Teagan Oliver's Blog

It's summer beach read time! And I'm sharing what I'm reading on that hot nights when the only thing I want to do is be in front of the air conditioner with a great book on the Kindle!


Click on the picture above to purchase through Amazon(this is not an affiliate link. I make no money from this.)
I'm addicted to the Sweetbriar Cove Series from Melody Grace. She gives me all the feels in her imaginary town of Sweetbriar on Cape Cod. The first and second books were incredible and I'm now on the third in the series. 
This from Melody Grace and Amazon...
Brooke Delancey is looking for a fresh start. She’s packed up her heartbreak and traded her old life for a new beginning, managing the prettiest hotel on Cape Cod. She swears this time will be different: no drama, no distractions, and definitely no heart-stopping kisses with a handsome stranger. Which is exactly what she finds the night she meets Riley Ford.

Riley is gorgeous, charming… and intrigued by the buttoned-up blonde whose kisses are anything but restrained. He knows a thing or two about starting over, and he’s convinced a little fun is exactly what Brooke needs to put the past behind her. And he knows exactly the man for the job…

With a tempting offer like that, Brooke can’t help but try another kiss - or two, or three. But as the chemistry gets hotter, and their connection deepens, Brooke and Riley will discover that building a new future means reckoning with the past. 

Can two unlikely hearts take a chance on a new tomorrow? Or will their sparks burn out with the end of summer in Sweetbriar Cove? Find out in the sweet and sexy new read from New York Times bestselling author Melody Grace! 

Another young person from our community passed away yesterday.

For me, all I know is the grief I feel that yet another life has gone way too soon. Maybe I'm getting old. I've seen far too much of this and it's heartbreaking every single time, whether they are related or not. We are community. We are family. In this case, he was family, but that doesn't mean anything when you grow up in a small place. Every child is your child. And every hurt they have is yours.

Out of this long list of young people that have left us too soon, there are so many left behind that still mark the holidays, birthdays and life events that they have missed. We struggle, knowing that the pain we feel is as much for ourselves as it is for them. We share our memories with others, many times through social media, so that their memory, their presence lives on around us.

Every day when my son leaves I tell him to be safe. He finds it funny that I still continue to do so, but if it's that one reminder that might stick in his brain and help him, I don't care if it's funny. I do it because I couldn't bare it if it was him. I have the greatest reverence and respect for those parents that endure a loss of a child, no matter the age. A child should never die before a parent. It's not how it's supposed to work. And yet, all too often it happens.

Be kind to others today. Take a moment to actually listen to someone, or just say hello. Cherish life and hug your loved ones... blood or not. It matters not.

I've never binge-watched any series... and yet, I found myself binge watching the first three season of the BBC's Shetland series based on Ann Cleeves' (here in Maine that would be "Cleaves") books and featuring Detective Inspector Perez.


Think of it as Murder She Wrote with a lot more brains and plot twists! The scenery is to die for... seriously! Since during most of the shows, at least one person or another gives in to the elements and landscape. Ann Cleeves' stories such as Raven Black are the basis for inspiration for most of the first two seasons of the show. Her characters live on, taking on new adventures in season three.



I started listening to it while I write to distract myself from my son's latest obsession with Sons of Anarchy. He has a taste for the more blood-thirsty shows, being also a fan of Vikings. But as I listened to the episodes of Shetland, I found myself becoming more and more distracted from my writing by the language, and the scenery and the complicated plots of the series. If you have any kind of history with Maine and its islands, you'll see a stark resemblance to the settings. Had most of the characters had a different lilt, they could easily have been from Maine.

But the writing? It's pure gold. I want to be Ann Cleeves when I grow up because her stories and characters are so fascinating.

Did I mention that Season 4 is being filmed now?!

I've got some major writing to do before I get distracted by the next season.

Enjoy!

Daily Word Total: 1794 Total Word Count: 3065

Hellllooooooo! 

It is actually day 3 as I write this post, but since I didn't finish my Nano day until late it is just going to have to do.


The life of a writer is the same as the life of a mom. You can do all the planning in the world, but there is still the load of laundry to be done and the dinner to cook. There is homework to check and bills to pay. You just have to write around it.

I started out wanting to write early in the morning and then finishing up at night, but yesterday (Day 2) this just didn't happen. Football boy needed to be taken to school with gear and that meant he had to stop for breakfast along the way. Dog needs to be fed and I needed to try to attempt to do more than pull on a sweatshirt and jeans for work. (Yes, I know. I wore a uniform for years. The jeans are a blessing.)

Did I mention that I broke a glass while I was trying to get the dog fed? Oh, and he had his mandatory 3 trips to the door to be done, just like every morning.

Anyway, 1 hour trip to work and then the usual work of the day, culminating in another 1 hour trip home again. Then, dishes, dinner and a run to the store that had to be done. Home again, quick shower to get the fish smell off (Bait, people! I work for a commercial bait company!) and then, finally, it was 8pm and I got a chance to sit down and write.

I'd love to tell you that I am in love with this book that I so carefully chose for the challenge, but despite my efforts to make this a magical book it has been dragging. The beginning of books don't usually drag for me. Middles are usually the seventh circle of Hell, but this one just defies any attempt at civilization. I don't know. I'm going to try and keep running with it, but it may require a book change.

We shall see. I've got another crazy day today, but hoping for some short sprinting on my lunch break to get the ball running. Are you participating? How is your challenge going?

It's NaNoWriMo Time!!!!!

And I'm off and writing! There are a bunch of us from Maine Romance Writers, as well as a ton of others around the globe that are all working toward the goal of writing a book in a month!
Want to join us? 
Click on the picture above above 

It's NaNoWriMo Time!!!!!

And I'm off and writing! There are a bunch of us from Maine Romance Writers, as well as a ton of others around the globe that are all working toward the goal of writing a book in a month!
Want to join us? 
Click on the picture above above 

Heh! I started out calling this blog post "Blogging from the Darkside" and then went to "Writing from the Darkside" and then went on to finally arrive at "Pubbing from the Darkside".  This little tidbit of information should be able to give you a little hint over what has been happening at the Oliver Homestead since I last posted.

Big News! I am part of a great collaberation with a collection of Writers who decided that if a romance book should be done, it should be done by us! Hence, the beginning of what is now know as Welcome to Serenity Harbor, Maine.

This is huge! This is ginormous! All of the books are set around the fictional coastal Maine town of Serenity Harbor. We didn't limit genre, only that their characters fall in love in Maine.

For me, this was a return to something that I love... well, yes... it was a return to writing. I've blogged a little bit about some of my struggles with illness that left with being unable to write for a while. But I am doing well health wise and I wrote the first of the stories in the Anthology. It's called, ONLY YOU.

I won't give it all away, but I will tell you that these are the characters that I love to write! They are strong-willed and determined, but they also are not immune to love.

We have the cover and that is a really good thing! Especially, since it's a really great cover !

This has been THE project for the last six months. Much of that time has been spent writing my part of the anthology, a novella called ONLY YOU. Another part of that was working with my friend and cohorts to come up with this great anthology! Why wouldn't you enjoy it?! It's filled with stories of love that are all set around the fictional Maine town of Serenity Harbor. Want to know which town Serenity Harbor is patterned after? We'll never tell... well, maybe we will!

Anyway, who can write better about love in Maine than a bunch of Maine Romance authors! I gave you a tantalizing tidbit the other day from my story. Poor Nate Cooper, he doesn't know what he's up against when he decides to take on Kara Simpson. Lucky for him, he's got the whole town behind him!

And what is this rumor of sheep wandering the streets of Serenity Harbor, Maine? Well, you'll just have to read the stories to find out~

PRE ORDERS ON SALE NOW!!!!

AVAILABLE FOR PRE ORDER AT:

AMAZON

BARNES AND NOBLE

KOBO

iBOOKS

Coming this November!