Creating Sparks That Last & All Things Relationships

Because Dreams Really Do Come True February was filled with dreams coming true for me and I want that for you too. So, I'm not going to tell you all the stuff you already know, I'm going to let you in on a little-known secret to your success instead: Elora Canne Keep on trying. Try something different,   or simply a different approach. Just keep on trying.   One of my successes in January was to compete in a mini-triathlon. Now to know why this is such a big deal for me, you must understand that I am the girl who spluttered and half drowned her way through the compulsory swimming competitions at school. Hated it . But I'm not going to spoil the story for you because that leads to one of my dreams come true  for this month. I've completed the first draft of a short story that takes you on my segue from drowned rat to triathlete, medal included!  Beautiful Uluru - no filter; photograph taken by me on my iPhone! My second fabulous dream come true this month involved t...

More Love, More Laughter, More Happily Ever After It’s going to be a cracker of a year! The feedback from Beta readers for Love & Laughter has been well worth the wracking nerves of sending it ‘out there.’  They helped bring greater depth to the complexities of midlife love. This novella promises to shake up the world of midlifers from a mundane routine existence. >> Critique readers will be requested in early March , so if you’d like to be part of the journey for Love & Laughter just comment below or send me an email headed Critique Reader to: elora.canne@gmail.com  What I read in the holidays: Just two books, which felt so luxurious to slowly languish through. Both were stories that required that leisurely reading pace, not the fast pace of an edge-of-your-seat story.  The books in question? The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak. Touching on love, both young and midlife, culture, ancestry and nature, this story comprises everything I value. Beautiful...

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...