I am delighted to welcome Patience Griffin back to the Romance Dish today. As many of you know, I fell head over heels for Patience's 2014 debut novel, To Scotland With Love, the book that ended up on both Janga's and my "Best of 2014" lists; the same book that is a double finalist for this year's Romance Writers of America RITA® award. The second book in her Kilts and Quilts series, Meet Me in Scotland was released earlier this year and the third book, Some Like it Scottish comes out July 7th. I've read an advanced copy and it's terrific. It's lighter in tone than the first two without losing any of the emotion that I so enjoyed in Griffin's previous books and I'm not ashamed to admit that I fell head over heels for the hero, Ramsay. Falling head over heels seems to be something I do often with Griffin's books!
If you haven't discovered Patience Griffin's books yet, be sure to visit her website for all the pertinent information and catch up with her online at the links below.
www.patiencegriffin.com
Patience at Pinterest
The
Power of Pictures
Adult coloring books
are all the craze right now, and rightly so. Coloring is a great stress reliever.
But I say, let’s not underestimate the power of looking at pictures.
When I was a girl, my
dad brought home two huge bags from Waldenbooks. This was nothing new for my
dad, but included in those bags this time were two art photography books that
changed my world. The tomes contained pictures of ordinary people, doing
ordinary things, but something about those pictures, while I turned the pages, mesmerized
me, opening up a whole new world. I was like Dorothy stepping into Oz, going
from black and white into a Technicolor world in two seconds flat.
Through those pictures,
my world expanded. I’m from a small town. When I say small, I mean
one-four-way-stop-sign-and-600-people small. Think Mayberry RFD small. Our area
was so rural that all the surrounding little towns were bussed out to a country
school. It was the best place in the world to grow up, seriously, the best! But
what I saw in those photography books, made me grow in my perspective and made
my imagination spin with new ideas. As I poured over the photographs, I began to
make up stories about the people in the pictures and what their lives were
like. I wonder now if that wasn’t the beginning of me becoming a storyteller.
The first thing I do
when I start a new manuscript is pull out a stack of magazines along with a
pair of scissors. I cut out anything that causes a spark and catches my fancy.
I don’t think about the story I’m going to write, I’m only looking for pictures
that I love. Before I can even glue them on the poster board, I start hearing
snippets of dialogue …aye, in Scottish accents, of course. I have a lot of fun
making my storyboards, but I usually quit before they are complete, because I’m
so full of ideas that I’m antsy to start writing the story.
My love of gazing at
pictures isn’t limited to my writing life. When my quilting magazines and quilt
catalogues arrive in the mail, I get almost giddy. I love to sit down late in
the evening when my brain is fried and flip through the pages, letting my
creative-self pretend I have time to make all those beautiful quilts. And to
me, each quilt tells a story. I have used fabric many times to tell the story
of gratitude, like when my eldest son was a teen and developed a heart
condition. To thank the cardiologists, I made a wall hanging, expressing our
family’s gratitude for taking care of him.
Other times, like my September 11th quilt, I told the
story of the day. As far as I’m concerned, quilt blocks are simply pictures projected
through a different medium.
Finally, book covers, another kind of picture, catches the flavor of a story, giving us a preview of the emotion we’re going to feel when reading the book. Deborah Chabrian, the artist who has painted the covers for the Kilts and Quilts series, has done a brilliant job of conveying what I hope readers get out of my books…that feeling of home, heart, and community.
And for those of you who
have a picture addiction as I do, then beware of Pinterest. OMG! Once I get
started, I can’t stop browsing. There is a reason I don’t spend much time on
Pinterest these days…I have books to write.
What gets your creative juices
flowing? Coloring? Listening to music? Taking a walk? Doing the dishes? (Just
kidding on that last one!)
My grandfather had a
subscription to National Geographic when I was a kid. I used to love sitting
down with his latest one. Do you have a favorite magazine that you love to
browse through for pictures?
One person who leaves a comment on today's post will receive a print copy of Some Like it Scottish. (U.S. only)
Kit Woodhouse’s matchmaking business is such a success, she’s expanding to the Highlands of Scotland where the hot, prosperous, and kilted are anxious to connect. Now, looking to fill her stable with eligible bachelors, Kit’s arrived in Gandiegow to recruit potential Real Men of Scotland. It’s not until she meets her tour guide that she discovers just how real they can be.
With his sexy grin, jeans, and black wellies, Ramsay Armstrong is an unpolished hulk of a Scottish fisherman—and a skeptic when it comes to romance. Not exactly a man of “pairing attributes” when talking marriageable matches, but he does make Kit’s heart beat a little faster. Maybe it’s the scent of the sea in his hair. Maybe it’s the challenge. Maybe it’s the thrill of the unexpected. Then again, maybe it’s love.
One person who leaves a comment on today's post will receive a print copy of Some Like it Scottish. (U.S. only)
Kit Woodhouse’s matchmaking business is such a success, she’s expanding to the Highlands of Scotland where the hot, prosperous, and kilted are anxious to connect. Now, looking to fill her stable with eligible bachelors, Kit’s arrived in Gandiegow to recruit potential Real Men of Scotland. It’s not until she meets her tour guide that she discovers just how real they can be.
With his sexy grin, jeans, and black wellies, Ramsay Armstrong is an unpolished hulk of a Scottish fisherman—and a skeptic when it comes to romance. Not exactly a man of “pairing attributes” when talking marriageable matches, but he does make Kit’s heart beat a little faster. Maybe it’s the scent of the sea in his hair. Maybe it’s the challenge. Maybe it’s the thrill of the unexpected. Then again, maybe it’s love.
Quilt Giveaway
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RITA Best First Book
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