The ARCs have arrived!

      The advanced reading copies of Blown Red are finally here!!

I'm getting super excited to them in bookstores and I hope you are, too!

Publication date is January 6, 2015. 

If you just can't wait, copies are now available for pre-order at Amazon.ca ; Indigo ; Kobo ; i-tunes ; or contact your favourite bookstore. : )

Please come and visit me at my new author website for more updates: susancphilpott.com

                        Looks like this is really happening!

Tales from Little Partridge Lake: Larry the Loon

Poor little Larry the Loon. For the first several weeks of his (or her) life, he was safely tucked between his gorgeous parents. A few weeks ago, his Dad took off for greener pastures - or bluer waters, as the case may be - leaving him in the loving wings of his devoted mother. The mother/chick pair were rarely apart - eating, sleeping, and just generally floating around together - day and night.

This morning, however, everything changed. Big Daddy-O flew in to reconnect with his lovely wife. After a heartwarming reunion and a little mutual fishing, the pair bid a fond farewell to Larry and took off into the great blue yonder. Sans Larry.

Apparently, that is the way it goes in the Loon world. The parents just up and go - leaving the chick to his or her own devices until he or she is able to fly. 

Larry is pretty close to taking wing. His flight feathers are almost in. I would imagine that within the next few days or weeks, Larry will make his inaugural flight. He'll flap his way over to a larger lake where he will hook up with a bunch of other hipster chicks. They'll hang out like a bunch of rowdy teens until it is time to fly south.

Poor Larry. He looks a tad forlorn out there on Little Partridge Lake all on his own. Good luck with those flight feathers, bird man! 

We'll be sad to see you go.

Life in Transition on Little Partridge Lake

I must admit I have not been writing as much as I should be lately. Spring arrived late at our new home on Little Partridge Lake and as summer approaches, the level of activity out on the lake has reached a fever pitch.

If you think Twitter and Facebook are distractions you should try a Common Loon vs. Canada Goose showdown out on the water. The geese won the battle, managing to save their five goslings from a vicious loon attack, but I'm afraid they lost the war. There has been no sign of the geese or their offspring for days.

On the beach, a red-winged blackbird and a tricky raven battle it out on a daily basis. The blackbird dive-bombs his much larger foe with a level of courage and derring-do that far outweighs his small size. Oddly, there are times when the mortal enemies walk together on our small beach, side by side, chatting amiably. These momentary ceasefires remind me of a cartoon sheepdog and coyote from my childhood. Those two foes waged bloody war only until five o'clock in the afternoon after which they punched the clock and went out for a drinks together.

Faced with that level of drama I find it next to impossible to drag myself back into the gray office and sit down at the computer.

Signy Shepherd will have to wait.














 Meanwhile....I've been exploring the lake. A natural transition zone occurs where the water meets the land. Along this magical boundary species from both the wooded forest and the aquatic environment abound.  Join me over the next few weeks as I encounter some truly amazing creatures.

 

Let's begin with some cool plant life.

Dotting the edges of the small lake are bog-like fens.
Fens are dominated by grasses and sedges and have a high diversity of other plant species...










...including these lovely wild irises.

On a healthy fen, carnivorous plants wait patiently for their next meal.


Just offshore, I found many spectacular examples of carnivorous pitcher plants. Check out this dangerous flower.







 Unfortunate insects, attracted by the flashy colours and musty smell of the flower head down the curled leaves, become stuck in the sticky interior and are digested by the plant.

Ugh.  Nasty way to die.



Hmmm....

Perhaps one of my villains might suffer a similar fate...?


Life and death in the transition zone.


Food for thought.

Addressing the Confidence Gap

Claire Shipman is a reporter for ABC News, and Katty Kay is the anchor of BBC World News America. They are two journalists at the top of their game, authors of The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance-- What Women Should Know.

I listened to Claire and Katty talking about their book on CBC radio's The Current yesterday morning. It was surprising to hear them say that despite their skills and accomplishments they still occasionally experience a profound lack of confidence.

What?! You mean I'm not the only one?

They went on to suggest that while confidence is partly influenced by genetics (you either have a warrior or a worrier genes) it is not a fixed psychological state. You can change your confidence level by worrying less about people-pleasing and perfection, and by taking more risks. Check out their website at The Confidence Code to take a quiz and to read some interesting tips on how to bolster your confidence.

The discussion touched a nerve in me as a writer. 

It is said that a successful writer needs talent, luck and persistence. I can say with - er - confidence - that I have decent amount of all three. 

But, missing from the list is a capacity for self-promotion. It is essential to be able to sell yourself as well as your product to your agent, your publisher and your editor - not to mention blog tours, cocktail parties, public speaking, interviews, etc, etc, etc. 

And that is where I fall short. 

I've never felt comfortable blowing my own horn. 

Why?

I was almost certainly born with the worrier vs. the warrior gene, and my guilt-infused catholic upbringing didn't help. Nor did my gender. Many studies have shown women are far less confident in general than men in just about every context. 

Is that because women have less testosterone coursing through their veins? Is it because they are afraid of being labelled a 'bitch' if they stride into a board room to voice their opinion? Are we all just a bunch of perfectionists - afraid of failure?  

Or, as Jessica Valenti commented on Twitter, "Maybe women's lack of confidence is not a personality flaw, but a predictable response to a culture that tells them they are not good enough."

Whatever the root cause, all I know is that for me, waxing eloquent on my own awesomeness is so far out of my comfort zone it makes me shudder to even think about it.

Still. I like a good challenge. I've taken quite a few risks in my life. I'm not afraid of failure. And now it seems I have another mountain to climb.

If I want to reach my full potential as a writer I must master the art of self-promotion.

Where to start?  Perhaps I should revisit those three requirements of being a successful writer and look at them from a different point of view. 

Instead of saying I have a decent amount of all three, maybe I should exult a little. Maybe I should try...

Celebrating my talent out loud.

Acknowledge that my 'luck' didn't fall in my lap by chance.

Remember just how tenacious and persistent I can be....

I'm can do this!



...Dammit.

  










 

A Scattering of Stardust

 I've finished my second book and the outcome for the series is now out of my hands. Time for a much needed vacation and a chance to regain some perspective on what matters and more importantly, what doesn't.

Don't get me wrong. I don't presume to have any special insight into this curious thing we call life. I write black and white thrillers for a reason. 

Nevertheless, on our way down to Boca Del Vista we spent an amazing day at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida...and it caused me to take a step back and take a broader view.

We live on a tiny blue planet tucked on one arm of a spiral galaxy known as the Milky Way. At its centre a super massive black hole known as Sagittarius A. Our sun is only one star among as many as 400 billion others that are rotating around the galactic center at around 220 km/second.

And our galaxy is a very active place.

In the almost 14 billion years since the Big Bang, stars are still being born in magnificent stellar nurseries such as the Eagle Nebula - also known as the Pillars of Creation in the gorgeous picture taken by the Hubble Telescope.

Peer in closer into one of the stellar nurseries and you might see a cloud of black dust circling an infant star. Wait a few billion years and that dust will coalesce, and planets will form. There may be up to 100 million planets or more, and of those, as many as 8 billion might exist in the 'Goldilocks zone' where the conditions are just right for the formation of life as we know it.

In the midst of all this life, older stars are dying. Depending on their size, they may slowly contract into a super dense white dwarf or explode in a massive supernova.

But  our busy galaxy is not alone in the universe. The Milky Way is surrounded by several smaller galaxies and is part of a larger group of galaxies known as the Virgo Supercluster.

Recent estimates put the total number of galaxies in the known universe at around 500 billion, each containing hundreds of billions of stars.

Even more astounding, every atom in your body was at one time swirling about the galaxy, roaming free on interstellar winds. (And just to really blow your mind...there are more atoms in your body than there are stars in the known universe)

So, next time you're feeling overwhelmed by the trials and tribulations of everyday life go outside and look into the night sky.

You are made up of a scattering of stardust.

You are almost 14 billion years old.

At the same time you are as ephemeral as a flash of moonlight reflecting off a solitary wave on a vast ocean.

Kinda puts things into perspective, doesn't it?
  

Ups and Downs?

Plenty of updates from the busy world of Dumpy Grace.

Number One - We moved! From the wilds of Eastern Ontario to the bliss of the Near North, we have relocated to the shores of a small, private lake. We were able to keep everything that was marvelous about our old place - the privacy, the wildlife, the wide open skies - and have added the astonishing diversity that comes from living on the edge of an aquatic ecosystem. Ducks galore, including Bufflehead, Ring-Necked and Wood ducks. Loon calls at night, Blue heron fishing in the reeds, American Bittern, Pileated Woodpeckers, Beavers, Otters....and that is just the beginning. Insect season hasn't started yet and when it does, I'm sure I'll discover creatures even more exciting than the Sammy the psuedoscorpion and moldy baby-carrot pine beetle. Can't wait!

Number Two - I received the Advanced Uncorrected Proofs of Blown Red from Simon and Schuster. Very cool to see it in book format. Once the final corrections are made the book will be printed with its gorgeous red cover.


Along with the proofs, I also received a copy of the manuscript that had been given a thorough one - word - at - a - time reading by a copy editor in NYC. The accompanying letter asked me to please read through the entire manuscript one more time to make sure that all the corrections made by the editor were indeed correct - oh, and by the way could I have it back to the publisher within two days because failure to do so might push back my publication date.  No problem! Did I mention that I received the package four days before our move date? No matter....ya gotta do what ya gotta do - and I did. Re-read Blown Red VERY CAREFULLY all in one day and got it back to the publisher with time to spare. Phew!



Number Three - I FINISHED the final draft of Dark Territory and it was approved by my editor, Becky Toyne. She pronounced it a great read. It has now gone off to Alison Clarke at Simon and Schuster for her final approval. I'm hopeful there will be no glitches but I'll just have to wait and see.

Meanwhile, I must say it is quite something to know that I have completed two fairly decent novels!










 Number Four -  Here comes the not so good news. Anne McDermid took several copies of Blown Red with her to the London Book Fair to try and sell it to the European market. Unfortunately, she did not have any luck. She reported that reaction was mixed. One publisher told her it was too violent while another told her it did not have enough hard core sex and violence. Another said it didn't grab her hard enough by the throat.

I am not too disappointed by the lack of success in Europe. Anne told me ahead of time that books by North American authors often must prove themselves in the NA market before being picked up in Europe. What is more discouraging is that she has yet to find an American publisher willing to take on the series. Still, her team is heading down to NYC in the next few weeks for another publishing event and she hopes they will have more success there.

I think the one thing that gives me pause is whether Simon and Schuster Canada will rethink their sales strategy based on the feedback from other publishers. They had been willing to go full tilt in the promotion of Blown Red. Will that still be the case given the lack of immediate enthusiasm from other publishers? I have no idea how the publishing industry works - but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that S and S Canada will carry on with their original strategy regardless.

But no matter what - nothing that happens from this point on could possibly be a downer. I've already reached goals far beyond my wildest expectations. Whatever happens now is icing on an already extraordinarily delicious cake.

I'm not stressing one tiny bit.















Number Five - we are off to Florida for a week of R and R. Life has been a whirlwind lately and a week of mindless beach reading sounds perfect just about now.

See you soon!