Here’s Sharalee Armitage Howard from Idaho, USA, who transformed a tree in her front garden into a neighbourhood library. The photograph is from December last year.
You can read more about it, and see more pictures HERE.
Tag: Winter
The Week: 19th – 25th August
With spring in the air in Canberra, we’re having a bit of a currawong invasion at the moment (that’s just a few of them!).
It’s deafening around here. Those birds are freakishly loud, especially when they fight, which is what is happening nonstop now!
Another busy week. I’m heading overseas VERY soon, and I have a book to finish before then. Packing also has to happen at some point!
The other day I found this on the American HarperCollins website. I can’t believe I’m turning up alongside these authors!
Recently Reread: Hello Stranger by Lisa Kleypas
And here’s a bit of Derbyshire history for you (it’s an amazing part of England, and I’m so glad to have spent time there last year.)
The Week: 5th – 11th August
This has been… quite a week. So many good things happened (I’d love to share NOW, but can’t) that I’m worried there’s a disaster on the horizon!
We had t-shirt weather for the first half of the week, and then on Friday night it snowed. I am so mad I didn’t see it, because (and despite nasty stereotypes about Canberra) we NEVER get snow. A little bit settled on the mountains, but by Saturday morning the sun was back. It’s going to be around 17 degrees (about 63 Fahrenheit) by the end of next week, so I guess that’s winter finished.
I spent the second half of the week stalking the Romance Writers of Australia conference (in Melbourne this year) online. I really should go in 2020.
Someone broke the cat!
The Week: 15th – 21st July
Winter outdoor ice skating and fairy lights in Canberra last night.
Crossing the state border from Queanbeyan (NSW) to Canberra on Friday afternoon.
The neighbour’s cat napping in my office on Friday. Despite what it looks like, he does actually have a head. And he’s so big he fell off the couch just after I took this picture!
The Dancing Plague of July 1518
Book Feature: London’s Best Kept Secret (Midnight Secrets #2) by Anabelle Bryant
The Week: 24th – 30th June
The neighbours’ crazy cat, sleeping on my back deck instead of in his house on a very foggy Friday morning! (The day turned out sunny and bright in the end.)
I had some unexpected interruptions this week, which means I haven’t achieved everything on the dot-point list stuck above my computer!
My problem with not meeting my self-imposed writing goals is that I wanted to have two manuscripts completed and strong enough to send to editors before I head off mid-August for two months in Europe. Every day I miss a goal the stress piles on more. Oh dear…
I have many, many things to say about the rampant corruption in Western Europe that led to Russia being reinstated into PACE (the Council of Europe), but at this point I’ve pretty much given up on everyone. The West is being gleefully ignorant as they stumble right into World War Three.
Release Day for Sabrina Jeffries
The Week: 9th – 15th July
Gorgeous winter sunshine in Canberra to start the week.
The ice skating rink in Canberra’s city centre (this is from last weekend). Another session was about to start, which is why there’s nobody on the ice!
Scruffy, our biggest local magpie, hanging out by the kitchen window on Wednesday afternoon. (He has two legs – magpies just like to rest one every so often!)
This hasn’t been much of a week as far as this blog goes. Usually I have some sort of post every day, so it feels weird to have posted so little.
In truth, I’ve had enough of the world this week. Please remember the evils of Putin’s Russia while you’re watching the soccer over the weekend. Slava Ukrayini!!
The Week: 4th – 10th June
Canberra’s Lake Burley Griffin – with the National Carillon (a gift from the Queen that she personally opened in 1970) – late on Saturday afternoon.
It was a surprisingly dreary week here. Usually winter is really sunny, but the last few days felt like winter! At least it got sunny on Saturday afternoon!
This week in the book world has been full of drama, which I seem to have written a few thousands posts about. Sorry for the spam!
My review of A Cowboy of Convenience (Sheridan Sweethearts #2) by Stacy Henrie
Book Stuffing and Author Ethics
Why “outing” someone makes you an utter arse – #1
and
Why “outing” someone makes you an utter arse – #2
Recommended Winter Sport Read
The Winter Olympics might be finished, but the Paralympics are still to come.
If you’re still looking for a winter sport-themed read, Treacherous Slopes by Terri Reed is about Olympic ski jumping.
It is a Love Inspired Suspense book, which means it is a shortish romantic suspense with a hint of a Christian theme.
I reviewed the book four years ago, when the last Olympics were on. The blurb is beneath the cover.
KILLER COMPETITION
A champion ski jumper, Nick Walsh wants one thing: to win the gold for his late brother. Nick has always blamed himself for his family’s tragic loss—and so does everyone else. To complicate things, sweet and shy reporter Julie Frost insists on doing a story about him. But as Nick gets closer to achieving his dream, someone will do anything to stop him. Somehow, Nick must keep Julie from getting too close as they confront a threat that can destroy them both. Julie and Nick are on the verge of discovering the truth about his brother’s death…unless an unknown murderer finds them first.
Yay, Canada!
Sorry to everyone who comes here for the book reviews! I promise I’m back to regular stuff tomorrow.
However, how can I not have a little celebration for Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir for their incredible (third!) Olympic gold medal win only minutes ago?
I want to shoot Australian TV executives, who this year have decided to show all the skating on a three-hour delay. However, at least I’m not going to have a breakdown watching it as it happens. I follow the live scores, and then watch on television, content knowing the results before I see them.
Gold Rush by Jennifer Comeaux
Liza Petrov’s entire life has been about skating and winning her sport’s top prize – Olympic gold. She’s stayed sheltered inside her bubble, not daring to stray from her destined path.
Until she meets Braden Patrick.
He makes her heart flutter with possibility, and for the first time she gets a taste of a normal teenage life. She longs to have both the boy and the gold, but stepping outside her bubble comes with a price. As Liza begins to question both her future and her past, can she stay focused on the present and realize her ultimate dream?
This is a “young” new adult book about a Russian/American girl hoping for figure skating gold at the 2014 Olympics. By “young”, I mean it’s a sweet story (no sex, for example), and the heroine is believably sheltered because of the intense training she has been doing most of her life.
It seems this is the daughter of characters from the author’s earlier series, but that doesn’t matter – I haven’t read those other books yet, and you won’t need to either.
The best thing about Jennifer Comeaux’s writing is that she is a figure skating expert. The author knows *everything* about the sport, and it makes such a difference. I’ve read some other Winter Olympic-themed books recently, and it was great to see how much better Comeaux is at getting the sport right.
The love interest in Gold Rush is a little too perfect to be believable, and the ending is a little predictable, but this would make a great read for young adult fans who are inspired by the current Winter Games.
