Friday 28 March 2014

Open Mic Event April 2, 2014


I'll be reading from Framed for Murder at "Hamilton Speaks Up", a literary and musical open mic event sponsored by the Canadian Authors Association Hamilton "Twig" chapter on Wednesday, April 2 starting at 7:30 p.m. The venue will be athe Artword Artbar at 15 Colbourne Street, Hamilton, ON. Admission is free, although donations will be taken at the door and raffle prizes will be presented.

I'm never done a reading before, so I'm somewhat nervous. There's pressure to give an entertaining introduction to the book, plus trying to read in an interesting way. Thankfully I have some experience reading to an audience since I read the lessons at church - with a microphone - so I have some confidence of doing a good job. Still, I hope there are more people in the audience  than fellow authors or musicians.

Saturday 22 March 2014

LibraryThing Book Giveaway


One lucky person will win a signed paperback copy of Framed for Murder 
in a LibraryThing book giveaway contest


And, twenty lucky people will win an e-book copy of Town Haunts
in a LibraryThing book giveaway contest.

Click on this link to enter either contest (scroll down to find the books).

Goodreads Book Giveaway Contest


Enter this Goodreads book giveaway contest for a chance to win a signed copy 
of Books One & Two in the Anna Nolan Mystery series, 
Framed for Murder and Town Haunts.







Sunday 16 March 2014

Recommendation: "The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic"


I just finished reading this 563-page book in a weekend marathon. My daughter picked it up from the library, attracted by the title and  the cover, and I started reading it without even reading the synopsis first. 

Spoiler Alert! What a delightful experience, by the way, to read a book that sweeps you into an adventure without knowing what to expect. If you want to do the same, don't read the rest of this recommendation; just find the book and start reading.

At first I thought I was reading a contemporary romance. Grad student, Nora Fischer, has just been dumped by her boyfriend, and is having major trouble with completing her dissertation. She's a likable young woman with an unsympathetic adviser, the story is well-written, and I settled down to read how she was going to solve her problems with happy anticipation.

Except that she suddenly steps into a bizarre world as Alice through the looking glass didI'm not a reader of fantasy fiction, and the only other experience I have had akin to this book was Diana Gabaldon's Outlander, so I didn't know what to expect. At first, I thought that Nora had been picked up by some eccentric wealthy woman who was using her to generate excitement at her parties. She transforms Nora with make-up, hair, and costume, but soon I realized that it was more than a superficial transformation; she had somehow changed Nora physically, too. And more than that,  she had beguiled Nora and taken away her ability to think for herself. Time seems to shift from 2013 to the '60's, and then to the '20's, from New York to Paris, and I didn't know what to think, but suddenly Nora is picked up by soldiers dressed in chain mail, and I realized that this young woman is actually the prisoner of fairies. As a child, I had read fairy tales where children were kidnapped by fairies, and there was Rip Van Wrinkle, too, but here was a modern woman being kidnapped by fairies. Incredible and audacious story telling!

I know how challenging it is to create a credible world peopled by rich and interesting characters, but to throw in the historical element, romance, and create a fantasy world with its parameters and elaborate back story, interweaving it with the sensibilities of a modern woman, is quite the juggling act, and Ms. Croy Barker succeeds admirably. She also has a deft hand with suspense, egging me into reading just one more chapter when I knew that I should be going to bed or getting dressed the next day. Fortunately, I was able to dawdle away the weekend with a really good story, an indulgence that a book seldom compels me to do.

So, even if you don't normally dip into the historical, romantic, or  fantasy genres, I recommend that you read The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic, and hope that you will have as much fun with it as I did. There were signs at the end of the story that a secondary book is in the offing, too, so I look forward to seeing how Nora will slip back into the world of her magician, Lord Aruendiel, and how their relationship will progress as she tries to master his profession. Or, maybe he will live with her in her world? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Friday 14 March 2014

A Poem Lovely as a Tree?


I've got a strong hankering for some budding, flowering trees.


The ultimate tree poem:

Louis Untermeyer, ed. (1885–1977). Modern American Poetry.  1919

Joyce Kilmer. 1886–1918
 
119. Trees
 
I THINK that I shall never see  
A poem lovely as a tree.  
 
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest  
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;  
 
A tree that looks at God all day,         5
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;  
 
A tree that may in summer wear  
A nest of robins in her hair;  
 
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;  
Who intimately lives with rain.  10
 
Poems are made by fools like me,  
But only God can make a tree.



Wednesday 12 March 2014

Suddenly, I'm Researching 2013 Shoe Fashions


These days I'm writing a contemporary romance with a Summer release called The Dating Do Over. It's about a thirty-one-year-old woman who is suddenly dumped on Valentine's Day by her live-in boyfriend of six years. This is new for me; I've never written a contemporary romance before. Suddenly, my characters are young women with disposable incomes living in Toronto and going out to clubs. They're interested in the trendiest fashions in dresses, shoes, and purses. Oh my!

If you don't know me, let me explain who I am. I am a fifty-five year old woman who wears orthotics in her flat lace-ups. I haven't worn a dress since I can hardly remember because my orthotics won't fit into high heels. Geez, I haven't even worn a heel for about fifteen years, and when I tried one on in a shoe store just for fun last year, I didn't remember how to walk in the darn thing. Also, I don't think they make stilettos in "E" widths.

Now, instead of researching carriages for my regency romances or bullet calibers for my mystery series, I'm researching the top ten shoe designers of 2013. The little beauty you see at the top, by the way, is from the Manolo Blahnik Spring 2013 collection. Pretty, isn't it? And when I'm trying to imagine what my heroine's corporate-ladder-climbing friend might wear to a fine restaurant, I bring up the runway fashions from Toronto or Paris for inspiration. I admit that it slows me down a bit, whiling away a half hour or so while I try to choose something to wear - I mean, for my characters to wear. Although it sure brightens up my day on a snowy March afternoon.

If you would like to be contacted about upcoming book releases, please leave your information in the "Contact Cathy" app to the right of this post.

Monday 10 March 2014

Author's Interview With Omnimystery News


I'm delighted to have an author's interview featured today with Omnimystery News, the website that is the portal to all you'd want to know about mystery books, movies, television shows, and games.

It was a really fun interview to do. Here's an excerpt:
Omnimystery News: On your last visit we introduced Town Haunts as a cozy mystery with romantic elements. Is that an accurate description?
Cathy Spencer
Photo provided courtesy of
Cathy Spencer

Cathy Spencer: I would categorize my Anna Nolan mystery series as a cozy mystery, although I also label it as a romantic suspense on the e-retailer sites I use. My books are cross-over mysteries with romantic story lines, and I'm glad to be able to tap into the romance audience as well. The advantage to having a cross-over is that mystery and romance are currently the best-sellers of genre fiction. The disadvantage is that because the mystery and romance markets are so huge, it becomes harder for an author to be discovered. A nice little sub-genre in which you are one of a much smaller pool of authors ‒ mysteries thrillers where the police detective is a reincarnated Egyptian pharaoh, for example ‒ might ultimately result in more recognition and book sales. The problem for me is that I'm drawn to writing cozies with an amateur female sleuth who owns a dog, so, for this series at least, I'm a very small fish in a very big pond.

The other problem with being categorized by a genre is that you must play fair with the expectations of the readers. For example, in the second book of the series, Town Haunts, I was toying with two of the major characters having an important conversation during a sex scene. However, I polled readers on the Amazon and Goodreads sites and discovered that cozy mystery readers don't want sex scenes in their stories. Had I included that scene, I wouldn't in good conscience have been able to call that book a cozy, and since I didn't want to change genres mid-series, the dialogue was held over breakfast the next morning instead. So genres do impose restrictions on the author.

And here's the link to the rest of the interview: A Conversation with Mystery Author Cathy Spencer

If you would like to be contacted about upcoming book releases, please leave your information in the "Contact Cathy" app to the right of this post.

Saturday 8 March 2014

Ode to a Winter Tree

A pastoral tree at sunrise, or sunset? Love the shadow on the snow.

I'm passionate about trees; I love them. I like to run my hands over their corrugated bark and look up into their limbs with the wind riffling through them. Trees cheer me up when I'm sad. 

Since it's winter, here are some pictures of snowy trees, just because they're so beautiful.


Isolated tree on a barren landscape, but a cheery sky

Magnificent frosted trees

There's something magical about the weight of the snow bending the branches and the glassiness of the frozen water surface. Very primal. 
"Powder Blue Evening" by photographer Gary Minish.

Wednesday 5 March 2014

Startling Information About Calcium and Bone Health



If you're like me, you've been taking Calcium supplements to ensure you have good bone health and to ward off osteoporosis after you hit menopause. Well, yesterday I visited a new GP (due to my recent move to Hamilton,) and told her what vitamins I've been taking: a daily tablet of calcium (650 mg) with D3 (400 IU) for absorption, plus another vitamin D tablet (1,000 UI) to make up for my lack of sun exposure. I was startled to hear that I may be taking too much calcium, which is not good for my bones. Apparently, women my age (menopausal) should be ingesting 1,000 mg of calcium per day. With a daily cup of milk on my cereal (300 mg), I'm soon over the limit anytime I eat other calcium sources, such as spinach, salmon, tahini, almonds, or other dairy products.

What I should be upping to ensure good bone and health, however, is my daily intake of vitamin D. I should be ingesting 2,000 IU per day. With the 400 IU in my calcium tablet and a daily vitamin D tablet of 1,000 UI, I've been selling myself short by 600 IU per day. Of course, I've probably been eating foods that are sources of vitamin D, such as dairy, egg yolks, and many types of fish, but I'm going to start taking 2 vitamin D tablets per day (totalling 2,000 UI), and a calcium tablet every other day.

You may want to check your vitamin intake with your GP to ensure you have healthy bones and teeth as you mature.

Here's a link to calcium information from the Dieticians of Canada: 
http://www.dietitians.ca/Nutrition-Resources-A-Z/Factsheets/Osteoporosis/Food-Sources-of-Calcium.aspx
and to vitamin D information:
http://www.dietitians.ca/Nutrition-Resources-A-Z/Factsheets/Vitamins/Food-Sources-of-Vitamin-D.aspx

If you would like to be contacted about upcoming book releases, please leave your information in the "Contact Cathy" app to the right of this post.

Monday 3 March 2014

"Read an Ebook Week" Promotion March 2 - 8



Read an Ebook Week is an international celebration of ebooks from March 2 - 8 in which thousands of authors, publishers and retailers feature free and discounted ebooks to help promote the joys of e-reading to the world's readers.  Each year, Smashwords authors are the most active participants, and their store features the largest selection of participating titles. Smashwords formats their books to make them readable for various ebook reading devices, including mobi for Kindle and epub for Apple iTunes, Barnes & Noble, and most other devices. Customers will obtain their books using one of the special coupon codes, which they'll enter at checkout to receive the discount. 

I'm offering all of my books at slashed prices or for free! 

Free books (at checkout, enter code RW100)

  • Framed for Murder, the first book in the Anna Nolan mystery series
  • Tall Tales Twin-Pack, Mysteries, a short story collection
  • Tall Tales Twin-Pack, Science Fiction and Fantasy, a short story collection
75% off (at checkout, enter code REW75)
  • Town Haunts, my brand new release and the 2nd Anna Nolan book
  • The Affairs of Harriet Walters, Spinster, a sweet regency romance
To find links to all of my books, visit my Smashwords Author's Page
To browse the discounted book catalogue, visit the Smashwords site.
Enjoy!

Saturday 1 March 2014

eBookSoda Promotion for "Framed for Murder"


eBookSoda is a new UK website that brings readers the latest in great book deals. 
(Don't you love the floating bubbles in their banner?) 
Today they're promoting Framed for Murder, the first book in the 
Anna Nolan mystery series. 
It's a one-day sale, so don't wait. Buy it today for just $2.99; regular price $3.99.

Here's the link to their ad: 



Anna Nolan discovers her ex-husband, Jack, on a deserted country road one night ‒ dead, unfortunately.  He could only have been in town to see Anna, unless Jack was looking for their son, Ben.  At least, that’s how the tall, cool Brit leading the police investigation sees it.  To divert suspicion away from her son and herself, Anna delves into Jack’s personal life, only to discover that the actor had been romancing three very different women on a nearby film set. 

With some rather unorthodox ideas on how to conduct a murder investigation, Anna sets about meeting her ex-husband’s lovers, with harrowing results!
". . . a true 'chiller thriller' that I couldn't put down!" - Mysterynet.com

"I seldom give five stars for a book but in this case I don't have another possibility. It's an absolutely brilliant story." -  Goodreads Review
If you would like to be contacted about upcoming book releases, please leave your information in the "Contact Cathy" app to the right of this post.

"Town Haunts" Featured on Omnimystery News Today



Omnimystery News is the gateway to a family of websites dedicated to bringing mystery readers a tempting array of mystery in every format, from the latest books to television shows and movies, from games to books for children. It's a wonderful collection, and I am so pleased to have an excerpt from my new release, Town Haunts, the second installment of the Anna Nolan mystery series, featured on their site today. Here's the link; please check it out as well as all the sites on offer through Omnimystery News.


If you would like to be contacted about upcoming book releases, please leave your information in the "Contact Cathy" app to the right of this post.