Usually, December and January are slow-paced times for me, but not this year. My Camel Press publisher wanted Storms in the Cotswolds, Book 6 of The British Book Tour Mysteries, by the middle of December, not January. So I wrote quickly and got it to her. She didn’t like the ending. She was right. So, I re-wrote it and got it to her the middle of January. It’s good now. Editing still to come.
The publicist at Heritage House is planning the publicity for Always on Call: Adventures in Nursing, Ranching and Rural Living which is due out April 2, 2024. They showed me the cover and it is beautiful. I’ll post it so you can have a preview of it. They also sent the advanced copy out to readers and got some wonderful comments which I’ll post at the bottom of this blog. The first book, Always Pack a Candle: A Nurse in the Cariboo-Chilcotin, is still garnering a lot of interest. Donna Seeboo of Delphi Vision Broadcasting in Washington State scheduled an interview on the book with me for Feb 1st. Check into her website to listen to the recorded interview.
https://delphiinternational.com/donna-seebo-show/
She is an excellent interviewer and reads the book thoroughly. I enjoyed my interview on Shadows in Sussex.
For those not yet on my list Join Newsletter
The dog and I are surviving the extreme cold of this winter. Well, we had a week of it. I hope that’s the last. Many of my friends fly off to Mexico or Hawaii at this time of year. I always think I’m going to do that, and have done it once or twice, but I get busy and don’t take the time. The secret might be to buy plane tickets in September for January and make a firm commitment. January is the time to leave here. By February I’m thinking about planting radishes, lettuce and early peas because spring seems to be making an effort. I don’t suppose I will stay home for long as I need another research trip to the UK. We’ll see how the year plays out.
The new dog, Carly, is happy and energetic. The cat, old and cranky, is not impressed.
Here are those wonderful comments on Always on Call.
Always On Call | Heritage House Publishing
“Caring, kind, and funny, the indomitable Marion McKinnon Crook returns with a heartfelt memoir, reminding us that we all need comfort, understanding, and the courage to rip the band-aids off old fears and prejudices.”
—Kathryn Willcock, author of Up the Coast: One Family’s Wild Life in the Forests of British Columbia
“Nursing adventures at their best, stories of fierce independence, bravery, skill, and dedication. This book will make you wish you were a nurse or, if you are one, grateful for what we are able to offer individuals and communities.”
—Tilda Shalof, author of A Nurse’s Story: Life, Death, and In Between in an Intensive Care Unit
“Always on Call chronicles the heartwarming, extraordinary care of rural homecare nurses while balancing the demands of raising families, managing rural ranches, and being part of their community. Marion draws the reader into her world: bumping down isolated roads to visit young mothers, chasing down infectious disease contacts where everyone knows everyone’s business, finding ways to encourage a recluse man to shower, and managing two bickering elderly women with dementia in their own apartment—giving insight into this important aspect of healthcare.”
—Heather Patterson MD, Emergency Physician, award-winning photographer and author of Shadows and Light: A Physician’s Lens on COVID