As writers, we all have our favorite writing methods. For instance, some swear by Scrivener, while others write in Word or Google docs. Some prefer to draft longhand, using colorful gel pens and notebooks.

Most of us have a favorite writing book (or ten), too. These books have helped us understand storytelling better, demystifying certain aspects of writing. Well, today I’m taking part in welcoming a new writing guide into the world: The Emotion Thesaurus (Second Edition).

You may have heard of The Emotion Thesaurus before, or even have a copy. The original’s lists of body language, thoughts, and visceral sensations for 75 unique emotions made brainstorming character expressions and reactions so much easier. It quickly became a bestseller.

Now, there’s a bigger, better second edition. Angela and Becca have added 55 NEW emotions such as Euphoria, Vindicated, and Schadenfreude. (And that’s not all that’s new, either…the book is almost twice the size as the original.)

Anyway, if you’re interested in checking it out, you can read some of the reviews on Goodreads or find information here.

One more thing to tell you about…are you ready for this?

GIVEAWAY ALERT!

Wish you could attend a free writing retreat, go to a conference, snag a seat at a workshop, or have your professional membership to a writing organization paid for? Of course you do!

Well, at Writers Helping Writers, one lucky winner will get one of the above, up to a $500 US value.

This is the giveaway of a lifetime, so hurry over to enter!

Although I’ve visited Panama before via land (around thirty years ago) and peered at the canal from the shore, I was looking forward to actually sailing through. A small part of me wondered if I might get bored—I mean, an entire day of canals then lake then more canals before we hit the ocean again. I needn’t have worried because there is a lot to see and photograph.

We watched the men driving the mules, which are large vehicles that are used to keep the ships centered in the lock. They’re a bit like train locomotives since they run along tracks on the edge of the canal. We spotted birds and crocodiles sunning themselves on muddy banks and we watched the canals fill and empty of water, lifting and lowering our ship. It was also interesting watching the ship that sailed in the adjoining canal.

Here are a few facts about the Panama Canal:

1. The canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

2. It was built by the Americans and opened in 1914.

3. Complete control of the canal passed to Panama at the end of 1999.

4. Each ship is charged a toll, depending on their freight weight or passenger capacity.

5. The toll must be paid before the ship enters the canal.

6. Gravity feeds the flow of water that raises the level of the locks.

7. The average transit time to pass through the canal is ten hours but this can depend on the volume of shipping.

8. Pilots board each ship at the start of their journey through the canal.

9. The French attempted to make the canal first and lost over 20,000 workers to tropical diseases. Yellow fever and malaria in particular.

10. Once the Americans took over, they still lost 5609 workers to disease and accidents.

11. Nicaragua was also considered as a place to build the canal. The volcanoes in Nicaragua were part of the reason Panama was the preferred choice.

12. A swimmer swam the canal in 1928. He was charged 36c for his weight of 68kg. The toll charge for most ships is in the hundreds of thousands. The toll for our cruise ship was around $300,000.

Almost at the canal. It’s time for our adventure to start.

Despite our high tech times, these two men row out to the ships with lines. The big ships dwarf the tiny boat.

Entering the first lock – the Miraflores. I was wondering how we’d fit as the lock didn’t look very wide!

We’re partially inside the lock. It became more obvious that we would fit, but it was a tight squeeze.

One of the locomotions or mules that are used to guide the larger ships into the locks.

Some of the wildlife we saw while on the canal.

We’re just about fully inside the canal and ready for the gravity-fed water to lift us up a level.

Mind the gap! Check out the tiny gap between the wall of the canal and the ship. The rail tracks are those used by the mules.

Mimosa time! It was hard work watching and photographing the trip through the canal.

This is Gutan Lake, the man-made lake between the two sets of locks.

This is a shot of some of the other shipping traffic waiting on Gutan Lake for their turn to go through the locks. If you’re in a hurry, you can pay an extra fee to get through faster.

This is the Gatun Locks, and it was easier to see because the locks went “downhill”.

Almost at the Atlantic Ocean. The final part of the Gatun locks.

Traveling through the canal on a cruise ship was a fun way to experience the workings of the Panama Canal. In truth, I thought the engineering and technical stuff would get boring, but the day went surprisingly quickly and I enjoyed it immensely. If you ever have a chance to do this cruise, I highly recommend it.

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P.S. While you’re there, sign up for the Feed Your E-Reader newsletter. Each month readers receive a free romance!

The city of Auckland is built on and around a field of volcanoes, which I think accounts for my fascination with volcanoes. One day, I will use volcanoes in a romance. Somehow.

I’ve been lucky enough to see most of our New Zealand volcanoes, including the more active ones farther south of Auckland. (White Island, Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe, Tongariro)

On one memorable trip we visited an active volcano in Guatemala. It was almost dusk and we stood next to the glowing lava flow. The conveyer-belt glide of the molten lava, full of rocks and popping gases, and the heat that came off that shimmering ribbon lives with me still, despite the passing of years.

On Auckland Anniversary day, we had friends visit from Winnipeg, so we marched them up to the top of one of our dormant volcanoes—Mount Eden. Mt. Eden is interesting because it has a perfect crater and the view of the sprawling city below is fantastic.

Auckland weather was on its best behavior and the views were stunning. From the summit, it is easy to see the other dormant volcanoes that stud the landscape. One Tree Hill, Mt. Hobson, Rangitoto Island, and Mt. Victoria to name a few.

The crater as seen from the top of Mount Eden.

This is Rangitoto, which is the youngest volcano in the Auckland region. It erupted around six hundred years ago.

If you ever visit Auckland, this spot is the perfect one to get an overview of the city with 360 views. From here, you can see both coasts (the Manukau and Waitemata) but a warning—if the day is windy. Hold onto your hat!

Getting emotion into a romance is one of the hardest jobs of a writer. Stringing words together to make a story seem real and rounded, one that draws the reader into the world the writer has created is plain hard. A few years ago Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi wrote a book called the Emotion Thesaurus. I, along with many other writers, embraced this book, making it part of my craft library. Since then Angela and Becca have written several other guides just for writers on topics such as positive traits, emotional wounds in characters, and settings.

This year, they announced they’d done an updated version of the original Emotion Thesaurus, adding new entries and giving us new emotions to help with our book writing.

The Emotion Thesaurus, the updated version, is due out on 19 Feb 2019.

You can pre-order your copy at online retailers.

2019. If you’ve read some of my other posts, you’ll know I started with a holiday, but writing was never far from my mind.

This is what I’ve been working on and these projects will be available for readers very soon.

So just how did the Mitchell family from my Middlemarch Shifters series get to Dunedin?

My Scottish Lass is a prequel to the series and answers this question. In this novella, you’ll meet Rory and Ainslie, ancestors to the present-day Mitchell family. This prequel will only be available for those who subscribe to my newsletter. If you’re already signed up to receive my newsletter, watch this space. Currently, I’m waiting for the cover.

Stranded with Ella, book 4 in my Military Men series:

I’ve just delivered this manuscript to my editor. It features Dillon Williams, brother of the heroine from book 1 in the series. We meet Ella Liddington-Walsh who is the opposite of pragmatic Dillon, yet they fit.

Currently working on:

Last week, I started working on Black Moon Dragon, which is book 3 in my Dragon Investigators series. The hero for this one is Manu Taniwha who we met in Blood Moon Dragon, book 2. The heroine is Jessalyn Brown who is part human and part dragon, although this comes as a huge surprise to her.

A freebie:

If you’re a contemporary romance fan, check out Secret Lovers. This is the first book in the Love and Friendship series and it is set in Auckland, New Zealand. Right now, you can get this book at your favorite retailer for free.

Our cuisine in New Zealand is a fusion of European, Asian and Pacific influences with an emphasis on our fresh produce and seafood. We don’t get much in the way of Mexican food in New Zealand, and Mr. Munro and I decided to attend a cooking class when our cruise ship visited the port of Puerto Vallarta in Mexico. We both love to cook, and this seemed like the ideal way to immerse ourselves in Mexico food.

I eat a mainly vegetarian diet with a little seafood, so we were in luck when our visit coincided with seafood day at the cooking school.

Chef Enrique runs these cooking classes from his home. According to him, one day he was lying in his hammock and he thought there must be a better way to earn a living. He loved cooking and food, he liked meeting and talking with people and the idea for his cooking school was born.

The class starts with an excursion to the local market to buy supplies. We visited a tortilla factory where the tortillas are made from corn. Our next stop was the fish market where we purchase a white fish, octopus and prawns. Eek! Who buys octopus? What does one do with all those tentacles? Well, I can confidently tell you that I’ve learned how to deal with an octopus, and even better, it was delicious.

First stop – the tortilla factory where corn is ground into a paste to make tortillas. Something learned. I had no idea that proper tortillas do not contain flour.

The fish market was spotlessly clean with not a fishy stench in evidence.

We purchased fresh vegetables and fruit including tomatoes, avocado, limes, lots of fresh herbs, chilies, and pineapple gaining tips along to way as to what to look for in fresh produce.

There are so many varieties of chilies of all colors and sizes. Chef showed us his collection of dried chilies and I have no idea how he keeps them straight. Many, many chilies.

We soon filled this trolley!

Our shopping done, we piled into our van and headed off to Chef Enrique’s home to start cooking. On our arrival, we were introduced to his family, given an apron to don and made to feel at feel. Mi casa es su casa. Drinks including tequila were available but most of us wanted to learn and stuck to the non-alcohol drinks in order to concentrate.

Chef put each of us to work. I squeezed limes and chopped onion while Mr. Munro cut the fish into cubes for the ceviche.

Our fresh ingredients are ready for class to commence.

The first course consisted of ceviche, guacamole, fresh pineapple with spices and two sauces. Our second course was a cactus salad, prawns, octopus, and more sauces. Our meal ended with a slice of beautiful caramel tart made by Mrs. Chef. It was glossy and almost too pretty to eat. Almost.

The ingredients for the ceviche.

We had a fun day, and if you’re ever in Puerto Vallarta please check out Chef Enrique at Cookin’ Vallarta and his cooking class. You won’t be disappointed.

Today, I’d like to welcome debut author Zoe Ashwood.

According to Zoe, she is a translator by day, a romance writer by night, and a reader always. Her stories feature grumpy men, kickass heroines, and lots of kissing. Sounds great, right? So let’s dig in and learn more about Zoe’s debut release Trust the Wolf.

Zoe, congratulations on the release of Trust the Wolf, which I understand is your very first book. Please tell us a little about yourself and how you started writing.

Hi, Shelley, thank you so much for having me here! Yes, Trust the Wolf is my first published novel, though it’s not the first book I ever wrote (we won’t talk about that first attempt, though, haha!).

I’ve been writing since forever, though my attempts at journaling and teenage poetry were seriously bad. But then I found out about NaNoWriMo and decided to give it a go in 2014, when my first son was two months old (crazy, I know). That book will never see the light of day, but I did win NaNo – and caught the writing bug. It’s been so much fun!

I’ve been a huge fan of paranormal romance before the genre even became popular (showing my age here!) What is it that drew you to write paranormal romance?

Oh, I think it’s because it’s a mashup of fantasy and romance, my two favorite genres. I love reading both, I’ve always been a fantasy reader but only discovered genre romance in college. I love worldbuilding, though I kept the world of the Shift series fairly simple. But the creative freedom that paranormal/fantasy genres offer is just something that speaks to me. Honestly, though, my love for this specific genre probably began by reading Twilight – and then searching for books with, um, steamier content.

What do you find is the hardest part about being a writer?

Having the discipline to sit down and write instead of browsing Facebook! Also editing. Editing is hell. I had to delete so many crutch words from my most recent WIP! I invent new ones with every first draft I write.

Trust the Wolf features werewolves. How much research did you do during the writing of your book? Have you ever had a close encounter with wolves?

No, I’ve never been lucky (or unlucky?) enough to have a close encounter with wolves. My shapeshifter world has various species of shifters, though, and I have seen a bear in the wild more than once! It’s not something I’d want to repeat, though, they can get pretty scary. And I did lots of research – mostly through internet, about wolf (and bear) eating habits, mating habits, pack life etc. I watched documentaries. I like doing research like that!

Often, in social situations, writers meet people who say “I wish I could write a book.” What is your best advice for an aspiring paranormal romance writer?

I think it’s super important to find your tribe. I have two critique partners who have been with me for more than two years, and my work is better because of them. We support each other, sprint together, and chat a lot (even though we all live on different continents). And I would recommend learning as much as you can about the craft of writing because knowing what you’re doing makes the actual doing part easier. There are loads of free resources floating around, especially writing blogs and podcasts. Some of my favorites are Well-Storied, Helping Writers Become Authors, and The Creative Penn, and for romance writers specifically Jami Gold’s blog and beat sheets. My favorite writing books are 2k to 10k by Rachel Aaron and Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes.

I understand you have a free prequel to Trust the Wolf. How do readers get their hands on this?

Yes, Bearly Married is a free 30k-word novella with a full happily-ever-after story set approximately 25 years before Trust the Wolf. It features a couple that appears in the present-day series! It has a marriage of convenience, bear shifters, and 90s wedding dresses.
You can get it by signing up for my newsletter here: https://zoeashwood.com/newsletter/

What is the best place for readers to learn more about you and your upcoming paranormal romances?

My website is a good place to start – it has all the links to my social media and information about my books. https://zoeashwood.com

Thanks so much, Zoe!

Readers, here is the blurb for TRUST THE WOLF. Check it out today.

You never forget your first wolf.

Emilia’s first encounter with Jason is memorable: it’s not every day you see a stranger change into a wolf. Her attraction to him is undeniable, but the secret he shares shakes the foundations of her life.

Jason’s need for Emilia unnerves him. It’s his job to report shifters without proper ID, yet he can’t make himself do it this time. The decision bites him in the tail when he discovers exactly who she is. He must keep his distance—or there will be hell to pay.

Their fates entwine when rogue shifters learn of Emilia’s identity and will stop at nothing to get to her. Emilia and Jason will have to fight together or risk losing everything.

But most of all? Emilia must learn to trust the wolf.

Purchase Trust the Wolf (also available in Kindle Unlimited)

At the end of 2018, I decided it was time to shake things up a little in my everyday life. I’m a creature of routine, and sometimes routine equals boring. Enough of that, I thought. It’s time to try new things and savor different experiences.

My plan for seeking adventure started this month, and I’ve been having fun trying new-to-me things both big and small.

My January adventures include:
Hula dancing
Line dancing
Zumba
A Panama Canal cruise, traveling from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale
Climbed Mt Eden in Auckland
Cooking class in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Saw a baby sloth
Saw a toucan

I’ll be back with posts about some of these adventures and my ongoing mission to step out of routine.

Do you enjoy doing new things? Have you tried doing something new this year?

Looking for some fun gift ideas for the avid readers in your life?

Good news. You’ve come to the right place.

I’ve teamed up with some fellow authors to share our picks for the perfect gifts (in a variety of price ranges!) for readers to cozy up with. The only other thing they’ll need is a great book.

Without further ado, here is our roundup of the top gift ideas for readers:

Huhuhero Fineliner Color Pen Set

These color pens are perfect for bullet journaling, coloring and notetaking in general. At just $6.98, they come in a 10-pack of vivid colors. They write smoothly and are just plain fun!

Product suggested by L. Danvers, YA Paranormal Romance Author

Literary Candles

Have you ever seen anything so adorable? These bookish candles feature custom scents designed to evoke fond memories of your favorite literary tales – from Sherlock Holmes to Jane Eyre. Sixteen bucks for a gift your loved one will rave about? Yes, please!

Product suggested by Cecelia Mecca, Paranormal Romance Author

Long Distance Friendship Lamp

This gift is on the high end, price wise, but as I have several loved ones who live far away, I love the idea behind it and it seems like a lovely way to touch their heart!

Product suggested by D.M. Marlowe, Paranormal Romance Author

I Love Reading Fleece Luxury Blanket

Know an avid reader who simply wants to snuggle up with a good book and be left alone? Then this blanket is sure to make them smile. (Mental note to self: do not mess with L.G. Castillo when she’s reading.)

Product suggested by L.G. Castillo, Paranormal Romance Author

Mismatched Fingerless Mittens

Keeping your hands warm doesn’t have to be boring. These fingerless gloves are colorful with a bit of whimsy. Perfect for long winter nights.

Product suggested by Beth Caudill, Paranormal Romance Author

Aqua Love Notes Waterproof Notepad

Since I do all my best thinking in the shower…

Product suggested by Shelley Munro, Paranormal Romance Author

We hope you found this list helpful. We’d love to know – are any of these products on your Christmas wish list this year? Let us know in the comments below.