I have chives!
Aren’t they lovely? I used some in a pasta salad a couple of weeks ago.
I transplanted some basil, but I don’t think it’s going to make it.
What I’d really like is my patio. And the lawn. I have a week off in July. I had dreams of sitting outside writing. Doesn’t look like that’s happening any time soon. Not happy about that at all.
I don’t usually have guests on Sunday, but my friend Joanne Guidoccio has a book coming out later this week (June 12), and, as today is National Red Rose Day, Joanne’s heroine wanted to share a bit about her relationship with red roses.
Happy National Red Rose Day!
5 More Days!!
MJ, thanks for participating in the Countdown to A Season for Killing Blondes.
To celebrate the publication, I’m giving away a $25 Amazon gift card. Click here to enter the drawing!
When protagonist Gilda Greco isn’t dealing with four unsolved murders, she enjoys celebrating National Red Rose Day. But she doesn’t limit herself to honoring roses on only one day of the year. Since winning the $19 million lottery, Gilda has implemented several new rituals, among them treating herself to a weekly bouquet of red roses.
“An extravagance,” her mother clucks.
Penny pinching Uncle Paolo shakes his head. “For the cost of all those roses, you could fly to Italy and back during high season and still have money left over.
“Now that’s extreme self-care,” Cousin Sofia whispers loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.
But Gilda is undeterred.
She ignores these comments from well-meaning (and meddling!) relatives and focuses on three special memories of her favorite flower: a Valentine’s Day rose, a beautiful song about a rose, and a recent “red rose” dream.
She never did learn the identity of her mystery admirer, but it didn’t really matter. Gilda was between boyfriends and convinced she was the only senior student at Sudbury Secondary who was unattached on Valentine’s Day. That single perfect rose elevated her spirits and kept her afloat for the rest of February.
When her disastrous one-year marriage fizzled, she found solace in music and played The Rose by Bette Midler over and over again. So much so that she had to replace the album three times.
As for the “rose” dream, read about it in this short excerpt from A Season for Killing Blondes…
Carlo wore a black tuxedo. He carried an enormous bouquet of red roses and offered them to me.
“They’re so beautiful, Carlo.” I started to count them. “And so many of them.”
“Twenty-nine to be exact.”
“Twenty-nine?”
“It’s the number of years that we have been apart.”
“How thoughtful and romantic of you—”
I woke up to the incessant ringing of the telephone.
Darn! Only a dream.
Blurb
Hours before the opening of her career counseling practice, Gilda Greco discovers the dead body of golden girl Carrie Ann Godfrey, neatly arranged in the dumpster outside her office. Gilda’s life and budding career are stalled as Detective Carlo Fantin, her former high school crush, conducts the investigation.
When three more dead blondes turn up all brutally strangled and deposited near Gilda’s favorite haunts, she is pegged as a prime suspect for the murders. Frustrated by Carlo’s chilly detective persona and the mean girl antics of Carrie Ann’s meddling relatives, Gilda decides to launch her own investigation. She discovers a gaggle of suspects, among them a yoga instructor in need of anger management training, a lecherous photographer, and fourteen ex-boyfriends.
As the puzzle pieces fall into place, shocking revelations emerge, forcing Gilda to confront the envy and deceit she has long overlooked.
Watch the trailer here.
Buy the book here:
Amazon (Canada) – http://is.gd/t0g1KZ
Amazon (United States) – http://is.gd/jADjPp
Amazon (United Kingdom) – http://is.gd/8mknFJ
Amazon (Australia) – http://is.gd/r843iX
Kobo – http://is.gd/BpO9gY
About Joanne
In high school, Joanne dabbled in poetry, but it would be over three decades before she entertained the idea of writing as a career. She listened to her practical Italian side and earned degrees in mathematics and education. She experienced many fulfilling moments as she watched her students develop an appreciation (and sometimes, love) of mathematics. Later, she obtained a post-graduate diploma as a career development practitioner and put that skill set to use in the co-operative education classroom. She welcomed this opportunity to help her students experience personal growth and acquire career direction through their placements.
In 2008, she took advantage of early retirement and decided to launch a second career that would tap into her creative side and utilize her well-honed organizational skills. Slowly, a writing practice emerged. Her articles and book reviews were published in newspapers, magazines, and online. When she tried her hand at fiction, she made reinvention a recurring theme in her novels and short stories. A member of Sisters in Crime, Crime Writers of Canada, and Romance Writers of America, Joanne writes paranormal romance, cozy mysteries, and inspirational literature from her home base of Guelph, Ontario.
Where to find Joanne
Today we observe National Speak in Complete Sentences Day.
In this age of Twitter, chat, and other forms of instant communication, proper grammar–whether in speaking or writing–is a vanishing skill.
Example: A recent conversation I had went something like this:
“Oh, my sister’s all toody.”
I thought, Too much information. Your sister’s intestinal problems aren’t of interest to me.
“I said leave the baby sleep, and she just got this tude and went toody and I was like, you know–.”
Ah. Attitude. Right.
But who am I to talk? When I work on guest blogs, I have to be very careful to answer the questions in complete sentences.
Example: An upcoming blog asked, “What aspects of the writing process do you find most difficult?”
My initial response was: “Getting back into the flow of the story after a break.”
The editor in me took one look at that and donned her Grammar Police hat.
The response now reads, “Getting back into the flow of the story after a break is probably the most difficult part of writing for me.”
See the difference?
May is National Get Caught Reading Month.
If I’m going to get caught doing anything, reading would be right there at the top of my list.
Other things I wouldn’t mind getting caught doing:
What would you like to get caught doing?
Today is my parents’ 61st wedding anniversary. How’s that for longevity?
They knew each other 3 months before they were married. How’s that for romance?
They’re the main reason I believe in love-at-first-sight.
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