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Welcome to my virtual desk! Here you see me at
work, in my office at home. As you can also see, I have a terrific
view out my office window!
On these pages I’ve included snippets of my research for various books
and information about connecting series.For instance, you'll find three special
soup recipes from Love And The Single Mom--the very recipes that first draw Robert
into Margo's Bistro! Be sure to scroll through this page for lots more, including
links to other fabulous authors and writing groups. |
Lots
of info about books and writing.
Some pictures of the view from CJ's office this September:
Researching Star-Crossed
Parents:
 I
live in Canada, so when I got the bright idea to
set my next book in New England a research trip
was in order. I set aside some time in October...who
wouldn't love a trip to New England
in the autumn? I'm a big hiker, so of course my
version of this trip included hitting several of
the beautiful mountain trails in the region. When
you're reading Star-Crossed
Parents, picture Leigh
and Sam training for the marathon on hiking trails
that look a lot like this one...
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Of course, even hard-working authors on grueling
research trips
:) need to take a break every now and then...
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The Cast:
You
think it’s easy keeping track of all the characters
in a trilogy? Me either! Here’s the cast
of characters for my Summer Island trilogy.
Can you guess which one is the killer? (Hint:
Read You
Made Me Love You) (posted
June 2006)
 The Forget-Me-Not Friends
Harrison Kincaid  The Grieving Widower...During his childhood Harrison and his sister Nessa spent all of July and August on Summer Island with their parents. In his thirties, Harrison married Simone and became the CEO of his family owned communications business based out of Seattle.
Aidan Wythe  The Brooding Best Friend...Raised by his mother in Seattle, Aidan has been Harrison’s best friend for as long as he can remember. They went to Yale together and Aidan is Harrison’s right-hand man at Kincaid Communications
Emerson Cotley The Boy Next Door...A local on Summer Island, Emerson took over the family landscaping business after his parents were killed in a car accident.
Jennifer March The Girl Next Door... Her family owns the Lavender Farm Bed and Breakfast on Summer Island. She and Simone were best girlfriends.
Gabe Brooke The Golden Boy...Handsome and charming, Gabe owns a real estate business on Summer Island, as well as the local newspaper. He married Harrison’s sister Nessa, after Harrison married Simone.
Simone DeRosier The Star...Renowned jazz singer and pianist, Simone started spending her holidays with her father on Summer Island when she was fourteen-years-old. She coined the phrase “Forget-Me-Not Friend” in her first Grammy Award winning hit.
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RECIPES
FROM LOVE AND THE SINGLE MOM
 Try
Margo's Daily Soups... Three recipes are now posted and print-friendly!
Click on the links below and enjoy (a pop-up
window will appear).
Margo's
Squashed Pear Soup
Sunshine
Carrot Soup
Margo's
Corny Cauliflower Soup
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Keeping characters straight in conected stories
is not always easy. I use a map to help me. Sometimes I need more.
By the time I got to the fourth Chatsworth book, I needed a memo to
self as if I were describing the book to someone else. Click here for: Notes
from Author on For A Baby.
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Notes
from Author on For A Baby:
 Why
is it that when a woman says: "I wouldn't marry
you if you were the last man on the planet!" we
never believe her? In FOR
A BABY, Heather
Sweeney never says that about her high school
nemesis, T.J. Collins.
But we know she thinks it.
This
story is set in the small rural community of Chatsworth,
Saskatchewan (See map). We
already know that Heather Sweeney's high school sweetheart, Russell
Matthew, was the hero of SMALL-TOWN
GIRL. He's married with two children and now
he and his wife Julie are building
their dream house. Heather's problem is that she
never really got over Russell. Despite all the years
that have passed, she still considers him her ideal.
We
know that many women idealize their first love. And
many wonderful novels have been written about the
re-discovery of that first love. In FOR
A BABY I wanted to take the opposite tack.
In some cases a woman's longing for the first love
of her life can have a negative impact on her life,
preventing her from seeing the wonderful possibilities
right in front of her.
In Heather's case, those possibilities are personified
in the brooding, caustic guise of the local hardware owner, T.J. Collins.
T.J. has his own heartbreaks from the past--a divorce and a burned-out
career as a big-city lawyer. He's come back to Chatsworth licking
his wounds. T.J. is one of my favorite kind of hero...A good man who
has no idea just how exceptional he is.
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Online resources abound. Here
are some of CJ's favorite links:
More
Than Words...Check It Out
> Each
year Harlequin honors ordinary women for their extraordinary commitment
to their community. Harlequin makes a $10,000 donation to each of the
five women selected from across North America to advance the work of
their individual charities. And five authors donate their time and
creative talents to write a novella inspired by the lives and work
of the Harlequin More Than Words award recipients. The collection of
novellas is then sold, with proceeds returning to the More Than Words
program to support more causes of concern to women. For more information,
please visit www.HarlequinMoreThanWords.com.
“Super”
Author Links
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Other
great links:
Having computer problems? Try these folks.
PCWebDoc.com
(posted 2-12-08)
Interesting read, interesting ideas... The
Power of Time by Pauline Edward is a fascinating introduction
to the subject
of numerology. I found the workbook sections especially intriguing
and couldn’t put the book down
until I had
charted my own Life Path Number, Personal Year Number and 9-Year
Epicycle. Check it out! paulineedward.com
(posted 11-26-07)
eharlequin.com
(posted 11-15-05)
CJ's local writing groups:
Calgary
RWA Chapter
(posted
11-15-05)
Alberta
Romance Writers Association (posted
9-01-02)
Would you like to chat with CJ and other
Supperromance authors? Check out the new Supperromance link
on eharlequin
CRAN (The
Canadian Romance Authors Network)
Romance
Writers of America
Amazon (of
course)
For information on books, including reviews
check out: Romantic
Times and Wordweaving.
SuperAuthors will
keep you up to date with current releases by many of your favorite
Harlequin Superromance Authors.
More to come... |
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