Creating Sparks That Last & All Things Relationships

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays   However you celebrate and enjoy the festive season, may you strike the perfect balance between fun with family and friends and peace and harmony within. On that note, I am seeing the year out with my final blog post. In this post I have two polar opposite book reviews, yet both equally important in defining our relationship with ourself and others. Goodbye Again: A memoir by Candace Cahill Candace almost started her life as a young adult on the wrong foot. She made a decision almost entirely alone, that would have resounding aftershocks on her life.  Candace chose to provide her baby with a better life by opting for adoption. She agonized over the decision with minimal help and clung onto every update she received of her baby until the updates stopped completely.  By this stage, Candace had met a partner who supported her better than she could have imagined, since hiding her shame from the world previously. This more mature love, as co...

Passionate and Surprising: December - Part 1 Welcome to book recommendations that'll both surprise you and touch your heart.  I put a call out towards the end of November for anyone who wanted to highlight relationship connections in their books. I got a few more responses than anticipated and simply could not turn them away. They all blew me away with their raw energy. Which is why I'll be featuring these books in two parts. Elora Canne TEIDA'S STORY: Life Through the Eyes of a Dog by Danielle Corrie Not only is this an endearing tale of human kindness towards each other, but also a deeply affecting tale of loyalty from a dog's perspective. Teida is a rescue dog who transforms the life of her new owner, Annie with a quiet knowing of mood and emotional needs. Teida also comforts close friends of Annie's with her gentle spirit of companionship and trust. Written through Teida's perspective, the author has observed her behaviours and mannerisms closely, with the a...

The Sound of Love If you've been reading my blog posts for a while, you'll know that I focus on later-in-life love quite a bit. I feel that this kind of relationship is a transition stage that very often gets overlooked, so when I come across books that include seasoned lovers, or midlife lovers, I snap up the opportunity to devour them.  This month, I have 3 relationship-altering stories for you that will make you see love from a fresh perspective of youth through to maturity across a range of environments from castles to ghetto kids to small-town every day kids. I'll start with the seasoned love in a castle story because it was on my tbr list the longest. I discovered the titles written by Jasmine Guillory when researching 'factual fiction' for my own writing projects. This one is called The Royal Holiday. Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory Vivian is a single midlifer who is coaxed into going on holiday to England with her daughter, while she works on the Christmas...

Books, Food, Activities, Thoughts, Sightings, Conversations In other words, life. It is said that we 'are what we eat,' and it is also said that, 'our thoughts become things.' But have you heard, or felt , the notion that our bodies imbibe what we read, see and hear?  It's certainly true for me, and as announced last month, I will be talking about books that have had a profound effect on me, here on the blog for the foreseeable future.  Books really do embody the 'read, see, hear' criteria of our lives so we need to be mindful of what literature we consume. The three I want to mention today were heavy reads for me and deeply affecting. Perhaps it makes a difference too, if there is a connection, however indiscernible, between reader and author. Whilst I know none of the following authors personally, I do feel some sort of connection with each. At an author talk I attended, the interviewee spoke volumes to me about her knowledge of our local area. Unintention...

Or could you have both? Elora Canne Blogger I mentioned that I’d be discussing relationship books here on the blog, for the foreseeable future. I feel it gives a broader perspective of relationships than just me.  Today’s post isn’t technically a book discussion, although it is called the Book Club and it’s based very loosely on Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist , so it counts in my book ;) In the movie Book Club: The Next Chapter , four female friends find out just how far they will go for both love and friendship. I’m always interested in different views of midlife relationships and these four friends provide exactly that; later-in-life women at a crossroads in their love life. Incidentally, in our last blog post I said I’d let you know which term best suits midlife love and the winner was Later-in-Life Love. Our four female friends and their love conundrums are as follows: Vivian finds herself engaged to long-time lover Arthur, and her friends surprise her with their wedding all se...

There's Always a Solution I said this to a friend the other day who was struggling with tech stuff. She was so grateful for the boost that  she persevered for an entire week , but she did it!  So let’s just expand on the notion here, that ' there's always a solution.' Elora Canne - Memoir Writer I'm delighted to share my conversation with you, from the Living Big Mindfully podcast where host, Kate Champion, and I discussed many later-in-life relationship topics.  But I'm particularly interested in sharing with you, the notion that there is indeed always a solution .  Not only in everyday life situations, as told above, but also in those deeper, more difficult to navigate situations as you'll discover on the podcast. There is always a way around a hurdle,  even if you can't jump over it. To listen in on our conversation, insights and solutions, tap this link:  Living Big Mindfully Podcast Book News: 🫂 Allow me to focus, just for a minute, on those solut...

And New Releases from Well-Loved Authors This month I want to share with you, the delights I have discovered from new, and new-to-me, authors. Welcome to July's Bookish Edition of Creating Sparks that Last Elora Canne Up and Coming Authors: So much has happened in the book world this month, I have much to share:  ARC reads  Beta reads  Book endorsements Online interviews  Podcast interviews  In-person, Aussie author, book launch events Bookish start-up event launching this month   To say I am pumped would be an understatement! Right! Onto the Big Reveal: Author’s Showcase Mitos Ming Suson , author of several emotive memoirs herself, approached me for an author feature on her blog, after reading my memoir, En Route . It was such a thrill! Her fun and informative interview reveals all the juicy bits  which you can read about, here:  Author's Showcase   - click through to 'Read full interview here.' If you'd like the chance for an Author's Show...