Friday, February 3, 2023
But What Are They Eating?: FOODFIC: Please Welcome Eileen Schuh, Author of Pr...
But What Are They Eating?: FOODFIC: Please Welcome Eileen Schuh, Author of Pr...: Nothing makes a stronger romantic impression, perhaps, than offering up a home-cooked meal. But that cooking has to be taken up a notch to w...
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Schizophrenic writer tells crazy story
Despite what my headline infers, author Kenna Mckinnon has not let mental illness define her. As a child and teen she led a 'normal' life and had ambitious dreams. However, life abruptly changed when as a young adult she developed schizophrenia. She remembers the day her doctor told her she must accept that she would never have the life of which she was dreaming, that she must accept the limitations of her disease. Of course, she didn't.
As a female entrepreneur with a very successful business and as a mother, a writer, an author of many published books, she's led a life of successes that far exceeds most. Not all her books are about mental health, but she has done much writing to promote understanding of her disease.
Tell us about your new release, Kenna...
Batshit Crazy on Murder Island
Annie’s back!
Batshit Crazy on Murder Island is out, the 2nd in the Annie Hansen Mysteries
series.
“…a good dose of suspense and action throughout and I also liked the
growing romance between Mark and Annie!” ~ Judith Holmes, Fort Steele, Canada
“What happens when a gang of vicious drug dealers hit the sleepy Canadian town
of Serendipity? Annie wakes up to the sound of gunshots…If you enjoy a
fast-paced, easy read, with a good dose of suspense and action and
unforgettable characters, Batshit Crazy is for you! Pick up Annie’s latest
adventure today!” ~ Sean Robins, author of The Crimson Deathbringer series of
thriller sci-fi space operas!
Things have been quiet on Serendipity Island, Canada for two years. But this morning, Annie awakens with a start at the sound of gunfire and a jetboat getting away. The golden retriever, Chuckles, and the sleeping Mark heard nothing but Annie is on the job.
There are a large number of perpetrators and a lot of action as Annie Hansen, a twenty-six year
old female private eye and her partner, Mark Snow, an RCMP detective track down the trouble.
Annie and her partner were instrumental in solving two gruesome murders on Serendipity in the previous book, Blood Sister, which led to the epithet ‘Murder Island’ by the local media.
Annie
suffers from schizophrenia and throughout the book her hallucinations play a
small part.
If you enjoyed Blood Sister (Book 1 in the Annie Hansen
Mysteries series), you’ll love Batshit Crazy on Murder Island.
 |
| Kenna McKinnon, Author |
Books may be autographed by
texting 780-318-7269 or email at: contact@KennaMcKinnon.info
So many friends
and family have contributed to the genesis and final execution of this second in
the mystery series of Annie Hansen, who suffers from a grander yet more gentle
version of the illness that Kenna knows so well.
This book is dedicated to her
daughter, Diane, and her late son Steve with treasured memories and all her
love. The Annie Hansen series is also dedicated to all who are touched by
mental illness, in its many ramifications, and the possibility of love, career
satisfaction, and self-actualization for those previously marginalized and
ignored by “mainstream” society.
As well as those friends and family members
often injured by our random and sometimes thoughtless acts. If you enjoyed
either or both books in the Annie Hansen Mysteries series the author and
publisher would be grateful for a short yet honest review. Have fun with it and
happy reading, dear friends!
Crazy Story has been brought to you by The W.Olf Project
"Absolutely nothing, though, can prepare them for the stark truth."
Monday, September 6, 2021
Pauline Barclay : Between the Sun and the Rainbow
Pauline Barclay : Between the Sun and the Rainbow: Written as a tribute to her ancestors, Eileen Schuh’s novel Between the Sun and the Rainbow is a read that will appeal to many. Eileen ha...
I invite you to read my guest post on Pauline Barclay's blog
Monday, August 16, 2021
Serendipity: ser·en·dip·i·ty "A fortunate stroke of chance"
The pandemic has been wickedly hard on so many of us. Just when we most needed the support systems we had worked so hard to develop, they were ripped away from us by lockdowns, quarantines, isolation, stay-at-home orders, masks...
Now as we try to emerge from the clutches of Covid, we face not only terrifying variants but all those deep seated fears that have been ground into our consciousness over the past 18 months--fear of others, fear of getting the virus, giving the virus, fear of travel, of laughter. Fear of 'normal'.
Artists, musicians and writers struggle with their own fears as they attempt to do their job of helping the world cope, offering hope, keeping us sane.
Sometimes the only way out, is escaping reality...with a 'cosy mystery'. I'd say it was rather serendipitous that my friend and British writer Pauline Barclay dropped me an email and offered to take me and my friends, family and fans on a journey.
Pauline Barclay - Post for Eileen - 130821
A huge
thank you Eileen for having me back on your wonderful Blog to talk about my
latest publication, Serendipity.
Pauline Barclay
Lockdown and restriction have been tough for everyone. Mentally, people are exhausted and for some life will never be the same again. I would be lying if I said I don’t have dark days. I enjoy running, I love photography and writing has always been one of my escapisms. At the end of last year, with lockdown imminent again, I decided to write a novella that would have feel good factor. With the two main characters already developing in my head, I decided to write a cosy mystery. For several months I escaped with these two wonderful characters, Craig Gardner, ex-police detective inspector and nineteen year old Roo Chattaway. The three of us went on a journey to find answers!
Whilst developing their characters it brought back memories of when my husband and I were members of artistic roller-skating club. With these thoughts, I decided young Roo would be an artistic skater thereby adding a new dimension to her personality.
Serendipity is as much about the main characters as it is about them trying to find answers to questions. The little dog on the cover is not only the series logo, but he has a role in the story too. And of course, a cosy mystery wouldn’t be quite the same without a little romance.
Serendipity is a light read with a warm cosy feel that I hope will leave readers with a smile and, hopefully, wanting more.
Serendipity
A Gardner & Chattaway Cosy Mystery
Book 1
Craig Gardner, Private Investigator and his young Assistant, Roo Chattaway, find themselves searching for answers to other people’s questions, but is everything what it seems?
Why has Mark Cooper not returned home? Is a prominent surgeon having an affair? Could there be a connection between shoes being stolen and the untying of a houseboat? And, how did a body, found by a dog walker, end up in Robinson Glen?
Serendipity, is the first in a new series of cosy, feel good, mystery novellas and is available in Kindle and paperback (from all good book shops).
You can also find me on…
Instagram
@paulinebarclay
Founder
of Chill
with a Book Awards
Thursday, December 10, 2020
New Release!
So excited to announce the release of my new scifi, Project W.Olf. It comes as a trilogy of quick-read eBooks as well a paperback with the complete story.
“An astonishing science fiction adventure that seizes your attention from page one!” Laurence St. John, best-selling author of the Metatron Series
“If you want a story with suspense, mystery, a bit of romance and some science-fiction thrown in... I'd highly recommend this series!” ~Cheryllynn Dyess, Author of The Chronicles of Elizabeth Fairbairn series
“The characters, odd as they seem to be, have souls that transcend the ordinary definition of love and life itself." ~Kenna Mary McKinnon, Author of Blood Sister
“If you want a story with suspense, mystery, a bit of romance and some science-fiction thrown in... I'd highly recommend this series!” ~Cheryllynn Dyess, Author of The Chronicles of Elizabeth Fairbairn series
Available from Amazon and Smashwords
Eileen Schuh
Canadian writer
www.eileenschuh.com
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Amazing New Cover!
Buried Treasure looks amazing with its new cover! Congratulations to Gilli Allan!
Here's a link to my review of the novel
Here's a link to my review of the novel
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Cover Reveal, Covid-style
She was almost killed, now she writes novels...
Interview with Gilli by Gilli Allan
You know you're in a pandemic when your author friends interview themselves for your blog.
With the Covid19 crisis taken an emotional toll on me and robbing me of a good percentage of my stamina and sanity, my good friend Gilli Allan prodded me to help her promote her novel, Buried Treasure, re-released with a brand new cover.
Click here for my Amazon review of Buried Treasure
Feeling less than able myself to muster up an appropriate congratulatory blog, I let her go it alone. She's a great writer. I love her books. I love her attitude. Take a listen to what she wants to tell you, not about her book but about herself:
Interview with Gilli by Gilli Allan
 |
| Gilli Allan, author |
With the Covid19 crisis taken an emotional toll on me and robbing me of a good percentage of my stamina and sanity, my good friend Gilli Allan prodded me to help her promote her novel, Buried Treasure, re-released with a brand new cover.
Click here for my Amazon review of Buried Treasure
Feeling less than able myself to muster up an appropriate congratulatory blog, I let her go it alone. She's a great writer. I love her books. I love her attitude. Take a listen to what she wants to tell you, not about her book but about herself:
Gilli Allan: Thank you for the invitation to your blog.
When and where were you born?
Gilli: I’ll tell you the where but not the
when. Orpington, in Kent, in the United
Kingdom.
Where do you live now?
In Gloucestershire in the West of England,
in an area known as the Cotswold Hills. But not the posh and sedate part,
beloved of Tory grandees, but in a village near the far more counter-culture
and alternative town of Stroud.
Have you ever been in a life or death
situation?
During the summer of my thirteenth year, I
was crossing the road outside my house and was hit by a van. It was a
serious accident; I was thrown about fifteen feet and landed on my face, and apparently
there was a lot of blood. Fortunately, I’ve never had any memory of it although
still suffer from mild PTSD if I have any kind of a shock.
Luckily a police car happened to be
cruising the area and alerted emergency services. I was carted off to hospital
very swiftly and actually made a fairly swift recovery (although I still blame
my creaky knees on being hit by that van, and the dis-function of my thought
processes is obviously due to undetected brain damage!).
What is your favourite colour?
It’s got be yellow, the colour of sunshine,
daffodils and baby chicks. When PVC was all the rage, I had a yellow oilskin (a
proper sea-going garment).
You didn’t go to university. Why not?
My performance at school was indifferent.
The only subject I was good at was art. (I have belatedly come to the
conclusion that I’m dyslexic. I can tick
nearly all the pointers.) I left to go to art school at sixteen but dropped out
after 2 years.
When did you first start writing?
I first decided to write a book when I was
around ten, but the urge to create was soon blighted by the difficulty of
dreaming-up a coherent story. I resurrected the hobby in my young teenage years
and carried on writing – beginning but never finishing – a number of ‘books’. I
did it to please myself, never considering it a serious ambition.
What were you doing when the idea ‘to take
writing seriously’ occurred to you?
I was doing the ironing, while listening to
the radio. I had a three-year-old son, and was unenthusiastic about the idea of
trying to resume work as an illustrator in advertising. What else could I do that would enable me to
stay at home? What else was I good at? A
radio programme came on about Mills and Boon, and the light bulb went on.
But you say you are unable to write a
category romance, what do you mean?
I fully intended to try to write this kind
of book but found I couldn’t do it. Once I’d put pen to paper the plot
instantly took a very non-M&B direction. I am not dissing the genre, but in
giving myself permission, as it were, to try writing seriously, I was instantly
gripped by the magic and potential. I
knew I HAD to finish the book that was unfolding before my eyes, whether or not
it proved a commercial prospect.
How have you been coping in the Covid 19
emergency?
I am well aware of our good fortune. I can
only imagine the desperation of those with young children who are financially
insecure, and are forced to live cooped-up in a high-rise block!
I have always been pretty self-reliant and
self-sufficient. In the current bizarre
situation, it probably helps that I don’t have grandchildren and not many close
friends. All the people I am most deeply attached to live several hours drive
away, so at the best of times, we don’t meet-up that often. Living in
London, my son and his wife are hyper aware of hygiene, and are probably the
most unlikely people to catch the virus. I’d love to see them, of course,
and also my best friend and my brother and sister and their partners, but life
is what it is. I don’t spend time
fretting about what I can’t do. I just
get on with what is possible.
Do you have strongly held spiritual beliefs?
I am fairly fatalistic about life. My
accident is a case in point. Had the van been travelling faster, had I not been
a fairly resilient, strong-boned individual, had the police car not been
cruising the area, who knows? I have a code I live by which could broadly be
described as Christian, but I am more political than religious. I don’t take my
skepticism about the super-natural as far as Richard Dawkins. His certainty about the materiality of life
annoys me, as his position discounts many people’s mystical and paranormal
experiences. My own experience and that of members of my family, leads me to
the sense (I wouldn’t put it as strongly as belief) that there is more to life
than meets the eye.
Have you achieved what you wanted to
achieve in life?
The trouble with ambitions is that they are
either unreached or if they are, you don’t notice and fix your sights on
something further off in the distance.
As a child I wanted to be rich and
famous. As art was the career I seemed
to be heading for, a famous artist was the goal.
I then decided I wanted to go out with and
ultimately marry a pop star. Every girl
at school would envy me. The fame would come vicariously. Or I could be a famous fashion model. I was forever pulling ‘the face’ in mirrors,
and wishing other people would see what I could see. Any flaws could be overcome
by dieting, a growth spurt and good lighting.
When I decided to try my hand at writing
seriously, the ambition was to be published.
That happened so quickly that my ambition instantly changed to becoming
a bestseller and going on chat shows.
I have reached a point in life where
becoming famous would be a nuisance. I certainly don’t crave ‘things’; I am
proud of re-using, up-cycling, and making-do and mending. I have garments in my wardrobe that go back
to my twenties!
Now, I just want people to read my
books.
Oh, I’ve just had a thought. A
major movie deal would be nice.
BURIED TREASURE
Find Gilli’s other books TORN, LIFE CLASS and FLY or FALL at
Contact Gilli at
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