Bon Voyage To Meee by Vanessa C. Hawkins

 

 

 Vanessa Hawkins Author Page

    So curretly I am en route to Toronto Ontario, so I fear there will be but a small blog post this month. I flew via Flair Airlines without a hitch, and am typing this up as I sit in the very front of the Robert Q bus. What a flight, I must say! I was glad to have a bit of liquid courage on the plane because the landing was rocky at best. The wildfires in Canada mean the skies are clouded in smog, which I suppose corresponds to mega turbulance. However, I am lucky to find myself here and on the way to plan and map out another book!

It was a lovely view in New Brunswick today at least. Though, if you have ever flown flair you may know how cheap it is. This comes at a price however, as every little thing has an extra charge. For example, carry on baggage. Now... I am but a humble writer. I'm no Stephen King nor Dean Koontz. I can't afford all the extras can I?

Well... not on a novelists salary! So, I planned ahead! I wore all my clothes on the plane, packed a fanny pack, and made sure even my boots had pockets!

I wasn't kidding! Good for one pair of underpants! 

Now that means as soon as I arrived I had to change. Holy heck its hot here! New Brunswick was crisp 10 degrees maybe, but by the time I arrived at TO I was due for a wardrobe change. I'm only here a few short days, but I am hoping to take in some sights while I'm here. I'm also going to be meeting up with my co-author for the Ballroom Riot series, Tara Woodworth! 

I'll have more to report next month when I return from my first trip since the pandemic! So stayed tuned then and keep writing! 

                

Before Flight and after flight... I felt much cooler after changing! 

Bon Voyage to Meeeeeeeeee

If I Die, Please Delete My Google Search History by Vanessa C. Hawkins

 

 Vanessa Hawkins Author Page

      So summer has sprung and I have been up to my eyeballs in projects. As I said last month, I won second place in a long fiction competition, and was invited to read aloud at a local University. It was fun. Many eyerolls were had when I finished, because thanks to liquid courage, I attempted to read a smexy passage with all the ardour that the piece required. 

hur hur!

But I wasn't fazed! In fact, I have been told on multiple occassions that I am pretty good when it comes to reading aloud? Why? Well, because frankly I don't give a *$5^%. There! I said it--kinda--I just don't care. Now my husband, who sat in the front row to listen to me read? Well, he might have cared a little, but all in all it was fun to stand in front of everyone, get an award and a cheque, then read a bunch of *pron* to a crowd of people I don't know.   

I honestly gotta give it to the judges though. They had good taste! And no, of course I'm not biased.

In other news--and before I get in trouble with the moderators for being too risque--I have finally finished penning another novel! Whoot. Together, my co-author and I have finally finished the first draft of Ballroom Riot 2--title pending. It feels good to finish a work in progress...

I should have used this gif earlier...

Now I am on to editing, and then after that, I shall be working on a new project with several other writers at Books We Love Publishing. I won't say too much about it right now, just because I haven't had a whole ton of time to think on it, but it's a mystery that takes place in PEI.

And also, I am going to PEI this summer! Whoot! How fortuitous. I shall spend all my time at libraries and in the fields sniffing the potatoes, and buried beneath the red, sandy beaches getting a feel for my island neighbours! 

and also paying to leave :/

 It will be exciting. Though my timeline to finish is a few years time, and I have a few other projects I hope to conclude before then, I will make sure I stick to a plan and deliever before HBO comes out with any shows based on my books. 

Get it? Because it will never happen... *cries* T_T

But then again... neither will Winds of Winter, right George?

Lies. All lies...

Merry Christmas Is Over Why Are We Still Talking About It by Vanessa C. Hawkins

 Vanessa Hawkins Author Page

So by now Christmas has passed, and the winter doldrums are all ready to set in as you wait for that first dandelion to pop its head up through the soil. Winter blues, ready to come a-knocking post holiday, are all dressed up waiting for an invitation and doesn't give a darn about provincial lockdowns or one house-hold bubbles. 

It's a comin'! But as a writer who always has too much on their mind, my depression left the station well before Christmas. While waiting for Santa, it was set carefully on the back porch waiting for me to take down my Christmas lights, or throw out my dusty old Christmas tree that was up well past January. It was there... waiting to pounce...

Depression cat: Imma gonna make you sad then knock
over all yo' glass dinnerware... 

 But that cat can eat $h!+ because I'm not ready for it yet!

Take that all seasonal depression!

I'm gonna live in the past and review my recipe for a Merry Christmas! I haven't forgot about the holly and the jolly! It's not over, because my blog shall be about all the joy and fun I did last month! IF it looks familliar it's because I originally posted this a few weeks ago on Long and Short Reviews, but due to my this sure-fire Christmas plan--that can't be beat!-- I decided to post it here as well. Mostly because I did a George and didn't write a post in time, and also because I've been busy with a bunch of other projects that I'll tell you about NEXT month. 

Probably...

Unless I do another George...

Merry Christmas, George!

So, here it is! A tried and tested way to have a Merry Christmas! At least if you're me, or someone in the general area AROUND me. 

You’ll need lots of chocolate peppermint and gingerbread. Why? Because it's amazing frankly, and what's a Christmas without it? If you don’t have any on hand, you can always substitute for eggnog, but it’s gotta be homemade. Sorry... but store bought stuff is *blech!*

blech.

Christmastime in my family--

My family....................... *Okay not really*

--is always a series of events that culminate in a merry holiday adventure. I’m lucky, my husband and I have been together since high school, so I grew up, and like, including my in-laws. Now that we have a little one to come on the December adventure with us, we can all delight as she prances in the few traditional ingredients that make up our secret family recipe.

peas... not really an ingredient

First in the bowl are gingerbread houses. We buy ‘em premade, struggle to glue them together with the cheap icing sugar included with the box, and laugh at our failed attempt at creating something whimsical. Combine that with our annual cookie baking that leaves us stuffed with sugar and you’re on your way to a Merry Christmas!… or at least diabetes.

Who needs both their feet anyway?

Add a pinch of snow, probably too little before the actual holiday though. We live in Eastern Canada so sometimes the wind bites us before our snowmen get the chance to.  After that, a dash to the store on Christmas Eve because you forgot that one thing on your Christmas list you just HAVE to have! Santa typically does the rest, but we open a gift the night before just so it’s that much harder to get to sleep from the excitement.

Especially true if you're 5

Bake for twenty-five days at negative ten degrees or so–we have always had advent calendars to help us keep the timing just right, though my daughter is like me and can’t wait to eat the chocolate—and you have a happy holiday! I suggest serving it with all your loved ones, of course. That’s what we do. Honestly, the ingredients are simple and easily replaced with other things, it’s the joy of the company that gives it taste. But I still maintain you’ll need lots of chocolate and peppermint.

And eggnog… but only if it’s homemade... and only if you like your inlaws.

But not mine!............Usually.

Merry January 9th everybody!