Ah, June ...

06/04/2012

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Yay! June's here!

Out here in Nova Scotia, the grass is green, the trees are in full bloom (though we're still waiting with anticipation for our three year old apple trees to show us a little colour), hummingbirds are dive bombing each other outside my kitchen window, and I have set up shop (as often as possible) in my outside office. That's an awesome place to be, in case you're wondering. We have a fairly consistent plague of black flies out here, and my incredible husband did a whole bunch of research to find a screen that would keep them out of "my office". He built a sturdy deck underneath and a big gazebo on top (where he likes to come out and nap while I type). I bustle back inside when it rains or gets too windy, but really, it's my favourite place to write. 
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May was quite a month for me, with the release of Sound of the Heart. I kept busy with my 50-stop book blog tour *whew!*, three book signings and a reading. A big thank you to everyone who popped in to see me in person or online, and a special thank you to all the dedicated book review bloggers who took the time to read and review my book. Those busy ladies are in big demand, but they are—without exception—some of the sweetest, friendliest people I've ever met. If you're looking for book recommendations, they're the place to go. And congratulations to Carla Carlson of Florida for winning the blog tour grand prize!

I've also been writing. Because I knew I'd need time to promote the books, I put my editing business to the side for a bit, and as a result I have been able to do quite a bit of writing. My agent is now reading Tides of Honour, my WW1 historical fiction based here in Nova Scotia. This is my idea for a cover, though if a publisher picks it up, they will no doubt choose their own. Anyway, isn't this gorgeous? It was taken by a local high school student, Katy Perry (no, not the pop star). I will keep everyone up to date on what goes on with Tides of Honour, the story of fisherman/soldier Danny Baker. I have a real soft spot in my heart for Danny and this book, so I hope you can all read it soon.

I started work on a new book (untitled so far) which will reach a little beyond what I've done before. Not only is it Time Travel romance, but it also includes a kind of conspiracy. I'm partial to writing characters, settings, dialogue, etc and have a little trouble with plot, so this book is a new challenge for me. Fortunately, my patient husband is a wonderful sounding board and has the BEST ideas for plots. We have a hot tub in our back yard, and we've now nicknamed it the Plot Tub, since we've gotten quite a bit of work done there.
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For those of you wondering about the next instalment in the MacDonnell  clan stories (and I'm so happy you are!), I hope to have an update soon. Out of the Shadows is on my editor's desk and I await her verdict. She hasn't actually had an opportunity to read it yet, and I'm hoping my latest hero, Jesse, will win her over. I really love that story. If you recall, Maggie's sister, Adelaide, was very emotionally damaged after the Under the Same Sky experience, so she has quite a way to go as far as trust and believing in herself. Jesse (kind of an early cowboy, with a scruffy, rebellious edge to him) can see the strength she hides so well and is determined to get past that stubborn wall of hers. But will she trust him enough to let him help her?

And yes, I started writing a book about Janet MacLeod (the Scottish lass from Under the Same Sky who had hopes of winning Andrew's heart—poor Janet! She never had a chance!), but it's on hold for the moment. I have visions of pirate ships when I think of her, but I'm not sure yet ...
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We're headed to Alberta to do some family-visiting at the end of June, but I never stop "working" (what an amazing job I have!). I'm really looking forward to doing at least two signings at Chapters stores in Calgary, seeing some of my old friends while I'm there. If you're in Calgary on July 1, look me up. I'll be in the NW.

One last note - I send out an e-newsletter at the beginning of every month. I'd love for you to be on my mailing list if you're not already. Please fill in your email address in the right column of this page and you'll hear from me July 1 (Canada Day!).
Here are a couple of recent, terrific reviews for Sound of the Heart, in case I haven't bombarded you with enough already: Debbie's World of Books, Moonlight Gleam's Reviews, and Evie-Bookish. One of my favourite quotes from reviews this go-round was when Evie said, "No one does historical romance the way Genevieve Graham does. She weaves a fantastic tale packed with the sweetest kind of romance, breathtaking adventure, and just a tiny bit of magic, and she does it in the most superb, addictive way."
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*News Flash* from Amazon.ca

05/07/2012

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OH OH OH! 

I just happened to pop on to Amazon.ca and lookie lookie what I found! SOUND OF THE HEART is #2 in "Canadian Short Stories" (apparently over 300 pages is still considered "short". Huh.). 
#2 !!!! Thank you, Canada!


somebody pinch me. please.
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From the Chronicle Herald ...

02/26/2012

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Genevieve Graham, of Musquodoboit Harbour, is the author of the novel Under the Same Sky. (ADRIEN VECZAN / Staff)
EVERY YEAR, thousands of manuscripts are sent to publishers across North America in the hopes that someone will take an interest in the author’s work.

For Musquodoboit Harbour’s Genevieve Graham, that publisher was Penguin U.S., which made her one of only seven Canadians currently being published by the industry giant. That was a bit overwhelming, she says, as was the fact that advanced orders resulted in a second printing before the first even hit bookshelves.

Under the Same Sky is a sweeping novel about two people living worlds apart in 1746. Andrew MacDonnell is a Scottish Highlander who survives war with the English but is left to survive in a country deeply scarred. Maggie Johnson is a teenager in South Carolina who goes through her own horrors and ends up living with the Cherokee.

From the time they were children, they had seen each other in their dreams. Growing up together in their visions and gaining strength from each other, they both question what they are really seeing. Once they are convinced of each other’s existence, Andrew sets off across the Atlantic to find her, with both feeling they are meant for each other.

But don’t let the plot and the book’s cover fool you. This is not a sappy romance. Graham shies away from categorizing it as a strict romance, or even historical romance for that matter, preferring to call it an historic adventure.

"It has an underlying romance, but it’s a lot more about the story of the two individuals," she says.

And there certainly is adventure. The book has plenty of action and more than a couple of violent scenes. Writing such disturbing imagery was not easy, Graham said.

"That was hard. Originally I’d written a lot more of it with a lot more graphic scenes until I realized that you don’t really need to write that way, you need to leave it open for the reader to see it themselves. It was really hard to write, and some of my neighbours told me I should probably get therapy for that, but it was something that had to be put in the story."

The violence is true to the era in which the book is set, which is why she included it.

"To disregard (it) as a probable thing that would happen back then is crazy," she said. "It happened all the time."

So how does one go from never having written anything to being picked up by Penguin U.S.?

It’s not exactly the overnight success that it seems.

Graham had read books by Diana Gabaldon, who writes historic adventures set in the same time period as Under the Same Sky.

"I’d read her books about four or five times each, and then I decided I needed to create my own adventure. . . . I sat down and had no idea what I was going to do, so I stared at my computer for a while and then different pictures came into my head and I just went with it."

She said if she tried to argue with what she was seeing it didn’t work, "but if I just let the stories tell themselves, it flowed out really easily."

She said there were two characters in the book that were in the back of her mind while she was writing "and I could see them there and couldn’t figure out who they were, what they did or where they belonged, so I kind of shoved them away and said, ‘No, you guys are not part of this, you have to back off.’

"And then I couldn’t write for two days. So on the day that I finally decided that they could join the party, I couldn’t stop writing for the next two weeks.

"It surprised the heck out of me."

She wrote the book in eight months, but then spent the next four years editing it to about two-thirds its original length.

During the latter part of that process she was trying to find an agent willing to pitch the book for her.

"Occasionally I would get letters back saying, ‘You know what, it was really good, but you might want to consider turning this around, you might want to consider cutting this back,’ so I took every suggestion I was given."

About 70 rejections later, she finally found an agent willing to pitch the book for her.

Penguin was the first publisher it was sent to and the company bought it within 48 hours.

Graham has already finished a second book for Penguin, a companion novel to Under the Same Sky.

Sounds of the Heart is due for release in May. The company is considering a third as well.
By IAN FAIRCLOUGH Staff Reporter
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