posted on May 6, 2015 by D. R. Graham

The Unapologetic Canadian

By D.R. Graham

The HandlerThree books published in three months and four more to come in 2015. That’s crazy, right? It has been a bit of a whirlwind, but lots of fun. My name is D.R. Graham. I write about everything from bikers and rowdy cowboys, to World War II spitfire pilots and search and rescue heroes.

I was always taught to write the book I would want to read, and my collection consists of edgy, fast-paced, young adult and new adult dramas with a mandatory romantic thread. In keeping with that philosophy, the main characters I create are always people I would find fascinating if I met them — people I would want as friends, would want to study, or would like to date (if I weren’t married, that is).

The Handler, the second book in the Noir et Bleu Motorcycle Club series, has just released, and the main male character is Cain. He is Canadian, like me. The book takes places in the United States, Europe, and Canada, so here are a few Canadianisms to help you get to know both Cain and me better.

Yes, we do say sorry a lot, but keep in mind it isn’t always apologetic. Sorry is something we say in a variety of different situations like: if we think the other person is wrong, if we feel your pain, or if we couldn’t care less about something. We tend to be brutally honest, so the sorry sometimes just softens the blow of the truth.

Sorry, but to set the record straight, we do not say “aboot”. To accurately tease us about the way we say about, you need to understand the influence of French on Canadian English. We enunciate both the o and the u. Our mouth literally wraps around the o and kisses out the u. The proper way to tease us is to pronounce it “ab ow uut” with a bit of a lip pucker, but the trick is to say it in one syllable. If you can do that, you can be an honorary Canadian.

In Canada, a university and a college are two entirely different institutions, and the terms aren’t used interchangeably. A tuque is a knit cap. A keener is someone who has a lot of enthusiasm, almost to the point of being a brown-noser. Hooped means you are up the creek without a paddle, or screwed. Timbits are doughnuts. Toonies are money. And reefing on something means yanking hard enough to almost break it.

This part will only seem unusual to those of you who are American. We add a “u” to words like colour, honour, favourite, and neighbourhood. Actually, we add a “u” to almost all words. We add an extra l to words like counsellor, cancelled, and labelling. We like the que combo instead of ck for words like cheque and raquet. Words that end with er are often re, like centre, sombre, metre, and litre, but not always, because, well, sorry, I don’t know why.

We are the result of a combination of British, French, and American influences topped off with a little bit of quintessential Canadianism. So, to summarize, we Canadians areunapologetically kind of strange, but hopefully likeable none the less.

Thanks for reading! If you want to meet Cain and all the other characters from the Noir et Bleu Motorcycle Club series, or if you want to contact me visit:www.drgrahambooks.com.

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The Handler

He promised he would never be an outlaw . . .

While searching for the member of an outlaw motorcycle gang who murdered his dad, Cain Allen is offered a boatload of cash to “handle” the stunning teen popstar Lincoln Todd. Although he doesn’t need the headache of a high-maintenance celebrity, getting out of town will help him keep a low profile until he testifies against the other two killers.

Touring Europe with Lincoln proves to be more complicated than Cain anticipated, and despite his efforts, the line between their personal and professional lives blurs. She’s sweet, smart, and totally unpredictable. And he loves it.

But Lincoln’s association with Cain puts her in more danger than anyone could have imagined. When he joins forces with the Noir et Bleu Motorcycle Club to protect her, Cain discovers the lengths he’s willing to go, and the person he’s willing to become to protect the people he loves…

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D. R. Graham

D.R. Graham is the author of Young Adult and New Adult novels for HarperCollins and Entangled Publishing. She worked as a social worker with at-risk youth for seven years before becoming a therapist in private practice. The clients she works with are children and teenagers and the novels she writes deal with issues relevant to young and new adults in love, transition, or crisis. She is also an award winning columnist for the Richmond News. She currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband. D.R. Graham's novels are edgy and reflect the emotional rawness of the young adult psyche. The novels contain coarse language and mature subject matter. They are intended for mature young and new adult readers.

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