Living the Dream

by Madelle Morgan

This month’s topic is “If I were a millionaire.”  Well, I’m not. Far from it. But it’s fun to speculate about how I’d spend bags of money.

First, I’d buy a lake house. After my grandparents’ place was sold in my twenties, I’ve coveted my own piece of heaven. This luxurious property on Millionaire’s Row would do.

Each novel in my Hollywood in Muskoka series features a resort or lake house in Muskoka cottage country—the beautiful recreational area north of Toronto, Canada. I draw my writing inspiration from those summers at my grandparents’ lake house and subsequent vacation weeks at rented cottages.

My first summer job as a chambermaid at a Muskoka resort inspired Caught on Camera.

Delawana Inn, Honey Harbour, District of Muskoka

A Muskoka shop inspired Brigit’s SereniTea Shoppe in Seduced by the Screenwriter.

Abbey's Bake House, Port Carling, District of Muskoka

What draws us to waterfront property? The beach? Water sports? A place for extended family to gather and bond? All this and more.

My parents, sisters and I rented this old cottage with bunkie (sleeping cabin) that together slept 16. One bathroom + outhouse, an outdoor shower, and no TV. 

We spent our precious days together mostly in or beside the water. Below my sister teaches our niece how to windsurf on a sailboard.

At night our kids had to play games that didn't require a screen.

Furry family members love being off-leash. Rudy inspired Caught on Camera's Mopette.

Yeah, it’s nice to dream of living in a palatial property, but I didn’t need to own one in order to create memories worth a million bucks.

Madelle in a giant Muskoka chair.

What would you do with a couple of million dollars?

Madelle

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Madelle Morgan  writes romance set in Canada. 

Caught on Camera is a Hollywood wedding romantic comedy set in Muskoka, Canada—summer playground of the rich and famous. It's Book 1 of the Hollywood in Muskoka series.

 Amazon | iTunes | Kobo

Seduced by the Screenwriter is Book 2 in the series. For a limited time this hot contemporary romance is available on Amazon for $0.99 and is a free read for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.

The romantic thriller Diamond Hunter is available on Amazon in Kindle Unlimited.

Follow Madelle on  Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Pinterest, and Wattpad. Subscribe to Madelle’s blog at www.MadelleMorgan.com.

My Family Reunion - the Saga Continues

by Madelle Morgan

My sister teaches our niece (15) to sailboard.

My three sisters, mother, aunt and I rented a nine bedroom lodge at a lake for a week in July and shared the cooking.

The family is distributed among multiple towns and cities. Winter storms make it difficult to get together in December. 

Our annual summer reunion is the only opportunity to connect with family members in person – a time to take the pulse of each other’s lives and celebrate milestones. This year one niece was recently engaged and another just graduated from college, two nephews will start high school and college respectively in the fall, a sister and her latest partner (third time’s a charm) bought a house, we celebrated my mother’s 80^th birthday, and we collectively acknowledged the five year anniversary of our husband-brother-father-grandfather’s passing.

Reunions can be wonderful. Family history is shared. Old memories are exhumed for dissection and reassembly. Each person who was present at an event has a different perspective, like piecing together puzzle pieces into a more accurate big picture view. Our kids grow up so fast. There’s a sense of time running out for the older family members: “We’d better get together while they’re still in good health.” Time together is precious and fleeting.

Reunions can be enlightening. After a few glasses of wine in the dark on the porch, secrets can surface. You find out things they’d never reveal on the phone or in email. Advice is given and ignored. Relationships strengthen due to sharing experiences and “what’s-going-on-in-my-life”.

Reunions can shape who is considered part of a family, whether they're biological relatives, dear friends, or current and former partners and their relatives. Some people aren’t welcome at a reunion, some are missed, some are considered just plain embarrassing... especially by sensitive teens.

Oh, the gamut of feelings associated with family: love and romance, conflict, jealousy, coming of age, tragedy, drama, comedy, old and fresh grievances, joys and sorrows, and on and on.

Is this emotional range why family sagas are so popular with readers? Is it because readers identify with the characters’ problems and goals? Or do they simply love to read about complex family relationships? Or they’d like to discover solutions to their own family issues?

Do you love reading novels about families, and if so, why?