

(In fact, even though I finished the first one I started, it was that disappointing experience that made me realize I didn’t have the patience to do so again. I started getting a lot more ruthless on later books. The rest of those books are in my figurative “DNF—Did Not Finish” pile. While I usually made it between 20%-30% through, for the worst one, I only managed 8% before I just couldn’t handle the poor writing any longer.)

And this book had over 4 stars on Amazon!

Cary Elwes as Robin Hood holding his head in exasperation.

So. I guess I’ve become some kind of a book snob. But despite the number of DNFs on my Kindle, I did learn something—the romance market is ripe pickings for someone who can put out a book with good writing and well-developed characters and settings. Either that, or the romance market is not that discerning and doesn’t care. Either that, or I shouldn’t be writing romance, because I don’t love the things about the genre that the typical reader enjoys.

I haven’t figured out which one of those is the real takeaway yet. :-)

The thing is, when I wrote The Friday Night Date Dress and even Finding Heaven (which I usually classify as “romantic suspense,” though I’m not sure that’s a 100% accurate description, either), I didn’t know much about genres. I’ve read widely my whole life, and genres meant very little to me. I’ve learned most of what I know about genre since then, and part of my current research binge is to find comparison authors who write stories like mine.

So even though I call The Friday Night Date Dress an “inspirational romance”, I can’t help but wonder if it’s more just women’s fiction with a strong romantic plot. The plot isn’t so much about the romance as it is about Melinda’s healing journey, much as Finding Heaven is more about Sarah’s healing journey than whether she and Steve get together. (In fact, for a good 2/3 of the writing on that book, I wasn’t sure they would.)

And recently, I have finally entered the world of figuring out how to advertise my books online and therefore need to know what authors I share an audience with. Thus the reason for my current reading research binge.

So, in other other news, um. Hmm.

• I’m down 29 pounds since May from eating keto, and feeling great. I still have another 16 to go to reach my goal weight.

• I’ve been enjoying The Good Place, Lucifer, and Carnival Row on TV. I’ve been binge-watching Friends with Jason and Skipper so we can finish it before it goes off Netflix at the end of the year. We just got to season 10. Yay! I think we’ll make it.

• Two of my boys have birthdays this month.

• I made a new cover for “Up in Smoke” because I wanted to learn to make my own book covers, and that seemed like a good way to practice.

• I’m almost finished the “zero draft” of The Sphinx’s Heart.

• I’m hoping to get short stories written for two other upcoming calls in the next couple of months, write a short story for my patrons on Patreon, finish the first draft of The Sphinx’s Heart, and also draft another sweet, clean romance to be released next year.

• And I’m thankful that some excellent editing clients have found me and are keeping me so busy that I’m having a hard time finding time to blog.

My two November birthday boys at Skipper’s party a couple weeks ago.

Speaking of that, though, I did fit in an interview recently for the “Inspiring People” feature, and that article will be posted in the next week or two. It’s with Mark Leslie Lefebvre, one of the most entertaining and humble speakers I’ve ever had the opportunity to learn from. I look forward to sharing that with you soon!

Lastly, I’m thrilled to mention that The Book of Chaos by Jessica Renwick, which I edited, has just won yet another well deserved award from Children’s Literary Classics. Congratulations, Jessica!

So. What have you been rolling with lately?