Tick Tock

This isn't a particularly Canadian blog post, except that many of us will share similar histories. Most of us have come to Canada from somewhere else in the world, some recently and some a long time ago. Mr. Math's family arrived after WWII, and like many new arrivals, brought very little. They still have family in Europe, though, and occasionally, stuff follows them to Canada. This is about some of that stuff - an old clock.

The clock came to us when a relative of Mr. Math's passed away in Europe. The gentleman's wife had passed away before him and so their residence had to be cleared out. Mr. Math went with his parents to the funeral and to do the big sort-and-clean. Among the items in the apartment was an old clock that no one wanted. The clock didn't work, but Mr. Math knew a clock repair guy who specialized in old clocks, and figured we could get it fixed. Mr. Math thought I would like it (I do) so said he would take it. It was tucked into the shipment that came to his parents.

This is the clock. (Hung on the horrible striped wall, with the crooked stripes, which I still have to repaint.) Sure enough, it didn't run when it got here either, so off it went to the clock repair guy. He and Mr. Math had a good discussion about the clock, which is a Viennese regulator, and has the clock maker's mark and date it was made inscribed inside. My picture is a bit dark, but the wood is lovely. It's not perfect, as it's been through a few wars and is a bit bashed up. It's probably not worth that much - especially when it's not working.

The clock was in the shop for a good six months, while the clock guy took it apart and cleaned it, and replaced a few worn parts. He likes to let the clocks run after they're reassembled, to make sure they're fixed, and this one was running well. (It was losing a minute every couple of days, as I recall, which irked the clock guy.) So, back it came to the house. Mr. Math and the clock guy hung it in the foyer, leveled it, started it up and watched with satisfaction as it ran. The clock guy gave precise instructions on how to wind it and when, and Mr. Math did as instructed. The clock chimes the hour and the half, and the sound of it echoes through the house in a lovely way. Tick tock.

The clock ran for about two years, then it stopped. Mr. Math consulted with the clock guy and they tinkered with it, but it wouldn't run for more than a day. Back it went to the repair shop. Mr. Math said "this is why no one wanted it." The clock had a longer visit with the clock repair guy on this occasion. He took it apart and cleaned it and couldn't find a reason why it wouldn't work. He pondered the problem. Mr. Math stopped in and they discussed it. (It struck me as a transaction from another era.) Finally, the clock guy replaced a few parts that had very minor wear, and let it run again. It did run, and so the clock came home again. It ran beautifully, filling the house with its lovely chimes, and all was good. Tick tock.

Then several years ago, it stopped again. This time, it had run for five or six years, and Mr. Math was far less amused that it needed to be fixed again. He refused to take it back for another repair. It was completely clear to him why no one wanted this clock! I really like the clock, and think it is beautiful even if it doesn't work, but Mr. Math is very practical. William Morris suggested having nothing in one's house that was not beautiful or useful - Mr. Math is of the view that things should be both. He talked about getting rid of the clock. I wouldn't let him give it away, so it hung there, silent.

About two weeks ago, I heard him fiddling with the clock. Apparently the clock was having its last chance - and maybe it knew it, because this time, when he started it up, it ran. It's still running. I'm so glad! I wake up in the night and hear it chiming the hour and I smile.

Tick tock. Listen to the clock. :-)


And now it's time (ha) to tell you about my current book sales. I have two new samplers that are free for download. One, Knight & Rogues of Medieval Romance, includes the first three chapters from five different medieval romances of mine, each of which is first in a series. You can download it free at all major online portals. The other, The 2016 Sampler, contains excerpts from my five 2016 releases - knights, a hero and a dragon shifter. You can download this one for free as well, but only from my online store.

My contemporary romance, Double Trouble, is free at most online portals this week, (for a limited time!) so if you haven't read my Coxwell Series of contemporary romances and romantic comedies, here's a good opportunity to give them a try!

The Coxwell Series Boxed Set, which includes all four books in the series, is half price at my online store. (You can read the series at one time!) This boxed set is only available in my store, and from iBooks or KOBO. If you want it for your Kindle, you need to get it from me, and what better time to do so as when it's half price! Here's the MOBI and here's the EPUB.

Kinfairlie Knights is also discounted in my online store for a limited time: it includes three medieval Scottish romances, each one of which is first in a series, and is discounted to $1 US through the end of the month. Here's the MOBI and here's the EPUB.

I also have a new release - my medieval romance, The Crusader's Kiss, which is book #3 in my Champions of Saint Euphemia series, was published at the end of January. This is a story inspired by Robin Hood, in which Bartholomew returns to his family's holding to right the wrongs of the past. (More about time, you see!) Also, The Crusader's Handfast: Part Three goes on sale later this week. You can read an excerpt from both stories in the 2016 Sampler, read them on my website or download the book samples individually from my store.

And that's all the news from me, this time. (Ha!)

So, tell me, do you have any old things that came to you or that proved to be mixed blessings?

Making Merry - and Making Plans

How do you celebrate this festive time of year?

We all have traditions - many of which involve food (feasting), family and friends. I always look forward to Christmas Day, which we celebrate with my side of the family. We have turkey with all the trimmings = the hostess makes the turkey but other parts of the feast come from guests. (I'm taking the pie this year.) There are gifts, of course, too, but the company is really the best part.

On the other side of our family, our tradition has changed in recent years, and this too is part of the magic of tradition. We think it has to be always the same, but actually, there's room for modification and variation. Mr. Math's mom used to make a roast goose dinner on Christmas Eve and we all went there. She was a fabulous cook and it was so delicious that none of us dared to try to cook the meal instead. Since she passed away, and Mr. Math's father shortly thereafter, we modified the tradition. I've been hosting a dinner for both sides of the family early in December (usually the weekend of first Advent) when everyone's calendar has a little more open space. I did roast goose the first year, but now understand why my MIL found the geese stressful to make. They are hard to predict, which makes it hard to time everything else to be done when they are. Last year, we had roast duck instead, and this year, we had prime rib. I think I'll go back to the duck again next year. They're more like goose, but easy peasy - which helps when you have the chaos of company!

Traditions can also be added to our celebrations. We used to have a neighbor from Scandinavia who burned a torch all night long on the solstice. Mr. Math thought this was wonderful, and it was neat to see the flame against the night. We now have a garden torch which Mr. Math lights on the night of the solstice (but we don't leave it burning all night long, just so long as we're watching it). This year, we had torrential rains on the solstice, so the torch had to stay in the garage, but there will be next year. (I lit some candles in the house instead to call back the sun.)

A bit part of this time of year for me is reviewing the last year and planning for the year ahead. I usually do that on the solstice. I've updated my work schedule and my publication list, and there's a post on that scheduled on my blog for January 4.

Of course, a part of this festive season is sending greetings and good wishes to friends and associates, many of whom are distant. We don't send or receive as many physical cards as was once the case, but I still send some - and we do receive wonderful email wishes, too. It's the sentiment that counts!

One of my writing traditions is to publish a new book in the week between Christmas and New Year. This year, it's a new boxed set of my Prometheus Project urban fantasy romance series, which features fallen angel heroes on a quest to save humanity. They voluntarily shed their wings for the greater cause, fully intending to reclaim them once their quest is complete, but love (and determined heroines) change their mind each time. I love these books, and the contrast between a gritty dystopian future and the promise of love, and am excited to offer all four complete novels in a boxed set. Currently, The Prometheus Project Boxed Set is available only at iBooks and Kobo. It will deliver on December 29.

Another of my seasonal traditions as a writer is to thank my readers with a book sale at this time of year. The Crusader's Bride, which is the first book in my current medieval romance series the Champions of Saint Euphemia, is on sale now at iBooks and Kobo for just 99 cents. It'll be on sale at the other portals next week. The Champions of Saint Euphemia is a linked series I've wanted to write for a while. Each book is a medieval romance, but the series follows the journey of a company of knights (some Templars and some former-Templars) from Jerusalem to Europe as they deliver a sacred relic to the Temple in Paris. Someone wants the treasure and is willing to kill for it. These stories are entangled, with each hero and heroine adding to the overall story. The Crusader's Bride begins the quest, as Gaston leaves the order to claim his inheritance in France and finds himself in need of a bride. He picks Ysmaine, and gets far more in a wife than he ever expected.

It's a good time to begin the series, too. The second book, The Crusader's Heart, was published in October, and book #3, The Crusader's Kiss, will be published in January. Book #4, The Crusader's Vow, will finish up the originally planned series in April - but there's been a fifth book added. The Crusader's Handfast is being published in monthly installments, and the first one was published on December 15. Part Two comes out on January 15. The complete book will be available in July, in both print and digital editions. Also (!), The Crusader's Bride will be available in an audiobook in January. You can listen to a sample from that audiobook, narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds, right here.

Talking about audiobooks brings us to another way I'm thanking readers this month. I'm participating in a promotion with over 50 authors called #XmasAudio. Many of us are giving away an audiobook per day for the month of December. Right now, my featured audio title is The Snow White Bride, which is a medieval Scottish romance set at Christmas. All you have to do for a chance to win is comment on this post on my blog. You can also search for other #XmasAudio giveaways with the hashtag, on Facebook and Twitter.

How do you celebrate this festive season?

I hope your month is merry and filled with good friends, good books and good cheer. See you in 2016!

Local Booksignings and Reader Events

One thing I love to do are reader events and booksignings, so I'm excited to be participating in two signings that are coming up in November. There's also an awesome reader event coming up in May 2016—that's a ways out, but you'll want to book your spot for that one now.

First will be Words, a book festival in London Ontario that includes a booksigning event. I'll be on a panel with Zoe York and Carolyn Arnold about Self-Publishing for Genre Fiction Writers at 11 AM on November 7, then be signing from 10 - 4. The event will be held at Covent Garden Market in downtown London, Ontario.

I usually offer show specials when I do a booksigning like this - if you buy linked books, you get a discount. When you buy a bundle, you also get a tote bag to carry the books home!

If you plan to attend and want to ensure you get specific titles from me, I have a pre-order form right here. You can pay in advance, or just know how much cash to bring. (I don't take credit cards.)

Next up will be Bookapalooza in Whitby Ontario on November 21. This promises to be a fun event—partly because I know a lot of other authors who will be in attendance!—and a good day. I have my fingers crossed that there won't be any snow that day!

Once again, I have a pre-order form online, and you can find it right here.

Finally, there's Eve's Romancing the Capital reader event, which will be next May in Ottawa. Eve has added some workshops on Thursday afternoon, and I'll be teaching one, as well as participating in a panel discussion about publishing.

There are a lot of fun events for readers on Friday and Saturday (including my event Knights Vs. Dragons, and a panel discussion called Dragons are a Girl's Best Friend, which I'm looking forward to) plus author/reader speed-dating AND a booksigning on Saturday.

Check your calendar and book yourself in to this event, which will be a great time. I'll have a pre-order form for books closer to the date.

I couldn't talk about events without inviting the boys!

At the shows, it'll be easy to find me—because the boys travel with me.

I hope to see you at one or all of these events!

August Audio

Do you listen to audiobooks?

I have to admit that I never did, until I started having them produced for my books. I had this idea that they'd be like old radio shows, with all the parts acted out by different actors and sound effects, and that maybe, just maybe, they'd be a little bit cheesy. Actually, they're lovely. An audiobook is like having someone read the story aloud to you. You can do other things while you listen. The bonus is that most narrators have truly lovely voices.

Of course, I have a reason for asking you this question. :-) Not only are my historical romances being produced in audio, but I have a contest this month on my blog. I'm giving away an audiobook per day for the month of August. It shakes out to be more than 31 books, though, since I'm posting each Saturday - I'll give away 35 audiobooks in all. Each Saturday, I list a different title, and the following Saturday, I give away seven copies of it. You can only win once, but this is a fabulous opportunity to try audiobooks for the first time.

Here's this week's contest - you could win an audiobook of The Snow White Bride, book #3 in my Jewels of Kinfairlie trilogy of medieval Scottish romances, just for commenting on this post on my blog. This series has been narrated by Saskia Maarleveld and I think she's done an awesome job. Have a listen, right here!

Even better, there are a number of authors participating in this promotion. We'll all using the hashtag #AugustAudio so you can find us. Alternatively, you can stalk my Twitter account (@Cooke_Delacroix) because each Saturday I tag all the participating authors.

Why an August audio promotion? Well, I have a new audiobook releasing on September 1. My medieval Scottish paranormal romance, The Renegade's Heart, is now available for pre-order. This is the first book in my True Love Brides series—all four of these books should be available in audio by the end of the year. They're being narrated by Saskia Maarleveld.

You can have a listen to samples from all of my audiobooks on my new Soundcloud page - even the audition for The Crusader's Bride by Tim Gerard Reynolds. I think you'll see why he got the job to narrate all of the Champions of Saint Euphemia series!

Don't miss your chance to try audiobooks! Hop on over to my blog and comment for your chance to win!

Winter Getaways

There comes a time each winter when even the most cheerful winter-loving Canadian gets done with the snow, the grey skies and the shoveling. A winter getaway - or escape! - seems like just the thing.

Some go south. If you're not beach-people - and I'm not - this option might not work for you.

Some choose unlikely destinations. This is more my style. My favorite February destination is Scotland. I've gone there twice in the winter. There's the benefit of few tourists and the chance to see the area as locals do. I love having historic sites all to myself. The days are quite short in Scotland at this time of year (surprisingly so) and the air can be chilly, but there are plenty of cozy pubs and restaurants. The light is great for photography. One time that I was in Edinburgh in February, they had an early spring and the daffodils were in bloom. It was beautiful.

Of course, the benefit of travel is that it can be both rejuvenating and inspiring. It was on my first February trip to Edinburgh that I was inspired by a location to write a new medieval romance.

On that trip that I visited Tantallon castle, which is on the east coast of Scotland, not that far from Edinburgh. I actually visited a number of castles on that trip - it was exciting to be able to walk through so many medieval structures and I took hundreds of pictures. We arrived at Tantallon sunset, just as it was closing for the day.

This trip was sufficiently long ago that my pictures were taken on film. (Remember film?) I scanned them to digitize them, but that was sufficiently long ago that pictures were converted to teeny tiny jpegs of less than 20K. So, they're small pix, but I think they're still pretty.

This is Tantallon. In the distance, in the first and second shots, you can see Bass Rock, which is a rocky island in the North Sea. Isn't the light magnificent?

Tantallon so captured my imagination that it ultimately inspired a series of Scottish medieval romances, published under my pseudonym Claire Delacroix. The first book was The Rogue, set at a fictional estate called Ravensmuir, my fictional version of Tantallon. This book grew into a trilogy called The Rogues of Ravensmuir, which then spawned a spin-off series called The Jewels of Kinfairlie. That series featured the first three of eight siblings, and their stories continued with The True Love Brides. As of now, there are ten linked medieval Scottish romances that were sparked by this one visit to a ruined keep! (And more to come. I have one brother left...)

Why am I telling you about this? Today's post is an invitation to do some armchair traveling with me. (That's the third and by far the easiest choice for a winter getaway.) Leave winter behind and come to medieval Scotland - come to Ravensmuir!

Kinfairlie Knights is a new digital bundle going on sale tomorrow. It  includes three of these ten books. Each one is the first medieval Scottish romance in its respective series, and the entire bundle is priced at just 99 cents for its release. The bundle is available for pre-order today, or you can wait until tomorrow and download it right away.




If you're curious about Tantallon, you can read about it as my inspiration in an older post on my blog, right here. 

Comment on this post for a chance to win a signed trade paperback copy of one of the three titles included in this boxed set - winner's choice! What's your favorite winter getaway? Why?

Thriving in a Canadian January...

...rather than just surviving it.

(It's kind of funny that I chose this topic for my first post here at the blog - I chose it a while ago, but am just coming to the end of a two-week bout of the flu! So, I definitely haven't been thriving this January, but that doesn't change my perspective.)

January can be a grim business in the upper third of the planet. Many Canadians take their cue from the wild and go for the obvious choices to get through the winter: hibernate or migrate to warmer climes. I like to stay home, and actually winter has become one of my favorite seasons. (Not the favorite, though. Autumn steals that prize every time!) Here are some of the things I do to thrive in winter months:

1. Embrace the weather.
Yes, honest and true, it's easier to deal with winter's cold temps if you get outside regularly. Go somewhere every day, even if it's just to shovel the drive, and take a deep breath of that Arctic air.

2. Learn something new.
Darker days are the perfect time to explore a new obsession. Last year, I took a course on creating handmade books. We worked out way up to making a little hardcover book, like you'd use for a journal. (Of course, I don't want to write in mine!) It was interesting, and also compelled me to head out on a weeknight for the class. This year, I'm experimenting with beads and making some jewellery. Shiny things created under bright lights are just the thing for chilly winter evenings.

3. Indulge your senses.
Every December, I buy an amaryllis bulb when they have them at the grocery store. It's wonderful to watch that plant grow—they grow so fast!–and the vivid blooms make me think of summertime. Mine are just about ready to burst now. Alternatively, buy a blooming plant and set it in a window. I usually buy a new kalanchoe cactus in the winter, too, because they don't mind if I forget to water them, plus they look like desert heat.

4. Eat well.
Another December ritual for me is finding a new cookbook and experimenting with new recipes. I love to cook and so does Mr. Math–it's fun to find new things to make. This year, I've been using The Fast Diet Cookbook, which has a lot of delicious recipes (and even better, they don't taste like diet food). Lots of vegetables and lean meat, plus now I know what to do with eggplants. (Ha.)

5. Read! 
You knew I'd get to that one—and probably guessed that I'd have a couple of suggestions for you! My current historical romance release is a Scottish medieval romance called The Warrior's Prize, by Claire Delacroix, and is the fourth (and final) book in my True Love Brides series.  I also have a couple of bargain reads available right now: Highland Heroes, a boxed set of my Claire Delacroix Scottish medieval romances available for a limited time, and Border Brotherhood, a multi-author boxed set with Kathryn LeVeque and Suzan Tisdale, also available for a limited time. You can also pre-order a copy of Kinfairlie Knights, a boxed set of Claire Delacroix first-in-a-series medieval romances coming out in February, OR download the first chapter of The Crusader's Bride in EPUB free from my online store.


On the Deborah Cooke side of my writing life, there are dragon shape shifter heroes starring in my Dragonfire paranormal romance series. Serpent's Kiss (which is Thorolf's book) was published last May, so now's the time to catch up because Firestorm Forever, the final Dragonfire novel, will be published in March. Follow the link on the title to learn more or pre-order it from Apple, KOBO or Amazon. You can also download the first chapter of Firestorm Forever for free from my store: here's the EPUB and here's the MOBI. (The downloadable excerpt is longer than the one posted on my site.)


6. Stay Warm
And if you've been reading romance novels, you'll have some  inspiration as to how to best manage that!

How do you deal with a Canadian January? Do you hibernate? Migrate? Try to make the most of it? Or do you just love winter?