G is for Gone and Also for Gnome

April in Saskatchewan marks the end of Snow.  And yes, that is snow with a capital S.  Snow wouldn't have it any other way for its place is front and center here for eight or so months of the year and during those months it reigns supreme.  It's not leaving quietly.

Yes, snow is almost gone.  Potentially disappeared yet even when it all goes away, it isn't unheard of to have a spring day or two that turns murky with slushy, sleet.  Insert sigh here.

Right now there are banks in yards big enough to build a snow fort, snow man or any other snow engineered structure you might have in mind.  But snow has definitely shrunk and trickles of water are running down the street and the roads are almost clear but on the lawns and fields the banks hang on with icy tentacles, claws gripping into the ice as the sun beats down with singular determination.

And then, there it is - the sign.

I can see the top of the gnome's head, garden variety.  That is a sign that the snow is about to lose its battle.

The end is near and we're all out there doing our best to enjoy the beautiful weather and the imminent turn from ice and snow and anticipate the possibility of warm days and sunshine that's right around the corner.  On yesterday's dog walk I saw two little girls digging passionately into a four foot bank, creating some masterpiece that only they could visualize.  Further on there were two more children stomping on drifts of snow, one with a catcher's mitt on and the little girl in plastic summer shoes that I'm sure made snow pounding, slightly treacherous.  Further down the road was a man taking the shovel to his mounds of snow and scattering them over the sidewalk so they'd melt that much sooner.

As I turned the corner I saw the ultimate way to spend a sunny, still snow-filled prairie day.  Two people had hauled their lawn chairs to the front yard and there they sat perched on a still towering drift with bare legs, gleaming white and sun starved.

And the garden gnome - I'm declaring him the first sign of spring.  Who cares what the calendar says.  On the prairies, when it comes to weather, we've tossed the rule book aside.

And speaking of rule book - that romantic suspense where love is heating up and danger is firing shots around them, well it's not going to finish by itself.  So it's off to enjoy some warmer weather in the land of limestone cliffs and awesome caves, Mulu, Malaysia, where things aren't so rosy despite the scenery.  

On the snow draped prairies G is for gone and hello gnome!

Ryshia
www.ryshiakennie.com

F is for From the Dust

From the Dust is my only historic romance and pretty much my favourite book to research.  The people who actually lived through the dirty thirties are an amazing crew.  But I divert from the point, the point is this book and it's story.  It's a love story set on the prairies during the Great Depression.

“He died with liquor on his breath and poison in his soul. Doc MacPherson claimed that between the alcohol and the arsenic there were enough chemicals in his body to keep him pickled to the second coming.

It was a terrible way to die. Eva wouldn’t wish that on anyone, even him. She shivered. The last twelve hours had been awful. She pulled a bobby pin from her hair, rearranged a stray piece and secured it again. She hadn’t reacted well. She knew that. She regretted snapping at the child. She regretted a lot of things. None of them could be undone. Like Mr. Edwards, the time was gone, over. The damage had been done.”

And so begins the saga of Eva Edwards, a new widow and stepmother. Three steps ahead of one disaster or another, she struggles to survive on a Saskatchewan farm. It is 1935 and dust storms and poverty are rampant. But it is Tate Prescott Brown who becomes the biggest obstacle as he arrives from Ontario with wealth and status and a claim to her farm. It is a poignant battle against each other and the elements as two independent individuals face off and discover that in a battle of survival, love wins every time.

Ryshia
www.ryshiakennie.com

E is for Energy

At 5:30 on a weekend morning I wasn't sure if I had the energy to crawl out of bed and begin a "too early" day.  But if I want to finish this story I have to find the time when I can.      
                 
Energy.

It's what it takes to push past the bit of bad news on another manuscript that lands in my inbox this morning.  It's the opinion of one publisher, there are others and there are other manuscripts.  But it takes energy to move on.

Energy.

 That stuff we find in energy drinks but there's none around this morning.  A cup of coffee is going to have to do.  The sun is just coming up but first I've got to get those Basil seedlings near a window.  They've been sitting on the hot air register all night warming in their little plastic food tray turned temporary green house.  With the seedlings looking happy, it's off to make the coffee.

Energy.

It's what gets us through the day, and it's what makes some people achieve amazing things and overcome incredible obstacles.  When I think of those people I realize I have plenty of energy to get over the obstacles in my life.  So far, I've been blessed.

Ryshia
www.ryshiakennie.com

D Is For Dangerous

Dangerous men.

They come in so many different packages.  In real life, there's the truly dangerous guys, you know the ones.  The ones where popular urban myth has us thinking lurk at every street corner to steal our valuables, ravage our persons and the persons of those we love and cause mayhem in our lives. 

As a child of the frozen north I repeatedly heard the story of the shack man.  He was the man who took care of the shacks at the ice rinks where kids would go to warm up after an afternoon's skate.  He'd open the shack and man the wood fueled stove.  He also kidnapped children and did horrible things to them.  At least that was the story that every child told over and over again as we shivered under our blankets at sleep overs and beamed flashlights into the shadows to dispel the image of shack man. 

As adults, logically we all know that danger is not lurking in every stranger's eyes.  Nope, he's out there but he's not the shack man who was more than likely a gentle grandfather who would have given his left arm to help any of us.  And life is not a mine field of people out to get us - unless, of course you step into the world of romantic suspense.

So here goes, the other type of dangerous.  This is my favourite type.  He's dark and dangerous, lurking in the shadows to save the day and steal your heart.  This guy is unfortunately, fictional.  Not that this guy may not exist - girls don't give up your search just yet.  But in fiction he's the guy who often makes an appearance in romantic suspense.  He liquidates danger, captures the heroine's heart and carries her away to future bliss.

Okay, so even romantic suspense isn't that easy.  The hero?  Well, he mostly has his issues.  Not that he isn't to die for attractive.  C'mon, this is fiction guys.  He's my hero and I say he must make me want to smack him for being more good looking than me or any other woman I hang around with.  Of course not every hero is a pretty boy.  Some are just beautifully proportioned and ooze more self-confidence than any human should be allowed and that alone makes them dangerous.

And then, there's the villain.  Forget the yellow rain-coated chap at the end of the block waiting to leer or worse.  No, this villain can be quite charming, quite good-looking and have his own basket load of problems which of course is what makes him the villain.  But it is his charm that is his most dangerous feature.  Not all the time but  you know - some of the time.


Danger, in the land of romantic suspense has many different faces.

Ryshia
www.ryshiakennie.com

In An ABC World - It's Now Up To C

Yes, I'm blogging the alphabet this month.  Today it's the letter C.  Is this where Grover crops up with his shaggy head and says...  "I've Got Nothing."


Okay, I'm on my own.  Here goes...

C for craft sale.  I've attended a few this year as a vendor and I'm lining up for number three.  It's an

interesting mix of crafts and me in the middle with my books.  This time it's a bake sale but the organizers are excited to include me and I'm thrilled to be there.  More on the craft sale as that time approaches.

There's a lot of ways to meet readers and some of them are just a little more unique than others.

What's the most intriguing way you've discovered a new author?

Me - well my discovery was on a street corner in Scottsdale, Arizona where there was an entire table of books with the author manning the whole affair.  Turns out that not only were we both authors, but he also had a friend who'd just made a movie in Saskatchewan.  What are the odds?  Even without the Saskatchewan connection,  his books are now on my "to be read" list. 

Ryshia
www.ryshiakennie.com

April 1 - The Prank's On You

I suppose I can get away with this as it was April Fool's.

It's blog the alphabet month and I'm one post late but I have April Fool's on my side.  Here's why:
A is for April 1 and I was supposed to post
but
A is also for April Fool's
and we all expected a post
I was ABCing away on my keyboard - that would be writing for all my non-writer friends
I even bemoaned the lack of an April Fool's joke
and then I remembered...

April Fool's and one day late.
 
So here it is April 2
And what follows A can only be B
B is for background
every story needs one
every character looks rather thin without one
with a background a story will bounce
because that background just adds a bit more beef
So it's off to romp with my bodacious crew

Just click the title to check out some other posts all on the alphabet theme.

Tomorrow let's check out C

Ryshia
www.ryshiakennie.com