Amazon Prime Day Cozy Mystery Sale

I actually had to Google when Prime Day was and if it was in Canada. I've never participated in a Prime Day sale before. I only started buying products on Amazon during the pandemic when we finally upgraded to a Smart TV. Before that we had our old analogue beast that met our entertainment needs.  

A Prime subscription followed and the next thing I knew, I was one of those people who ordered stuff online and streamed Midsomer Murders. 

And here we are. I have two books on sale during Prime Day (July 12 and 13). 

Advertisement for Murder (reg 3.99) is going for 0.99 from July 11 - 13 and Death Knocks Twice (reg 3.99) is also 0.99 from July 14 - 16. That's two murder mysteries for less than the price of one and that is a very good deal. Stock up on some summer reading without feeling the pinch. Click the link below to be taken to the series page on Amazon where you'll find the books on sale. 

St. Ives Book Club Mystery Series Page

Now, you may be wondering what's up with book 5 in the series. Am I pulling a George RR Martin (without the fanbase and significant sales history)? 

The Body in the Ravine is delayed. I had to push back the release to August 16, 2022 because I'm lazy and stupid. 

Not really, but I did shoot myself in the foot by overscheduling at this time of year. Summer is the worst for writing. Too much going on with all of us finally out of lockdowns and mask-wearing. We're out there hugging random strangers and going to festivals. How can I bear to sit in the office and write?

And the dog ate my homework. 

Okay, so the book isn't finished, but it's close and I know who did it, but the St. Ives Book Club doesn't, however Elliot Marks does. 

It is available for pre-order at a special discounted price of $2.99 (reg $3.99). So if you order your copy now, you'll save a dollar. Think of it as a bribe to say nice things about the book in the review you're going to leave. 😎

Click here to Pre-Order The Body in the Ravine for $2.99

That's all for now! I hope you are having a great summer. Subscribe to my newsletter to keep up to date on releases and other events I have coming up this year. Get a free short story for your pains. 

Click here to subscribe to The Butler Didn't Do It

From the Easter Bunny: Free Cosy Mystery Book!

To celebrate the launch of The Killing of Honey Gable and to introduce new mystery lovers to the quirky world of the St. Ives Book Club, I'm running a free promotion of the first book in the series, Advertisement for Murder.

The promotion runs from April 16 to April 20, 2022. Available in Amazon marketplaces only and in Kindle Unlimited as well. 

I hope you fall in love with the peaceful hamlet of St. Ives and its homicidal secret life as much as I enjoy writing about it.

New Book in Cosy Mystery Series Now Available for Pre-Order!

After telling my newsletter subscribers I was nervous to put a book up for pre-order - I have put The Killing of Honey Gable up for pre-order 'cause that's how I roll!

The novel is almost finished. I have two chapters to write, then a final pass before it goes off to my trusty proofreader. Pre-order means I can let readers know it's coming but it also means if I drop dead before the final file is uploaded, it'll just be hanging there. The unfinished, not-quite-perfect novel.

This is the thought that plagues me at three o'clock in the morning. (That and what the heck are they putting in Temptations that the cat needs a fix at that hour??) 

Pre-orders make me nervous but I bit the bullet this time because so many authors in my genre use pre-orders for their readers who are eager for the next book and might not be informed when it's released.

I'm also hoping the deadline refines my thought process (which is another way of saying I spend less time dreaming about the story and more time writing it) and I can make this a habit. 

Pre-orders are not available for print (for indies) at this time but you can order your ebook now and it'll arrive to your Kindle or ereader on Launch Day - April 19, 2022.

The ebooks are Kindle Unlimited Select titles. The print version will arrive on April 19, 2022. If you enjoy what you have read so far in the series, please leave a review! We hate to ask but there is almost no opportunity to advertise books without reviews. 

So I am asking. I love hearing from folks who enjoy the series - please let the world know through your social media or by writing a brief review. And thank you!

AND if you would like to get my books for FREE - subscribe to my newsletter and join my Advance Reader Copy team. If you enoy reading and writing honest reviews to post on Amazon and/or Goodreads, then come on down! I would love to have your input. 

Subscribe to The Butler Didn't Do It Here (And get a free copy of Long Shadows Fall.)

Pre-Order The Killing of Honey Gable from Amazon Here

THE KILLING OF HONEY GABLE - DUE FOR RELEASE APRIL 19, 2022

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VFR93R2

A bus abandoned fifty years ago. A missing six-year-old boy. And a killer in danger of being unmasked.  

The long, quiet winter is over. A decades-old hit and run cold case sparks the St. Ives Book Club to life when the bus involved in the accident is discovered abandoned in a forest. Folk singing sensation, Honey Gable, was on the way up when she was run down after a performance at St. Ives Theatre. A tragic accident? Or did one of the six people who fought with Honey that night take their hatred to homicide. A clue is discovered, leading the amateur sleuths on the trail of a killer who will stop at nothing to conceal his or her identity. Poking into this cold case will be like poking a hibernating bear.

Set in the tiny hamlet of St. Ives, Ontario, a murder mystery book club discovers they have a taste and talent for solving unsolved crimes. Led by the brilliant and eccentric Elliot Marks, five active retirees and two young reporters unearth secrets that certain residents of the cosy village would prefer remained buried.

Cosy Mystery Book Release!

Christmas has come to St. Ives and it is murder. 

Tis the season of goodwill toward all men...

No one in St. Ives sheds a tear when the reviled Bernie Dixon falls to his death from the belfry of the clock tower right before Christmas. Murder is out of the question. The only access to the tower was locked and Bernie had the key in his pocket when his body was found. At first glance, death by misadventure is the obvious conclusion. But when the St. Ives Book Club is approached by his widow to investigate, the amateur sleuths discover first glances can be deceiving. As the villagers celebrate with parties and tree-trimming, Elliot Marks leads his gang of crime solvers on a hunt for a killer.

Set in the tiny hamlet of St. Ives, Ontario, a murder mystery book club discovers they have a taste and talent for solving unsolved crimes. Led by the brilliant and eccentric Elliot Marks, five active retirees and two young reporters unearth secrets that certain residents of the cosy village would prefer remained buried.

Buy it Now on Amazon!

Subscribe to my brand-spanking-new newsletter THE BUTLER DIDN'T DO IT  to keep informed of upcoming releases and access the freebies I have planned in 2022. It's a short and snappy read, published the first Thursday of every month. I hope to see you there!

Seeking Cosy Mystery Reviewers!

 Read more. Pay less. 

Join in the fun. Become a reviewer on Booksprout starting with  DEAD TO THE WORLD due for release December 7, 2021. 

This is the link: https://booksprout.co/arc/80590/dead-to-the-world

Click it and find out whodunit before anybody else! It's easy. Download an Advance Reviewers Copy in .mobi, .epub or PDF. Read. Review. Post when the book is live. 

St. Ives Book Club Mystery is exclusive to Amazon until February 1st. It is what it is. I tried but exclusivity is not my jam. 

Tis the season of goodwill toward all men...

No one in St. Ives sheds a tear when the reviled Bernie Dixon falls to his death from the belfry of the clock tower right before Christmas. Murder is out of the question. The only access to the tower was locked and Bernie had the key in his pocket when his body was found. At first glance, death by misadventure is the obvious conclusion. But when the St. Ives Book Club is approached by his widow to investigate, the amateur sleuths discover first glances can be deceiving. As the villagers celebrate with parties and tree-trimming, Elliot Marks leads his gang of crime solvers on a hunt for a killer.

Set in the tiny hamlet of St. Ives in Southern Ontario, a murder mystery book club discovers they have a taste and talent for solving unsolved crimes. Led by the brilliant and eccentric Elliot Marks, five active retirees and two young reporters unearth secrets certain residents of the cosy village would prefer remained buried.

Canadian Cosy Mystery Cover Reveal!

You know that old saying "Don't judge a book by its cover"? Yeah, well, it wasn't written by a self-publisher. I'm on my third cover for the St. Ives Book Club Mystery series. The retired covers are still out there because I made paper copies and thus forever will be haunted by my old "what the hell, it's only a cover" covers. 

Hair-pulling, tweaking and gnashing of teeth later, I've settled on this design for the series. If you are a lucky owner of one of the old covers, well, that's what you get for being an early adopter.

Lord, I hope this is my last foray into covers. Trying to nail the cosy-amateur-sleuths-vibe is not easy. Without cats, cupcakes or witches in my books, I didn't fit in with the other cool kids in the cosy mystery section of my favourite book site. (Goodreads)

While I'm here, the third murder mystery in the series, Dead to the World, is coming out in November, exact date is still to be determined. But follow me on Amazon to be notified when it releases. 

When Bernie Dixon falls to his death from the belfry of the St. Ives clock tower while ringing in the Third Night of Christmas, the book club is approached by his widow to find out if his death was indeed an accident - or was it something far worse?

 

New Book Launch Day!

A St. Ives Book Club Mystery

Death Knocks Twice

 

The St. Ives Book Club is at it again when one of their members discovers human remains in Lucinda Pye's field. The grisly discovery turns out to be Professor Gower Pye, Lucinda's common-law husband, who disappeared after a fractious dinner party at the farm seven years ago. St. Ives's amateur sleuths have questions. Why was Gower not found by before this? If the professor of medieval studies was murdered, who did it and why? Their questions lead them to an abundance of suspects. Eight guests at the dinner party had reasons to wish Gower dead. A scandalous tell-all memoir, a tawdry affair, a bitter family feud and a reputation destroyed surface as motives to kill. But if the professor was murdered that October night seven years ago, how do they prove it? And if they can't prove it, how can they accuse? When a second body is found, the gang knows that if they fail, a killer will go free. 

Set in the tiny hamlet of St. Ives in Southern Ontario, a murder mystery book club discovers they have a taste and talent for solving unsolved crimes. Led by the brilliant and eccentric Elliot Marks, five active retirees and two young reporters unearth secrets certain residents of the cosy village would prefer remained buried.

Available on Amazon in ebook and print. Click on the title to be taken to the product page. 

Death Knocks Twice

Kim's Convenience is Cancelled!

Why can't we have nice things? Why take away our joy? 

Kim's Convenience made me laugh out loud every Tuesday night on CBC. There was plenty of story left in that tank. 

I signed the petition, though I doubt it'll change anything, but I wanted the cast and crew to know they had a fan and she will miss them very much. Damn! Damn! Damn!

How I'm feeling right now.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

CBC News Entertainment - Kim's Convenience

Save Kim's Convenience Petition

Happy International Women's Day!

Will I be celebrating female accomplishment in the middle of a pandemic, while locked in my house with nothing but lashings of red wine to sustain me?

Have we met?

I snagged a ticket for Tricky Women Animation Festival, an online international festival of short works by women filmmakers. One credit gives you access to one program and the one I'm going to see is Exploring Realities: Animated Documentaries on Friday, March 12 (must-not-be-missed: Catcalls).

There is a whole slate of programs available. Buy a little or buy a lot. I paid a little over six bucks Canadian for nine shorts and a discussion after. And if I can't make the Friday date, I can watch up to 48 hours later.

For a borderline recluse who wishes she enjoyed going out more, this pandemic is delivering the goods. The silver linings. The introvert's happy place. The comfort of my own home whilst engaging in world wide culture and discussion.

And wine. There will be wine. 

Whatever we do to celebrate this day, I hope we do it with cheer, remembering where we were, where we are, and looking forward to where we are going. 

THANK YOU, AMERICA!!

The election has been called!

Joe Biden is the next President of the United States and Kamala Harris is the next Vice President!

Time to bust out the champagne and drink that down with a little sweet Holly Cole. Hallelujah!

I Can See Clearly Now - Holly Cole

Four Years Later. And the Meaning of Remembrance Day.

Heroes fight fascism. They don't equivocate. They don't both-sides-it. They don't groom it with curated language to make it palatable enough to shove down our throats. 

They fight it. 

This Remembrance Day, after a hellish four years of supporting and encouraging my American friends not to succumb to the fascism that was at their door, the bravery of those heroes is suddenly, vividly, clear to me. 

With the strife boiling now in the USA some are asking if the fight is worth it. So let's begin with Tommy Douglas who defines our enemy beautifully:

 "Fascism begins the moment a ruling class, fearing the people may use their political democracy to gain economic democracy, begins to destroy political democracy in order to retain its power of exploitation and special privilege."  -Tommy Douglas

Tommy Douglas is voted The Greatest Canadian - Learn Why

It's breathtaking how the lies they spouted back then are the same lies they spout now. Taxpayers have the right to determine where and how their tax dollars will be used and have a say in their destiny. Which upsets fascists. How many decades do we have to hear the lie before we realize we already know the ending of this movie?

The past four years have taught me that comfort, peace and security has its dangers. Complacency is the enemy. As long as they keep chipping away at our democracy, the more we have to remain alert and active to hold onto it. The USA has prevailed. This time. We have to learn from their experience. Do your research. Challenge what you're told online. Look things up. Get the history behind the issue to see the full picture. Above all, test what you've heard or read by examining the fruit of the declaration. Did it lead to a better life for people or did it cause harm or did it stall the progress of the majority for the benefit of the minority? Ask! Don't take my word for it. 

And at the end of the day, when you feel overwhelmed by the clanging gongs on social media, watch this:

Henry V - St. Crispin's Day Speech

Heroes gave everything to fight fascism and win for me a soft, comfortable life. I owe it to them to wake up and fight in my corner for the generation to come. 

Suit up. Swords at the ready. 

Facebook shows its Evil Side

My love for Facebook is zero as many of you know.

Since it was unleashed on the world, young people have suffered increasingly from depression and anxiety levels have shot up in adults. It is not a fun, benign platform for folks to share pictures of their pets doing cute things. It is a frequently nasty cesspool of misinformation, hate speech and trolling fertilized by unbridled corporate greed.

But hey, that's just my opinion.

When I was blocked from joining due to my last name, I decided to make no attempt to appease the Great God Zuckerberg by sending his minions my personal identification. If he's too fucking stupid to program his AI to recognize the Doolittle name, then he doesn't deserve my eyeballs or my data.

Speaking of data....

This arrived in my inbox this morning from Friends of Canadian Broadcasting:

Dear Nadine,

As you and I concentrate on our families' health and safety in the midst of this pandemic, a small news item popped up under the radar: Facebook is suing the Canadian people. Maybe they thought we weren't paying attention.

Here's some background. Last year, Daniel Therrien, Canada's privacy commissioner, ruled that Facebook broke the law when it allowed our private information to be sold to Cambridge Analytica without our consent. That's the firm which led Donald Trump's misinformation offensive online.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, his lackeys, and his lobbyists have decided that the Privacy Commissioner, an officer of Parliament, shouldn't be allowed to tell them how to treat Canadians' private information. So they're going to court to sue Canada – you and me – for having the nerve to govern our own country.

This is just the latest example of US tech companies pushing us around. Amazon, Google, Facebook, Netflix: they don't follow our rules and they don't pay our taxes. So while you and I band together to ensure that Canadians make it through this crisis in good health, these outlaws are suing us so for the right to keep screwing us.

We can't let Facebook and other foreign tech companies decide what our laws should be. We must stand up for our values and our sovereignty.

Facebook and Google have decimated our media. They've claimed the content of Canada's journalists and creators as their own. They take it, for free, and make billions of dollars selling ads. Meanwhile, Canada's creators, artists and journalists are going bankrupt in huge numbers.

Enough. It's time for Canada to stand up for itself, and impose stringent regulations and taxes on foreign owned tech giants.

Send a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau now

By sending your message now, you're making it clear that you want Canada to stand up for itself. Thank you.

Best regards,

Daniel Bernhard
Executive Director
FRIENDS of Canadian Broadcasting

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Zuckerberg is an asshole, but I'm not going to write PM Trudeau about this when he has enough to deal with right now. And battling the false information being distributed through Facebook about COVID-19 isn't helping matters.

But I will post this as a Public Service Message to my fellow Canadians. When you find yourself reading ripped off news items on Facebook, just remember the lawsuit your nation is facing in the middle of a pandemic because of this billionaire asshole, and conduct yourself accordingly.

What can you do?

Don't click on any ads you're shown. That cuts right into Zuckerberg's revenue by driving advertisers away when they realize Facebook doesn't produce a return on investment. Use the platform to connect but give away as little information as possible. Don't take any surveys. It's like having a private conversation on a crowded train. Talk, but in a lowered voice.

And if you can, delete your account and liberate yourself from the swamp. Your mental health will thank you. Lots of people function brilliantly without Facebook. But if that's not possible, resolve not to give them a penny in clicks or links or the content they crave.

If 19 million Canadians (the number of Facebook users in this country) abruptly ceased to use the platform and profits tanked, Zuckerberg would get the message.

Don't fuck with us. We are not that nice.

Day 20 of Social Isolation

How is everyone doing? No matter how tough it is for us, it's a hell of a lot tougher for those on the frontline. We have to pull our weight to make their jobs easier.

From our girl, Alanis Morissette's Thank U, Chris Mann has created an ode of thanks to all the hardworking men and women out there who are keeping us all alive while we self-isolate.

Chris Mann Thank U Frontline (Alanis Morissette)

And after you've done that, if you're in Canada, head on over to flatten.ca and log in your COVID-19 data. This resource is being used by doctors and scientists in the country to figure out where we are headed.  It took me about three minutes to plunk in my info.

FLATTEN is a not-for-profit organization platform for collecting and providing real time information regarding the spread of COVID-19 in your local community and around the nation.

Stay home. If you must go out, wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap before and after you return. Don't touch your face! (hard one to remember). And practice two metres of social distancing when you're in public.

The sooner we flatten the curve, the sooner we can get outta here.

Flatten the Curve!

Happy Friday, my fellow social distancing Canadians!

It's hard to believe that a mere two weeks ago on Friday the 13th, we all raced out to stock up on supplies and hunkered down in our homes to FLATTEN THE CURVE.

It's working, guys. Maclean's posts updates in a handy graph which I check somewhat obsessively:

https://www.macleans.ca/society/health/coronavirus-in-canada-these-charts-show-how-our-fight-to-flatten-the-curve-is-going/

The green line on the world graph is bending. That's us. We have to stay the course to beat this mutha, give our healthcare workers some breathing room, and soon we'll get our lives back on track.

If we get impatient, piss around and act stupid, we'll lose the battle and wind up back in the trenches economically and physically. Crawling out at that point will be really fucking hard.

So take a breath (because you still can) and settle in for another week with books or journaling or painting or learning a musical instrument or a language. There are so many things to do that we couldn't do when we're working full time. Seize this opportunity!

Tune into the good news stories and tune out the voices that say this virus is no big deal and none of this is necessary. It is necessary and we will pay the price of losing this battle in prolonged economic hardship and death.

We're going to flatten the curve with social distancing, 14 day voluntary quarantine, frequent handwashing, and limiting our trips to stores. We are not going to get sick through stupidity or carelessness.

This affects all of us. Every Canadian from the newest of the new to those who can trace their ancestry on this land back thousands of years.

This is a war and we are warriors.

Kobo Cheap Thrills Sale!

The River Bride

eBook Regular price: 6.99

Cheap Thrills price: 1.99

Sale runs from Oct 17 to Oct. 24 

in Australia, Canada and New Zealand only.

Readers who have already bought and read Iced Under and The Grey Lady, this is your chance to add to the collection. A fourth book has been in the works for five years that I plan to finish in 2020 before retiring the series. The River Bride is the third book in my Gatineau Hills Mystery Series but it can be enjoyed as a stand-alone.

Seven years ago, the Bremer family's au pair was found brutally slain in an abandoned trailer. Tried and convicted for the girl's murder, Trey Bremer has always asserted his innocence. The truth of what really happened to Teresa Musgrave that day begins to unravel when an anonymous note arrives at the town's weekly newspaper office,The Stollerton Record. On the hunt for the big story that could save her career, Alvina Moon is caught up in a disturbing crime and the victim's beautiful, troubled artist husband.

 Click the link below and then choose Kobo 

to reach the product page.

The River Bride on Books2Read

Happy Reading!

International Book Sale on Kobo

Happy Spring!

Wow. It's been a year since posting? I wish I had a better reason other than my life isn't that interesting. I'm working on a Young Adult novel that started out as one thing, changed into another and took me on a wild ride that ends this month with the final chapter. No. Seriously. It ends this month. (*glares at novel with pitchfork in hand*)

In the Meantime....

Kobo accepted Iced Under for April 40 % Off Sale - Worldwide (excl. USA) 

April 24 - 29 at all Kobo Book Stores. WHOOT!!  Regular price is $6.99. Sale ends April 29 at 11:59 pm EST

PROMO CODE: 40APR (use at checkout to get your discount)

Click this link to Books2Read for swift access to: Iced Under on Kobo

Or click this link to the Sale Page for the entire store and search from there: 

https://www.kobo.com/p/april40off

I'm very excited about this international promotion. I love reading crime fiction from all parts of the world and this is a cool opportunity for readers in Europe and Australia to discover Canadian crime fiction.

The stats: Iced Under made Canada's 2009 Arthur Ellis Shortlist for Best First Novel in Crime Fiction. Published in November 2008 by a small press and then re-released by me in April 2014, Iced Under continues to sell at home and abroad.

The blurb: With two young daughters in tow, Sara Wolesley abandons her comfortable life in Toronto to take possession of a rundown Quebec cottage on a frozen lake. But escape isn't that easy. Sara's life is on the brink of collapse when she finds a child trapped under the ice. Her name is Oralee Pelletier and she's been missing for five months.

 

In Celebration of Black History Month

I was wondering what I could do to celebrate this month and then I remembered my clever niece wrote an essay for her class last year that was an eye-opener for her white aunts and uncles. She gave me permission to publish it on my blog. What better time than this month.
------------------------------------------------

The World Is Not Black and White

The world is not black and white, it’s not even a rainbow. A rainbow would imply each colour is separated by distinct lines which is simply not the case. The world is a spectrum of vibrant colours in thousands of shades. Pinks, yellows, purples, and every colour you could think of in every shade possible. Unfortunately to most people, the world is black and white, at least where I grew up it was.

I grew up in a notoriously white neighbourhood. I had not seen another black person until I was six years old. I used to think I had a skin condition which I inherited from my mother that made me darker than the other kids. It wasn’t until I started elementary school when I saw other people like me. There were a handful of black children in the whole school and they all seemed to know each other, however, I didn’t know them and they didn’t know me. I couldn’t talk to them and they couldn’t talk to me.

Looking back, elementary school was a tough time for me. I wasn’t fully aware of what people were saying or the meaning of their actions until I was older. My most fond memory of my childhood was when I joined Girl Scouts and we had an activity where everyone placed a pin in a country on a world map of where they were from. Europe was completely covered. I had just taken two pins and before I knew it they were snatched out of my hands by a scout who thought she was funny. “I know where these go,” she laughed to the other girls, “right here!” she said putting both pins in the centre of Africa. The scouts laughed but I was more confused. Even if I was African, which I’m not, why would that be funny? I took the pins out of The Congo and placed one in Jamaica and one in Scotland. They were completely baffled. “How are you from Scotland?” one asked me “My father’s parents,” I said. “So does that make you white?” a different scout asked me. “I guess” I replied, I had never used labels before so I wasn’t complete sure what they meant. Since that day, none of the scouts believed that I was born with two races; it was almost like they’ve never heard of bi-racialism...maybe because they hadn’t.

Kids can be cruel. I’ve been called a mutt and I’ve been called “Reblacka”.  The worst was learning about Black History in elementary school that memory will stay with me forever. Being the only black kid in the class made the experience all the more uncomfortable. “Were your ancestors slaves?” “if my ancestors every owned your ancestors I’m so sorry” “Does that mean your Grandpa owned your other Grandma?” Sure they meant well but having every kid in this class ask you about your slave grandparents for a month was really awkward. Then we watched a video on Martin Luther King Jr. and it showed old footage of businesses with signs posted on doors saying “No N*ggers Allowed.” A student asked my teacher what that word meant and my teacher told them “It’s a really rude word people used to call black people a long time ago,” then a student turned to me and said “Hey Rebecca-Lynn’s a n*gger!” and some other kids joined in as well, meanwhile other kids were debating whether I truly was a n*gger because I’m also half white. It became a class discussion so my teacher tried her best to stop them but they were having a laugh. As a child I never really understood the real meaning of the word and I’m sure the kids didn’t either, but what upset me as a child was that the teacher told them it was a bad word yet they chose to use it anyways.

As I got older, I met more and more bi-racial people and they all had one thing in common. They were either willfully blind or leaning; and I really don’t blame them. Unless you comply with typical stereotypes, you won’t be considered as your race. I don’t listen to rap music and I love British food; for that, most people don’t consider me as black despite having darker skin. Most biracial people, in my experience, lean more to the side they take the most physical features from; some won’t even acknowledge their other half, which I think is unfortunate. I feel blessed to be born with two races, two beautiful cultures, and the idea of ignoring one to conform to other people’s close-minded standards breaks my heart.

As I entered middle school and high school, I often received the same compliment—If you can call it that--, “You’re really pretty for a black girl!” How does one respond to that? What does that even mean “for a black girl?” I accepted the compliment to be nice, however because of that comment, some black girls actually started looking at me a different way. To them, the only thing that made me “pretty” was the fact that I was half white; that’s where the beauty was. But I think my beauty comes from both sides, the best of both worlds if you would.

A lot of the time, people couldn’t see past my whiteness or my blackness. Being told by white people that “you’re not black/white enough to do that” or being told by black people that “you’re only half black/white so technically it doesn’t count” can start off as a funny comment but after a while it can become hurtful. I’ve even had KKK songs sung to me because someone assumed it wouldn’t be as offensive because I’m only half black. By their logic, Obama is only half black so technically he wasn’t the first black president and Drake isn’t “black enough” to embrace his Caribbean culture. It sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? People like to pick and choose which biracial person gets to be considered what, but frankly it’s none of their business.

I’ve been told by people of all races that I’m not good enough for my race because most people aren’t used to one person belonging to more than one race. Bi-racialism is becoming more and more common in today’s world. Cultures are mixing and diversity is becoming more and more prominent. As the saying goes, old habits die hard and people still consider the world as black and white, but the world is no longer black and white, nor is it a rainbow. The world is a huge spectrum of cultures and colours in every shade; and it’s beautiful.

Rebecca-Lynn Doolittle
-------------------------------------

Thank you for reading and I hope we all join in the celebration!

Black History Month Canada

Free books for Kobo readers!

Hey there Kobo readers, Iced Under was accepted for Kobo's Free First in Series Sale February 22 to February 26! (reg. retail price $6.99) 

This is your chance to get book one in the Gatineau Hills Mystery Series absolutely free!

I'm really chuffed my book was selected. Authors submit their titles for a wide variety of promotions Kobo offers and landing one is a big deal. 

Readers can try out unknown authors for zero cost and authors have a chance to reach new readers.  

How to get your hands on your free copy:

1) Open your Kobo email newsletter
2) Use the promo code during check-out
3) Get 100 percent off price 
4) Download and enjoy!

The promo is advertised to Kobo customers worldwide. So, if you can tear your eyes away from the 2018 Winter Olympics, I wish you happy reading this February!

Oh Canada--it is time to grow up.

You know you're old when....

You remember your country's Centennial birthday. "It's the hundredth anniversary of Confederation! Everybody sing together!"

That year we travelled from British Columbia to Quebec in my parent's black station wagon towing a pink trailer to attend Expo 67. To fully grasp the insanity of this adventure, my parents had 6 children under the age of 10 and my mother was pregnant with no. 7.

I got lost at the Fair, was found by two French-speaking nuns. I didn't understand the language (even after numerous Saturday mornings of watching Chez Helene on the CBC) but I wasn't worried because they were nuns, right? They brought me to the Lost Children's Centre where I was given ice cream. My sister was sent to recover me, my parents were furious and I've been getting lost ever since.

What was unknown to me in those exciting days of Canada's 100th and bursting national pride was that children my age were being taken from their parents and forced into residential schools. In the very country that I was being taught to love, children were being grievously harmed by the policies of that country. The very institutions that took pains to return me to my parents were separating other children from their parents.

The only difference between me and the kids forced into residential schools is that I was white and they were aboriginal. I don't classify that as a difference. A kid is a kid is a kid. It boggles my mind. 1967 was hardly the dark ages. What the fuck was going on in the minds of those men and women? How could any human being conclude that taking children from their parents was a legitimate, moral act? What "problem" did those Canadians hope to solve by inflicting emotional and mental cruelty on other Canadians?

Fifty years later, lesson learned: It didn't solve a fucking thing. How could it possibly? Common sense--not hindsight--makes that clear. A 7-year-old school kid could have told those overpaid policy makers it was a bad idea. Our eyes are open, we have the facts, there's no stuffing that genie back in the bottle.

I'll celebrate my country's 150th birthday--but I'm not interested in rewriting the past. I'm not interested in equivocations or whitewashing so we can all have a good time. I don't want my little grandsons to be celebrating Canada's 200th birthday, wondering what was wrong with grandma's generation that we gave up on making this right when the going got tough.

We're all feeling warm and fuzzy right now and I don't want to be a buzz kill but I know this nation is capable of doing better. I know her gifts and untapped strength. I know she's a tough old bird who drives out the weak-minded and greedy, and rewards the morally conscious. If we don't dig in our heels and resolve to get  this right, then what the hell do we have to be proud of?

I'm going to sing the national anthem and celebrate the years to come with a mind, heart and will moving toward reconciliation with the first peoples of Canada--the best of Canada--the First Nations.

I pray every Canadian does the same. Happy Canada Day.

Canada-US Kobo eBook Sale

This will be short and sweet because I've been promoting and uploading and formatting my little fingers to the bone, but I have to get this great news off my chest before I crash.

Iced Under was selected by the Kobo editors for inclusion in their Mother's Day Buy More Save More Sale! Ask me if I'm excited! Go ahead, ask! 

I'm thrilled and honoured to be part of this promotion to reach Kobo readers.

From May 11-15 (inclusive), Kobo will be running a Mother's Day Buy 2 Get 1 Free (3 for 2) Sale in Canada and the US. We are looking for books for Moms. 

KOBO MOTHER'S DAY BUY 2 GET ONE SALE IS ON! (click this link to be taken to the page)

Iced Under fits the bill amazingly well if I do say so myself. I was just thinking about this the other day. The novel is a mystery but really it's about three very different mothers and the tremendous impact their actions have on each other. It's about a woman testing her metal, getting down to the bones of her life that she's forgotten in her years of marriage. When her marriage ends suddenly, Sara is lost and has to rebuild her identity (with her two daughters in tow) from the ground up. 

Check it out:

Iced Under on Chapters Indigo for Kobo Readers

Kids and Dads: If Mom is a reader (speaking as a reader) the best thing you can give her for Mother's Day is a bunch of books and a whole day of reading. Seriously. Just let her read. Oh, and feed her.

NEXT UP: Wakefield Writers Festival happening here in downtown Wakefield. (We did not get flooded out, but oh boy, the river was high!) 

Check it out:

WAKEFIELD WRITERS FESTIVAL has an stellar line-up of authors and spoken word performers. My personal faves are going to be there: Terry Fallis and Heather O'Neill.

And that's all I have this week.

Keep the faith, buy books and do not let your brain cells atrophy.