life
I once rode an elephant in Thailand.
Together with my husband, I opened and owned a used bookstore in Vancouver for 3 years.
My maiden name is Wallace…as in William Wallace aka Braveheart. Growing up (way before Mel Gibson made the movie), my father had our family crest displayed on the wall in our front hall, bearing the clan motto Pro Libertate...as in “they can take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!”
I have taken two sabbaticals in the UK – one before having kids, and one when our first son was 4 years old.…
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The highlight of my July, hands down, was going to New York City for Thrillerfest. Before jetting off for NYC,
I was pretty excited.
Did it disappoint? It did not.
I love New York!
The conference was held at the Grand Hyatt in New York, right next to Grand Central. Although I flew in, I popped into Grand Central when I first arrived, just to stand in awe.…
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I haven’t always been a morning person. But when various factors collided (specifically,
getting a book contract to produce three novels in three years, coupled with the fact that quitting my day job was not an option…mostly because my children had grown rather accustomed to eating food on a regular basis)
I had to come up with a new plan.…
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I grew up in Ontario but moved to the west coast ten years ago. Winter for me here in British Columbia, well…let’s face it: it’s not really winter. Still, I like the excuse to indulge in a cozy winter cocktail or two. In
my books, my heroine is a cocktail lover, big-time. Me, I usually prefer wine, but I do like to mix it up from time to time (whoops–see what I did there?).…
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Reviewing the highlights of my year has become an
annual tradition for me (like many of you), so here goes. When I think back on 2013, this is what stands out for me:
My
first novel was published! *happy dance*
I finished writing
my second novel. (And it’s all set for release in June 2014.)
I had the privilege of spending another year blogging for Erica Ehm’s fabulous
Yummy Mummy Club.…
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Last weekend I attended my all-time favorite writing conference, the
Surrey International Writers’ Conference. I’ve been going to this conference almost every year since 2004, and it’s always a slice of heaven for me. Here’s my attempt to sum up all the reasons I love SIWC.
Before SIWC, I was a closet writer (this is literally true—in my first condo I converted a closet into a writing “office”).…
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I’ve seen a few people do this on their blogs, and I decided it was time to try it myself. In completely random order, here are 100 things I love:
Good coffee
Paris
Yoga
Going to the movies
Getting up early when the house is dark and quiet
Wine
Train travel
The soundtrack to Out Of Africa
Dark chocolate with sea salt
Nail polish
Pinterest
The sound of spoken Italian
Sangria
Running
A man in a well-cut suit
The airport
Being a mom
Writing
Egg cups
Bookstores
High heeled shoes
James Bond
The rain
New York City
A warm fireplace on a cold night
Olives
Spending half an hour finding the exact right word
Having the exact right word come to me like a bolt from the sky
The smell of freshly cut grass
Dresses
Travel
The head massage while my hairdresser is shampooing my hair
The English countryside
Cream tea
Going to the ballet
The fall
The color pink
Five star hotels
European history
Indiana Jones
Vineyards
Downton Abbey
Goodreads
The smell of lavender
Popcorn
People who wink, and not in a creepy way
Boots
Raspberries
African safaris
The sound of the ocean
Gelato
Sunset with a glass of wine
Sunrise with a cup of coffee
Martinis
NFL on Sundays
Good thin crust pizza
Dancing
Parisian croissants
Dry humor
Songza
Christmas
Open air markets
A clean kitchen
Twitter
London
Paper
Lipgloss
TV/radio announcers with rich, gravelly voices
Eating in restaurants
The feel of freshly washed sheets
Bubble baths
Singing in the car
Caffe affogato (hot espresso poured over vanilla gelato)
Thunderstorms
Sushi
The sound of my kids laughing
A heartfelt compliment
Grocery shopping
The word quintessence
The moment of departure on an adventure
The feeling of returning home
Cheese
Writing in a coffee shop for hours
Tuscany
Reading a great first line in a book
Umbrellas
Shakespeare
French fries
Van Halen
The BBC
Making lists
Dressing up
Music from the 80s
Tulips
Handmade Mother’s Day gifts
Brunch
Libraries
Caprese salad (ripe tomatoes, fresh buffalo mozzarella, basil, balsamic)
The movie Moulin Rouge
Chasing dreams…
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I’m an avid reader and I always have been. So when someone says to me, with a vaguely superior air (and this happens surprisingly often): “Oh, I don’t read fiction. I don’t have time for that. I’m too busy; I have more important things to do…”, well, this is how I feel:
I’m sorry…what did you just say?
Today’s post is my contribution to
Tackle Your TBR Read-A-Thon , a super fun reading challenge hosted by
Tressa’s Wishful Endings and
Colorimetry.…
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In a move that was part insanity, part inspiration, we decided to take our kids on a two-week road trip down the coast to Southern California. It turned out to be a HUGE success–this is a part of the world that is absolutely packed with stuff to do! Here were some of my favorite things:
The San Diego Zoo
Everybody has heard of this world-famous zoo, right?…
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It’s Sunday…AND it’s Mother’s Day. So, let’s all sleep in and have a lazy day with coffee and the newspaper, shall we?
I’m going to keep it simple with today’s
countdown post. Just a little something to think about. (And maybe a little something for my fellow Pinterest addicts?)
…
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