Saying Good-bye

I hate good-byes. I do. Only, it's time for me to say good-bye to the awesome ladies at Beyond the Veil. My writing direction has moved away from paranormal and on to an exciting career with Harlequin. All my focus is on contemporary medical romance at the moment. It's been an amazing couple of years and I've met some extremely talented and awesome authors. I hate to leave, but my deadlines are just a bit nutsy that I'm running out of time and brain activity to blog. Thanks for memories Beyond the Veil and I wish all these ladies continued success! xxoo Amy

Mah Brain

Which can be quite the convoluted place at times, is always full of characters.

If I wasn't writing, well that's not even a question I can comprehend. I think about other professions I wouldn't mind doing, but my brain would still be full of stories.

And that's the lead in to this ramble. I get asked all the time where I get ideas for my stories.

Last night I said to a friend that my Muse is on crack when talking about where I got the idea for Incarnate.

After our laugh I said I got the idea watching Ice Road Truckers when I was dealing with my newborn.

Maybe it was sleep deprivation mixed with my fascination of the north which brought about it.

Honestly, anything can trigger an idea.

Music, a picture, something someone says.

My most recent idea, which is still percolating in my brain, was from watching a lot of Dr. Quinn and visiting Montana this past summer.

My imagination has always been full.



I was quite happy spending my Saturday and Sunday in my room playing with my dolls. Inventing up crazy story lines for them. There was always a villain. Always.

So I can't say for sure what specifically will inspire me. A lot of things do. I do know one thing for certain, I wouldn't trade away my very full and weirdly wired brain for anything.

Love

How was your Valentine's Day?

Although, I think love, especially the language of love, transcends more than just a holiday.

In fact I know it does.

I LOVED the card and the raspberry chocolates my husband left me. My kids love getting Valentines from their classmates, but I've been thinking about other moments in my relationship and I have to share the moment where my DH & I first said "I Love You."

In the summer of 2001, I was finishing up college and the Brooks & Dunn song "Ain't Nothing 'Bout You" was released.

I'd just started dating the DH seriously and it was a long distance relationship. There was a 3 hr distance between us. Listening to that song made me think of him when I wasn't able to see him.

Then I heard Brooks & Dunn were coming to Toronto. The midway point for us, but having just graduated and the DH had another year I was more concerned about getting a job.

And then he called and told me he bought tickets. His Co-op paid money. Mine didn't.

He picked me up and we went to Toronto to see the BEST concert ever. It was hours and hours of music. I loved all the artists. It was a concert where Keith Urban was still an up and comer and hadn't married Nicole Kidman.

Anyways, Brooks & Dunn came on the stage and sang our favorite songs, but when they sang that song I looked over at my DH and just knew. KNEW.

And we both said it. Eleven years married, with three kids and if I play that song he still comes running. The song still makes me swoon, brings a flush to my cheek and brings me trouble of the smooching kind.

The Phantom of the Opera

Okay, I've talked about this before. Many times.

The Phantom or Erik, is my favorite dark hero.

I’ve heard a lot of nay saying about him, like “He’s a crazy sadistic, stalker, murderer dude.”

Okay, sure, but he’s a broken soul. Scarred and unloved. All he loves is Christine Daae.

The moment the Phantom walked out onto the stage back in 1992 when I first saw it, in Toronto at the Pantages theatre with Colm Wilkinson I fell head over heels in love. I hate Raoul. Still hate that pretty boy to be honest.

And at the end of the opera, when she leaves him for Raoul, but come back one final time to kiss him *fans self* swoon. My husband knows if he wants to get me in the mood fast he just has to put on the Phantom with Gerard Butler.

*ahem* Sorry I know, TMI.

Gerard didn’t have the voice range that Colm did, but DAYUM, even with half his face horrifically scarred he is mighty fine. That scene from Past the Point of No Return gets me hot under the collar all the time.

I wanted to know more about the Phantom. Where did he come from? What happened to his face? This is why I’m so fascinated and attracted to him. What made him the way he is and how can I heal him? 

Not much is known about the Phantom at all, other than his name is Erik and a few snippets from this song:

This face, which earned a mother’s fear and loathing…

A mask, my first unfeeling scrap of clothing…

 Even though Christine left the Phantom, his love for her remained true. He left her alone, but watched from afar. True to her, even though rich annoying pretty boy got her, he remained faithful even placing the rose on her grave years later.

And this final kiss scene *swoon* gets me every time. EVERY TIME.

The musical made such an impression on me, I was 14 at the time, I wrote copious amounts of fan fiction and would act out the musical in my room, alone, singing to the tape I bought from the souvenir stand.

It also helped fan the flames of my burgeoning romance writing career. No I don’t write about stalker/murders with half melted faces …but I’ve been tempted! >:)

It’s safe to say that The Phantom is my first ever dark romance hero.

Who’s yours?

Guilty Confession

I still love old school heroines. It's like brain candy for me. I was raised on old school heroines and I still enjoy them.

Do I write them? No. Not in the least, but I do love revisiting my favorite books and reading about them.

I think the only old school heroine I loathe, and I mean, LOATHE is Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With the Wind. I'm sorry, but she was just a big beyotch and I know I'll get slack.

I still remember reading my first old school heroine. She was Maggie Afton of Connie Mason's Ice and Rapture.

I still have a very well worn copy of the book, it's falling apart from multiple reads and I keep it because it was one of the last two books my Grandmother read before she died (the other book was Jewels by Danielle Steele, which I also love).

I took those two books from her hospital room. I'd already read them, because we read things together as she tried to fight the cancer which killed her. It was a way to spend time together and I don't think my mother knew her mother was debauching her daughter. LOL!

My grandma (Nanny) always like to read "Hot books. The hotter the better."

Funny, now I write erotic romance.

I digress, Maggie Afton was plucky, a reporter and willing to do STUPID things to get to the Goldfields during the Yukon Goldrush. And I mean stupid things, like trusting two varmints to take her to the goldfields where they planned to rape and kill her. Thank goodness Chase McGarrett (the Hero) stepped in, but that's a whole other post on HIM!

She also could have saved herself some serious heart ache and issues if she would've just TALKED TO THE HERO! Jayzus, woman for being a reporter she was a bit stubborn.

But I loved her. I still love her. She is my favorite old school heroine of all time.

Do you have a favorite old school heroine you love?

The Black Donnelly's

There was a family. A notorious family just north of London, Ontario in a little quaint village called Lucan. This family was not well like by residents. Many claimed the Donnelly's were criminals and on one bloody night on February 4, 1880 vigilante justice was carried out in the most brutal way and a family was nearly decimated.

I say nearly because the ones the mob were looking for, were not there that night on the Donnelly farm when Old man Donnelly, his wife, their niece visiting from Ireland and two sons were murdered that night and the mysterious thing was no one was ever convicted of their brutal killings.

It's speculated because of an old feud between the Donnelly's and the townsfolk. The Donnelly's were not well liked.

And today, the farm where the brutal murders happened is supposed to be haunted.

Birds don't sing and men don't smile,
Out on the Roman Line.
Their faces grim and so they'll be,
Until the end of time.

For the midnight hour brings alarm,
And horses won't pass the Donnelly farm,
Stay off that road or you'll come to harm,
And horses won't pass the Donnelly farm
Stay off that road or you'll come to harm,
Out on the Roman Line.

Old Song Reprinted from: The Black Donnellys by Thomas P. Kelley

I'm a firm believer in ghosts big time.

Before I even KNEW about the Donnelly's (Because I'm not from this area) we'd drive up past Roman Line to get to my inlaws and at night I'd feel anxious about driving along this stretch. It was eerie.

When I found out about the Donnelly's it all started to make sense.

There's even a whole ghost page set up about The Donnelly's here.

You can tour the original house, where the tragedy occurred, but it is a private property today. Have I toured it. No. I doubt I ever will. Just passing The Roman Line is enough to make me skitterish and I'll stay away from St. Patrick's cemetery in Lucan where the Donnelly's are buried.

I'll learn more about this fascinating ghost story from afar!

So close ...

I had another blog post set, but then something completely and utterly random happened to me and it involved something from one of my favourite movies of all time ...Ghostbusters.

I LOVE Ghostbusters. Love it. I remember seeing the first one when I was a kid in the Drive-in theatre in my home town. It terrified me, as I was under 10 at the time, but it was also so funny and I had a major crush on Peter Venkman (Bill Murray).

My brother recently moved in with us for a short while, while he relocated to a new job. He decided to do his Christmas shopping for his niece and nephews (my kids) on Friday. He works such long and random shifts, he never knows when he'll be working.

So we went to Toys R Us and did some shopping.

On our way out we noticed this HUGE line around the LCBO (Liquor Store here in Canada).

"What's going on there?" My brother asked.

"I think Dan Aykroyd is there signing his Crystal Head Vodka. I heard he's on some kind of tour to promote buying Canadian products."

Now, Dan is Ray Stanz from Ghostbusters and he's also Canadian.

"Wouldn't it be funny if Ecto 1 was there. I'd stop if Ecto 1 was there," My brother said.

We drove by and there she was. Ecto 1.

Totally random.

Of course we stopped. We said we would and this is what resulted:

Yep. Me and Ecto 1.

So absolutely cool!

How about you? Anything random like this happen to you before?

Ooooh I hates them, precious!

By that I mean O’Brian and Thomas on Downton Abbey.

I recently became hooked and hooked hard on Downton Abbey this past weekend and as each show progressed I hated, hated, HATED O’Brian (Lady Grantham’s ladies maid) and Thomas (Footman, aspiring to be valet).

They conspired. They had nothing pleasant to say. They were sneaky and down-right mean, but damn were they ever fascinating.

They are characters I love to hate. They’re also characters I want to know more about.

Especially now Season 2 is over.

Season 2 had me pitying Thomas. He was stuck in the trenches of WWI as a medic, trembling in fear because he was at the mouth of Hell. I didn’t envy him and his fear made him all the more real. His desperate action to get out of the war was cowardly, but again I don’t blame him for his moment of cowardice that got him discharged (I don’t want to say because I don’t want to give out any spoilers, but I was cringing when it happened). World War 1 was horrific and sad as any war is.

It gave another layer to Thomas and as much as he was still a bastard as Season 2 went on there were moments where I loved him as well. I found him more interesting than the “hero” of the servants Mr. Bates.

O’Brian was the same for Season 2. She did something horrible in Season 1 and she was so pinched faced and nasty I really, really loathed her. From the author stand point I couldn’t help but wonder what made her tick.

She never has anything nice to say about any one. Nor is she particularly loyal, maybe loyalish to Thomas, but that’s about it.

Until a certain Mr. Lang came to Downton suffering from PTSD. She was the only one who had any feeling for him. The only one who comforted him because her brother suffered from it and he was sent back before he should’ve been and was killed.

O’Brian’s past had been a bit of mystery up until that point.

As for her dreadful deed in Season 1, when her ladyship was on her deathbed she tearfully apologized, which surprised me. Again emotion so different from the cold fish, deadpan we received in Season 1.

I want to know more and more about them and I hope we see learn more about them as Season 3 progresses.

They’re truly fascinating and interesting villains. I think if they left, it wouldn’t be as interesting. These two have moved up the list on villains I love to hate.

I'm baaaaack

Last time I posted I was heading on a road trip. Ten thousand kilometres round trip in total.

It was long, tiring and AMAZING!

Since we're speaking about characters, I can say NOW that I've visited the home of one my childhood heroes. The character Laura Ingalls from the Little House of the Prairie books, only she wasn't fictional. Far from it!

Though, she was quite small in her adult hood. Four foot one to be exact. The same height as my 9 year old daughter. I'm 5'11", so yeah, Laura was quite smaller.

I got to travel some of the route the Ingalls family travelled. I can say now I've been in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, though most of the big woods have been levelled for farm land, as you can see ...though some woods remain.

Then it was onto Minnesota. Walnut Grove, Minnesota where Laura and her family lived On the Banks of Plum Creek:

Then we came to De Smet, South Dakota. The final home of the Ingalls, where Laura married Almanzo Wilder. A very emotional moment for me. I was also sick as a dog, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. Heck NO. I've dreamed of coming here my whole life. So I drugged myself up and moved on!

Above is the last house Pa Ingalls built. Sadly, he only lived in it a couple years before he died of heart failure. Ma & Mary lived here for twenty years further until they passed.

The final resting place of Carrie, Mary, Laura's infant son, Ma and Pa. Grace is buried a few feet away with her husband Nathan Dow. Laura, Almanzo & their daughter Rose are in Missouri where the Wilder's finally settled.

I read all of the Little House books when I was 8. I devoured them and their the first "novels" I ever read so whole heartedly. Laura, started my love of reading and writing. When I was 8 I wanted to be a writer, like Laura.

This was a dream come true. I saw so many amazing sights on my trip. I have over 600 pictures. LOL! But De Smet, South Dakota was so much more, a dream come true. Lots of happy tears will spilled and the tears started about Walnut Grove, Minnesota and they didn't stop until we were leaving De Smet on Monday June 25, 2012 heading toward Rapid City, South Dakota.

I'm still recovering from my trip, but my creative well is really full and as much as I enjoyed it. I'm glad to be back.

*Whew* Boy!

I can't believe it's June already. The year has just been flying by, but I've been really looking forward to June because my family and I are making a cross country trip for my sister-in-law's wedding. I've never been to Alberta or any of the western provinces. Heck, I haven't even been west of Sudbury, but this summer that's all going to change.

We're driving through the lovely states of Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota (*SQUEE huge Laura Ingalls Wilder fan here*), Wyoming and Montana before heading back into Canada. The way home I'll see Saskatchewan, Manitoba and FINALLY Thunder Bay, Ontario.

We're going to be gone a month! WOOT!

Stoked? You bet I am, but it also means major packing and I haven't the brain capacity for anything other than lists and my deadlines.

Fear not. In July I've invited a guest to take my place on July 8th. :) My crit partner Anya Richards (*kisses her feet*).

August, I'll have to share some pictures of the ghost towns, which we're planning on visiting.

I know this month our theme is LGBT, so I'll leave you with one of my FAVOURITE LGBT fictional couples EVAH!!

Oh and just because Captain Jack Harkness is SUCH a tease, here's another:

Poor Ianto!

See you in August! 

What I'm a fan of

I thought I'd share TEN things I'm a fan of. I'm having to limit it though to things to with Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal and that ilk, because this would be a CRAZY long post if I didn't.

1.  Dr. Who. I've been a fan for ...as long as I can remember. My Dad watched it when I was kid (In the Tom Baker days) and so I grew up with it. Not that I'm complaining. I loved Christopher Eccelson as the Doctor and I LOVED Rose ...she's my favourite companion and this is one of my favourite pics. This is right before the Doctor turned it into David Tennant's version ...which I also adore.

2. Princess Bride. I swear there isn't a theme of kissing. I just happened to have two in a row. I love this movie. I was about eight or so when it came out and I could recite phrases from it for so long, still can. And seriously who didn't have a crush on Westley?

3. Torchwood. I do actually have a picture of Captain Jack kissing Ianto, but I thought I would mix it up a bit.

4. Star Wars. No, I'm not a romance writer. Not in the least. ;-) I know they're not in their Star Wars costumes, but I love this picture. LOL I loved Star Wars. LOVED IT. Now I'm SO stoked my 6 year old boy is totally into it. He lives and breathes Star Wars and my home is full of Fighter Pods with tiny little Lukes, Darths, Chewies all over the place. Though Yoda is currently MIA.

5. The X-Men. I like the Avengers too, but the X-Men in particular Rogue and Gambit were my favourites. Okay, I seriously have some kind of kissing fetish don't I?

6. Labrynith. Yay for Goblins who like David Bowie in the 80's. WOOT! As a kid I seriously wished Goblins would've stolen my little brother, but it didn't happen.

7. Harry Potter series, in particular Sirius Black. He was one of my favourite characters and the casting of Gary Oldman was right on the button and is who I pictured when I read The Prisoner of Azkaban. I was also spot on with guessing they'd cast Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid. Brilliant casting all around actually.

8. Twilight. Yeah, sorry ...uh actually, no I'm not. I love the series and this is about MY fan favourites.

9. Lord of the Rings. Thought I'd show Faramir, more of a hero than Boromir whom their father preferred because he let Frodo go. He's another one of my favourite characters, though I truly do love them all in their own way.

10. Who you gonna call? I remember seeing the first one as a kid at the Drive-In Theatre. Back then we didn't have child safety seats or even really a back seat in the back of my Mom's GMC van. She opened the back doors, hooked the radio on the window and we sat in the back on a mattress with blankets and pillows. She drove us home like that when we fell asleep, only by then she closed the doors. We slept all night in the van in the driveway. It was awesome.

And I'll leave you with a funny! Have a great rest of the weekend and thanks for sharing in some of MY personal faves. :)

Those rascally shifters

*Cue spooky music* While you’re reading this I am not at my computer. I am in the lovely town of Akron Ohio for Ellora’s Cave Romanticon and presently signing books … hopefully. I do have visions of people lobbing things at me. ;-) LOL! *end spooky music*

This month, October (which btw is my favourite month) the theme is HERE BE DRAGONS, WEREWOLVES AND MORE. What a perfect theme for the spookiest month of the year. I am a Halloween junkie. It’s also the month I got married. I wanted a Halloween themed wedding but I was vetoed. Anyways I digress.

I love shifters. I’ve read many of them. My favourite shifters being Katie MacAlister’s dragons in her Aisling Grey series. I heart Drake.

I love shifters so much, but I’ve never written one. Until recently.

I just subbed it to my editor so I can’t say much other than it involves Mounties and hot shifters. *grin*

I know I was totally entranced by shifting creatures when I saw The Last Unicorn, though she wasn’t a true shifter … she was just transformed. A couple years later I saw the movie Lady Hawke. Does anyone remember Lady Hawke and I thought WOW what a great tragic love story and how they are separated by their shift. She’s a hawk by day and he’s a wolf by night.

Shifting has been around for quite some time too. I mean look at that rascally God Zeus well he’s the KING of shifters.

Let’s take a look at some of what he’s shifted into to seduce women:

• Artemis (a woman)
• Bull
• Swan
• Golden Shower

In the classic King Arthur legends Uther Pendragon transformed into Gorlois to lay with Gorlois’ wife Lady Igraine.

Shape shifters have been ingrained in our legends since we sat around the fires and told stories through song and dance and I have to wonder what is our fascination with them.

What do you like about shifters? What is your favourite type of shifter?

Have a spooktacular October.