Susan Fox's Blog

I’m delighted that BookPage chose my Blue Moon Harbor romance “Sail Away With Me” as a Top Pick for December! Reviewer Christie Ridgway called it a “wonderful story of finding love in the midst of hardship and pain” and said, “Prepare for tears and smiles, and have tissues at the ready.” I was also interviewed by BookPage’s Savanna Walker. If you’re interested in how I decided to include “The Tao of Pooh” and Japanese internment camps in a holiday story – and gain other insights into my writing process – check out Savanna’s interview: https://bookpage.com/interviews/23471...Sail Away with Me

It’s never too early for a holiday celebration. Especially when it involves gifts for you! Come join me and fellow romance authors Fern Michaels, Leah Marie Brown, Jules Bennett, Allyson Charles and Kieran Kramer in our 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway.

We are celebrating our holiday books Winter Wishes, The Christmas Wedding Swap and Christmas at Two Love Lane by offering you author interviews, background info about the books, recipes – and 12 days of giveaways (including books, gift cards, and Christmas ornaments). You can enter each day for your chance at a new prize.

Here’s the link: https://leahmariebrown4.wixsite.com/1...

And, by the way, if you want to read the first two chapters of “Blue Moon Harbor Christmas,” my contribution to the Winter Wishes anthology, you’ll find them on my website at: http://susanlyons.ca/books/blue_moon_...

Come Home with Me It’s ARC time for “Come Home With Me,” my third Blue Moon Harbor title. I’ve spent the past few days getting organized. Kensington sent me a few print Advance Review Copies, and most of those are going to bookstores and reader groups. I’ve also made digital ARCs: mobi, epub, and pdf formats. Someone asked me if she could join my “ARC Team,” and I thought, cool, I have an ARC Team! Of course she could join.

Are you a romance reader who likes to review books and post your reviews on Goodreads and Amazon (or Kobo, B&N, iBooks, etc.), and to share your reviews on your FB, Twitter, Instagram or whatever? If so, would like to join my ARC Team and receive a digital ARC of “Come Home With Me” (and future releases as well)? Drop me a note through the Contact form on my website at susanfox.ca and let me know you want to join, and tell me whether you’d like a mobi, epub, or pdf file.

On October 31, "Winter Wishes" (Kensington Zebra) will release. It's a holiday antho with novellas by Fern Michaels, Leah Marie Brown, Jules Bennett, and me. I'm thrilled to be in the company of such terrific writers!

My story, "Blue Moon Harbor Christmas," is the second title in my Blue Moon Harbor series. It's a reunion story about a couple whose college hookup created a child--and led to a marriage proposal from Michael, one that Jillian rejected. Now, after paying child support for eight years, Michael's more mature and realizes he'd like to be a real dad. But will Jillian, and their son Cole, agree? And might the adult Jillian and Michael actually fall in love this time around?

If you'd like to read more about their story, I've just added a bunch of info to my website: behind-the-scene notes, the first two chapters, even a recipe for cheesy scalloped potatoes. Check it out at susanfox.ca.

Are you ready to fly?

It’s a week to the release of “Fly Away With Me,” the first title in my Blue Moon Harbor from Kensington Zebra (which comes out on July 25 and is of course now available for pre-order). Here’s a little background on the book and the series.

While I was still writing the Caribou Crossing Romances, my guy and I were spending a good part of the summer cruising around the British Columbia Gulf Islands in our old wooden motor boat. Growing up in Victoria, the ocean’s always been part of my life—and once upon a time I even had a job that regularly took me to the Gulf Islands. There’s something intriguing about small islands, don’t you think?

Anyhow, I had a craving to write about this part of the world: the rugged, gorgeous scenery; the eccentric characters; and of course the romances that can develop in such an unusual setting.

I proposed naming the series after my fictional island, Destiny, and including the word “destiny” in each book title. My publisher (Kensington) contracted for the first couple of titles in the series, but preferred the name Blue Moon Harbor to Destiny Island, and so a series was born!

Having created Destiny Island and Blue Moon Harbor, I knew that I wanted the first book in the series to showcase the island’s scenery, diverse population, and “island” philosophy of life. How best to do that?

Well, I love flying in a seaplane—so much more than in those giant claustrophobic sardine can jumbo jets. So what better hero than an outdoorsy, laid-back guy who loves to fly and owns the local seaplane business? I thought it would be fun to pair him with a “fish out of water” super-responsible, organized lawyer from a big city back east. I figured it would be fun for Aaron Gabriel to show Eden Blaine his part of the world and try to get her to loosen up a little—and of course for the two of them to start falling for each other at the same time.

Now, what might bring Eden to a dot-on-the-map island off the West Coast of British Columbia? It’s not at all uncommon for “old hippies” to make their homes on these islands, and I’m sure that, back in the day, there was a commune or two. So I decided to send Eden on a mission to track down her mom’s long-lost teen runaway sister—after her mom (going through her own deceased mother’s belongings) found a clue tying her sister to the old commune on the island. But why couldn’t her mom make the trip herself? Because she’s frail, recovering from breast cancer.

Having had a mom who went through a battle with cancer (ovarian in my mother’s case, and yes, she did survive), I know how traumatic the experience can be for the entire family. So I made Eden a woman who puts family first, a woman who’d do anything for her ailing mother. Eden’s tie to her parents, as well as to a job she loves, makes her very rooted to her Ottawa home.

Which means, if she and Aaron fall for each other, she wouldn’t just up and move to Destiny Island. But why couldn’t Aaron move to Ottawa? In part, it’s that, as Eden says, he’s an eagle: he belongs in the Pacific Northwest and she can’t imagine him anywhere else. But also, he has his own family ties, to his younger half sister and her young daughter. Aaron and Miranda grew up under incredibly dysfunctional circumstances and have an unbreakable bond, and when she admits that her life is messed up and she needs his help, of course he wants to be there for her.

A satisfying romance novel needs conflict, right? So yes, I gave Aaron and Eden their fair share of it. There are times when it seems simply impossible for them to find a way of being together. But does that mean they should walk away from love? You and I both know the answer to that question!

I hope you’ll join both of them on their journey. Fly Away with Me