FREE eBook: WHALE SONG: School Edition - March 28-30

Get WHALE SONG: School Edition FREE on Amazon from March 28-30th.

Comes with detailed discussion guide for teachers!

Whale Song has been used in schools across the world, for novel studies, book reports and even as a book club read. The various societal and emotional themes make it a perfect choice for readers 9-109.

A "compelling" story of family ties, love, tragedy, sacrifice and transformation that will change the way you view life...and death.

Thirteen years ago, Sarah Richardson’s life was shattered after the tragic death of her mother. The shocking event left a grief-stricken teen-aged Sarah with partial amnesia.

Some things are easier to forget.

But now a familiar voice from her childhood sends Sarah, a talented mid-twenties ad exec, back to her past. A past that she had thought was long buried.

Some things are meant to be buried.

Torn by nightmares and visions of a yellow-eyed wolf and aided by creatures of the Earth and killer whales that call to her in the night, Sarah must face her fears and recover her memories―even if it destroys her.

Some things are meant to be remembered―at all cost.

FREE for 3 days only! Get it now.

Editorial Reviews:

“I read Whale Song and loved it.” ―Jodelle Ferland, actress (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Case 39)

“Tardif’s story has that perennially crowd-pleasing combination of sweet and sad that so often propels popular commercial fiction…Tardif, already a big hit in Canada…a name to reckon with south of the border.” ―Booklist

“Whale Song is deep and true, a compelling story of love and family and the mysteries of the human heart...a beautiful, haunting novel.” ―NY Times bestselling novelist Luanne Rice, author of Beach Girls

“A wonderfully well-written novel. Wonderful characters [that] shine. The settings are exquisitely described. The writing is lyrical. Whale Song would make a wonderful movie.” ―Writer’s Digest

“Whale Song is reminiscent of Ring of Endless Light by M. L’Engle, and Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.” ―Carol D. O’Dell, author of Mothering Mother

“One doesn’t simply read a Tardif story, one experiences it! Among the very few authors I’ve ever said that about is my all-time favorite Pat Conroy. Like him, Cheryl Kaye Tardif has a definite way with words.” ―Betty Dravis, co-author of Dream Reachers I & II.

“Tardif leaves a lasting mark on her readers…Moving and irresistible.” ―Midwest Book Review

Read a free sample or buy WHALE SONG: School Edition FREE on Amazon from March 28-30th. 

100-word "elevator pitch" for my thriller The River

The Nahanni River in Canada's Northwest Territories has a history of mysterious deaths, strange disappearances and headless corpses. Seven years ago, Del Hawthorne’s father and three of his friends disappeared near the Nahanni and were presumed dead.

When one of the missing men stumbles onto the University grounds, alive but barely recognizable and aging before her eyes, Del is shocked. Especially when the man tells her something inconceivable. Her father is still alive! Now she and a group of near strangers embark on a perilous mission that involves stem cell research, painful serums, cloning and world domination―with a deadly twist.

Embrace grief and get through it

A new friend has a blog called By Grace of Mourning. It is devoted to helping people cope with death, loss and grief. In her February 4th post, titled The Importance of Embracing Grief, Corry writes:

"The truth is, we never ‘get over it.’ We do, however, with passage of time and conscious grief work, come to a place in our lives where we have our loss in perspective, and we can move into living life again instead of just going through the motions..."

My thoughts on her message:

Corry is right. Grieving parents never ever "get over it". But we do "get through it".

As a mother who has lost a newborn baby, I will never forget the pain I was engulfed in. Or the guilt. So much guilt that I almost choked on it some days.

I've learned so much since that terrible black day over 19 years ago. I learned that life does go on. With or without us. I learned that I had to choose to move forward with life--when I was ready. I learned that no other day will be as black as that single moment when my first child, my son, died on his way to a special children's hospital--without me.

A year later, I had to learn to trust that Fate would not be so cruel as to put me through the same misery. I delivered a healthy baby girl, who is now 18 and ready to start her own life. I've been blessed by her presence in my life.

My son's death has colored so much of what I've done, including my own writing. He is "in" everything I write, in one way or another. In my novel Whale Song, the prologue may seem like the reflections of Sarah, the main character, but in many ways, these are my feelings, and a glimpse into my heart...

"I once feared death.
It is said that death begins with the absence of life. And life begins when death is no longer feared. I have stared death in the face and survived. A survivor who has learned about unfailing love and forgiveness..."

For those who are suffering, grieving, mourning...

There is always light at the end of even the darkest tunnel. And with light comes hope.

Read Corry's entire post, The Importance of Embracing Grief

Cheryl Kaye Tardif
http://www.cherylktardif.com/

The power and magic of 'WHALE SONG'

For a few years I've been referring to my novel Whale Song as "my heart book". I tell people it's because I am connected to it personally and emotionally. There is so much of me in that book. Sometimes I share the story of my brother Jason and how Whale Song was the way the police found me after his death. At signings, I'll sometimes share a story that a fan shared with me about how Whale Song affected him or her--how it sometimes changed a life.

It humbles me to realize that the words between the pages of Whale Song--MY words--could ever affect someone so deeply. It's changed people, brought family closer together, healed old wounds and changed the course of someone's life from destructive to constructive.

Wow...I am humbled.

I recall the story of the young woman who emailed me saying that she and her mother weren't talking anymore, too many past hurts. And then she bought Whale Song for her mom and everything changed. There was forgiveness and healing. They are now talking, sharing, laughing, crying and living with love in their hearts for each other.

Wow...I am blessed.

I remember the woman who bought Whale Song just before Mother's Day. She'd told me her mom had just passed away a few days before. I felt awful for her and talked her out of buying the book. I didn't want her to feel more pain and I thought she wouldn't be ready to deal with a book about mothers and daughters. She agreed. A few minutes later she came back to my table and said Whale Song was all she could think about. So she bought it. She was ready. She emailed me weeks later to thank me for helping her find closure.

Wow...I am awed.

And just this weekend, I heard from a young woman who told me her life had changed after reading Whale Song, and that it had inspired her to paint again, and the painting she created is unbelievably beautiful. In my next post I will tell you how Whale Song changed Aynsley Nisbet's life, and I'll share her words (with her permission) and a photo of the painting, which are the most amazing gifts anyone has given me.

Wow...I am honored.

For this and so much more, Whale Song is and always will be "my heart book".

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif
http://www.whalesongbook.com/

Kissed by an Angel (a poem for Sebastien)

Kissed By An Angel


Tiny baby, wrapped within

Where no sin could ever rest,

A mother's prayer for skin on skin,

A prayer of thanks for being blessed.


Nine full months anticipation

New formation of a life,

Daughter, friend and wanderer,

Now true definition of a wife.


Welcomed pain, joyful love

From above, God sent a child,

Small and sweet, so innocent

But to live a little while.


At birth, I saw his life grow dim,

I cherished him, please don't go!

But four short hours brought an end,

My first-born son, I'll never know.


Many years have come and gone,

Life goes on, in light and dark,

And in my son's photograph,

Between his eyes he bears a mark.


My daughter arrived one year after,

Through the laughter, I remember this,

She was born with the very same mark,

A mark that is called an "Angel's Kiss".



~*~

© Copyright 2004 Cheryl Kaye Tardif. All rights reserved.

In memory of Sebastien

It was a bittersweet day today. I drove my daughter to one of her final exams today, then came home and puttered around on the computer, not completely focused because today is a special day--and a sad one.

June 12th, 1989...

After a perfect pregnancy, I gave birth to a son. Within seconds I knew that something was wrong. His legs were dark purplish gray and there was no response when the nurse lifted them and let them go. I could see it on everyone's face--the nurses and my doctor knew it too. My baby--my firstborn--was dying.

He died 4 hours after birth--in an ambulance heading for a special children's hospital.

I never held him.

My husband did, but I never held my son. After they first took him away, they put him in an incubator. I was afraid to touch him. The minister from our church came to the hospital and baptized our son. Sebastien Pierre Tardif--"Pierre" after my husband's father.

Today was Sebastien's birthday. He would have been 19.

This afternoon I thought about him. I wondered if he would have looked a bit like our daughter, if he would have looked like my husband Marc.

Would Sebastien have had a girlfriend he really loved? Would he be getting ready to go to college, university...or would he be joining the company where his dad works? Would he have liked fixing cars like his dad? I like to think so. Would he be getting ready to leave, to move out?

Would he have skipped school, tried pot, beaten up the neighbor's boy, taken my car for a joyride before he got his license? Would he have had a wild party when Marc and I went to Mexico? Would he fight with Jessica over everything?

I wish he would have had the opportunity to do ALL of this and more.

I have made peace with all that happened, with his death, and the hole in my life is not so big. I have learned very early on to accept it for what it was--mercy. Sebastien had a brain aneurism minutes before he was born. If he had survived he would have had no use of his legs, possibly his arms and his brain was damaged. In fact, he would not have done many of the things I would have dreamed for my son. He is at peace now, at rest.

And I will never forget him.

Happy birthday, my beautiful son.

A Royale tribute to a much loved friend

Her name was Royale. She was oh-so-beautiful and loving. She was born April 22, 1995 and died May 19 (Victoria Day), 2008. She was 13 years old.

Royale was our baby--a miniature American Eskimo dog that was named after toilet paper. Yes, you read right. Royale toilet paper. You know, the brand that is advertised with those adorable fluffy white kittens?

Ever since our daughter Jessica was a toddler, she loved those kittens on the commercials. She begged us to buy her a "toilet paper kitty". Unfortunately, my husband is allergic to cats and really doesn't like them. He was never raised around a cat, unlike me. I grew up with cats and dogs, rarely just one pet in any given year. We lived near wooded areas in an isolated town, so our pets never lasted very long. Some ran away, some died.

Jessica wasn't the only one who wanted a pet back in 1995. I did too. I'll admit it now, I shamelessly used my little girl as the reason to buy a dog. I told my husband that if we couldn't get her a "toilet paper kitty", we could give her a "toilet paper puppy", a miniature American Eskimo.

When Jessica was almost five, I tracked down a breeder and we went to visit the farm. Royale was the only pup in the litter, which was kind of unusual--no brothers or sisters. Just like Jessica. I say that we went there to pick her out, but really, Royale picked us. The breeder let her out to play with Jessica, who thought we were visiting a friend. Royale chased her around in the grass and Jessica laughed in delight. This white little ball of fur seemed to love her instantly.

On our daughter's 5th birthday, we gave her a box. She opened it and just stared. Royale was sleeping, curled up, with a pink barrette in her hair. Jessica looked at us and said, "Is it real?" At that, Royale woke up and Jessica shrieked. She was so happy to finally have a toilet paper anything.

Royale was a great family pet. She woke us when the police were searching our back yard for a thief. She alerted us when some kids were hiding in our neighbor's back yard. She barked when the doorbell rang or someone knocked. And yes, sometimes she barked at nothing. Maybe a fly, or a leaf or plastic bag.

Sometimes we called her "Royale Pain in the Ass", because like most dogs, she'd get into something. She was getting slower in her old age, but she still shot out from nowhere if I was in the kitchen making dinner and said, "Oops." I swear some bits of food I dropped never had time to hit the floor. Her favorite food was seedless grapes. Heck, who am I trying to kid? Royale would eat onions, garlic, celery, anything I might be chopping for dinner.

Ironically, her favorite distraction was...toilet paper. She'd chew it, shred it, eat some and leave pieces of it around the house. Sometimes she'd get very annoyed if we left her for too long and we'd find a clump of chewed up toilet paper at the top of the stairs above the foyer. Kind of a "Let's see if you'll leave me alone that long again. So there!"

She lived up to her name on many occasions. She was royalty and she knew it. She often slept on the couch, on a blanket and with her head on a pillow. She had everyone trained too. Anyone who came into our house regularly, from family to friends to our house cleaner, knew exactly what she wanted when she yipped and spun in circles outside the pantry. Yes, she had us trained very well. My mother called Royale her "grand-doggy", and when "grandma" came to visit, Royale was in treat heaven.

Spoiled, always begging for food, grounded sometimes to her cubby, and sometimes sent to our room when we had company, she was just like another child in our house. She was Jessica's best friend and baby. And Royale was my baby too. She always knew when I was in pain. She'd jump into my lap and lay across my stomach. She was better than any heating pad.

On her last day with us, she had gotten into some candies. Since she had stopped jumping up on any furniture because of arthritis, I never thought she'd get into the sweets. But she did. We thought she'd just pass them, but as the day progressed, we could see she was bloated and uncomfortable. We thought we had no choices since it was a holiday, and kept thinking she'd pass the candies.

She came into my office when I was on the phone and climbed under my desk, but I had to take her out because she was too close to all the electrical plugs. She rested on a table cloth on my office floor. A while later she went out into the back yard and laid in the grass. My husband was mowing the lawn. Royale stayed in the grass for a while, and then crawled under our deck. That was when I knew for sure that she was dying.

We tried to coax her out, bribe her with treats but she stayed there. We kept hoping she'd come out later. I went out for half an hour to pick up groceries for supper, and when I returned my husband told me.

Royale was gone.

It has not been a good couple of days. Jessica is devastated. We all are. My husband realizes now just how much he loved that dog. Our house is not the same. It's quiet. Too quiet. There is no clicking of her nails as she walked on the floors. No whining at the back door. No barking. No soft fur to brush outside--that the birds would take to line their nests. No "rug" that lies in the middle of a doorway and doesn't move so you had to step over her. No warm heating pad to soothe me.

I have suffered a lot of loss in my life--from the death of my first baby after a brain stroke, to the death of my Grandma after illness, to the suicide of a close childhood friend, to the brutal murder of my brother Jason, and now to the death of a much loved pet. I'll deal with Royale's loss and my grief, just as I did with each of the others, by remembering the good times. I know that life does go on. There is always light at the end of even the darkest tunnel.

Royale was the best dog I ever had and I loved her. She was a part of our family. She was much loved and she'll be missed by us all. One day, I will immortalize her and one of my character's in one of my novels will be blessed to have a white "toilet paper puppy" named Royale.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif, author of Whale Song

Who should read Whale Song?

Back in 2003, when I wrote Whale Song, I envisioned my audience as mainly adult women--30-60. I've been surprised to see that a younger crowd has found Whale Song. I now have readers as young as 7. And I have many readers older than 60. My oldest reader is 108 and lives in Australia. She's actually Ollie, the world's oldest blogger.

Even more surprising, I've had a number of boys and men read Whale Song and enjoy it. At a signing in Richmond, BC, last summer, I sold more copies to boys between 8-15 than ever before. One of them emails me now and then. :)

Whale Song has a very strong and powerful message of love, forgiveness and hope, and some people who have read my novel have been changed by the message. I have received emails saying that Whale Song has healed broken relationships, mended some and helped some come to terms with a tragedy or death in their lives. I am truly blessed to hear such things!

Sometimes I am asked: "Who should read Whale Song?" So here's my answer.

Whale Song should be read by:

• mothers
• daughters
• sisters
• aunts
• grandmothers
• best friends
• teachers
• librarians
• caregivers
• book clubs (definitely!)
• Oprah :)
• anyone 7-108, male or female, who enjoys an emotional read

Whale Song should also be read by people dealing with:

• abuse
• loss
• grief
• death
• racial discrimination
• bullying
• leaving friends behind
• relationship problems
• lack of faith or hope

And it should be read by those searching for:

• hope
• forgiveness
• faith

Order Whale Song

"I'm Sorry."

WARNING: The following post may reduce you to jello. This is a 2 tissue post.

Coming up on the 1 year anniversary of Whale Song's release, I find I'm feeling retrospective. Sometimes it's good to look back over the year, analyze what went well...what didn't. We all have regrets and sometimes they hang over us, a dark cloud in an otherwise endlessly blue sky. I have a few. But for the most part, everything I've experienced--even the traumatic events in my life like the death of my son and the murder of my brother--has made me who I am as a person...and as a writer.

They say: write what you know. I've always agreed, to some extent, and I've done exactly that. There are also times to write what you don't know, in which case, having good research instincts comes in handy. In Whale Song, I wrote about broken relationships and death--two things I know maybe far too much about.

Although I am writing mainly fiction now, I wrote a lot of poetry and song lyrics as a teen. Last year, while getting ready for the release of Whale Song, I was so inspired by the story that I wrote a song. My daughter Jessica also plays guitar and sings and she performed the following song at the book launch for Whale Song last April.

Sarah Richardson, the main character, has always been a reflection of me--the bullied child I once was, the awkward teen I grew into, and the once bitter adult who harbored resentment towards her father. But Sarah's journey and experiences are her own, and in her darkest moment, when she realizes a truth that changes her life forever, she is devastated. This is Sarah's song to her father--her words, her thoughts...her regrets.

I'm Sorry

I can't believe so much time has passed,

That you'll be with me once again, at last,

Through all the pain my life has been,

I'm sorry for not trusting you,

For pushing you so far away,

For all you did,

I hated you.

I didn’t understand what you were doing,

I thought your actions selfish and confusing,

If only I had really known,

The truth of all that happened,

I’d realize far sooner

That you loved me,

Really loved me.

I’m sorry,

So very sorry,

If I could take those hurtful words away, I would,

If I only knew,

What you'd put me through,

That it was for my own good.

I’m sorry,

So very sorry,

If I could turn back the hands of time, I would,

If you only knew,

I’d make the suffering mine,

But nothing can change time.

I realize you loved me more than ever,

A father’s love could never be more pure,

But, Daddy, I wish you’d stayed,

And never have gone away,

I needed my father,

I missed you,

I love you.

I’m sorry,

So very sorry,

If I could take those hurtful words away, I would,

If I only knew,

What you'd put me through,

That it was for my own good.

I’m sorry,

So very sorry,

If I could turn back the hands of time, I would,

If you only knew,

What I’d do for you,

I’d tell you this,

I’m…sorry.

©2007 Cheryl Kaye Tardif

Read an excerpt from Whale Song.

Pick up a copy of Whale Song from Amazon or your favorite bookstore or library.

I hope you enjoyed this post. And thank you all for making Whale Song the success that it is.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif