Washington Trip and Chanticleer Awards

  I had a wonderful trip to Bellingham, Washington for the Chanticleer International Book Awards.

  It was a long drive from Buffalo, Wyoming, but well worth it. There were so many neat places along the way to see and several new book ideas are rolling around in my head.

  As we drove, I couldn't help but think about the pioneers that traveled across the plains and mountains in with wagons or on horseback. I thought of the mountain men that explored the mountains so long ago. Far tougher people than I will ever be as I cruised along in my rented car.

Leavenworth, Washington

Shi Shi Trail

  Hiking through the forest was an adventure and I wish we'd had more time to explore more trails. I loved sitting by the ocean and watching the waves come in. Being in land locked Wyoming, we don't have a lot of water. I love our mountain creeks, but the ocean was fascinating. I could sit there for hours writing. Next year I plan on taking a couple of days just for ocean time.

Cape Flattery

   As always Bellingham was beautiful and welcoming. It has been three years since I've been to the Chanticleer International Book Awards, and I was so thrilled to attend. This year Outlaw's Redemption made the Finals for the Chatelaine Award and Guarded Hearts was a Finalist for the Laramie Award.

Bellwether Hotel

  

    The Bellwether Hotel hosts the conference and awards banquet. It is a beautiful hotel that sits on the bay with a gorgeous view. There was so much to learn at the conference, and I was lucky enough to sit in on a panel about genre boundaries. It was my first time doing that, and I did okay. It was a learning experience and hopefully I can do it again sometime.

  I was honored to be able to announce with winners in the Shorts: Novellas and Collections. Three of my table mates were winners and I was thrilled to announce their names. Our table was lucky. All of those who made the finals, won first in category. There were six of us.

   Guarded Hearts won First in Category in the Laramie Awards.

  I was beyond surprised and so excited that Guarded Hearts went on to win the Laramie Grand Prize. Never in a million years did I think I would ever get a Grand Prize. I was glad to be able to be there in person for the great news. 

  It was an amazing trip. First time on a panel at a conference. First time standing on a stage talking into a microphone to announce winners. First time getting Grand Prize. First time giving an acceptance speech (I wasn't prepared and have no idea what I said). Ha! 

  I'm planning on going back to Bellingham next year for the conference. I won't have a book finished in time to put into the Laramie contest. I'll be there to cheer on my friends.

Check out Chanticleer and all that they offer.

Chanticleer Book Reviews

   

Guarded Hearts

5 Star Amazon Review

David Fitz-Gerald

LaRisa is an auburn-haired, emerald-eyed beauty with unimaginable powers. She thinks that no man wants to court a woman like her, so she lives in seclusion and avoids everyone in town.
Strykes is a reformed outlaw, or is he? It is hard for Strykes to ride a straight and narrow path because the past keeps coming to town. When a gunslinger named Lucas, an old nemesis, returns to settle a grudge, Strykes must face his enemy to protect the woman he can no longer live without.
I enjoyed reading Guarded Hearts, and I always enjoy spending time in the fictional town of Rimrock, Wyoming. I love the way classic western meets western romance in this series.
The heroine, is spellbinding, and her supernatural abilities are intriguing. I’m glad that supernatural tendencies run in the family, and I look forward to my next “visit” to Rimrock.

Things you May Not Know About Me by Ginger Simpson

Please excuse my non-western post, but I'm on vacation, and doing the best I can while I'm gone.  This was scheduled in May, so I'm running out of recycled blogs that I've featured elsewhere.  :)

1. What’s the naughtiest thing you've ever done?  

If I tell you then I’d have to kill you.  I won’t go into details, but let’s just say that when I divorced at age fifty, after thirty-two years of marriage and never having lived on my own, I went through my second childhood and became the party animal I never was.  It was fun, but very tiring and overwhelming.  The rules of dating had seriously changed. 

2. What’s the worst job you've ever had? 

I worked for a small company run by the world’s angriest man.  I believe that business is where the saying “the s**t runs downhill” originated.  The owner took his frustrations out on the office manager, who then beat up the employees with his own.  I had a sprained ankle one day and walked from my desk to the copy machine in my stocking feet (about three feet away) and he yelled at me for being unprofessional.  It’s not like the office was open to the public.  It was just me and another girl.  She was hired one day and quit the same afternoon. Then he found something stapled crookedly and demanded to know who stapled it.  I didn’t last beyond his accusing me of knowingly not preparing minutes for a meeting.  Did he seriously think I wanted to be on the receiving end of his wrath? He was definitely not the kind of supervisor who made you want to put forward your best effort to make him look good.

3. Tell us three surprising things about yourself, one of which is a fib - and we'll try to guess the fib. 

1.    I parasailed at 700 feet while in Maui.

2.    I was diagnosed with Parvo Virus B-19 which lasted for an entire year.

3.    I got invited backstage at an Eagle’s concert and the lead singer, Don Henley, kissed me.

4. What’s on your bedside table/nightstand? 

A myriad of items… Since our bedroom is in the basement, I have a weather radio that alerts us to tornado warnings/watches, a lamp, a box of Kleenex, a jar of Vicks, a tiny travel alarm clock, my electric blanket control, and a white noise machine.  It sounds like a lot but it’s all very orderly.  Oh, I forgot my bottle of water.  I think that’s it. 

5. What your favorite sandwich, and where in the world is the best place to eat it? 

I grew up near Riverside, California, and there’s a place called Delia’s Grinders there.  I started having their sandwiches when I was in 7^th grade, and they are hands down, the absolute best.  Everyone I’ve introduced to Delia’s agrees with me.  I think the secret is their freshly made bread.  Yum…making my mouth water.  Delia's is always on my agenda when I travel to California...at So. Cal.

6. Which household chore would you happily give up for ever?

Oh dear, it’s a toss up between cleaning toilets and cooking.  I hate both.  I think it’s because I’m old and I’ve done both for so many years.  I’ve pretty much relinquished the cooking to my husband.  He’s much better than I, anyhow.  As for the toilets…they stay cleaned, but I don’t have to like it. 

7. What talent or skill would you love to have that you don’t have now?

I would love to be able to sing.  I suppose I can carry a tune, but I got a clue that I’m not all that stellar when I was singing in the car while my son was with me, and he asked, “Who sings this song, Mom?”  I told him who the artist was, and his reply was, “well please let her.”

8. What drives you seriously nuts? 

When God created me, he gave me too much of everything…except lips.  The older I get, the more I resemble a snake, but I explain that by saying I can’t hear well so I got in the hip line twice.  (laughing out loud)  But seriously, I can’t hear well because I have too much carotid artery on both sides of my head and I hear the rushing of blood to my brain 24/7.  During the day, I can tune it out with background noises, but trying to sleep at night is the pits.  The diagnosing doctor told me he would shoot himself if he had to listen to the noise, but that’s not a solution for me.  I continually remind myself that as long as I hear it, I’m still alive. 

9. You're given a time travel machine - where would you go, and why?

If you’re familiar with my work, then you know my favorite genre is western historical.   I would definitely travel back to the old west and personally research the era I love to write about.  I realize life would be much tougher than I have it here, so I’d make certain when things got too difficult, the time machine would whisk me away, but leave me the option of going back again and again.  Gotta love those cowboys and admire those pioneers.

10. What’s the best review you've ever had?

I’ve been fortunate to have really great reviews, and I consider anything where the reviewer indicates my writing put them in the main characters shoes and let them experience the story to be the greatest compliment.  If an author can make the reader smell the smells, feel the breeze, cry during the sad times, and rejoice at the good, then I’ve down what I need to do to create a compelling read.  I just wish I knew how to convince folks they need to read my stories.  :)

*********

Did you guess the fib?  I've never been in a room with Don Henley, but I would imagine being kissed by him would beat the heck out of having Parvo.  I thought only dogs got that.  *lol*  If a kid with Fifth's Disease comes near you...run like the wind.  Don't know what that disease is?  Google it, and you'll learn just like I did.

Writing Notebook

Why would a Canadian set her story in Texas?

Blame it on Mexico.

My sister and I had whooping cough. I was five; Joanne was two. She was the reason we had to seek out a warm, dry climate for Christmas instead of visiting family in Montreal. Since my parents weren’t exactly flush with funds, they packed up my father’s company station wagon and we drove south, headed for Mazatlan.

With the self-centered clarity of a child, I only remember the parts of the trip that had an impact on me. I remember the switchback roads in the mountains. Dad loved them. Mum and Joanne were throwing up. Me - who was car sick on a straight road - was morbidly fascinated by the sheer drops out the side window.
I remember eating peeled shrimp like candy... and my first real pineapple.

When we finally reached the beach, I stepped on a crab and was scared of the sand for years after.
For some reason, I also remembered Laredo. I don’t remember much about the town except the name. It etched itself on my consciousness; the sound of the word was as exotic and exciting to me as Paris or Istanbul might be to someone else.

Traveling to Mexico became a family habit for a while - especially after we acquired a camper. It was in the camper that I started reading Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour. I had run out of Georgette Heyer and had not yet developed an interest in the mysteries my mother brought along for the trip. Dad gave me a copy of Riders of the Purple Sage, followed a couple of L’Amour’s short story collections. Suddenly I started taking an interest in the country we were travelling through. The United States - particularly Texas - ceased to be a geographic obstacle between home and our destination.

"Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen." - Louis L'Amour 

When I needed to research Texas history and geography for Under A Texas Star, memories of those trips floated up to the surface.

One other trip cinched the deal – but it wasn’t one I took. My parents decided to go to Mexico when my mother retired. The family camper was long gone. Instead they outfitted a van with a kitchenette, bed and porta-potty. Feeling a bit envious, I wished them bon voyage one chill November morning. A couple of days later, they called from the Mexican border.

They had forgotten the vehicle permit. They couldn’t get into Mexico.

Stifling a laugh that I would have paid dearly for, I suggested they visit Texas while they were there – and bring back guide books. I was setting my mystery in the old west.