Victoria Barbour's Blog

I was chatting with an old friend today about blogging and she asked me a question about my blog. It wasn't until I popped on to tell her what font I use (that's the kind of things people with blogs chat about!) that I realized my last post was ELEVEN MONTHS AGO! 

Where did time go? What have I done in that time? Well, to be honest, I didn't do a whole lot of anything for most of the time. I tried to write. But my mojo had gotten up and stormed out the door in diva fashion. Luckily, we went on a trip to England in October and while I was there I started to feel the strings of stories wanting to be told. 

In October I wrote a Christmas short story, A Kiss Worth Chasing. That's now on offer for free to anyone who signs up to my mailing list. See the box to the right of this post? You can sign up over there! 

Then in December I chatted with my print publisher, Flanker Press, and we made a deadline for book 5 in the Heart's Ease series. Between then and now I wrote a novel, flew my editor down work with me, set it to Flanker, set it up as an ebook and am now preparing for it's release next week. In between all of that my son and I battled wicked chest infections, and on the day the book was sent to the printer, I ended up in hospital having emergency surgery. I'm fine. :) 

So that's it for 11 months. I'm going to try my best to blog a bit more regularly. I know. I know. If you follow my blog you know I've said that many times in the past. But hey, at least I keep trying. 

So tell me in the comments. What have you done these past eleven months? 

Hello friends. First of all, my apologies if there is a higher than normal amount of typos in this post. I'm having some carpal tunnel issues and am using dictation software these days to write. I'm still getting the hang of it.

This week's question comes from my favourite romance writer from British Columbia, Canada – Brenda Margriet.  she is asking us the following question:

Describe your perfect writing space/retreat. Do you need hustle and bustle or peace and quiet? Coffee shop or secluded cabin? 

There was a time when I had a very specific answer to this question. However, like all things in my life, that changed once I started writing full-time. First of all, there is a difference for me at least in a writing space versus a writing retreat. Today I will talk about retreats.

Ahhh, the glorious writing retreat. I've had experiences with formal retreats, complete with mentors and readings. And I've also witnessed the benefits of a small writing retreat surrounded by your closest writing friends. For both of these I want the same thing.

 No Wi-Fi.  I can't stress this one enough. If I'm taking time away from my family to write, then I cannot be distracted with easy access to Facebook, Google, and YouTube.An outdoor space where I can walk or sit and think. If the weather is good, I also like to write outside.A body of water is always inspirational, but I don't care if it's an ocean, a pond, or a river.  an added bonus for me is a like minded group of writers who find writing  sprints beneficial.  what is a writing Sprint, you may ask? It's when we set a fixed amount of time to concentrate only on our writing, and when were done, celebrate as a group how many words we have managed to write. I love a series of 25 minute sprints with five minute breaks, challenging ourselves to really get in the zone. This is something specific to retreats. I find sprint's are not as useful in my day to day writing. I also like to be warm when I write. So a wood stove if it's a winter retreat (or a retreat anytime of the year in Newfoundland) is always a bonus.

I think that sums it up. Once upon a time I would be sharing pictures of scenic retreats. Perhaps a whimsical cabin or swanky hotel outside the city. But now I think more practically. Having been on several retreats that have been hugely successful, it's helped to refine my wish list. 

Now on to the rest of the hop.  I'm really curious to see what Carrie Elks will have to say. She is in England, a place that I would love to go retreat to. 

Fun question on the blog hop today by my dear friend Jenna Da Sie. She's asking us:

If you inherited a bunch of undeveloped land, what would you do with it?  

Well, Jenna, what a timely question. Hubby and I are always talking about what we'd do with land. We have many idea, which run the gamut from building our own Heart's Ease Inn (yea, Elsie's inn in my Heart's Ease series) to starting a tiny house community for all our friends. 

However, those both seem like ideas that would require not only the inheritance of a lot of land, but a ton of cash to go with it. 

Right now we are looking for land to do the following:

Build an eco friendly home that's as low energy as possible

This is not the home we would have, but maybe I could turn this into my writing cabin? Hmmm.... 

Start a fruit tree farm with apples, plums, and cherries 

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Have several honeybee hives around to help with pollination and of course, sustaining our honey craving

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We think two or three acres could do this for us. So if you happen to live in Newfoundland and know of some land for sale that doesn't cost an arm and leg, let us know. ;)

So that's my answer. Since there's only four of us on the hop today I'm going to share links to all of them, because I adore my RWW peeps. :) Brenda Margriet , Jenna Da Sie , Leslie Hachtel

And of course, feel free to tell me your answer to the question in the comments below. 

 

Woah. Check out the new banner! Spiffy or what? 

So glad to be blogging with the awesome authors at Romance Writers Weekly today. It's been a while. But I couldn't miss the chance to talk about this topic (although I'm pretty sure my answer won't come as a surprise to anyone!)

Also, I'm thrilled to follow my dear dear friend Jenna Da Sie in today's hop. She left me (and the cold Newfoundland winters) for the warmth of California. I'm trying not to hate her. ;) 

The wonderful Carrie Elks asks us: 

How do you choose the location for you books? Do you pick somewhere you've already been, or do you research creatively, using Google and other methods to find the perfect spot?

As most of you know, all of my books that I write as Victoria Barbour are set at least partially in Newfoundland and Labrador. This is because it's the location I love best in the world, and I'm a super-patriotic Newfoundlander. But I do take my characters elsewhere. As much as possible I try to bring them to places I've been, simply because I like to draw on my memories of those places. The little things that stand out to me when I'm travelling like the smell of a neighbourhood or the way people drive in Ireland. But there are times when I have to bring characters to places I've never been, and then I go deep into Google earth, and travel blogs. If I can't rely on my impressions, then I'll see what others have thought. 

My Hannah Hunter books allow me the freedom to set my books anywhere, but even then, I've put my characters in New York City (one of my favourite cities in the world!) and Ireland. In Ireland, I've used locations I've been, and roads I've driven. I guess i like the authenticity of knowing my setting. And I like to use it as an excuse to travel for research! 

Now let's hop over to Teresa Keefer to see what her answer is. I can't wait!

We’re getting personal on the blog hop this week. It’s my turn to get the bloggers thinking and I asked:

If your life was a romance novel, what subgenre would it be, and why would your hero be amazing? Also, what would you call it? Can you write a blurb for it? 

The problem with asking this question is that I now have to answer it. So here we go. (And my apologies to my husband for making him the star of this week's post!)

When we break up – A romantic comedy

 

The first time he called her his girlfriend, she nearly drove off the road.

The first time he met her parents, she hustled him out of the house.

And the first time it dawned on her she might be falling in love, she thought it was time to break up.

Vicki doesn’t want a boyfriend. And she certainly doesn’t want one who remains friends with his exes. “When we break up” becomes her catch phrase to him, warning him that good things do come to an end. So imagine her shock when one night she says, “If we break up.” For ever-patient, ever-loving Reg, that one little word becomes a sign that nothing is inevitable, and maybe, just maybe, he has a chance of keeping the kooky woman who’s playing with his heart from giving up on a once-in-a-lifetime love. 

******

And because I’m a romantic, I’ve made a cover out of our engagement photo. Yes. This is the actual moment that my darling husband, the most supportive fan I have in life, asked me to marry him. 

Oh, and the final question. Why is Reg an amazing romance hero? Well, he’s cute, of course. Don’t get me started on his blue eyes. But more importantly, he believes in me. Find me a woman who doesn’t love a man who has 100 per cent faith in her dreams and is willing to support them, and I’ll eat my words. But there’s nothing sexier about a man than his willingness to help the woman he loves make her dreams come true. 

Now let’s go see what the wonderful Kathryn Renard has to share with us! I can’t wait to visit everyone on today’s blog hop!!! 

Third times a charm right? Because this is my third time writing this post today and if my computer crashes again, then there will be no post. 

Bah. I started this blog today so happy and full of optimism for 2016. And now I'm just raging against technology. 

Deep breath. Phew. Okay. 

Happy New Year everyone! 

This week Brenda Margriet is asking us to share a first with you. And I have the pleasure of sharing a "first" with you that happened just this very morning. 

Here's photographic evidence!

 

Here I am at Flanker Press, signing copies of Against Her Rules and Hard As Ice! While I've signed books in the past, this is the first time I've had a publisher, and the first time they've asked me to sign over 240 books to distribute across Newfoundland and Labrador. To say I'm excited is a wee bit of an understatement. 

Oh! Contest idea! I'm going to give a book (signed print book if you're in Canada, ebook if you're anywhere else in the world) to the first person to come close to telling me how long it took me to sign 6 cases of books.  

Just leave your answer in the comments below. And then be sure to hop on over to the wonderful Ms. Xio Axelrod's page to see what she has to share. 

This week we delve into the sometimes puzzling things that authors do on Google. Trust me. We search weird stuff. If you've come from Brenda Margriet's post, you know this to be true. ;) (I love you Brenda!) 

This week's question is:

What did you Google? The internet is an invaluable research tool for writers, but sometimes we google some searches that would raise more than a few eyebrows if seen out of context. So this week, 'fess up on what the strangest thing you've googled, and then explain why you were grubbing around in that particular search string.

Since I don't write suspense I haven't had to search anything particularly gruesome, but still, I've searched out some things I never thought I would.

Yup. While writing Hard As Ice this was a particular concern of mine. And yes, I google fully formed questions. I don't know why. It's like I expect Google to answer my question. Anyway, the answer was yes, and so Jack and Daphne were in the clear. Yay!

I've googled a lot of things, but this stands out in my mind today for some reason. I wish I could remember more. But this does give me an idea for a new weekly blog post. I'll start saving some of them and sharing them. 

Now on to Dani Jace to see what she'd searching. I have a feeling it's going to burn the socks off me cause she's hot! 

"Would You Rather" edition

This week I had the chance to devise our weekly blog content, and I'm in the mood to play. Since getting us all onboard for a rousing evening of Dungeons and Dragons isn't likely, I decided to challenge my friends at Romance Writers Weekly to a game of Would You Rather... with as much or as little explanation as desired.

As an added challenge, I've asked my pals to find photos for each of these to get bonus points. Yea. Points. What's a game without arbitrary rules and keeping score? I'm still not sure of the prize. But it'll be lack-lustre, I promise! ;)

Would you rather - eat haggis or chocolate covered bugs?

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HAGGIS! By a kilometre. By a mile. By a landslide! Since I've eaten haggis before, and enjoyed it, this is an easy one for me. But honestly, even if I hadn't eaten this scrumptious Scottish treasure already, one thought of bugs would have me gagging on the floor. 

Would you rather - skydive or scuba dive?

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SCUBA DIVE! In case my choice of images hasn't made it clear my feelings on both. Look at the nice serene underwater world, and the terror of tripping in some killing device and dancing from a plane at a gazillion feet above the universe. 

Would you rather - red headed hotties or blonde haired hunks? (Cause we all know we love brunettes the best!)

TIE! Sorry. I can't choose. When I started doing this, I thought I knew. Red headed. I mean, I thought "red haired hottie" and bam! Kevin McKidd sauntered into the picture. But then I went looking for blonde hunks, and there were so many to choose from. Brad Pitt is my favourite blonde, but all the awesome images of him were crazy or black and white. Then there's Charlie Hunnam (who I think got the Sons of Anarchy look from Brad Pitt, but I digress.) And Ryan Gosling. Oh my. So many blondes to choose from. So it's a tie. 

Would you rather - no reviews or all three star reviews?

THREE STARS! A review is a review, as far as I'm concerned. It means someone read something I wrote (yay!), and took the time to tell me, and the world, about it. No reviews leaves me feeling worse. Is it terrible? Is it just okay? Did anyone who bought my book even read it? No. Give me a review anyway. If it's bad, I can learn from it. If it's good, I can learn from it. And if I have a bunch of three star reviews, that tells me I have a lot to work on. And that's the power of reviews!

Would you rather - be stung by one wasp 10 times or 10 bees one time?

10 BEES! I have a hard time believing I even asked this question because I am TERRIFIED of things that sting. Wasps are evil. And bees, well. I'm coming around to bees. My husband wants to get honey bees in the spring and he's made it his mission to educate me on bees. Crap. I think I have to change my answer. Because I know if I bee stings me, it will die. And bees are in trouble. Which means humanity is in trouble.

1 WASP! So damn it all. I have to let that terrible, burning evil Wasp sting me. 10 times. I'm dying a little as I type this. Someone please be standing by to kill that sucker when it's done. And then bring me to the hospital! 

And there we have it! The game is complete. Buzz on over to Teresa Keefer to see her answers. I have to admit to enjoying these types of blogs, where we get to know our friends and favourite authors a bit better.

Feel free to play along in the comments and share your choices! 

Ahhh. The shameful world of guilty pleasures. That's what the sublime Sarah Hegger wants us to discuss today. Specifically, she asks: "What’s your secret passion? I have a thing for shoes and B-grade fantasy movies, what are some of your guilty pleasures?" (You and my husband, Ms. H. The B-grade fantasy movies, that is. Not the shoes.)

Aside from food, because, let's face it, there's not much out there that can be eaten that I'm not a fan of, I have many secret pleasures. But in the interest of keeping this post short, I'm going to go with a shopping pleasure (i.e.: something that costs me money to indulge in) and a personal pleasure (something that I can indulge in that only costs me time.)

My guilty shopping pleasure I actually don't act on regularly. Mainly because it's an expensive one. But recently, when I was in New York City I indulged in this beauty!

The Cross Botanica Green Day Lily pen with a fine gold nib. Plus a new jar of ink, which is a dark smoky purple. 

Yes, my name is Victoria and I am addicted to fountain pens. I love choosing my ink and slowly filling the converter with my desired colour. I also like to see how long it takes me to have to refill. Refilling your pen with ink is a good sign of how much writing I'm doing. Not that I write my novels with a pen, but all my notes are written by hand with this delicious pen. 

My second guilty pleasure wasn't at all guilty in the beginning. But having a child and a busy work-from-home career makes this decadent now. Ahhhh, the bath. The hot, steaming, bubbling bath. My bathroom is my oasis. I have the best tub in the universe and I use it every chance I can get. Hiding away in my pale pink bathroom, soaking in my deep tub, reading.... ah, there's no greater pleasure one can have alone. 

I'm not sharing a picture of my bathroom, but this is a pretty accurate image of my bathtub. My bathroom isn't as fancy but it's just as beautiful. :)

And there you have it. Two of my secret pleasures. Let's hop on over to see what Tracey Gee has to share with us today. I bet it's sinful! 

Ah, fall. Time to get back into the swing of blogging. Thank goodness I always have the fine ladies (and gent!) of Romance Writers Weekly to give me inspiration. A big thanks today to Kristi Rose who posed today's questions. If you've come here directly from her blog, welcome! 

Now let's get on to the good part. Kristi has four questions for us today. 

1. Describe your life in 20 words or less

Fulfilling. Nuff said. 

2. If your life was like Seinfeld, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or Golden Girls, what character would you be?

I'm going with the Golden Girls here, and I'm going to be Rose. I like people to be happy. I don't mind if others laugh at me. And I'm proud to come from a small place filled with large personalities. 

3. Who would win a fight between Chuck Norris and MacGyver?

Ugh. I don't get this Chuck Norris thing. Absolutely MacGyver. Brains over brawn any day. 

4. Would you rather be bald or have a huge mullet for the rest of your life?

Hahahahaha. This is a funny question. I'll go bald, since then I can choose from any number of wigs. Plus, for half the year, I'd need a hat to keep my head warm. 

And there you have it. Short and painless. I'm in the middle of writing a new project (can't wait to flush it out and tell you all about it!), so I'm keeping the answers to the point today. Now, hop on over to the lovely A.S. Fenichel and see who she'd like to be. 

Happy hopping friends!