Tuesday, October 7, 2014

A Candid Writing Moment with Sharon McGregor

Sharon McGregor's photo."Writing about the farm horses in Autumn Dreams sent me back to my own memories of these wonderful animals. We had our own form of car pooling back in the late forties/early fifties.  In the winter when roads weren't open to cars, we travelled to our one-room country school by horse drawn sleigh or van, taking turns to cart the students who lived along our road. The van was a unique invention. Built of lightweight materials, a closed in box on runners, it was pulled by a team of horses. The van had a plastic or glass windshield, holes in the front for the reins, a bench for sitting, and usually was equipped with a tiny stove that burned kindling wood. My father used this transport to carry the mail three times a week in the winters over a thirty mile route. On the way home from school we taxed the patience of the driver with games of "tagged you last" till we were threatened with being left to walk home in the snow. After a storm the unploughed roads were filled with huge banks, causing the van to turn over on its side. Sparks would fly from the stove, and we'd have to crawl out and right the van, hoping the tongue wasn't broken and the horses remained calm. One morning I counted a record day when the van upset five times on the way to school. Writing a fear of these gentle giants into my character Maggie required a good look at my own fears (not of horses) to figure out how she would feel when she had to learn to work with Bonnie to help her friend."
Sharon McGregor
author of Northern Lights
and the soon-to-be-released Autumn Dreams 



My new 'do'   Heather and I got our hair done today.
Sharon McGregor is a Canadian author who has recently transplanted to the west coast. She has written humour, romance and mystery for magazines such as Sasee, Long and Short Romance, Great Mystery and Suspense Magazine and Horizon as well as stories for the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. When not fighting with her cat Zoey for control of the computer keyboard, she is working at her ice cream shop or her bath and body shop.  
 Maddie Smart is at a crossroads. Her job and her relationship have both suddenly ended. On the advice of a friend she flies to a northern fishing lodge to recoup and plan her next move. Here she meets fishermen who don't fish, a policeman who does, a man who says he's seen Sasquatch and a lodge owner who sets her pulses racing.

She finds herself running headlong into danger with no idea of who she can trust. Her feelings for Lodge owner Rupert are clouded by his hot and cold moods, and her growing suspicions of his right hand man's involvement in a bear part harvesting ring. Maddie must face her deepest fear before she can find answers. She also must learn to trust again before she can find her own happy ending.http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00INIAEV6/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00INIAEV6&linkCode=as2&tag=inspromanove-20
 






























5 comments:

  1. Lovely memory for your writing moment.

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    1. Thanks Lindsey. I love to go thumbing through old albums. There are so many stories there. My next Prism novella Prairie Promise goes back further- to the time when my grandmother was a girl, freshly arrived from Ireland.

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  2. Thanks for featuring my candid moment, Jacquie!

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    1. You're welcome, Sharon. Always a pleasure to feature Candid Writing Moments by Prism Book Group authors.

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  3. Sharon, you had some amazing adventures in your childhood. They sound scary but fun. Isn't is amazing how these experiences find their way into our stories...one way or another. Good job. Loved reading this.

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