Thursday, June 29, 2017

Readers Circle: Joan Donaldson-Yarmey 's Romancing the Klondike

Summer Readers Circle
J.Q. Rose blog every Friday

Please welcome author Joan Donaldson-Yarmey to the Readers Circle. She writes many genres as you will learn in her biography.T
his week she shares her passion as an avid dragon boat racer with us.


Romancing the Klondike is Joan’s latest novel and part of our publisher’s historical series,  Books We Love, Ltd, Canadian Brides Historical Series. This series, partially funded by the Canada Book Fund, is being put out to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday. The collection includes twelve books-one written for each province and territory. 
Romancing the Klondike by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

Thank you, Janet.


Dragon Boat Racer by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey



I belong to a breast cancer survivor dragon boat race team in Nanaimo, B.C. and summer means dragon boat season. We put the boat in the water in April and practice twice a week, Wednesday evening and Saturday morning. We paddle on the strait between Vancouver Island and Newcastle Island Park. The sun bets down and the water is clear and calm. The voices of the steersperson of other teams mix with the beat of their drummers as it carries across the water. Usually a seal we’ve named, Lucille, pops up in the water beside us, or a deer stands on Newcastle Island, or a bald eagle sits in a tree.

     Depending on the year we could attend five to six races and festivals on the island during the summer. There is also an International Breast Cancer Survivor Paddling Committee that accepts applications from teams around the world and awards an international festival to one of the teams. These festivals take place every four years and I have been to Caloundra Queensland Australia, Sarasota Florida USA, and will be going to Florence Italy in 2018 to take part.



Romancing the Klondike by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey
In 1896, Pearl Owens is a young woman in search of adventure
while her cousin, Sam, is a young man in search of gold.
Back of the Book: Romancing the Klondike by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey
It is 1896 and nineteen-year-old Pearl Owens wants adventure just like her idols Anna Leonowens and Annie “Londonderry” Choen Kopchovsky. In the 1860s, Anna Leonowens taught the wives, concubines, and children of the King of Siam, while during the years 1894-1895, Annie “Londonderry” Choen Kopchovsky became the first woman to travel around the world on a bicycle. She was testing a woman’s ability to look after herself.

To fulfill her dream Pearl is on her way to the Yukon River area with her cousin, Emma, to write articles and do illustrations about the woman and men who are looking for gold in the far north.

Sam Owens, Pearl’s cousin and Emma’s brother, has been searching for gold with two friends, Gordon and Donald, for five years without success. Gordon and Donald have decided their quest is futile and it is time to return home. But Sam wants to stay a while longer. Then they hear word of a new gold find on Rabbit Creek.

Over the next ten months the lives of all five are changed due to love, gold, and tragedy.
About Joan:
Joan Donaldson-Yarmey
Joan was born in New Westminster, B.C. Canada, and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. She married soon after graduation and moved to a farm where she had two children. Over the years she worked as a bartender, hotel maid, cashier, bank teller, bookkeeper, printing press operator, meat wrapper, gold prospector, warehouse shipper, house renovator, and nursing attendant. During that time she raised her two children and helped raise her three step-children. Since she loves change, Joan has moved over thirty times in her life, living on acreages and farms and in small towns and cities throughout Alberta and B.C. She now lives on an acreage in the Port Alberni Valley with her husband and three cats.

       Joan began her writing career with a short story, progressed to travel and historical articles, and then on to travel books. She called these books her Backroads series and in the seven of them she described what there is to see and do along the back roads of British Columbia, Alberta, the Yukon, and Alaska. She has now switched to fiction writing switching between mystery novels and about Canadian history.

       Joan decided to try something different and wrote a Christmas romance, Twelve Dates of Christmas with her sister, Gwen Donaldson. She also wrote a contemporary young adult novel titled Crazy Cat Kid.

       West to Grande Portage is Joan’s second novel in her Canadian Historical series for young adults. It follows on her first novel titled West to the Bay.

       She has had three mystery novels, Illegally DeadThe Only Shadow In The House, and Whistler's Murder published in what she calls the Travelling Detective Series. They come in a boxed set. In her stand-alone novel, Gold Fever, she combines mystery with a little romance.

       Joan has branched into science fiction with her two books The Criminal Streak and Betrayed in her Cry of the Guilty-Silence of the Innocent series.

       She is now working on her third Canadian historical for young adults. As she says: Canadian history is not boring.

       Joan belongs to Crime Writers of Canada, Federation of B.C. Writers, the Port Alberni Arts Council and the Port Alberni Portal Players. Her short story, A Capital Offense, received Ascent Aspirations Magazine's first prize for flash fiction in 2010. She has since turned that story into a stage play and presented it at the Fringe Festival in Port Alberni in 2014.

Click here to connect online with Joan.


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Please join us next Friday, July 7, 
when author Gary Rockey takes his seat in the Readers Circle.


Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Canada Celebrates 150 years, Halifax Public Gardens, Canadian Historical Brides Series by BWL

Happy 150th Birthday, Canada!
Flags hanging from the bridge--spectacular!
We were in Canada two years ago visiting Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. We happened to be in Halifax on Canada Day, July 1st and enjoyed a visit to the Halifax Public Garden. What a beautiful place to be and to people watch as families dressed in red celebrated this special day together. I can only imagine what a 150th birthday party it will be on Canada Day this year!! 
Halifax Public Garden Sign

Families enjoying a beautiful Canada Day in the park.

Bandstand surrounded by colorful landscapes.


Lush plantings everywhere.

This old goose could care less that it's a festive holiday.

Several of these themed plantings decorated the grounds.

And of course, the rose garden was my favorite.
My pen name isn't J Q ROSE by happenstance.
As part of the 150th birthday celebration my publisher, Books We Love, is publishing the Canadian Historical Brides series. Each of the Canadian Historical Brides novels features one of the ten Canadian provinces and two of the novels feature the three Canadian Territories. These novels combine fact and fiction to tell the stories of the immigrant brides and grooms who came to Canada from diverse backgrounds to join in marriage and build the foundation of the free and welcoming country that is Canada.



Books We Love acknowledges the Government of Canada and the Canada Book Fund
for its financial support in creating the Canadian Historical Brides series.

This Friday, Joan Donaldson-Yarmey joins the Summer Readers Circle with her Canadian Brides novel, Romancing the Klondike. 

Click here to find all 12 novels in the Canadian Historical Brides series at the Books We Love website.




Thursday, June 22, 2017

Readers Circle: Heather Greenis' The Natasha Saga, Giveaway

Summer Readers Circle
J.Q. Rose blog every Friday
Please welcome my Canadian author friend, Heather Greenis, to the Readers Circle!
Heather and family plan to vacation in Alberta and explore that area of Canada's national parks as their way to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday in 2017.

Heather is generously giving away her entire collection of four e-books in Natasha's  family saga. Leave a comment to win. Deadline to enter is Tuesday, June 27, 10 pm EDST.

Welcome, Heather!

Thank you, Janet
Canadian Flag


Canadian by Heather Greenis



Canadian, I believe in the environment and humanity. They are connected. If we don't look after our environment, we won't exist. It's that simple. 

The weather is crazy these days. I can't decide whether to keep my sandals out or put them back in the closet. I froze during our picnic lunch in mid June and was hunting for shade by mid afternoon. Climate change is alive.

I must admit, I love the four seasons, when I'm properly attired. Spring is my favourite. Nature is coming to life after a long nap. We live on an acre of property. I enjoy seeing crocus spring up from under the snow and the maple leaves slowly spring open. Speaking of maple, who could forget Canadian maple syrup. Yummy. Trees surround my property, but I seem to gravitate toward water, rocks and mountains.

This year Canada is turning 150 years young. The people within our great nation are celebrating, from coast to coast.

Map of Canada
Happy 150th Birthday!
For our family vacation, we are heading west. Alberta, here we come, complete with our park passes. A big thanks Federal Liberals. We'll be staying in our own great country this year. Who knows, I may be inspired for another novel while sightseeing in the park in Banff, Canmore and the Badlands. I've been told they are spectacular. The camera will be ready to capture our memories. 

The Natasha Saga - a four part family saga
A gift for one person that comments on the blog.

Back of the Book: Natasha's Saga by Heather Greenis
Empowerment shatters traditions and lives. Greed and pride have devastating consequences. Sacrifices must be made. Written on multiple levels, the saga deals with hope, relationships, and giving, set against a background of conflicting values. 
Through a series of dreams, modern day couple Keeghan and William follow the triumphs and tragedies of multiple generations of the Donovan family. A chance encounter changes Natasha’s life, forever. In her diary, Natasha writes of her dream, and her hope to escape a horrid dictated future.
Will Natasha's legacy survive an uncertain future? 

Inline image 2
The Natasha Saga by Heather Greenisa four part family saga


Heather's upcoming release,DONE, is coming soon!
Lady Justice
Courtesy of Pixabay
What can a prosecutor, arresting officer or judge do when constrained by the legal system? When the sentence is too lenient?  The animal abuser that Jenn Hastings prosecuted feels no remorse. He’s out of prison, able to do it again.  Will a desire for real justice create a vigilante?

About Heather:
Canadian, born and raised in Ontario, I'm humanitarian, and an environmentalist. Reduce, re-use and then recycle. I'm proud of the fact we have solar panels on our home. We aren't off the grid, but we are putting clean energy into the grid.
Author Heather Greenis


​We have a 20 pound fluff-ball who runs the house. The humans simply pay the bills and ensure she gets fed at least twice a day. She is rather insistent upon the treats as well. My sister calls her the 'princess'. Our dog isn't spoiled at all.

​I love baseball. Well, to be honest. I haven't played in years.  I'm a Blue Jays fan.  I like to grumble when they don't win. Why shouldn't they win every game of the long season?

During the winter months, you might find me at the local curling club.  I manage our junior league. This past season we had 25 kids between the ages of 7 and 16. I had six other coaches that assisted with the kids.  Thank goodness, I couldn't do it without them.

My husband is an avid reader who gets the first read on my manuscripts. If he likes it, he does some editing and gives me advice and suggestions. I'm always open for those, even when I grumble and argue about it. If he doesn't like my latest attempt, I sulk in the corner like a kid. Not really, just in my mind.  But that manuscript gets placed on the back-burner until I decide what to do with it. Delete is aways an option. 

watch my website for details
follow me on social media
look me up on instagram  " heather-at-work "

Next Week on the Readers Circle, Joan Yarmey-Davidson joins us. Come on back, ya'all!

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Happy 150th Birthday Canada, A Tour of Green Gables PEI, Anne of Green Gables



Hello and welcome to the J Q Rose blog! 
Happy birthday, Canada!

In honor of Canada's 150th birthday this year, I'd like to share photos of our trip to Prince Edward Island, home of Green Gables. I blogged about this magical place when we visited in Summer 2015. Sit back and relax a few moments to enjoy a tour of this lovely place.


Green Gables, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Panoramic photo by J.Q. Rose
In this contemporary world of digital books and developing genres, L.M. Montgomery's books published beginning in 1908 are still popular today. Readers fell in love with Anne of Green Gables, a feisty, red-headed orphan who persuaded an elderly farmer and his sister to take her in even though they had wanted a boy to help work the farm. Her adventures are chronicled in a series of eight books which take place on Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada.
We visited Green Gables as one of our stops in PEI on our trip in 2015. Join me as we step through the portal back to the late 1800's at this charming farmstead rich in history and beauty.



This house actually existed during Lucy Montgomery's time. She could see it from her home she shared with her grandparents in Cavendish, PEI, and roamed the countryside around it. The house is furnished as she wrote about it in the books, much richer than the real occupants would have lived.


So here we go. Grab your bonnets and I'll show you around.


The path from the Green Gables Heritage Place Visitors Center leads you to this enormous barn. Inside are tools and machinery from the 19th century. This would be a fun and educational field trip for kids to learn about farming when there were no air-conditioned tractors or multitasking combines.




The green gables certainly signal you have arrived.



The furnishings were rich and lovely. Amazing wallpapers and carpeting in every room.




The kitchen was stocked with beautiful dishes and no modern conveniences. 


Where's the microwave, the running water, the refrigerator?Life would be hard in the 19th century. We complain, but this step back in time made me appreciate our modern way of life.
This is the entrance to the Haunted Woods.



The scenery in the area is breathtaking. No wonder Lucy Montgomery always referred to it as "home" even after she moved away to Ontario. Her final resting place is the Cavendish Cemetery.
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Have you read Anne of Green Gables? I started reading it before we left on our trip and throughout the visit (when I could keep my eyes open long enough to read.) The story is sweetly told. Now considered a children's book, Anne is a great gal to help the reader, young or old, to escape this modern world for awhile.

If you're interested in getting the Anne of Green Gables series , I downloaded this eBook and I'm happy with the formatting. All but two of the series are in the book, plus many other books by L.M. Montgomery, and also the classics, Pride and Prejudice and Call of the Wild.




Photos by J.Q. Rose


Summer Readers Circle
Canadian author Heather Greenis joins us in the Readers Circle on Friday, June 23. Please join us. A lucky commenter will win all four books in The Natasha Saga collection!


Thursday, June 15, 2017

Readers Circle: Susan Calder's Ten Days in Summer, Blog Swap, eBook Giveaway


Please welcome my Calgary author friend, Susan Calder to the Readers Circle!

This is an especially fun day for me because mystery author Susan Calder is my guest. But to add to the fun, Susan is hosting me at her blog. We're sharing who or what inspired us to write our books. Please be sure to hop on over to Susan's blog to read her post about what inspired her to write her new novel, Ten Days in Summer, a sequel to her first murder mystery, Deadly Fall. Lucky commenters can win a copy of Susan’s new e-book, Ten Days in Summer and also have a chance to win my cozy mystery, Dangerous Sanctuary.
Leave a comment for a chance to win one of these mystery novels.
To enter the drawing to win an eBook of my romantic suspense, Dangerous Sanctuary, all you have to do is post a comment about the following blog post on my Facebook J. Q. Rose Author Page, on this blog, J. Q. Rose Author blog, or on Susan's Ten Days in Summer page on Facebook. The deadline to enter the drawing is 10 pm EDST , Tuesday, June 13.

Welcome, Susan!

Thank you, Janet, for inviting me to your blog today. I invite your readers to visit my website www.susancalder.com to read your interesting post on this same topic and have a chance to win an e-book copy of your book. I’ll be offering a giveway of an e-book copy of Ten Days in Summer.

Novel Inspiration by Susan Calder
My new novel, Ten Days in Summer, is a sequel to my first murder mystery, Deadly Fall. So before I began this second book certain elements were set. These included my protagonist-sleuth, Paula Savard, a 53-year-old insurance adjuster, her supporting cast of family, friends and colleagues and the story setting in contemporary Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Since Deadly Fall took place in the fall, I decided the next three books in the series would occur during the three other Calgary seasons and, ideally, also contain the season name in the title. In addition, I realized these subsequent books should make use of Paula’s job, which is well suited to solving crimes. In the course of her work, an insurance adjuster would naturally come across burglaries, car accidents and other happenings that could be cover-ups for murder.

Calgary Stampede Parade

I arbitrarily chose the summer season for book two. For me, summer in Calgary means The Calgary Stampede, our 10-day festival that takes over the whole city like Mardi Gras in New Orleans. For novels, I tend to like a time span of about two weeks, long enough for meaty developments without large gaps in time. I hit upon the idea of framing the novel with the 10-day Stampede. The story would begin with Paula at the opening day parade and end with her watching the closing night’s fireworks. The book’s title evolved from this concept.

Calgary Stampede Fireworks at the Stadium

The novel’s murder, I have to confess, was inspired by an uncle who was causing me grief at this time. A hoarder, he frustrated my siblings and my efforts to dispose of our late grandparents’ home. My uncle occupied the second floor in a separate apartment, although after his parents died his stuff took over the whole premises. Also, shortly before I started the book, my sister had rented the top floor of a three-story building in Calgary with a glorious view of the city skyline and evening fireworks during the Stampede. These two properties merged into my story premise—a hoarder dies in a suspicious building fire.

Paula’s role would be to investigate the fire from the insurance angle, while sniffing around for possible murder. An extended family would occupy separate apartments on the building’s three levels, with the hoarder, who owned the property, living on the ground floor and his two nephews on the upper ones. The nephews, along with a niece, are the childless hoarder’s heirs and they become suspects, since they benefit from his death.


With this story idea derived from these varied sources—my first novel, the Calgary summer Stampede and my own and my family’s lives—I was ready to write book two of the Paula Savard mystery series. Much changed in the process of writing and revising. On the advice of a friend who read an early draft, I moved my Stampede parade scene to Chapter Three and opened the novel with Paula visiting the fire damaged building the evening before the parade. The novel still ends with Paula and others watching the fireworks from the deck of the hoarder’s home the final evening of the Stampede. In between, the story action progresses through Ten Days in Summer.

Have you visited Calgary? Been to the Stampede? Have a cool cowboy hat like Susan's? Please leave a comment below or at my FB page or Susan's Ten Days in Summer FB page.


Ten Days in Summer by Susan Calder

Back of the Book:


Insurance adjuster Paula Savard investigates a building fire that caused the death of a hoarder. A reckless event at the Calgary Stampede parade fuels Paula’s suspicion that the fire was deliberately set by one of the hoarder’s relatives who wanted to hasten an inheritance. The case turns personal when Paula’s daughter becomes involved with a suspect. To ensure her daughter’s safety, Paula must dig through the hoarder’s messy life. She unearths betrayal, family secrets and murder.



About Susan 

Susan Calder is a Calgary writer, who grew up in Montreal. She is the author of Deadly Fall and Ten Days in Summer, books 1 & 2 of her murder mystery series set in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 
Author Susan Calder
Susan’s short stories have won contests and been published in numerous magazines and anthologies. She teaches writing courses at the Alexandra Writers Centre Society and serves on the board of Calgary’s When Words Collide Festival for Readers and Writers. In her non-writing time, Susan loves travelling, biking and hiking in the beautiful Rocky Mountains near Calgary.

For more information on Susan and her writing click here to visit Susan's blog


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NEWS: 
Dangerous Sanctuary is on the Kindle Countdown special this week! 
Grab your copy at a reduced price!




Please return next Friday for the next edition of the Readers Circle. Children's author Heather Greenis will be joining the circle.

Thank you for stopping in today.

Please follow this blog by email so you won't miss the next guest authors and giveaways  in the Readers Circle series and more news and information from J.Q. Rose! 
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Wednesday, June 14, 2017

June is Brain and Alzheimer's Awareness Month: Can you envision a world without Alzheimer's?


Can you envision our world without Alzheimer's in it? The Alzheimer's Association can. They are researching and supporting families and caregivers, not in the hope of stamping out Alzheimer's but in their belief it can be eradicated so no one will ever have to deal with the devastation of this disease.

June is Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness month. Alzheimer's is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. 

I bet Alzheimer's has invaded your life because you know someone whom you care about has disappeared into the darkness of this disease. We have not experienced it in our family, but I have friends who have. 

When my friend and mentor, Bernie, discovered she had it, she told me one afternoon after inviting me for dessert and coffee. I will never forget the sadness in her eyes as we talked about the diagnosis. 

Knowing this awful disease is lurking in your future shadows you every day, waiting for the next degree of losing a piece of yourself.

I dedicated my book, Deadly Undertaking to Bernie, and I included a character suffering with Alzheimer's in the story. This was my way of trying to bring awareness to readers about this debilitating disease.

Today, I am using facts from the Alzheimer's Association site to help spread the word and marshal an army to fight against Alzheimer's.  If we don't take steps to fight and win the battle against AD, the result will be a world-wide epidemic by 2050.
  • The number of Americans living with Alzheimer's disease is growing — and growing fast. An estimated 5.5 million Americans of all ages have Alzheimer's disease. Currently, there are 44 million people suffering from dementia globally. That number is up 22% over the past three years when there were 35.6 million people suffering from the disease.
  • Alzheimer's disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. It is the fifth-leading cause of death among those age 65 and older and a leading cause of disability and poor health. 
  • As the population of the United States ages, Alzheimer's is becoming a more common cause of death. It is the only top 10 cause of death that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed.
  • Although deaths from other major causes have decreased significantly, official records indicate that deaths from Alzheimer's disease have increased significantly. Between 2000 and 2014, deaths from Alzheimer's disease as recorded on death certificates increased 89 percent, while deaths from the number one cause of death (heart disease) decreased 14 percent.
  • It kills more than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined.
  • The costs of health care and long-term care for individuals with Alzheimer's or other dementias are substantial. Dementia is one of the costliest conditions to society.

  1. Join a clinical trial
  2. Get genetic testing
  3. Email, call, and tweet your Congressmen
  4. Get educated about Alzheimer’s & Dementia
  5. Speak up if you see symptoms
  6. Sign the Alzheimer’s petition
  7. Volunteer or donate to an Alzheimer’s research or awareness organization
To learn more about AD, visit the following articles I used for this information.
Alzheimer's Association
Alzheimers.net

Click here to read the article I wrote about Bernie, My Hero on this blog.

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