Moving my Blog back to my old Stomping Grounds & BelleBooks Linky love

Welp, yesterday my blog went bye-bye. A notice popped up that my blog was suspended and there was no explanation other than the link I clicked on that read how I could be seen as spam or did something that was against their rules.

Of course, it was a "glitch;" I wasn't spam and didn't do something against their rules, and they had my blog up again by today.

However, I've decided to return to my former blog where I don't have to worry about that happening. It felt really weird to be suddenly suspended as if I did something wrong even though I knew I hadn't, but I felt rather oogly about it, as if I had dirt on my hands or something.

My old stomping grounds used to be under the window spaces blogger and sometime about a year or so ago it was formed into wordpress- I kept that blog but rarely posted to it. Yesterday I fiddled around with it and am trying to spiff it up for my move there.

I will leave my blog here with a redirect link - I don't want to delete a couple of years of my life I've had here! Lawd no!  I may import my posts over there, if it works out all right, and in that case, I don't know if posts stay in both places.

I hope y'all will follow me on over there! I plan to make it easy as I can to follow the blog and leave comments - soon as I figure out all the whatevers and such and sos - feel free to email me if you have any problems.

Okay, y'all come on over! It's still under construction right now and I've changed the look of it several times (I may upgrade to Pro so I have more to work with), but I hope to have it 'finished' over the weekend  - lawd.

Kathryn's Wordpress Blog

And since today is linky love day, I will do as I planned and link to BelleBooks/ Bell Bridge Books and their authors. This will be my last Linky Love here on this blog.

BelleBooks/Bell Bridge books has been wonderful to me and I adore them. Their authors adore them. And, there is something for everyone to read. I want to give them a big Shout Out today.

BelleBooks/BBB page for writers

BB/BBB Authors

About BB

They made my dreams come true. Three published books and a novella later, and another book on its way in the spring (Family Graces probably will be the title of the last in the Graces Trilogy), foreign rights (Russia so far!), ebooks, print books, audio books soon to come - I just can't say enough things about them. They are a dream to work with and respect and love their authors. Go BB/BBB! Check them out, and as their site says - there really is something for everyone.

Now - y'all come on over and help me to feel at home in my new/old blog home.

Stop. Sit in your chair. Open a word doc (or pull out pen and paper) and Begin

We not only have holiday company for a few days at the little log house at Killian Knob, but I am up against a deadline, or two! The post below is a repeat post from 2009 but bears repeating. And it applies to more than just writing!

As for me, I am right now doing some last minute edits on the final Graces novel in the Graces Trilogy. The contract is signed. A date of March/April is planned for its release, and as well, Bellebooks/Bell Bridge Books is re-doing Secret Graces's cover so that all three Graces Sagas bookcovers are similar, so they look like a trilogy (I had a lot of mixed letters/comments on the original cover for SG-some hated/some loved). I can't wait to see what SG and the third Graces novel covers will look like - I still become excited; I still am giddy about it all.

And as well, Rose & Thorn will go live January 15 - we are busy preparing the winter issue. My New Years Holiday will be busy, but in a good kind of way.

So now -

What someone wrote in a comment one day: “You know all that is what kind of halts me in writing. It just overwhelms me and then I block. I like blogging because I have the feel of freely writing. I guess it is a bit of a quirk.”

Never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never NEVER NEVER NEVER let anything stop you from writing if this is what you want to do and you are ready to discipline yourself to it—no one else on this earth or beyond should stand in your way: no advice from well-meaning writers, no rules, no nuttin’.

 Trust me when I say that if you really want to write a novel, or stories, then you must practice your craft and the only way to practice is to just sit down and write. As you practice, you will figure out what works for you, what your “voice” is, what your “tics” are, what your weaknesses and strengths are, what delights you and urges you on and what frustrates you and makes you want to stop writing. You will find out your own personal style of writing in both how you write and what you write.

 But listen! If you are happy writing blog posts, what is wrong with that? If you write a successful blog and people come to your site and leave happy interested comments, are you not a success? Are you not writing for an audience who loves coming by and seeing what you have written?

 When I began writing Tender Graces, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing; I didn’t even know how to write dialogue! But I had desire. I had discipline. I had want. I just wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote and things began to come clear as to my own style and voice and what made me feel comfortable. I wrote 200,000 words and most of those had to be trashed or re-cast or fiddle-dee-deed, but, boy did I have fun, and boy did I learn much about what kind of writer I’d be. I was writing for an audience of one: Me. That is free-ing, let me tell you!

 Don’t let the “rules” or advice of others stop you or scare you or make you feel as if you are somehow lacking if you don’t write in a certain way—just write and in the writing find out who you are, what kind of writer you are, what you love to write, and how you will write. I can’t stress this enough. Find what makes you happy and do it.

 If the writing feels strained and you want to back away from it, then find out what is hindering you: Are you writing for someone else? Are you listening to too many writers (like me!) give advice and it confuses you? Are you straining towards something that isn’t meant for you?

 Stop. Sit in your chair. Open a word doc (or pull out pen and paper) and Begin. Just have some fun, see what comes out. Who cares if you have so-just-very-little; who cares if there are many adverbs and present participles and dangling participles and similes and blah blah blah blah—how will you know what you want, or where you want to go, or how far you will take things, until you sit down and begin? How will you know what makes you happy until you write it without restraint?

I had to get to a certain point in my writing before the advice I read made sense –Hear that: I had to know how to sit down and write and find out what kind of writer I’d be before all the “rules” began to make sense, and only then could I use them, manipulate them, have fun with them—and I’m still having fun, and I’m still learning my craft—there is always room for growth, never become complacent even if you are a best-seller.

You all would laugh your arses off if you could see some of my first attempts at writing stories. So what? I laugh too! Haw! But I also see how far I’ve come, how much I’ve learned and how much more I can learn.  Lawd, even some of the works I've had published I want to go in and change the heck out of them!

Sit. Breathe. Tune out the voices. Have fun. And, write how and what you want, and where and for whom you want. Be sincere.

Dig it out from the you that is uniquely you.

See y'all Friday for Links Day! Hope you are having a wonderful holiday.

Is it Okay just to be okay or must we go virual to feel successful?

Hi Folks! I missed my Sunday BlogWalk because I instead went Walk About on my mountain with my magical wonderful old Walkabout hat that fits my pea-head perfectly. More on the hat another time.

My deadline is looming for VK III, and I'll soon be working on the galley for the Dance of the Firefly anthology. As well, Rose & Thorn spring issue will go live next month and we're working on that, and, I have the conference in Fairhope, Alabama to attend early next month *whew* So, I will link to the 'article' I wrote for the BelleBooks Blog. They've entitlted it "Charlie Sheen & Me," but I wanted to say "Is it okay anymore to just be okay?" or Can't we consider ourselves successes without going viral? . . . I've put an excerpt and a link to read the rest if you so desire.

I appreciate your wonderful soothing comments on Friday's "the quest for the story no matter what" post, and as well, I enjoyed your own Five Things from "momma I didn't show off my panties but I ate dirt" post from last week; and hope you enjoyed all the Linky Love from Wednesday.
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From BelleBooks Blog:


I’ve just dragged my poor tired bulging bloodshot eyes over more articles than I can ever mention here (my brain hurts); although I don’t need to mention them because chances are pretty durn good you’ve read them or someone has forwarded them to you or shared them on twitter or Facebook or you know someone who knows someone who knows.


Yup, this old girl just lifted her heavy head from hours of reading about ebooks and ereaders and eauthors gone wild, traditional versus “indie” publishing and how the two are facing off in a battle the likes we haven’t seen since Luke battled the dark side *cue laser sounds here,* writers who are selling their books for fewer than three buckeroos (and sometimes ninety-nine centerinees) and becoming thousandaires and sometimes, GASP, millionaires . . . READ FULL ARTICLE BY CLICKING HERE . . . 

See y'all soon . . .

Random, and not so random, Links, Videos, and Photos . . . Rose & Thorn & Handsome Men in Showers & et cetera

Today's links/videos/photos will be done lickity spit, because Angie Gumbo Writer, I, and our wonderful staff are working hard this week to ready the winter issue of The Rose & Thorn Journal and our newsletter. We hope you will stop by and say so long to the writers and poets from our fall issue. Send a note if you enjoy a story or poem or the art- or let us know what you think about R&T.

Our newsletter will go out to email inboxes on January 15, the day the issue goes live. If you haven't signed up, we hope you will--it's free and your emails are protected.


Also, our R&T Blog is chock full of gooey-good-stuff - about writing and writers and books and literature and people and places. Today R&T staffer Dr. Adnan Mahmutovic's (author of Thinner and [Refuge]e and more) review and interview of Jo Cannon’s Insignificant Gestures will be up at the R&T blog. We'll be posting Adnan's interviews and/or reviews about once a month. We'd love to have you subscribe to the blog while you are there! And I had to put that Dr. there in front of my friend's name - he worked so hard for that Ph.D. Go Adnan!

Because I love my publishers, Bellebooks//Bell Bridge Books and want to impress them with how hard I work and for them to think I am loved by multitudes, *laughing* I'll post this link again if y'all want to go check it out on BB's new blog and my first post with them . . . Bullies, Outcasts, Prejudice and SWEETIE

Though I am doing well on Kindle, I'd love to see more of my books in bookstores and in libraries, so I encourage you to ask for them in your local bookstores and libraries if you are so moved- my dream would be to have my books in every library - oh! I love libraries and librarians. Epecially when he talks about them:

Diane still has the week-long give-aways, and a signed copy of Tender Graces is still up for grabs last I looked.





[I still can't remember how to make the links open to a new page, so sorry. I am quite surprised blogspot doesn't have this feature included. I know somewhere we are to put a target="_blank" but danged if I can figure out where/how.]

Danged if this video doesn't make me laugh every time.  The look on Mrs. Lincoln's face as ole Abe takes his time . . . laughing!




That's it for now, folks. See you all Friday! Now I'm going to finish my coffee before a snowy walk in the cove.

target="_blank" . . . where oh where does this go? dang.

PS! I almost forgot - Small Footprints's Art Tist (click pic) painted this from one of my photos! Oh, I do love this:

SnowMama, Sweetie Kindle Promo Soon, Kat Goofing Off . . .

My Snow Mama

Some of fave Christmas Movies, from post below:






It's a Wonderful Life
Christmas Story
Christmas List
Die Hard (Laughing! . . . GMR makes fun of me about this one)
Charlie Brown Christmas
The Ref
Christmas Wife

and there are more - those just come to mind.

My posts lately have been a bit scattered and on the "lite not sayin' much" side, but after the holidays I will go back to my schedule of regular ole posting (mostly :-D ). I just made up  my mind that this holiday season, from Thanksgiving through New Years Day, I would goof off some; spend some time fiddle dee deeing; spend time with GMR; walk among the cove here at Killian Knob; watch sappy holiday tv/movie specials; do not much a nuttin'. So, I'm honoring that made up mindedness and actually Doing It.

I hope you'll scroll down to the post below and visit the links or tell me what your fave christmas special is- (I'm not sure if the Swag Bag give away by Best Damn Creative Writing Blog is still going on, but Sweetie is in the swag bags. Also, there was Moonshine and Santy Claus(e) story that's all in fun!)


Oh, and Bellebooks/Bell Bridge Books (my publishers) emailed some of its authors yesterday to let us know they have decided to do some kind of Special Kindle Promo, including only SWEETIE and not the other two titles, some time around Christmas - I am not sure if it begins right before Christmas or right after, but if you have a Kindle or are/may be receiving one, you may want to check it out - they may be offering it at a huge discount, or even a freebie, for a limited time (10 days I think?). When I find out more, I'll let you all know!

What's up for y'alls weekend? I'll come a-visiting today through the weekend - see y'all later!

Random Linkages/Random Videos

These Old Spice Guy videos crack me up - and he's not hard to look at either. This one is for you Librarians out there!



For some reason I have bookmarked "10 Horrible Deep Sea Creatures" and have no memory of why - but, probably for research on something I may have wanted to write for Ocean Magazine; who knows. Also in my bookmarks (both listed under "writing research") I have "Moral Insanity: A Brief History" - huhn, who knows what I was looking for when I found that. Okay, well, Enjoy! *laugh*


I am trying to decide whether to do a 'trailer' for SWEETIE. I did one for Tender Graces and for Secret Graces. But, I'm just not sure if people look at them or if they are 'worth' doing or if they add anything to the process or enjoyment of my books, etc. They're fun to make, but they do take a bit of time. Bellebooks did TG for me, and I asked if I could do SG and that was my first attempt. I'm on the fence about doing one for Sweetie. What do you think? Any opinions/suggestions?






Also, speaking of SWEETIE - I have one review trade paperback sized copy left. If you are a book blogger/reviewer, I will send you this proof - it is an uncorrected galley proof (for those who don't know what that is - it means it's an early version printed out before all the errors are caught and fixed), and is for reviewers only. Contact me at my hotmail or gmail addresses (you can go to my website or look at my blogger profile to get an email) if you are interested in reviewing Sweetie. I only have one, so first one to email me I will send it on.

I will remind everyone that Bellebooks/Bell Bridge Books will be accepting new manuscripts for literary/women's fiction beginning November 1. They are growing and it's exciting!

I came across The Best Damn Creative Writing Blog "getting your literary life," and am exploring it, and enjoying it, thoroughly. Just scroll the front page and you'll see plenty of nuggets to click and read.

I'll miss the Cathy comic. I'm glad they will be having Cathy Classics, but still, I'd love to see where else her life leads her. Well, things have to end sometimes, don't they?

I've been enjoying "Blind Pig & The Acorn" blog - recipes, posts about Appalachia and its writers and people and music. Love it.

And as always, Teresa Frohock has written a thought-provoking blog.


The Return of Buffalo Horse. If you've read SG, you know there is a 'scene' where Virginia Kate opens replica of Ponokamita (or Pono-Kamita) - the Buffalo horse - from Miss Darla. It's one of my favorite scenes with so much symbolism and nature and power.

Tartitude bought a pen like mine! She fell in love with it just as I did - love love this pen. My son, Daniel, bought me one for Christmas and it's one of my prized possessions. I use it for signings, etc.

Y'all have a great day!

Bellebooks & Literary Fiction

Sometimes just taking a chance works. Sometimes luck is in your favor. Of course, I recognize that with "luck" there has to be other factors, like, writing a good book!, but, timing plays such a role in this novel to publishing business.

The evening I was sitting around wondering what I wanted to do with my manuscript, I fiddled with google, typed in "Southern Publishers" and that's when Bellebooks "Southern Fried Publishers" popped up. I thought, "Hmmm . . ." I had queried a couple of agents, but I really didn’t know what I wanted or how my dreams would be realized, or where I’d go or do or be as regards to my work. In other words: I was pretty open to where the universe would lead me as an author whether that be by agent or by me finding an independent/small press. The only thing I didn’t want to do was self-publish—and not because I think self-published books are “bad,” but I, personally, just didn’t want to deal with all the ins and outs of publication—I wanted an advance, even if tiny or token, and I wanted at least industry standard royalties, and I wanted a traditional publisher.

I looked at Bellebooks’s submissions guidelines and thought, “I don’t think my book fits that.” But, since I was right on the edges of fitting; since there was a question of whether maybe perhaps I fit, and since they were looking for newer works on their imprint Bell Bridge Books, I thought, “What the heck; I’ll send a query.” I did; they responded and asked for the entire manuscript. I sent it; sat on pins and needles, and not long after that, I had a contract. Boom Bam! It happened fast. I was elated. I have a great respect for these women of Bellebooks - - strong southern women. My editor/publicist Deb Smith is a dream to work with, and the President, Deb Dixon, is as well. It's truly been a positive and wonderful experience.

What I didn’t know was how I was kind of an experiment, or you may say “a big risk.” Up to that point, Bellebooks wasn’t publishing my kind of fiction—literary fiction, or "women's literary" whatever title you want to place upon it (for men have loved TG, too!). But as over the last year and a half Tender Graces has shown strong, and continues to do well, and then the response to Secret Graces also has been strong, Bellebooks decided to open their doors to more literary fiction. (I wasn’t alone in this experiment—there were at least two other authors with literary fiction, or women's lit, that Bellebooks/Bell Bridge Books took on, and their books are doing well, too!)

Here’s the twitter feed from @bellebooks: Bellebooks Bell Bridge will accept proposals for literary fiction starting Nov. 1. See books of Kat Magendie for example http://www.bellbridgebooks.com/

I felt ‘proud’ to see my books as examples of what Bellebooks is looking for! *big arse grin*

So, beginning November 1, they will open their doors to literary fiction. I can tell you that they’ve been wonderful to work with. I feel incredibly lucky, and very happy that whatever Universe Hands pushed me that evening, they did so at the right time.

Take me home, or curving roads...to the place I belong! Mountain Mama; I am home....

Home. All the snow melted before I arrived and it has warmed up enough to open the door. The breeze blows the chimes and the creek rushes -- oh home on my mountain cove at Killian Knob!

Last night, our old fat raccoon came calling to the squirrel feeder. She was early --as very old people who go to cafeterias do. Oh, what am I saying? I am like an old country granny sometimes as I eat my dinner at 4'o'clock--while watching Golden Girls (when they are on).

I have so much to do, but last night I slept the sleep of one who is so exhausted they just drop down, drop far down, drop long way down, drop deep into the far reaches of nothingness of sleep. I know I dreamed at some point, but do not remember them. Far far far down I fell. Deep and heavy. I woke only two or three times. This morning when I woke, I was disoriented....where am I? What? Who? When? How? I rose from my bed, the morning sunshine slipping through the windows - and my legs were actually shaky. I blinked. I put on my robe and shuffled to splash my face with cold water. In the kitchen, I poured cup 1 of Deep Creek Blend. We later took a mountain walk to clear my head. It is still a bit swirly, but better.

I hope to get by to visit you today, but if you do not see me today, you will tomorrow. I thank you thank you for still coming by even though I have not been round your places -- please know it is only because of circumstance of the novel and travel and etc.....soon, I will have to work on the second novel draft (oh thank gawd it is partly written already!). What a problem to have though, right? *smiling* -- what a problem to have....ah.

Later my friends. Thank you to all you who have pre-ordered Tender Graces - *muwah* -- and thank you for all your kind words. and for visiting. and for commenting. For everything you do.

(And later I'll tell you some good news I have -- I'm rushing now. )

And I said to myself: what a wunnerful world, unless it stops spinning or the sky falls or the stars quit burning or the sun hits the moon or....

Osondu's Booksellers is sponsoring a Book Signing Party for TENDER GRACES at the bookstore on April 17th! How exciting. It'll be from 7-9pm and there will be champagne and food. The cut-off is fifty people. She has ordered enough books to accommodate that number. If you are in the Waynesville North Carolina area, call Margaret and reserve your spot! I'd love to see you there.

Now. This is where Kat Magendie begins to fray at the edges and starts blinking into the headlights and her stomach tumbles around like an old-timey ferris wheel gone mad. Because Kat starts worrying, "What if hardly anyone shows up? What if I'm standing in the bookstore trying to pretend it doesn't matter that only a couple of people show and there are all those books sitting there and the food congeals and the champagne un-bubblefies." Then, Kat will have to grab the champagne and upend it and pour it down her throat and glub it down and drown out her sorrows...oh geez.

This is just some of the terror of realizing your dream. But, even saying that makes me hit myself upside my pea-head: one thing I can't stand is whiney writers - not wine-y writers, those are okay - WHINE-Y writers! I mean, all the time I dealt with rejection and another writer realized his/her dream and if he/she whined about it? Well, that just made me mad! SHUT UP, I'd think - you are getting your book published...sheesh!

Okay, Picture It: You write the book; long hours alone and neglecting family and friends. You suffer rejection time after time. Finally, that glorious day comes and you find someone who loves your book and even says, "we are proud to publish this book..." Oh! Oh! The heavens clear, the skies blaze with sunlight and moonlight all at the same time, the birds start singing like on a Disney movie, all is right with the world! And, you live happily ever after, right? All worries gone, right?

Well, not for this old girl. Do NOT get me wrong: this is a wonderful problem to have. These are wonderful problems to have and I am grateful and I recognize this is HOT DANG YAY TIME; because these "problems and anxieties" mean I am realizing my dream of having You hold Tender Graces in your hands - I can't tell you what that means to me (I am trying to tell you, but words won't for a change - you'd have to see the sincerity in my eyes, feel the warmth radiating - the hope you will love Virginia Kate and all the others: Micah, Andy, Miss Darla, Bobby, Rebekha, Mrs. Mendel, Amy and Mr. Husband Campinelle, and even love Katie Ivene and Frederick, and love to hate mean old Aunt Ruby, and despise Uncle Ar-vile. The thought of all those hands holding the weight of my words overcomes me ...truly...the gratitude is realized upon awaking and before sleeping and all in between - know that.)

So, the Dream is arriving, or has arrived, but all those anxieties slip in under the skin and slide around anyway, because that's what they do, that's their job!

You may remember this one: What if I only sell four books -- well that one was proved wrong! Bellebooks said that pre-orders are coming in DAILY! They are happy and that makes me happy! SO THANK YOU ALL; If I could send individual thanks, I would - believe me. So, I can lay that particular anxiety aside for now -- I've sold more than four books. I won't EVEN start thinking: "Hmmmm, NYT bestseller list? ...hmmmm, what about....." nope not going there.

What if no one comes to my first booksigning party?

What if no one comes to any of my booksignings - and how many should I do? and are booksignings really even done anymore? and where should I have them? and should I do "virtual blog tours?" and etcetera etcetera etcetera

What if I get a bad review?:::What if no one else reviews it?

What if there is a HUGE error in the book I didn't find?

What if the sky should fall? what if the earth should stop turning? what if a big black hole should suck me up and I'm lost forever and my molecules are ripped apart and a gamillion pieces of me rain down on the earth and no one even notices it is a gamillion pieces of me raining down and I soak into the earth and weird flowers come up with my pea-head on them (um, what? okay, Kat, take deeeeep breaths - go do some yoga girl; you're losing it....teeheeheehee).

What I'm trying to say in my weird way is: Dreams coming true are wonderful, but full of their own stresses -- good stresses, "bad" stresses....If you are like me, you begin to attach THINGS to yourself that perhaps you should not. I should instead go back to the original feeling of accomplishment that I'd written a novel, and then that feeling when BelleBooks said, "we want to publish Tender Graces...." and then the wonderful feeling of my friends and family (my blog friends and family included) telling me how happy and proud of me they are: that's the thing right there -- that, and the original feeling of YOU holding my book in your hands and loving the language, the words, the characters....ahhhh, now I feel much much better. Deep Breath: done.

I always want to say "writers are weird" but I realize it's probably just Me that is weird and the writer part is only the excuse I use for my eccentricities....haw!

*MUWAH* .... (now, on to work on The Rose & Thorn newsletter that I've been neglecting and is due to go out soon! It will distract me from my weirdness for a while....haw! Here's where you can sign up for the newsletter. And, I need to do a review for Kerry Madden's Maggie Valley Trilogy. And I want to visit you all again. And what else....la la la la tee dah! I really do love my life! *BIG FAT GRIN*)

Pea-headed Kat Boops workin' on the weekend....

(photo taken of signs of spring at Lake Junaluska as I walked the other morning...ahhhhh)

I am peepin' my pea-head in here to say hello very quickly before getting back to work. I am reading the galley proof of Tender Graces and to do that I have to actually read it "word by word" --which means I can't read as I would normally. It's verrrryyyy sloowww but, if I don't do it that way, I won't catch errors that are hiding in there. Bellebooks does their reading of it, the author does hers, and I am having Good Man Roger read it as well. And, despite all of our efforts, I just know there will be a mistake or two in there - erk! It won't be because we didn't scour Tender Graces with Eagle Eyes, more than once. I did visit you all the other day, hope I didn't leave anyone out, and if I did, call me on it! Until I make this deadline, though, I'm going to be locked in this room and working, um, teehee, er, except I am here right now and I need to be there...so, I'll make this quick. Please continue to bear with me for not visiting and posting as I usually do.

I so appreciate Gumbo Writer Angie Ledbetter and Brian Mongold of Eazy Cheezy (click and read if you haven't) for being my Guest Bloggers. THANK YOU!

Also~! Brian of Eazy Cheezy interviewed me on his "Ten Questions..." series: he made me feel like a celebrity....teehee. If you haven't been by there and read, well, here's the link: Kat's Interview with Brian.

I do have this news: My book will actually be in at least one library in East Baton Rouge! Okay, maybe that doesn't sound so exciting, but it is to me! I love and adore libraries and am so excited. And, my local indie bookseller just ordered a very nice number of books so we could have a book-signing party - complete with champagne! and she's making this signing "reservation only" -wow! If you are in the area, let me know if you'd like to come...*smiling* -- if you have an indie bookseller you love in your area, let me know about it: that's what I'd love to do, have signings at indie's, at least where I can.

I send you a big ole Hug and Kiss - *MUWAH* -- send me positive vibes that I'll catch all those errors and make my deadline!

And for those who've pre-ordered, I want to take a moment to say I thank you...I am humbled and honored: THANK YOU~!

(PS -Hey, for you girls - I bought some Okay Pro-X cream in a tube - I splurged - I'll let y'all know if it is worth the extra bucks I paid for it!)

Work, work, now get to work, baby...work work, watch me work now...

I have been distracted the last few days, and for a bit longer I'll be distracted and busy as well. If I suddenly "disappear" just a little bit, there's good reason for it!

First, I took a few days to do some things around the little log house, for I know things are going to get crazy with the book (crazier?). We took the sofa from downstairs (it's like brand new as it's rarely used) and put it upstairs and took the one upstairs and put it downstairs - it's like having a new sofa! (I tell you, hauling a heavy-arse sofa up our stairs was no small feat - *huff puff errghhhhhh*) We bought a new chair made and sold by locals, and will get that today. I bought (ordered) a couple of new pillows and a throw from locals, and am waiting for them to arrive. So, our living room has a new look. Yay!

Then yesterday my friend (an executive chef and photographer) Christy Bishop came up to our place and snapped some "author photos" - she had a hard time getting me to stay still and to "look natural" - I detest photo-taking (as all my friends and family know - there are few pictures of me not making a face, or whatever). She finally told Good Man Roger - "give her some of that wine..." teehee...that helped...teehee. I'll see those today after she puts them on a disk.

Then! Bellebooks and I are going into the "line editing" phase of Tender Graces, so I will need to get very focused and get that done. My beautiful literary-goddess friend Mary Ann Ledbetter (yes, that name's familiar isn't it! She's Angie Gumbo Writer's sis in law!) wrote up a really intelligent, fun, beautiful intuitive Reader's Guide, and I need to look at that to get it to BB (and if you are an author who needs a Reader's Guide - she is one to think about - I am so pleased with what she did.) I have to write an acknowledgments page (eeeekk!) And, as well, I need to start thinking about the second book - which fortunately is already drafted out and has been sitting in the files just waiting - it tells the continued story of Virginia Kate.

I'm all a-dither and what all what not whatever *laugh*

Get your stories in today for the book give-a-way. You have until 8:00AM tomorrow, Friday, morning and then I will put them all up. Then, you can vote on your favorite from Friday until Monday - and Monday I'll announce the winner of BRIDA.

Okay - this must be the most boring rambling post in the history of boring rambling posts - I'll be round to visit you all today and then I'm knuckling down and getting to work!

Oh, PS -- I saw this pillow while looking for down-filled pillows online - um...LAUGHING! lawd...I don't know why it disturbed me -but ...hummmm...erk. It just seems ... wrong, somehow. There's a story here - someone tell it -- it begs to be told. The person who buys this pillow has a story!

A PEE ESS: I forgot to add: The Rose & Thorn Literary Ezine newsletter will be out in the next few days - I plan to have it ready to go by 2/1. If you haven't signed up for the R&T Newsletter, you can do so HERE. It's emailed to you, and we keep our subscriber emails safe!)

(google images from www.superstock.com & supplementalscience.wordpress.com & asia.cnet.com)