Celebrating 10 Canadian Inventions
On Saturday, July 1st, 2017, Canada will be 150 years old. In honour of this milestone birthday, I’ve created an infographic to celebrate the great inventions Canada has given the world.
Information Source: Guelph Mercury Tribune, June 27, 2017
Up for an Award
Too Many Women in the Room is up for an award in the Crème de la Cover contest at InD’Tale Magazine.
The prize for the weekly contest winner is a 1/4 page ad in the next issue of InD’Tale magazine. The winner then competes in the finals held during the last week of the month. The monthly winner receives a full page ad in the magazine.
I would appreciate your vote here.
Featured on Writers Who Kill
Grace Topping is interviewing me about my writing and cancer journeys, the Gilda Greco Mystery Series, and the Mediterranean Trilogy.
Drop by the Writers Who Kill blog.
What About the Men?
Since the release of Too Many Women in the Room, I have received many comments about the temperamental female characters that populate the novel.
Potential readers have also asked…
What about the men?
Three male characters play significant roles : Chief Detective Carlo Fantin, Chef David Korba, and Photographer Michael Taylor.
Continue reading on the Sisterhood of Suspense blog.
At Kitras Art Glass
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Kitras Art Glass, Canada’s largest hot glass studio, was a short thirty-minute drive away in Fergus. Intrigued, I decided to take a break from my writing and treat myself to an artist date at their 2nd Annual Garden Party.
While visiting, I browsed through the many Kitras collections, among them Tree of Enchantment, Blossom, Van Glow, Calico, Art Nouveau, and Canada 150. I was impressed by the variety of decorative and functional art: ornaments, oil lamps, diffusers, bird feeders, vases, medallions, and so much more. These unique, hand-crafted glass creations are perfect for all-occasion gifting.
BTW…Kitras will ship purchases across Canada and the United States.
The Back Story
Once I get the initial spark of an idea, I like to play around with a What-If scenario and after much deliberation come up with a title for the novel. Only then can I start writing the first draft.
That MO worked well for Book 1 of the Gilda Greco Mystery Series:
Spark: Dead blondes turn up in dumpsters throughout the city.
What if… A woman wins a $19 million lottery and then returns to her hometown, only to find herself the primary suspect in the murders of four blondes. Can she prove her innocence and solve this case before it’s too late?
Title: A Season for Killing Blondes
Book 2 presented a challenge. I toyed with several storylines about a Greek restaurant, a charismatic chef, two murders, and a group of women who didn’t always get along. Frustrated with these disjoint elements, I turned my attention to shorter pieces and hoped that inspiration would soon arrive.
It came from an unlikely source.
Continue reading on the Mysteriastis blog.
Movie Review: Rough Night
Co-writers Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs have pushed the boundaries of questionable behavior in this R-rated comedy that has been described as the bastard child of Bridesmaids and The Hangover.
Or in some circles as the first post-Hillary movie.
Scarlett Johansson stars as bride-to-be Jessica, a budding politician running for State Senate. Her posse includes over-the-top kindergarten teacher Alice (Jillian Bell), activist Frankie (Ilana Glazer), wealthy divorcee Blair (Zoë Kravitz), and Aussie flower child Pippa (Kate McKinnon).
The women meet in Miami for a weekend bachelorette party that has been meticulously organized—everything from baskets of “favors” to tequila shots to cocaine to a male stripper. Standard party girl fare until Alice accidentally kills the stripper and sets in motion a series of wacky scenes.
After quick deliberation—Jess can’t compromise her political career, Frankie can’t risk a third offense on her record, Blair can’t put her custody battle at risk—the women decide to dispose of the body instead of calling the police.
As the women plot and execute different disposal strategies, they must also deal with old rivalries and grudges that have festered for the past decade. To further complicate matters, aging neighborhood swingers (Demi Moore and Ty Burrell) hover and put the moves on Blair.
Frantic with worry, fiancé Peter (Paul W. Downs) decides to drive down to Miami, cranked on expired uppers and clad in adult diapers.
Definitely a manic pace but with great chemistry and not-so-subtle hints of dark humor.
Happy Summer!
Longer days and shorter nights…Today marks the start of the summer solstice.
The term “solstice” is derived from the Latin words sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still). The sky at noon does not appear to change much during the solstice and its surrounding days. The rest of the year, the Earth’s tilt on its axis—roughly 23.5 degrees—causes the sun’s path in the sky to rise and fall from one day to the next.
Here are ten of my favorite “summer” quotations:
Summer’s lease hath all too short a date. ~ William Shakespeare
Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August.
~ Jenny Han
And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer. ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald
It’s a smile, it’s a kiss, it’s a sip of wine … it’s summertime! ~ Kenny Chesney
Summer is the annual permission slip to be lazy. To do nothing and have it count for something. To lie in the grass and count the stars. To sit on a branch and study the clouds. ~ Regina Brett
Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability. ~ Sam Keen
Summertime is always the best of what might be. ~ Charles Bowden
I love how summer just wraps its arms around you like a warm blanket.
~ Kellie Elmore
There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart. ~ Celia Thaxter
The summer night is like a perfection of thought. ~ Wallace Stevens
First Two Pages—Too Many Women in the Room
While deciding whether or not to start with a prologue, I recalled advice I had received from a workshop facilitator: “Use only if the prologue adds an interesting and integral layer to the narrative.”
Interesting and integral…Definitely a challenge and one I decided to tackle in my new release, Too Many Women in the Room. Having written the rest of the novel in the first-person POV, I wanted the reader to be privy to the thoughts and feelings of the victim in his final hour.
Continue reading on B.K. Stevens’ blog.
Joanne Guidoccio 