HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY.
This would be mum, me and baby brother (little sister still just a gleam in the parental eye) circa 1968, Natal south coast, Africa.
We’ve come a long way, and it’s been a good ride. Thanks mom. You remain my earthly judge, a guiding star.
Here’s to mothers.
Methinks I should finally let the shoes go. Holes and all. They did the Honolulu Marathon, and they did the Victoria Marathon, and all the training in-between — and that’s asking a lot of a pair of runners. We traveled good roads, hot roads, snowy roads and dusty roads. We strapped on Yaktraks and snowshoes, we suffered and triumphed. And learned a ton. Now it’s time for a new season, new roads. Change.
So why is it so hard to let them go?
You think a new pair might make me run a little faster?
My news today, as reported in Publishers Marketplace:
Fiction:
Women’s/Romance: THE HEART OF A RENEGADE author Loreth Anne White’s two new books, to Susan Litman at Harlequin, by Jennifer Jackson at the Donald Maass Literary Agency
My two most favorite people today: Jennifer Jackson, my brand new agent; and Susan Litman my fabulous editor who rescued me from the slush pile a few years ago, and who has stuck by me ever since.
My Path: 7 km Valley Trail to Rainbow Lake.
My Beat: Mary Chapin Carpenter — I Feel Lucky.
Going, going … gone. The ice on our valley-bottom lakes has melted, but there remains hard-packed snow on my Lost Lake trails. Green-up is otherwise fast and fierce. I had a hummingbird at my window today, and I swear if you sit still long enough … you can watch the budding leaves unfurl. Or perhaps even hear them grow. The energy in the earth is tangible. I hope it translates into my writing …
They’re out and about now. And I find myself jumping at any dark blot that sifts into my peripheral vision as I run my woodland trails. I wonder if my heart will always quicken at a black spot in the landscape now, my body somehow registering for flight before my consciousness tells me it’s a rock, or an old rotting stump. I’ve become conditioned in some primal survival sort of way — in the same way my entire body stills if I catch sight of a long wiggly thing on the trail, before my brain actually processes what it is — an old shoelace, a piece of string, or common garter snake. That indelible response comes from childhood. I grew up with snakes — nasty ones that could take your life.
It drives home just how much we are all a composite of our past experience. I also grew up with some nasty cops during the apartheid era. I still, irrationally, grow anxious at the sight of a yellow van (the kind the police took people away in never to be seen again). My Zulu nanny used to threaten me with this possibility whenever I misbehaved — the cops were the evil tokoloshe, the monster under the bed come to spirit you away. Whoda thunk a bright yellow vehicle could instill fear for life 
As a writer I find this rich territory. Backstory shapes character, and it drives current reaction. I’m thinking about this as I try to feed my character’s past into my story while still moving the plot forward. Perhaps it’s as simple as a heart stalling at the sight of a yellow van.
Welcome to my slice of life in B.C.’s wild and wet coast mountains. This ’running commentary’ is less about writing than it is a small window – often visual — into the life of a romance writer, on the run.
I hope to get to know my readers this way, and I hope you get to know me … just a little better.
From The Romance Reader:
“THE HEART OF A RENEGADE is a skillfully crafted novel, packed with complex characters involved in a well-used plot line; however, it is innovatively done. Loreth Anne White’s pacing is superb, maintaining ever mounting intensity as the story plays out. This story is rich with detail, and a plot that could be expanded to a 450 page hardcover. That said, it does not feel as if it were condensed but evolves in the expected manner only to twist and turn a bit adding interest and suspense. The dynamics between Jessica and Luke are extraordinarily well handled.
White is a very gifted author and whose future novels will be sought out by this reviewer.”
–Thea Davis
A TOP PICK from Romantic Times BOOKreview for THE HEART OF A RENEGADE
“Luke Stone is just like a stone. After his pregnant wife is murdered, he closes up emotionally, until his employer asks him to protect Jessica Chan, who’s a target of the Chinese Triad Dragons for attempting to expose their atrocities. Luke doesn’t want to be responsible for anyone, and he’s surprised to find a kindred spirit in Jessica. When they’re on the run with only each other to lean on, their emotional barriers crumble. The Heart of a Renegade (4.5) is an action ride full of thrills and surprises and a love story that will make your heart beat faster.
Loreth Anne White has expanded her Shadow Soldiers series, and intriguing and dynamic characters continue to make it compelling.
—Sandra Garcia-Myers
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And a five-star review from CataRomance.com:
From the instance THE HEART OF A RENEGADE starts, one will take an indrawn breath and continue to gasp until the explosive ending. The danger is believably suspenseful with heart-pounding threats, and how they are carried out is terrifying realistic. Just when one thinks all is going smoothly for the hero and heroine, more peril crops up and they must once again fight for their lives.
Luke and Jessica are one of the most endearing couples about whom I have had the pleasure to read, and their compelling story profoundly touched me. Whether they are fleeing from the enemy or expressing exactly how they feel on a subject, their actions are authentic and make them seem very true-to-life. Ms. White had me caring for this couple and what the future holds for them, causing numerous tension-filled moments during the story. THE HEART OF A RENEGADE masterfully evokes images and feelings to create an enthralling plus emotional story which never disappoints.
–Amelia Richard
SEDUCING THE MERCENRY earns Cata award
I am thrilled to learn SEDUCING THE MERCENARY has been named a CataRomance Reviewers Choice award winner for 2007. Thank you to the Cata team!
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HEART OF A MERCENARY EARNS CATA AWARD
I am honored to have been awarded a 2006 CataRomance Reviewers’ Choice Award for THE HEART OF A MERCENARY.
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SULTAN is NRCA finalist
A SULTAN’S RANSOM has been named a National Readers Choice Award finalist in the long contemporary category.
