Memories of Calgary…OMG!

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Charlotte Copper

Hi Y’all,
So it’s over. We just returned from the final Canada National Volleyball tournament in which my daughter will be playing. Six years of week night practising. Over. Six years of weekend tournaments. Over. Of course, you’re not done hearing about volleyball completely as we still have a few beach tournaments this summer, and then it will be a whole new experience with university volleyball. But let me tell you some of the OH MY GOD moments these girls are taking with them from the last tournament.

OMG#1 Banff
The mountains were just beautiful.

OMG#2 Coach gets a concussion
Yep, you read it. Not a player, but one of our coaches. And strange as it sounds, it happened at the hotel, not the gym!

OMG#3 We get disqualified from two of the matches we played.
A new rule was implemented a few years back regarding players in back-to-back tournaments that our coach didn’t know about. (He has over 30 years of experience and is a Canada Volleyball inductee.) Unfortunately Volleyball Canada should have caught our error at registration, but it didn’t get identified until after we played our first two matches.This caused us to show four 0-25 losses, and moved us to the bottom of Division 1. (Bright side, bottom of Division 1 meant 32nd out of 32nd. They could have moved us to the bottom of the entire 18U Girls which would have been #86.)

OMG#4 Appendicitis
Not on our team, but the brother of one of our players who was in Calgary for his own tournament, was taken to emergency on Monday night and had his appendix out. Needless to say he didn’t play in his Tuesday finals, but his sister was a trooper and played in ours!

OMG#5 Stomach Flu?
One of our players gets the stomach flu (or food poisoning?) and can’t fly home. Had to find a hotel for the night and fly home next day.

OMG#6 THEY STILL GET A GOLD MEDAL
Not “THE” Gold medal. After being moved to position #32 in Division 1, it was impossible for us to ever get high enough for THE gold medal. But with Division 1 divided into 4 tiers (8 teams each), the highest we could get to was position #17…which was the #1 spot in Tier 3. And the girls did it.

In the face of all the adversity that was put before them, the girls moved as high up as they possibly could and came home with a Division 1, Tier 3 gold.

I’m going to miss them. The girls. Their families. And yes, even sitting on those hard benches in the gym.

Sheeee’s baaaack….J.C. McKenzie

Posted on May 15, 2015 by Charlotte Copper

Hello everyone, I’m pleased to once again welcome back, J.C. McKenzie.
J.C. comes here today with the release of her new book, CARPE DEMON, book three in her CARUS SERIES.
And if you read to the end of my blog, you’ll see that she also brings with her a rafflecopter draw for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card.

Ever notice “Demon” in the word Pandemonium

Blurb:

As an ambassador with the Supernatural Regulatory Division, Andy McNeilly is responsible for acting as the Liaison for the Vancouver Vampire horde. The problem? She detests the Vampire Master, and the SRD can’t discover the beast she keeps locked inside.

After a menacing Demon throws an important Vampire event into chaos, Andy finds herself sniffing out crime scenes to identify and locate the mystery fiend from the nether realm. What she learns chills her bones.

Threatened by the Master Vampire to deal with the Demon, Andy’s complicated personal life doesn’t make things easier. She’s willing to risk her life and pride to keep loved ones safe. But how can she make a choice that will break one heart…and complete another?

CARPE DEMON follows the wonderfully entertaining SHIFT HAPPENS and BEAST COAST. And if the names alone don’t have you wanting to read J.C.’s books, here is an excerpt from CARPE DEMON:

The Demon’s grin widened. Standing a foot away from him with no room to maneuver and nothing to separate us, the serrated details of his shiny enamel glared at me.

My fingertips tingled as I started to shift.

Not fast enough.

The Demon lunged. His long nimble fingers closed around my neck as I shot my hands out, inside his arms, and dug my claws into his face. My elbows pushed against the insides of his arms. His hold should’ve weakened, but this Demon possessed uncanny strength. His frame stretched, growing to almost eight feet in height and giving his body an emaciated appearance. He pulled me close, his nose touching mine. I wrenched to the side, but my toes dangled above the floor.

“Bola sends his regards,” he said, his breath hitting my face.

My gums stung as fangs protruded and I hissed at him, ready to make the full change and get my fight on. I yanked on the mountain lion and spurred her into action.

“By all means, little nugget, shift into one of your animals.” He gnashed his sharp teeth together. “I love to rend the flesh of livestock, to mutilate the bodies of creatures, and to smash the bones of beasts.”

Want more?…
Buy links for CARPE DEMON:
All Romance Ebooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-carpedemon-1781134-140.html
Amazon: http://www.amzn.com/B00W2WFFZE
BookStrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/carpe-demon
Chapters: http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/carpe-demon/9781509201471-item.html
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/carpe-demon/id985742465
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/carpe-demon-1
Wild Rose Press: http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=195&products_id=6221

Want more J.C.?….
Born and raised on the Haida Gwaii, off the West Coast of Canada, J.C. McKenzie grew up in a pristine wilderness that inspired her to dream. She writes Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance.

JC McKenzie

Contact Information:
Website: http://www.jcmckenzie.ca
Blog: http://www.jcmckenzie.blogspot.ca
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/j.c.mckenzie.author
Twitter Page: http://www.twitter.com/JC_McKenzie
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/JCMcKenzie
The Wild Rose Press: http://www.wildrosepublishing.com
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/jcmckenzie
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/GX2Yj

And as promised, here is the link to J.C.’s rafflecopter draw RAFFLECOPTER DRAW

Empathy Cards

Posted on May 9, 2015 by Charlotte Copper

Why is someone with a writing blog following a knitting blog and then blogging about empathy cards? Because I can.
Anyway, jumping from blog to blog this morning, I landed at Emily McDowell’s blog. emilymcdowell.com
Emily creates and sells cards and stuff.
Her latest line of cards are empathy cards, and as a cancer survivor I have to say these are perfect.