Kenna McKinnon Author

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Fashion is available twice a year

Fashion seems to be available twice a year, in the middle of winter when the spring and summer French Connection confections are presented, and in the middle of summer when the colder weather leggings, pants, and faux or real furs are chosen for our pampered backsides.

Thus we are always behind, or should I say ahead, of fashion by a good six months. Try to buy a bathing suit in June or July. Impossible, except now higher end stores have cruise departments where such clothing is visible in neon colors and all their flowered glory, shirts and bathing suits and other cruise wear, at elevated prices, of course. Those who can afford to go on cruises can afford the prices, goes the thinking, but if you're like me and want a bathing suit in July you'll have to buy one on sale and get the picked over leftovers.

January and July are the months for sales. January for winter clothes, the end of the season for colder garments, and July for summer clothes, as that is the end of the season for summer wear.


Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Plan ahead, good gentlemen and ladies. Get it while it's hot or should I say, cold? It's the middle of March and somewhere in the world the flowers are blooming. Here in Edmonton, Alberta we're still shoveling snow.

I'm going shopping for a pastel pink and green top to go with my khaki capris. So what that the temperatures are in the minus degrees?

Somewhere on the fashion runways it's summertime.

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Thursday, March 7, 2013

Stompin' Tom, a Canadian Icon, Dead at 77

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Stompin' Tom, a Canadian Icon, is dead at 77

From the Globe and Mail on March 6, 2013:
The song took on new resonance Wednesday night at the Air Canada Centre, as The Hockey Song played, followed by an announcement: Stompin’ Tom Connors was dead. The Canadian folk music legend died Wednesday. He was 77.
“We have lost a true Canadian original,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper – a hockey fan who is writing a book about the sport – tweeted. “R.I.P. Stompin’ Tom Connors. You played the best game that could be played.”
Charles Thomas Connors was born Feb. 9, 1936, in Saint John, N.B. His childhood was harsh: He was put in a foster home, adopted by a family in Skinner’s Pond, PEI, and left home at 15.
According to legend, his musical career was launched in the 1960s, when he was a nickel short of a beer at the Maple Leaf Hotel in Timmins, Ont. The bartender agreed to give him a drink if he would play a few songs. He stuck around for more than a year.
His first hit, Bud the Spud, set the tone: Stompin’ Tom loved Canada, and he was going to sing about it. Many other Canadiana folk hits followed: Canada Day, Up Canada Way, Big Joe Mufferaw, Sudbury Saturday Night, with its quintessentially Canadian chorus: “The girls are out to bingo and the boys are getting’ stinko. And we’ll think no more of Inco on a Sudbury Saturday night.”
Mr. Connors recorded 61 albums, according to his website, 10 of which have yet to be released to the public.
He remained fiercely patriotic, deriding Canadians who moved to the U.S. as “border jumpers.” He received the Order of Canada in 1996, and was the subject of a postage stamp in 2009. On Wednesday, as word spread of his death – from natural causes, a spokesman said – there were demands on social media for a state funeral, and for flags to be lowered to half-mast.

Good-bye, Tom. Rest in peace. We'll miss you.

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Django and The Hobbit (in 3D) at The Oscars

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A black guy with an attitude, and no, it's not Blazing Saddles. It's Django.

I really enjoyed this movie and more so because the underdog won (surprise! I hope I'm not giving away the ending), also because of Leonardo Di Capprio's stellar performance as the evil yet suave plantation owner.

Django's performance with his two fisted blazin' guns reminded me of my comment to my uncle when I was 5 years old and had watched my first Lone Ranger movie. I said, "There were about a hundred Indians all shooting at the Lone Ranger and none of them hit him!" My uncle thought that was very funny.

Watch Django for a good time but be warned, there is violence, mature content and X-rated language in this movie. It is also a "controversial slavery film."

It's a great commentary on how far we've come in North America with the treatment of other races. Not far enough, perhaps, but if you watch this for historical content you might be surprised at the accuracy of what lies behind the tongue-in-cheek portrayal of an African-American gunslinger.

I thought The Hobbit or Django should have won best picture. But I didn't see Argo. So what do I know? I liked both The Hobbit and Django.

I'm waiting for parts 2 and 3 of The Hobbit to come out. It's especially good in 3D.

A lot of movies are coming out in 3D. How times have changed since the old blue and red plastic glasses in the theaters of the 1960s.

Which do you think should have won Best Picture? Do you agree with the 2013 Oscars?

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Thursday, February 28, 2013

THE INCREDIBLE CHERYL KAYE TARDIF LAUNCHES A NEW BOOK

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Cheryl Tardif, Author and Entrepreneur

Submerge Yourself in the World of Cheryl Kaye Tardif

When people ask me what I do, I like to tell them: "I kill people off for a living." You can imagine the looks I get. Sometimes I'll follow with: "Fictitiously, of course. I'm a suspense writer." Sometimes I won't say anything else. Yeah, I'm bad that way.

Writing thriller, suspense, mystery and/or crime novels has always been my passion—especially if I throw a pinch of supernatural or paranormal into the mix. I've always been drawn to dark stories, ones that raise the hairs on the back of my neck or make me glance over my shoulder. The two greatest influences in my writing life have been Dean Koontz and Stephen King. Need I say more?

So what can I offer you if you choose to read my books? I hope and strive to give you a satisfying read, once that will impact you emotionally. If I can make you shudder or tremble or wince or even cry, then I've done my job.

In SUBMERGED, I share with you a very personal fear of mine—the fear of being in a car that's underwater and not being able to get out. I have traveled long distances by car hundreds of times during my life, twice from one coast of Canada to the other. Whenever we're along a stretch of highway with a body of water beside me, my fear kicks in. And I hold my breath…waiting…praying…

I want you to relate to this fear. But even more, I want my characters to come to life. I want you to feel for Marcus Taylor, a struggling recovering addict who has had his fair share of grief and guilt. I want you to admire his strength, even in the midst of his weaknesses. I want you, dear reader, to feel compassion for this man who has lost his wife and son in a terrible accident, who blames himself for their deaths, and who is searching for redemption, though he doesn't really know he is.

I want you to cheer on Rebecca Kingston, a mother on the verge of divorce who has left an abusive husband. I want you to feel empathy for her because this decision, no matter what others think, is not an easy one to make. I want you to cry with her when she realizes she is physically unable to help her children who are trapped with her in a sinking vehicle. And I want you to be holding your breath every time Rebecca does.

Marcus and Rebecca (and the others in SUBMERGED) may only be characters on paper, but they feel real to me. I gave "birth" to them and watched them grow. With every step they took, I wiped away their tears, hugged them and loved them. And, dear reader, I sincerely hope you'll love them just as much.

Happy reading…with the lights on…

Cheryl Kaye Tardif, international bestselling author

PS: The Kindle edition of SUBMERGED is available on Amazon from March 4^th – 7^th for a special price during the Killer Thriller Book Launch.

Learn more about me and connect at:

http://www.cherylktardif.com

http://www.twitter.com/cherylktardif

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cheryl-Kaye-Tardif-novels/29769736630

http://bit.ly/KillerThrillers

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Friday, January 25, 2013

Justin Bieber growing up? Not on my site yet

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We all have to grow up, and Justin Bieber is growing up, I notice. The teen crowd is soon going to be the New Adult group, and I've been thinking of my next book, a mystery, aimed at the New Adult group. There's going to be a schizophrenic female private eye, and a Sudanese roommate, and a series of grotty killings.

Any comments or suggestions about possible names for protagonists? Who dun it? Indeed? Is it her boss, or the Sudanese roommate, or his cousin? Or the farmer in the red truck? Hmmmmmm....

So you don't think I've lured you into this post unwittingly with a teen idol's name at the top, I'll tell you where you can buy a Justin Bieber pillow. If you'll pull out the latest Canadian Avon catalog you'll see him there cuddling up to a pre-teen girl - his image, of course, on a pillow. 'Nough said. There's my lure to a teen idol and at the same time promoting one of my favorite businesses (not Avon, myself).

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Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Meet the amazing Eileen Schuh, Author - The Traz FREE January 3-5, 2013

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THE TRAZ is free Jan. 3, 4 & 5, 2013 around the world on Amazon Kindle.

She’s only 12, out on the streets after midnight, watching, listening, learning. Delivering illicit drugs in exchange for excitement. She is Katrina, the young protagonist in THE TRAZ.

Life away from parental guidance is not as easy as she first imagines and soon the lessons she’s learning escalate from heart-thumping to horrifying and beyond.

Street children like Katrina are vulnerable to criminal gangs, easy prey for sophisticated adults. Are often addicted and sometimes sex slaves. Some are recruited to be enforcers for gangs...or couriers of illicit substances. Street kids are prevalent around the world. Many don’t survive. Katrina does.

Her home life as she hits her teens is worse than the family life of many young teens, but better by far than some. She takes with her onto the street some life-saving skills that many street kids don’t possess.

Perhaps it’s her skill with hand guns, learned from her cop father that saves her. Or, perhaps it is her skill with long guns, taught to her by her grandfather over many seasons of hunting.

Perhaps her uncanny ability to not only hide her emotions, but control them keeps her safe. Or maybe it’s her high-IQ and her quick learning of body language.

Maybe what saves her, is her ability to control her breathing and heartbeat. She can stay steady in the face of fear and get off a clean shot even when her life’s on the line.

Katrina learned how to control her breathing and heartbeat from her grandmother during lessons in yoga and meditation. Although such a skill may not seem possible, biathletes know it is. They receive intensive training on controlling their heartbeat and breath and must master that ability because their sport demands it.

Several times during a biathlon event, athletes must accurately fire up to five rounds from the rifle they are packing—this after coming off an exhausting cross-country ski. From the intensely aerobic, heart pumping strenuous ski, the athletes quickly slow their breathing, quiet their heart, and take aim at the targets. It’s not just for a split second they need this control, they need to it to last for as long as it takes for them to fire off five shots at the targets. Then, they are quickly pushing across the snow on their skis again, to repeat these events a kilometer or so down the trail.

Maybe it is a combination of skills that helps Katrina survive a year with a murderous biker gang. Maybe she ignores the blood on her hands, switches from horrified to angry without anyone knowing, understands exactly what her enemy is thinking, keeps a steady heartbeat, begins breathing deeply and evenly...and takes aim.

Maybe that’s what happened. Find out. THE TRAZ is free Jan. 3-5 on Amazon Kindle.

THE TRAZ on Amazon.com