What I'm Reading Wednesday

This week I'm reading Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones.  It's the second book in her paranormal series about Charley Davidson who's both a private investigator and a grim reaper.  I love the way she writes.  Some of the scenes are laugh out loud funny.  If you haven't heard of her, give her a try.  The first book (and her debut novel) is First Grave on the Right.

Katherine

Bread

If I had to choose just one favorite food, it would be bread.  Not the loaf kind you buy from the grocery store and use for sandwiches, but the crusty, yeasty kind that most people buy from the bakery.  Not only do I love to eat bread, I like to bake it.

Yesterday the high temperature for the day was in the upper 60’s due to Hurricane Irene.  Luckily I live far enough inland in NY that we only had residual wind gusts and none of the terrible weather people downstate and along the East coast had to withstand.  Those cooler temperatures had me thinking of baking bread.  I bake a lot of it in the fall, winter, and early spring, but once summer comes no more homemade bread.  Who wants to put the oven on in 85 to 90 degree weather?  I guess I could borrow Sister #2’s bread maker but it just isn’t the same as actually making it yourself versus putting everything into a machine and pushing a button.

I’ve always liked baking bread, the mixing of the yeast and flour and other ingredients, kneading it, letting it rise, then kneading it again.  I find the whole process to be a great stress reliever.   I love how it warms the house, fills it with the most enticing aromas, and of course, that first bite still warm from the oven with butter melting into it.  For me, there’s nothing better.  (Though I have to admit homemade cookies are a close second.)

Katherine

This I Know For Sure...

I can't believe my first published novel, Impetuous, is available today for purchase in both print and digital format on www.thewildrosepress.com and available in digital format on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

There is nothing, nothing like holding your very first published novel in your hands.  I imagine it's very much like holding your newborn child for the first time. 

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me, shared their wisdom with me, and pushed me when I needed to be pushed.  I appreciate it more than I can say.

Katherine

What I'm Reading Wednesday

I'm still reading Sinister Sprinkles by Jessica Beck.  I had a busy week last week so I didn't get much pleasure reading done.  I did finish revisions and send in the short story I was asked to submit by my publisher as well as take care of a bunch of non-writing related stuff. 

On another note, only 3 more days before my novel, Impetuous, is released.  :o)

Katherine

Oh My Goodness

My first novel, Impetuous, will be released this Friday, 8/26/11 through The Wild Rose Press.   (www.thewildrosepress.com)  I’m getting more and more excited as the day gets closer.

After reading the above, I should say, my first published novel will be released.  It’s certainly not the first novel I wrote.  That book will never see the light of day, at least not in its current form.  It will need a lot of revision before it’s ever ready to come out into the sunlight.  I’ve learned a lot since that book was written.  Things like point of view, voice, action vs. reaction, passive voice, and show don’t tell just to name a few.  I have to admit the first time I was told “show don’t tell” I was at a complete loss.  My first reaction was what do you mean don’t tell, I’m telling a story.

It seems like it has taken a long time to get to this point and other times, it seems like it could have come a lot sooner if I didn’t waste so much time doing other things instead of focusing on my writing.   Another example of hindsight being 20/20, I guess. 

Now the sales plug --You can purchase Impetuous on The Wild Rose Press website in both digital and book form and it will also be available in digital format on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Katherine

What I'm Reading Wednesday

I'm currently reading Shoot To Thrill by Nina Bruhns and Sinister Sprinkles by Jessica Beck.  I'm alternating between the two.  Do you ever find yourself reading more than one book at a time?

Katherine

Blogging

As you can tell if you look at the archive list on this blog, I haven’t been blogging very long.  Sometimes I have a very specific topic I want to write about, other times an idea or topic will pop into my head that seems like it’d be a great post.  And then there are the other times, like today, when I have no idea what I should blog about.  Should I write about my container vegetable garden that while there have been so many blossoms on various plants, I have no actual vegetables yet or perhaps I should write about what it’s like for me as a writer and some of the struggles I face as well as the triumphs that keep me writing.  I suppose I could write about publishing in general, but there a lot of people out there already doing that and doing it much better than I could. 

I guess if I get really desperate I could write about the weather (kind of like when you meet someone new and have nothing in common with them and you end up discussing the weather for lack of anything else) and how we needed rain so badly last month and now we’ve been having torrential rain the last few days that has more than made up for the rain deficit we did have.  No, I don’t think I’ll ever get that desperate for a blog topic.  At least not yet. :o)

Happy Monday (Is there such a thing?)

Katherine

This I Know For Sure...

Any of the animal videos on YouTube by Klaatu42 can make me laugh.  If you haven't seen any of them, check them out.  I especially like "Kitty is a very BAD mystic."

Katherine

What I'm Reading Wednesday

Last week I mentioned Dangerous in Diamonds by Madeline Hunter was next in my to be read pile.  I loaned it to a friend so I've just started The Welcome Home Garden Club by Lori Wilde.  I've enjoyed everything I've read by this author so if you haven't given her books a try, please do.

Katherine

Monday, 8/8/11

Sorry no post today.  Still recovering from knee surgery.  :o(

What I'm Reading Wednesday

I'm just about to start "Sinister Sprinkles" by Jessica Beck.  It's the third book in Jessica's Donut Shop mystery series.  I also have "Dangerous in Diamonds" by Madeline Hunter next in the to be read pile that I'm looking forward to.

One good thing about having knee surgery is that I have a good excuse to read and do little else for a short time.  :o)

When life hands you lemons…

Everyone’s heard the old adage, “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade.”  Well, in the month of July, I was handed so many lemons that I’m about to drown in lemonade.   

I’m not complaining, after all the other old adage, “into every life some rain must fall” (I’m paraphrasing here because I can’t remember it exactly.), means that bad things happen to everyone.  Besides without the bad things, we probably wouldn't appreciate the good things.  Without listing everything that’s happened, let’s just say just that it seems all my bad things happened in one month, the latest being I need knee surgery yet again.  It’s scheduled for tomorrow.  It’s my 4^th knee surgery in just under 4 years.  And there will be at least one more in the near future – knee replacement.  I don’t even want to think about that.

This is a new month and I’m ready for some good things to happen so if you can spare any good karma, please send it my way.  :o)

Have you had a bad month in recent memory?  How did you deal with it? 

Katherine