The Carus Chronicles

I'm taking a break from blogging during the holidays so you won't hear from me again until January 1st, 2018. From the bottom of my heart, I wish you and yours a joyous holiday season full of love and laughter. ~ J.C. McKenzie

I planned to start my "Writer Wednesday" series in January, but I've had a bunch of people ask me how to do this, so I thought I'd publish this post early. Here's how to configure the Goodreads Widget to only show your good reviews (with pictures!!!). Now before anyone gets mad at me or argues I'm "hiding the truth" from readers or being misleading... No! A writer's website is one of their best marketing tools. No brand is going to post or advertise their poor reviews. I'm not pretending I don't have any. Of course I do. Everyone does. I had a reviewer give me a three star review because she didn't like my British spellings (note: Canada uses a combination of British and American spellings, and not only am I Canadian, this book was set in Canada). I've had another reviewer give me two stars because she didn't like my explanation regarding foghorn usage during storms (I was trying to show, not tell, how the character ...

I'm very excited to announce that I've banded together with my mom and fellow writer, Jo-Ann Carson to form VIPA: Vancouver Island Paranormal Authors . Although we write independently, now that I'm back on the West Coast, it's nice to have a partner in crime to attend author events with. Better than nice. It's my MOM , guys!! Jo-Ann Carson writes "Paranormal Light", or as I like to call them "Naughty Cozies." There's mystery, romance and humour. For those not familiar with my work, I write on the darker side and tend to classify my books as paranormal romance, dark fantasy or urban fantasy, depending on the balance of heat, plot and violence. If you'd like to check VIPA out, we're here: http://www.VIPAuthors.ca

Thank you very much for making my first giveaway back such a success. I used RANDOM.org to randomly select the winners from the large pool of entrants. Congrats to the following: Sharon of Ohio Joy of Arizona Beverly of New Mexico Danelle of BC Elizabeth of Nova Scotia Linda of Illinois Michelle of New Jersey Kate of New York Lysette of North Carolina Rachel of North Dakota Crystine of Wyoming Alyssa of Kentucky Frances of Alaska Grace of Ontario Barb of Wisconsin Eva of Florida Rebecca of BC Tammy of Montana CB of BC Cindy of Indiana Cat of BC = #21! If you're counting, that's 21. I had an extra, so #21 was the lucky extra winner. I may have a few more at the end of the year, and if so, I'll pull some random names from the list that didn't receive a calendar the first time and send them off. I hope you entered your mailing addresses correctly, because that's where they're going! By the way... This is what a headache looks like to a p...

I'm baaaaaack!! And very excited to be writing again. If you've signed up for my newsletter, some of these announcements will be a repeat. If you're not on my newsletter, what are you waiting for? I give exclusive sneak peaks, updates and giveaways. Sign up here:  http://eepurl.com/dc_EQv Speaking of giveaways... !!Giveaway Announcement!! To celebrate my return to writing, I'm giving away 20 TWRP 2018 Calendars. Use the link below and complete the google form. Contest closes at midnight, December 10th. I will select winners December 11th, and mail out the calendars by the 12th. Because it's the holiday season, and I'm shipping from Canada, I can't guarantee they'll arrive in time for Christmas. Giveaway is open to international entrants, so long as Canada Post can deliver to you. Please ensure your address is correct when you enter the contest, if you're selected as a winner, I will not be verifying the address is correct before mailing ou...