Bloganagan

New Book Launch: Gifts of the Okanagan

I'm so excited about my latest project Gifts of the Okanagan - in bookstores now! For this photo essay of the Okanagan Valley, I teamed up with my husband Bruce Kemp, who I have to credit with the stunning cover photo. We hope that our images will reveal the deep connection we feel with our home and our true pleasure in sharing the beauty and wonders that surround us every day. Take a preview peek. Now available in bookstores or order direct.

Ivory Express on Kobo and Amazon

Grandma isn't just a travel writer. Check out my novel Ivory Express. A little mystery, a little romance and, OK, lots of travel. Set in Vancouver and Taiwan, eBook editions are available online at Amazon.com and Kobo Books. Read the Prologue and Chapter One.

Reporter Taylor Kerrick's discovery of ivory smugglers is pure coincidence. Her determination to discover the source of the contraband and raise public awareness of endangered elephants is pure madness—or so her editor Ben Palasco fears when the story heads for Taiwan.

Travel With a Challenge Okanagan Story

Check out the July/August 2011 issue of Travel with a Challenge web magazine, showcasing Grandma Wears Hiking Boots and the Okanagan Valley. The magazine focuses on alternative travel: ecological, educational and cultural/historical travel, distinctive cuisine and volunteer vacations worldwide. Travel with a Challenge is a nine-year-old globally popular travel information website largely addressing the interests and agendas of the educated, proactive mature traveler, aged 45 to 80 years old.  About 65% of readers are women, and 74% of all readers have at least one post-graduate degree.  The TWAC website attracts 1.6 million readers a year, 74% Americans and Canadians, 20% British and Europeans, the rest Australians, New Zealanders and others. 

 

Grandma Wears Hiking Boots – Preview

Book Progress

It's full steam ahead on finishing my book: Grandma Wears Hiking Boots – A very personal guide to BC's Okanagan Valley. Some big decisions recently. In addition to the black & white photos and maps already planned, I'm now going to add two 8-page colour inserts. That meant a full review of all the photos I'd selected since I'd left out pics that wouldn't render well in B&W on the first go round. That done, I'm now out of excuses so I have to get back to writing. Thought you'd like a sneak preview of the cover. Ta-da ... 

OK Publicatons

A lot of the stories I write about the Okanagan and sidetrips around British Columbia's Southern Interior are produced for Okanagan Life magazine. This is a must read for everybody who wants to keep up with the issues, people, events and activities that make a difference to life in the valley.

Two of the most popular Okanagan Life issues each year are the Best of the Okanagan and the Best Restaurants. Both report the results of readers' choice polls along with some quirky picks and heart-felt favourites from the editorial staff (yup, that includes me).

I contribute to Okanagan Life's annual Real Estate and Relocation Guide - a great tool if you're thinking of moving to the valley (or even if you already live here) with overviews of the cities, towns and regions plus highlights of the best stuff to see and do.

I also write  and shoot for Okanagan Life's Annual Valley Guide, one of those glossy mags you find in hotel rooms that give you all the scoop on what's on, where to shop and what to do while you're visiting.

And each year, Okanagan Life produces a special publication about our neighbouring region, the  Magical Shuswap. It's too much fun doing the research and photography for this guide. So far I've written new editions for 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.