Fears and Fun by Paty Jager

This is the month when everyone thinks of Goblins, Ghosts, and Ghouls. I myself like the change of season, the pretty colors, and cooler air. 

However, I have been known to paint pumpkins and ghosts on my nails and wear spider earrings all month in support of October 31st and Halloween. 

Even though I write mysteries and love a good murder mystery, I have a low tolerance for violence and scary things. I don't watch scary movies, I can't read scary books, and when I was small the abominable snowman on Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer movie scared me. 

I also don't like Criminal Minds or some books where the author gets into the mind of the villain. I have too vivid an imagination and I don't need to be worrying about a creepy character from a show or a book coming into my life. I prefer my Pollyanna attitude. ;)

I enjoy watching the Midsomer Murders a British mystery show even though some of the episodes have spooky or scary themes or costumes. And I recently watched an Agatha Raisin British mystery show that dealt with witches and had a scary theme to it. I only jumped a couple of times, but it never scared me so badly that I had to turn it off or hide. 

There are some commercials for horror movies that I have to hide when they come on. I'm just a weenie and it doesn't take much to go bump in the dark and get my writing brain dredging up all kinds of bad scenarios.

When our kids were in their teens we moved into a small mobile home while building a new house. The boy's bedroom and a bathroom were in a recessed area in the hallway. Our oldest son liked to hide there and when I'd go by, he'd make a noise and I'd jump, throw whatever I was carrying, and curse. Once my heart settled, I'd tell him one of these days he was going to give me a heart attack. He'd just laugh and duck into his room or run outside. 

I still jump easily at sounds or someone walking quietly up behind me. 

But I have always been excited about Halloween. I loved dressing up and dumping the bag of candy on the floor and trading with my brothers. Giving them candy I didn't like for the kind I did. And tossing the candy none of us liked into a bowl for our parents and grandparents. 

It's not the same anymore. We took our kids around town trick-or-treating until unstable people started putting things in the candy. Then we took them to the school events on Halloween. And we, as a family, usually pitched in and ran the Haunted House/Trailer. My husband had a "walking floor" trailer. Every other slat in the floor would move back and forth to offload goods. We would make the inside of the trailer like a haunted house, with hallways, spider webs, gooey things to put your hands in, and people popping out of coffins and behind things. It was always a hit.  

I have started decorating but will go to my daughter's later today and pick up pumpkins and corn stalks to decorate the entrance. 

Here is the info about my latest release that may or may not have a little bit of scary in it:

Double Down

Spotted Pony Casino Mystery

Book 3

A donkey, a three-legged dog, and a war-scarred veteran outwit the killer.

Dela Alvaro is the main suspect in the stabbing death of a man she stopped from beating his wife to death. The detective she abhors is ready to toss her in jail and not look for any other suspects. When FBI Special Agent Quinn Pierce is called in and Tribal Officer Heath Seaver is forbidden to work the case, Dela decides to find the killer.

Was it the wife, the drug dealer, or the man wanting to take over the victim’s business? Dela and Heath ask questions and work to prove her innocence. If she is found guilty not only will she lose her new life but she’ll never be able to solve the secret of her father.   

Universal buy link: https://books2read.com/u/4D6Wa7

Wishing you a wonderful October and a not too scary end of the month festivities! 

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 50+ murder mystery and western romance novels which have Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters.

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Backcountry camping - my happy place

From the time the boys were walking, we've spent part of every summer camping and canoeing, first in a regular campground, what I call 'car camping', and then at remote campsites in the backcountry with everybody and everything loaded into our large canoe. 

When the kids were old enough, and strong enough, we graduated to two canoes for the paddle into the wilderness - one parent and one child in each canoe. And then it was the boring parents in one canoe and the boys in the other, either racing ahead or lagging behind. 

Now that our nest is empty, we're back to one canoe (or two kayaks, but one canoe is a heck of a lot easier to manage on the portages). 

We recently spent a few days in one of my favourite places on earth, Kejimkujik National Park, located in the south-west end of Nova Scotia. 

Here's a map showing the backcountry campsites, some on lakes, some you need to hike to, all very remote. The orange square shows our location for this most recent stay.

And an enlarged view of that area of the map. We parked our car at Eel Weir.

 We walked the O portage and put our canoe in the water at the end of the red line.

Then we paddled to the P portage and site 23, the only campsite on that lake. 

One of the first tasks is making the water safe to drink with a filter and special tablets. This site is one of only a handful with a wooden shelter, very handy should it rain. Though we always have an extra tarp to use as a rain shelter just in case.

A previous camper left this interesting axe behind. My writer brain instantly went in a dark direction.

The next day we paddled further down the river to see the sights ... 

before returning to our campsite for a cosy fire.

Our last day dawned sunny and warm.

We packed up aaalllll our stuff and got on the water for a leisurely paddle back to the portage.

A friendly doe said goodbye.

And then the walk back to the parking lot ...

and the end of another perfect stay in a truly happy place.

Luanna Stewart has been creating adventures for her imaginary friends since childhood. She spends her days writing spicy contemporary romance, romantic suspense, paranormal romance, and historical romance. When not torturing her heroes and heroines, she’s in her kitchen baking something delicious. She lives in Nova Scotia with her patient husband, a spoiled cat, and five hens. 

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Amelia Bennett is getting her life on track and won’t let the mistakes of the past harsh her joy. Most days. While working at the family store by day, and building her graphic design business by night, she dreams of the perfect life in the perfect house – just as soon as she can afford it. A man is Not On The Schedule. Not even the big, strong, gorgeous man with the sweet smile and sexy arms.

Nate Hardwick’s craft brewery needs a boost. New bottle labels might help and, luckily, a graphics designer with perfect ideas and a whole bunch of attitude struts into his life. Pretty soon, they’re hanging out like a couple of buddies, but another buddy isn’t what he needs. Not when she’s everything he wants.

Will Amelia’s … issues crash this chance at love? Nate needs to convince her that he’s strong enough to handle whatever she can throw at him.

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If I could turn back time...

(Apologies for that potential ear-worm.)

If I could change one thing in my past, what is it and why?

That’s a loaded question and could open up several cans of worms, or cases of cans of worms. Sure, I have regrets, but too few to mention, hehe. Also, I fear that if I changed one thing in my past, the ripple effect would change the rest of my life to this point, and I rather like where I am right now, geographically and personally.

So, rather than dwell on what “might have been”, I’ll bemoan a decidedly First World decision.

I wish we’d purchased different kitchen appliances for our new house.

Exhibit A - the fridge.

I won’t share the brand name because this isn’t a review. At decision-making time we bought what is called a French door, bottom freezer fridge. Our kitchen has an island and we didn’t want a regular-sized fridge door getting in the way of traffic. The French doors are smaller and don’t protrude as far into the room. That aspect of our fridge is perfect. I can be rummaging for … vegetables, yeah, and let’s call it, ah, fruit, and Mr. S can breeze right past. But a smaller door means smaller door bins, and all those things we used to store in the door no longer fit. Case in point - the butter keeper that won’t accommodate a pound of butter.

So, given that the fridge will be the bane of my existence until it wears out, if I could change one thing in my past, I’d purchase a different model because then my life would be PERFECT <grin>. *gives the side-eye to the teensy drawer under the oven.

In other news, my latest book was released last week – whee!! My heroine wishes she'd purchased a different microwave oven.

Unemployed photojournalist Raynor Elliot stops at a bakery near the famous Deerbourne Inn. Not only does he get a lead on a job but the bakery’s owner is that awkward kid he knew in high school, only now she has fabulous curves and an irreverent sense of humor. The cozy bakery, with its aroma of sugar, vanilla and spice, has more to offer than tasty cookies.

Fiona MacLeod has been plagued for years by the need to make amends for telling The Big Lie. When the lie’s victim strolls into her bakery with his icy blue stare and killer charm, she feels like she’s standing too close to a hot oven.

Between running her bakery and frosting cupcakes for the Mad River Garden Party, she's pretty sure she's falling in love with this infuriating, sexy man. Can Fiona dredge up the courage to confess, face the consequences, and hope for forgiveness? 

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