Patricia Sands

Author

Toronto

My corner of the world

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This week my friend, author Sheryl Browne, invited me across the pond (only *virtually* unfortunately) to chat with her about where I live and where I fantasize about living! I took a welcome break from *revision world* where I’m still hunkered down but making progress.

Sheryl has been running a series about our home towns with some of the authors in our LOVEAHAPPYENDING.COM literary group. It’s great fun to learn more about each other although those of you that know me will not be the least surprised at my answers.

Here’s a bit of the post and if you click right here you can visit Sheryl’s website to read the rest and leave a comment. Take a few minutes to check out her hilarious and entertaining novels. There’s never a dull moment in her stories!

“With our children grown, we now live in a condo overlooking Lake Ontario with hiking and biking trails outside our door and a fabulous Italian restaurant just a few minutes’ walk away.

An easy 15-minute drive takes us to the heart of the downtown area and just a little longer gets us to Pearson International Airport. Public transport is readily available and, like most cities, Toronto is dotted with delightful neighbourhoods that have their own distinct character.

This is part of the view as we bike or walk along the lake. From time to time we bike right downtown in just 45 minutes.

So why would I ever want to leave? Um … well …I do have a confession to make. Hmm – I believe your next questions covers this subject.

SB: My next question is: Do you like to travel? Where is your favourite place in the world and why? I think I can see you do, Patricia. And I can definitely see why.”

Where is your corner of the world and what do you like best about it? If you could live elsewhere, where would you choose?

Your Date Coach is here … got questions?

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Apart from my love of writing and hearing from readers, I thrive on the connections that are constantly occurring in this literary world. Through social media, conferences, writing groups, there are always new and interesting people to get to know … and, of course, everyone has a story.

The fabulous Christine Hart is visiting with me here today. She’s a Date Coach! Whoops, no pushing now! Please line up in an orderly fashion if you have a question or two you would like to run by her about a relationship in your life.

As a Dating & Relationship Coach for over 12 years, Christine is the founder of Your Date Coach Inc., and an industry leader in navigating the world of effective male/female communication. Her guidance and techniques have led to more than 65 lasting marriages. Author of The Art of Living a Flirtatious Life – a book dedicated to helping women connect with the power of their femininity. Find out more about this book and others by Christine by clicking here.
Christine has appeared on various media including interviews with The Huffington Post, The Financial Post, CTV National, CityTV, CTV, CBC, Much Music, GlobalTV, CP24, Elle Magazine, Flare Magazine, Canadian Living, Globe & Mail, National Post and The Toronto Star. She is also one of the regular Dating Experts on CosmoTV’s hit show, “LoveTrap”. She holds a BA in Communication Studies, is a Certified Coach through CCF and a graduate of the PAX Mastery Program in California. PAX is dedicated to transforming the way men and women relate to each other.
Christine is always the best company! You’re going to enjoy getting to know her here. One thing she doesn’t mention in her bio above, is the fact that she is also a talented jazz singer. How cool is that? Read on!

PS – Your choice of career is unique and intriguing. How did it come about?

CH – It really was a natural evolution. It began with getting a degree in Communication Studies and then shortly after, I owned a casting facility for film and television. What I loved most about my job was talking with the actors about their love lives. Then I heard about this concept of speed-dating and it hadn’t really come to Canada yet. I decided to start a business in Calgary and it was very successful. I was always giving dating advice based on the books I was reading and the conversations I was having with my guests. I did a lot of work (and still do) as a Dating Expert on television and then heard there was a career description of  a “Dating Coach”.  Realizing I was actually doing that but not charging,  I formed YourDateCoach in 2007 and have worked full time in that capacity ever since. 

PS – You’ve branched out in several directions with a television show and a published book as well as working individually and in workshops with clients. Whew! You are a busy lady. Would you mind elaborating on those different aspects of your work?

 CH – Yes, the one-to-one coaching is the largest part of my business and from that several wonderful opportunities have come my way. I am often hired to speak to groups of women or co-ed groups. My extensive training with PAX Programs gives me a unique set of skills where I can advise anyone at any point in their dating life whether they’ve been in a relationship for 10 years or just getting themselves out there. My book came from a workshop I taught on helping women connect with their femininity. I felt that many women saw femininity as being a weakness and didn’t know how to connect with that side of themselves. Since their work required them to be masculine, they wanted to learn to be more feminine in their interactions with men. 

PS – What brings you the greatest satisfaction in your career?

CH – I love it when I get a call or email from a client saying, “I just don’t know what I would’ve done if I hadn’t found you”. I have helped hundreds of women and men get better results in their interactions with the opposite sex. I love clearing up misconceptions and helping people relate on a whole new level they didn’t know existed prior to working with me. 

PS – When you take time off from this business, what do you like to do? Travel, sports, theatre?

CH – I’m an experiential traveler and love visiting new places all over the world. I love riding my bike and going to hot yoga classes. As a hobby, I sing jazz. I have an EP that I am beginning to market. www.christinehartmusic.com and I’ve sung all over North America and in Central Mexico.  

PS – Moving forward with your career, do you see any major changes in the future to what you are doing?

CH – My business is transitioning to being mainly online and via phone. I am building programs and products to further help my clients. I believe that you are best able to help your clients when you yourself, are living an authentic lifestyle that keeps you very happy. Having more of an online business allows me to travel more. 

PS – Is there one particular generic piece of advice that you might offer to everyone as a basic guideline in handling relationships?

CH – Men are not versions of women. They are the opposite of women in many ways. What I mean by that is sometimes we look at men and think “Gosh, I would never do that or think that way, what the heck is his problem?!” Both men and women can create an opportunity to gain a lot more peace in their lives through understanding the WHY behind each other’s behaviors. It can be both fascinating (really!) and healing at the same time. 

Christine, thanks so much for stopping by! It’s always great fun to chat with you. When I start to work on the revisions for my upcoming new novel (the editor has promised he will have it to me soon), I may have to send a couple of the characters to you for counselling!

For all of you dear readers who want to know more about Christine, here’s a link to her newsletter that’s always bursting with great information and helpful tips!

She’s also waiting to hear from you at her website www.yourdatecoach.com.
Among other things Christine is a perfect example of people in “The Wireless Generation”, able to work from anywhere in the world. When you have a minute, take a look at this site about a young couple who are putting together a documentary about this new generation of people who are taking their careers online so they can travel the world. I’m one of their supporters as they work to raise enough money to present their documentary to the Sundance Film Festival. If you know others who may be interested in this, please pass it on! Thanks!

Channeling Mr. Rogers …

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Photo credit – Wikipedia

It’s a beautiful day in the neighbourhood, a beautiful day for a neighbour, would you be mine, could you be mine … *channeling Mr. Rogers* … and there’s a lot of blog-hopping going on today, which always guarantees a great time!

For some reason, I’ve been humming the theme song from  the Mr. Rogers show all day. But … hey … his show was all about friendship and that’s what I’m talking about with my friend Jess today.  I must be having some sort of psychic connection with Fred … goodness knows I watched at least a zillion of his shows when our children were small!

I’m hanging out at the Happiness Project with the fabulous Jess Witkins, a young woman with the most brilliant smile and a sunny attitude to match. How could you not want to rush over to a blog with that handle?

As well as spreading happiness, Jess is working on her first novel and we are all following her progress with great anticipation. Write on, Jess!

She’s been telling me recently about her fabulous book club and we got talking about friendship and  … well … click right here and hop on over to join our chat. You know I’m all about friendship! We would love to hear from you AND THERE’S A GIVEAWAY INVOLVED. See you there!

To make the day even better, best-selling author and dear friend, Steena Holmes … (um, she’s a bit on the shy side … could her photo be any smaller? Steena, we have to talk!)

Anyway, the awesome and talented Steena is here to share her exciting news! Her latest novel, “Finding Emma” has just won the 2012 Indie Excellence Award in the Fiction category. It’s a gripping, emotional story which I was privileged to read and review just as it was published and it is most worthy of all the kudos being received.

Along with that, Steena is contributing a portion of the proceeds from sales to the Missing Children Society of Canada.

If you haven’t read it yet, here’s the Amazon link. BUT WE ARE ALSO GIVING AWAY AN E-COPY HERE! Woohoo!

Steena has an amazing blog tour in progress, hosted by Women On Writing, and you can find a list of all of her stops on her website as well as details about a Scavenger Hunt … seriously!  Honestly, this woman is creative!  She has written some terrific posts that truly hit home about parenting … and the subject of chocolate does come up from time to time as well!

Just leave a comment below this post and then click here to go to Steena’s blog to leave a comment after you read her excellent post about her thoughts on winning an award. We will employ our highly scientific method of putting all the names in a hat and having my DH pick out the winner!

Ahem, pardon me for nudging Steena just a little to the side of the spotlight for a second to share the news that The Bridge Club was a Finalist in the Women’s Issues category for the 2012 Indie Excellence Awards. It was fun to find both of us there when they sent out the list of Winners and Finalists. Yay, us!

I know you are going to enjoy getting to know these two fine friends of mine. In the author/blogger community we often pop around to each other’s sites. It’s the cyber equivalent of meeting up at the local coffee emporium, martini bar, or chocolateria. Where do you like to hang out with your friends? 

Last chapter syndrome …

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Ooops – Tuesday just slipped right by me! I’m in the grips of what I refer to, in a conflicted  joyful way, as “last chapter syndrome”. Even though I feel a little sad to say goodbye to the characters, it’s such a relief good feeling to be reaching the end of something that has consumed me for the past year my next novel! However, that doesn’t mean that I’m actually right at “The End” yet. That’s the truly difficult part for me.

The main character, a woman named Katherine Price, decided to do something at the last minute which I wasn’t expecting. You would think she might have at least given me an inkling but …nope … there I was, typing away and all of a sudden it was like … OMG,she’s going to do … what? But it turns out it’s a very good thing to do and actually is helping me tie up some loose ends. There are times when our characters really do know what’s best. That’s one of the amazing and surprising aspects of writing fiction. I love it!

The only way my husband can communicate with me at the moment!

However, it also means that I have not been thinking about much else (except golf once a week  for now and, of course, The Adorables, … my salvation after a winter of being stuck to this chair and computer) so please forgive this brief post. I’ve got to get back to work before my husband leaves me and finish this novel.

Next week, I’m going to introduce you to a couple of fabulous women who run a wonderful, and immensely helpful, business, the Downsizing Divas! You’re going to love them AND love how they do what they do!

By way of an intro, here’s their book and the link to find out more about it. Darn! I enlarged the image and now it’s a bit fuzzy. Sorry! Click that link and check it out and I’ll bring it all to you properly next Tuesday!

More Shameless Self-promotion here: I’ve got a Mother’s Day promotion for The Bridge Club running on Kindle Nation Daily’s facebook page. Need a good read for mom? The Bridge Club might be just the answer! Thanks for passing it on to your friends and readers. Always appreciated.

How do you cope when life gets crazy? Do you stay calm or get frazzled? I’ve found that frazzled really doesn’t work for me so I just motor on, leaving a trail of burned food in pots, unreturned messages, and blog posts that really aren’t up to par! Do you join the ranks of the calm or the frazzled? What works for you?

Oh! A gentle reminder – If you haven’t slipped over to CJ West’s blog to leave a comment and be in the running for a $500 Amazon Gift Card, please click here and take 30 seconds to do it. We all need to take a break and be kind of crazy at times and Jillian Dodd is just the writer to get us to do it! This idea is her brainchild so let’s help her out! Then please pass the message on.