Spotting The Villains Sabotaging My Downtime
The Evidence is Overwhelming. All signs point to the calendar. With the holiday season as the main accomplice. Case closed. Right? Not so fast. Every romantic suspense reader knows this moment. The obvious suspect looks guilty. But the real mastermind hides in plain sight. Let’s step into the crime scene. The usual suspects […]
The Heat Dilemma 🔥 How Steamy Is Too Steamy?
When Passion Meets Plot . . . My Love Scene Crisis Every romantic suspense author faces one burning question. How much heat before the story melts? I’m knee-deep in my current manuscript, and the main characters are circling each other like flames. But here’s my dilemma—where’s the sweet spot? The Temperature Test Picture this, enemies-to-lovers […]
Tricky Power Dynamics
Reading the Room When You’re . . . the only one reading Every romantic suspense novel hinges on one question: Can you trust the person who makes your pulse race? In fiction, the answer involves corporate espionage, hidden identities, and usually someone with a gun. In real life? The dangers are subtler but just as […]
Plotting Suspense: My Chat with a Screenwriter!
November is halfway through, and in Toronto, the weather is leaning towards winter. It’s a beautiful time, with damp air and the striking reds of Japanese maples still holding strong. But something unexpected happened last weekend… 🌧️🍁 I chatted with a screenwriter student who’s already conquered her first film set! The tales she shared about morning […]
Viola and Me, Again
An Epic Explosion of Female Power. Over the last 18 months, I’ve been lucky enough to make some new friends—all of us from different cultures, cities, provinces, countries, and continents. What I like about our connections is how we nourish and care for each other and our friendships. I haven’t always been that fortunate. Speaking […]
The Prairies Book Review: Torn
Torn: A Forensic Romance by Angela Applewhite A page-turning forensic thriller: terse and tangled, passionate and romantic, and thoroughly engrossing… Meticulous forensic details, endless twists, and an endearing pair of protagonists mark Applewhite’s latest forensic thriller. It was ten-years ago when Savanna Jones met an enigmatic stranger, a Lieutenant Colonel she knew only as Ishmael, […]
Viola and Me
My copy of Viola Davis’s memoir dropped on my doorstep on April 26. It’s the second memoir I picked up in the last few months of two Hollywood stars I admire. The first was Will Smith’s. Viola Davis is one of my favourite actors. Actor is such a small word for what she does. She […]
Anything else ma’am?
It was March Break a couple of weeks ago, but I needed a COVID break. I settled for a staycation in trendy Yorkville, downtown Toronto. I love staying at hotels. Don’t you? No obligations to cook, make the bed, or clear the kitchen sink. Like any good downtime, I went out for a walk when […]
Don’t Tell Me It’s Over
After a year and a half of, can’t, don’t, and cover-up, it’s been a lovely summer here in Toronto. The freedom to connect and get back in our lives is fantastic. Don’t Tell Me It’s Over. Some of you in other parts of the world are in lockdown mode again. Let’s hope it’s not for […]
