Learn more about the people behind Lynn Valleyʼs bustling businesses!
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Nicole Palacios is best known in Lynn Valley for her personal training business. But that may change now that she’s also the author of her novel, Bel Air Bodies, available for sale as an Amazon ebook. We tracked Nicole down to ask her about her writing, her background, and her life here in Lynn Valley.
Tell us about your writing background…. has it been hobby, career, or both?
My writing career has been something that I didn’t realize I wanted to do until about seven years ago. I started writing fitness-related articles for magazines, then realized my passion for fiction. I always enjoyed writing fiction in my youth, but put it aside to focus on schooling and child rearing. Now it’s back in my radar.Now tell us about your fitness biz! (And, while you’re at, it, the rest of your life, too!)
I am a North Shore personal trainer; I’ve been involved in the fitness industry since I was 17! I started as a fitness instructor, then got my personal training certification and received my degree in Exercise Science. I train people in their homes/ outside or in my gym facility. I mainly work with females looking to get into shape/lose weight/etc. Since I was six I’ve lived on the North Shore (with a three-year break living in Minnesota of all places!) I have three beautiful girls, and an awesome husband. We are totally in love with Lynn Valley where we live!
What made you decide on the romance genre when you turned to fiction writing?
I wouldn’t classify this as romance per se, more of a “chick lit” novel. There is some element of romance, of course, but that is not the only theme. What fun is it to read a book without a little romance? It keeps things fun and light.What other kinds of writing do you do?
I write health and fitness articles for magazines such as Alive, Pregnancy (when it was still being published!), Fitness Business Canada, Personal Fitness Professional, the North Shore News, and a few others. I also maintain a fitness blog at: http://ptfitnesswriter.blogspot.ca/How did you find the self-publishing process? Why did
you go with Amazon?
It’s very difficult to get published with a mainstream publisher; you really need an agent first. They are hard to please! Amazon made it simple and was very easy to use.What were some of the ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ of self-publishing?
I would say all “pro”! It is very easy to do with a computer.Did you have any help, or is this a solo project from start to finish?
This was my own personal project. I wanted to finish a book; there are a few others that I have started and left hanging for a few years.What’s your goal for the book?
I would love to see it sell one hundred copies; that’s a goal. As well, it would be nice to just to have some people who I don’t know and didn’t tell about it to read it and hopefully enjoy it!What are some of your other writing goals?
I am currently working on a non-fiction book on fitness for baby boomers. I hope to publish that the traditional way and have it “in stores”.How will you be promoting Bel Air Bodies?
Twitter, Facebook, other blogs, word of mouth.Any advice for aspiring novelists?
Stick with it! Don’t give up and don’t let negative comments get you down.Anything else you’d like to tell us?
I am happy to be living on the North Shore and have such a great group of other writers and friends to bounce ideas off of! This community is so warm and welcoming and I really feel blessed to live here!
According to RCMP Cpl. Richard De Jong, a mixture of marijuana and magic mushrooms were behind the Saturday, Aug. 11 incident in which a teenager was seen naked and bleeding in the Mountain Highway and Kilmer area.
Emergency services received several reports from people who saw the agitated young man at about 5 p.m. on an otherwise typical Lynn Valley summer evening. While some people in the neighbourhood were worried that he had been attacked, it turns out the man was not an assault victim after all.
Responders located the 17-year-old and learned that, after ingesting the illegal drugs while visiting a friend, he became “mentally and emotionally distressed,” stripped naked, and leapt through the residence’s plate glass window in an attempt to run home.
Police always find these kind of incidents concerning, said Cpl. De Jong, who noted that the teenager was taken to Lions Gate Hospital for treatment of the wounds he received during his drug-induced psychosis.
From the kitchen of Lynn O’Malley – Summer is a time of great intentions; we want to hike the wilderness, build a backyard deck or tree fort, host a marvellous B.C. Day party, teach our children the Latin names of all the local flowers and catch up our photo album. Then a heat wave hits, and it’s all we can do to throw some Wonder bread and a jar of peanut butter at our children before retreating to the basement again with a wet cloth on our head.
But sometimes you have to step up and provide vittles for a crowd. For times like that, here’s a great, crowd-pleasing recipe that makes it seems like you’ve been working much harder than you have. Make it several hours in advance, or even the day before, so it’s well frozen when you unveil it. (And FYI, it’s a great birthday cake for the wheat-intolerant!) Do you have any favourite hot-weather recipes, an easy, stove-free main, perhaps, or perfect patio drink? Please send them to [email protected], and I’ll share them here!
The Best Ice Cream Cake
2 c. Rice Krispies
1 c. coconut
1 c. chopped pecans
1 stick melted butter
1/2 gal. vanilla ice cream
1 sm. bottle caramel syrup
3/4 c. brown sugar
Mix together Rice Krispies, coconut, pecans and butter. Bake on cookie sheet at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and mix 3/4 cup brown sugar to mixture. Spread about half the mixture in the bottom of 13×9 pan.
Spread with 1/2 of caramel (I don’t usually add nearly this much caramel …. and at this point I usually drizzle some chocolate syrup on top, too!) Cut and place ice cream until it covers bottom of pan. Pour more caramel to taste and the remainder of the mixture on the top of ice cream. Freeze and eat.
