Aloha to Julie Rowe, Chesterman Beach, and Beach Blanket Bingo

Surfers in Chesterman Beach, British Columbia

gotofino.com

Let's talk about beaches.  Canadian author Julie Rowe will be participating in Beach Blanket Bingo during the RT Booklovers' Convention (link):

Join Annette Funicello (Kim Rocha) & Frankie Avalon (Kim Lowe) for a special edition of Book Cover Bingo. Expect spontaneous singing, dancing, & flirting with lifeguards inspired by the beloved 60s film. Readers will join sun loving authors at their favorite beaches and compete for the book laden gift baskets ... perfect for the sand and surf!

Julie will be decorating her table in honor of Chesterman Beach on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.  From Tourism Tofino (link),

This 2.7 kilometre (1.7 mile) stretch of white sand paradise is the most popular beach destination for Tofino residents. Things to do on Chesterman Beach: 

Explore tidepools with the kids at North Chesterman Beach at low tide and you may see delightful seastars, anemones and umpteen marine lifeforms. 

 
Drop by the Carving Shed by the Wickaninnish Inn, also on North Chesterman, where friendly and especially talented wood carvers hone their art. 

Walk the tombolo (sandspit) to Frank Island, also to be done at low tide, for the views of the entire beach with snow-capped mountains as a backdrop. 

 
Get comfy in the sand on South Chesterman Beach as you watch surf instructors teaching eager students the basics of riding their first wave. Better yet, register with a Tofino surf school for your first lesson or bring your gear for a surf on this magnificent beach. For more information on surfing Chesterman Beach, click here.

Full-time author, freelance writer and workshop facilitator,Julie Rowe’s debut novel, Icebound, was released by Carina Press on Nov 14, 2011. Ten novels and eight anthologies have followed. Her most recent titles are the MEN OF ACTION boxed set and VIRAL JUSTICE book #3 of the Biological Response Team series. Julie’s articles and short stories have appeared in numerous magazines, such as Romantic Times Magazine, Today's Parent magazine and Canadian Living. Julie facilitates business writing and communication workshops at Keyano College in her home city, and has presented writing workshops at conferences in the United States and Canada. She’s also a strong supporter of life long learning and moderates a free announcement loop for the promotion of online classes, workshops and webinars. You can find her at julieroweauthor.com, twitter.com/JulieRoweAuthor or facebook.com/JulieRoweAuthor.

During the RT Booklovers' Convention, Julie will be celebrating the release of her next book ... 

Thank you, Julie, for supporting our beach party ... and your support of military families, too!  I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash, including a copy of Julie's LETHAL GAME, to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1. Leave a comment about British Columbia - what do you know about our Northwest Neighbor?  I know folks who take cruises to Alaska stop in BC and love it!

2. Comments are open through Sunday, January 22, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3. I'll post the winner on Monday, January 23.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Celebrate Canada Day - Aloha to Kaylea Cross

Today is Canada Day ... and our grand finale of Celebrate Canada Week with Kaylea Cross!  From her bio,

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Kaylea Cross writes edge-of-your-seat military romantic suspense. Her work has won many awards and has been nominated for both the Daphne du Maurier and the National Readers’ Choice Awards. A Registered Massage Therapist by trade, Kaylea is also an avid gardener, artist, Civil War buff, Special Ops aficionado, belly dance enthusiast and former nationally-carded softball pitcher. She lives in Vancouver, BC with her husband and sons.

Learn more about Kaylea and her books at kayleacross.com.

Kim:  What is your favorite sight, sound, or smell of your corner of Canada?

Kaylea: My favorite sight is the ocean. I dream one day of living in a house with an ocean view. My favorite sound is a tie between rain on the roof (good thing, since it rains so much here!), a distant train’s whistle, and the sweet, trilling song of a robin early in the spring. My favorite smell is the scent of the woods. One breath and it takes me right back to my childhood days when I would roam the woods behind our house.

Kim: Do you have a favorite Canadian saying?

Kaylea: It’s no joke that we really do say “eh” up here. My mom’s side of the family especially. Her mom was from England, so I wonder if that’s how it originated. At any rate, we use it all the time. “Nice day, eh?”

Kim: What would you recommend a reader to see, eat, or drink to enhance their travel experience to Canada?

Kaylea: Oh boy! Of course Canada is HUGE, the second biggest landmass on earth, so there’s a lot to see. My favorite recommendations about something to see would be the gorgeous and rugged coastline or the Okanagan lake region here in BC, the magnificence that is Quebec City, and the ocean paradise of Nova Scotia, which is way out east in the maritimes. As for eating, of course we love our seafood out here on the West Coast, and our Canadian beef is pretty well known too. We’re not so much into maple here on the West Coast as in other parts of the country—it’s more of an eastern thing. To drink, we have plenty of Canadian beer and world famous wines. I don’t drink alcohol, but I’m told they’re excellent :).

Late Winter Reflections on Lake Okanagan
Creative Commons (link)

Kaylea celebrated her 10th novel in the Hostage Rescue Team series, RECLAIMED:

Sometimes love isn’t enough.

Summer Blackwell has endured her own private hell and fought her way through to the other side. She’s lost so much and her marriage has crumbled, but she refuses to give up hope. Just as she thinks there might be a chance to reconcile with her husband, things go terribly wrong during a job in Jordan when she and her team are captured by the enemy. Now, with every passing hour she’s one step closer to a horrific death at the hands of the radical terror group she was working to destroy. Escape is impossible. Unless her husband’s team finds her before the deadline hits, it will be too late…

And sometimes, it’s everything.

Special Agent Adam Blackwell is going to win his wife back, no matter what it takes. In spite of everything they’ve gone through, he’s never stopped loving her, and can’t imagine his life without her. He’s been on personal leave to mount a desperate campaign to save their broken marriage, but agrees to join his team for a one-off protective detail assignment in Amman. When the unthinkable happens and Summer is taken hostage by the most ruthless terrorist organization in the region, Adam and his teammates will stop at nothing to save her. But every day without a solid lead means the hope of rescuing her is dwindling, and now it’s a race to find her before the clock runs out.

I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash to one randomly selected commenter. To enter the giveaway,

1. Leave a comment about Canada - what do you know about our Northern neighbor?  What have you learned this week?  What do you love about the Maple Leaf country?

2. Comments are open through Saturday, July 2, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3. I'll post the winner on Sunday, July 3.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Cheakamus Lake at dawn, in Garibaldi Provincial Park, BC

Public Domain (link) 

Celebrate Canada Week - Aloha to Toni Anderson

The Canadian flag at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic 

Image by Jared Grove (link)

I became a fan of Toni Anderson after reading DARK WATERS set in Canada's Barkley Sound. From her bio,

New York Times and USA Today international bestselling author, Toni Anderson, writes dark, gritty Romantic Suspense novels that have hit #1 in Barnes & Noble's Nook store, the Top 10 in Amazon and Kobo stores, and the Top 50 in iBooks. Her novels have won many awards.

A former Marine Biologist from Britain, she inexplicably ended up in the geographical center of North America, about as far from the ocean as it is possible to get. She now lives in the Canadian prairies with her Irish husband and two children and spends most of her time complaining about the weather.

Toni has no explanation for her oft-times dark imagination, and only hopes the romance makes up for it. She's addicted to reading, dogs, tea, and chocolate.

Learn more about Toni and her books at toniandersonauthor.com.

Kim: What is your favorite sight, sound, and smell of your part of Canada? 

Toni: This is tricky because I live on the cusp of the prairies and the Canadian shield. My favorite sight is probably that of huge fields of sunflowers. My favorite sound…the amazing array of songbirds we have. My favorite smell…the smell of lilac in the spring—it grows around here in mad profusion.

Kim: Can you share a unique Canadian saying or slang that resonates with you?

Toni:  I love using the term ‘tuque' for a hat :)

Kim: What would you recommend a reader to see, eat, or drink to enhance their travel experience to Canada?

Toni: In Manitoba they should go for a drive through the prairie fields to get a sense of the vastness of the place, and a feeling for how incredibly flat it is. They should stand on the edge of the Great Lakes and realize they are staring at freshwater. They should visit the Museum of Human Rights at the Forks in Winnipeg. 

DARK WATERS remains one of my favorite reads ...

Sergeant Holly Rudd arrives in the coastal community of Bamfield after local divers discover a body with a knife jutting from its chest in the waters of Barkley Sound. As she investigates the crime, Holly soon realizes the sleepy town is rife with secrets. But what unsettles her most is the residents’ insistence that she bears a striking resemblance to the victim of a murder from three decades earlier. She shrugs off the uncanny likeness as a coincidence. But her simmering attraction to Finn Carver, one of the divers who discovered the corpse, isn’t so easy to ignore.

Finn, a former Special Forces soldier, knows it’s best to keep his distance from Holly. Yet it isn’t long before they both give in to the consuming desire they share. And as the danger escalates, Finn and Holly must rely on each other to thwart the plans of a cold-blooded killer who’s intent on keeping the past buried.

Motor Lifeboat in Barcley Sound, 1907

Public Domain (link)

I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash. To enter the giveaway,

1. Leave a comment about the Pacific Northwest - what do you know about it?

2. Comments are open through Saturday, July 2, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3. I'll post the winner on Sunday, July 3.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Long Beach, British Columbia
Public Domain (link)

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