Happy St. Patrick's Day - Win a Book!

Let’s look forward to these moments when we can celebrate even as the world shares troubling times. Here, on the prairies, the global pandemic only has us beginning shutdowns and voluntary social isolation. Man, that sounds gloomy.  But it’s not, not yet - hopefully never. At our house, we’re catching up on episodes of the television series, Lost, and making calls to friends and relatives And,
with the dregs of winter still here, keeping warm. So, it isn’t, and can’t all be doom and gloom. Especially today. It's St. Patrick's Day, a day to celebrate. So have a beer or your favourite beverage and toast another day and up here, the slow demise of winter. 

Me, I’m going to celebrate the day with a little Guinness and a contest.

I’ll be drawing two winners for an e-copy of The Tears We Never Cried. Contest ends midnight, March 18, 2020 CST.

Here are the rules:
You have to be a newsletter subscriber. Not one already?

Sign up for my newsletter, The Walkabout, and you're entered. Click below to sign on to not only be entered in the contest but keep up with my world of books:

My Newsletter - The Walkabout - Sign up

Already a subscriber, send me an e-mail (ryshia@ryshiakennie.com) with The Tears in the re: line. 

In the meantime, here’s some of what you’ve been missing - an excerpt from The Tears We Never Cried:

 The Tears We Never Cried:

Fifteen minutes after mother left, I was outside shoveling like a mad woman. Somehow the activity calmed the despair that seemed to hit me at odd moments, it was like premature grief, and I really didn’t want to grieve for her before she was actually gone. 

The shoveling helped. But it was tiring work, even for me and I’m not a small woman. Big-boned, mother always said. Another thing I didn’t get from either of my parents. My father, at least the man I had called father, wasn’t short. He was built reed-slim with bones that weren’t considered enduring. 

I was breaking a sweat and the sun was gleaming hot on my neck even as my thumbs began to freeze in my wool gloves. From the corner of my eye I saw a glint and flash that made me look up as the hard snow cracked under the weight of a vehicle. Russ’s SUV was pulling into our driveway and my heart, I hated to admit it even then, did a small skip. I literally didn’t breathe. Instead, anticipation hung in my chest like a raw and aching, or maybe whimpering was more appropriate, beast. The door opened and I recognized the figure getting out. I had known it was him before then. 

Russ. 

“Hi, Cassie,” he said as he opened the gate like it was normal for him to appear unexpectedly. 

I leaned on the shovel and wished I could have ripped the tasseled toque from my head. It was far from my best look. I wished I was dressed slightly better, that I was wearing makeup that ... I stopped such ridiculous thoughts right there. I had more serious things to contemplate. 

“What’s wrong?” He took the shovel from my now limp hand and dropped it to the side. 

I’m so mixed up. And those words almost came out. I stared at Russ horrified I had come so close to spilling my unwanted emotions at his feet. Despite my best efforts, tears filmed my eyes. 

Bless Russ, he never said a word. Instead he just wrapped his arms around me and I burrowed into the depths of his down-filled parka. His parka was slightly damp when I sheepishly pulled away. 

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tissue.

I blew my nose. Could I be any more unappealing?

I realize that the end of the excerpt might be disturbing in the world's current pandemic alert. But, if you live in the frozen north, you'll know that cold weather can make a healthy person's nose run. And, in Cassie's case, that's exactly what happened.

The Tears We Never Cried:

A mother’s tragic diagnosis.

A daughter’s life on hold.

An ending and a new beginning ...

Cassandra McDowall’s mother has been forgetful for a while, but she never anticipated rapid-onset Alzheimer’s to come out of nowhere and shake their world to its very core.

As Cassie puts her already-lackluster life on hold, her mom’s indomitable will and spirit of adventure prove to be a handful.

And as her mother fades, the two embark on one last adventure—a journey that reveals secrets on the brink of being lost, the joy of foreign sunsets, and love where she hadn’t thought it possible.

Until later. 

Dream big and travel safe.

Ryshia

www.ryshiakennie.com

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Latest release:  The Tears We Never Cried

Going Against Type

Welcome Sharon Black 

with her latest release

A romantic comedy published by Tirearr Publishing, 

Going Against Type

Sharon will be giving away an e-copy of Going Against Type.
Check out the rafflecopter draw below:

Going against Type is set against the backdrop of the Dublin newspapers.  It's the story of two rival newspaper columnists, who write anonymously, meet and fall in love.  They each have an important reason to guard their alter egos from each other.  So, their relationship develops, as they continue to attack each other, week after week, through their columns.

The story came about partly because I worked as a journalist myself, and even wrote a newspaper column for a short while.  So I knew the idea of the newspaper columnist would be fun.  But the real inspiration came from something else.

When I was growing up, I loved the old Hollywood films of the 1930s and 1940s.  They were always showing them on TV.  And two of my favourite stars were Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey.  They made a number of films together, and they had such a wonderful on-screen chemistry.

One of my favourite films was Woman of the Year.  In it, Tracey plays a stereotypical sports reporter, and Hepburn plays a high-brow pundit, who has no time for sport.  She publicly dismisses sport as a waste of time, and Tracey leaps to its defense and attacks her views.  When they meet, they spar, but then fall in love.  Later in the film, Tracey finds it hard to cope with the fact that Hepburn has won a prize and her career is flourishing, apparently to the detriment of their marriage!  It's of its time, but it's a great film!

What I did for Going Against Type, was to turn the stereotypes on their head.  Charlotte Regan is a sports reporter, and a girl who has always lived for her sport.  Derry Cullinane is a fashion writer and is quick to dismiss sport in his column.  Because the columns are written under pen names, I was able to build up suspense.  And keep it going longer!



Some would say Charlotte "Charlie" Regan has it all.  Beautiful, smart, athletic and a great job working as a journalist - in the almost exclusively male sports department.  But Charlotte is not quite as sure as she seems.  Recently split from her overbearing boyfriend, she escapes for weekends,surfing in the Atlantic, and spends her free nights watching sports, roaring at the TV.

Derry Cullinane is a fashion writer, gossip columnist and sophisticated man-about-town.  The go-to-guy for any woman seeking expert advice on what fabulous outfit to wear for any given occasion.  He's also tall, dark, good looking - and straight!  So what's the snag?  He has a track record of dating glamorous, vain and shallow women.

Charlie gets an opportunity to write a new column under the pen name Side Swipe, but is soon drawn into a war of words and wit with a rival paper's columnist The Squire - and their verbal fireworks get readers and editors talking.  Yet neither Charlie nor Derry knows just whom the opponent is.

When Charlotte and Derry meet at the Races, the attraction is instant.  As their relationship develops, so much more proves at stake then protecting their alter egos.  But a blunder puts Charlotte's job in jeopardy just as Derry's past makes front page, and Charlotte begins to doubt her feelings.

When Side Swipe and The Squire are finally forced to reveal themselves, will they revert to type--or confound everyone's expectations?

 

 

Sharon's Bio:

Sharon Black grew up in Dublin.  She studied history and politics at University College Dublin and Then did post-graduate in
journalism at Dublin City University.  She has worked for national newspapers, including The Evening Herald and The Irish Examiner.  She had short stories published in U Magazine and the 2010 Drommineer Library Festival short story competition.

When she is not writing, she reads, walks and sees friends.  She co-founded a local book club 14 years ago.  She loves theatre, old Hollywood films, science fiction and good stand-up comedy.

She lives in Sandymount, Dublin, with her husband and their three children.

Visit Sharon at her author page.
Read more about Going Against Type at
most online bookstores.  Here's a link to Going Against Type on Amazon.com or visit her publisher's page:  Tirgearr Publishing


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Kindle Fire Give Away, Sale and More

It's been an interesting few days.  I assisted in the shingling of a garage.  Not so horrific for some of
 you possibly handier than me.  But combine an all thumbs approach to tools with a "slight" dislike of heights.... well let's just say that making it safely off the roof with only two matching blisters on each of my big toes was a great feat and worth celebrating. 

And today well - drama of another sort.  My eyes are blurring over as I recover from "worst case scenario" losing an entire scene in my story.  Rushing to the backup drive which seems to have a restore button for the entire folder but no cut, copy or paste option for a few thousand words or so.  Handwriting, I really have to say is an art and I don't have it.  My hand hurts and my writing has dissolved into the depths of atrocities.  But the scene is safely returned.

Now on to the good news:

I'm giving away a Kindle Fire 7" HD along with some other romance writers, The Kindle Book Review, and Digital Book Today.  We are also giving away $200 worth of Amazon ecards.  There is no purchase necessary and it's easy to enter.  Click here to enter.
(http://www.thekindleromancereview.net/kindle-fire-giveaway/)



And in other news - my latest romantic suspense, Fatal Intent is on sale at Amazon for 99 cents now through July 31.



That's it for now.  I'm heading outside to enjoy some sunshine.  But before I go I'm making sure I backup.  Sore hand and all I'm grateful that I had that backup.

Ryshia
www.ryshiakennie.com

On Tour Today

Where does time go?  Yesterday I picked up a friend who it seemed, only just left and is already returning after a tour of Ecuador.  And Valentine's Day well - that's already behind us.  The good news, and in a year that has begun with a spate of bad news, the good is really welcomed....let's start with the advent of spring, only weeks away now.  Yes, hard to imagine when you have six foot banks outside any window in the house, but it's true and I'm counting days.

The other good news?  I'm on tour again today with Fatal Intent.  It's part of a tour lasting into May.  I'm taking Fatal Intent over to Christine Young's Blog today.  Again, there's a chance to win an e-copy of my first book From the Dust, for one commenter.  And comment and your name is also entered for the grand prize at the end of the tour - the movie East of Borneo and a autographed copy of From the Dust. 


Ryshia
www.ryshiakennie.com