Karin Kaufman's Blog, page 6

Interview: Cherie Burbach

It's a pleasure to welcome Cherie Burbach to my blog today. Cherie writes about friendship, dating, family, and relationships at About.com (NY Times) and Life Goes Strong  (NBC/Universal). She has penned eleven books and ebooks, including Internet Dating Is Not Like Ordering a Pizza and 21 Ways to Promote Your Book on Twitter, and has published over 500 articles on the subjects of health, sports, and lifestyle. For more info, visit her website, http://www.cherieburbach.com.
Cherie, you have a lot going on in your life! You're an author of both fiction and nonfiction, a poet, an expert on social media, and an active blogger, among other things. How on earth do you manage your time?

Ha! I don't know if I'm an expert in social media, but I do use it quite a lot in promoting my work. I think the key to juggling everything is blocking off time for various things. For instance, the first thing I do when I get up is check email, update links to Facebook or Twitter, and then I log off. I spend the next few hours updating one of my own blogs, and then I log off of that, and spend the next several hours writing for clients. I trade off each day on the projects I work on, but that's generally how I get it done.

Since freelance writing is my main job, I use weekend hours to do fiction. Poetry I tend to write daily, usually at the end of the night.

Time blocks are key! It's too easy to get sucked into Facebook or Twitter during the day, so when I do have to log on I try and give myself a time limit.

Tell us about your current writing project.

I have a couple writing gigs I just adore right now, at About.com (where I write about the topic of friendship), and Life Goes Strong (where I write about midlife dating, care giving, and spirit.) I really enjoy the topics I'm writing about, and it makes the days go really fast.

On the book side of things, I'm working on several nonfiction books and a novel.

Where do you find ideas for your writing? What inspires you?

Everyday life really inspires me. I'm one of those people who constantly carries a notebook around with her to jot down ideas and notes.

When did you know you wanted to write? Do you have one of those "When I was six, I picked up a pen . . ." stories?

Yes, I do! I always wrote short stories, and when I was in 2nd grade my teacher told my mom that my writing had a "poetic quality" to it and that I should try writing poetry. My first thought was: "Poetry? Ick!" I didn't know anything about it (and to be honest, I still don't.) But poetry was a saving grace for me, and really helped me through a lot of childhood trauma. I still feel like poetry helps me process the outside world. I feel like I've been writing forever.

How do you divide your time between writing and blogging?

Blogging takes up a lot of my time right now because that's where I make my money. I always feel like when I get my blogging done, my writing work (which is usually books) is my bonus time. If I had to divide it up, it would probably be blogging 75% of the time and writing the rest.

What do you do when you're not working?

I like to cook, paint, and my latest passion is putting glass sculptures together. (One example is here: http://cherieblogs.com/2011/08/17/glass-garden-sculpture/). I love doing crafts and mixed media pictures also.

Just for fun, what was your favorite childhood book?

Any of the Madeline books. I was so influenced by them I even named my dog Genevieve.

Tell us what's coming up in your writing life.

I'm working on a new novel which is in a very different genre that I'm used to. So I'm doing research and hope to have some time to work up a draft over the holidays.

Any last thoughts?

Thank you so much for the interview! I would encourage anyone reading this to help out a favorite author: write a review, write and let them know you enjoyed one of their books, pray for them, send them positive thoughts, and visit their blogs. There can be a lot of negativity in the writing world sometimes and writers appreciate any bit of positivity that comes our way.

How can readers connect with you?

I've got contact info at each of my blogs (listed here: http://cherieburbach.com/blogs/). Or via Twitter: @brrbach.
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Interview and Book Giveaway: Author K Dawn Byrd

It's my pleasure to welcome K Dawn Byrd to my blog today. K Dawn is the author of inspirational novels in several genres, including romance, romantic suspense, and young adult. She maintains an active and popular blog  and is the moderator of the Christian Fiction Gathering group on Facebook. If all that weren't enough, she holds a master's degree in professional counseling from Liberty University.

To win an ebook copy of K Dawn's latest book, This Time for Keeps, just leave a comment at the end of the interview (along with your email address so K Dawn can contact you). A winner will be chosen at week's end from among those commenting. And now, without further ado, here's K Dawn.

Dawn, tell us about This Time for Keeps.

India McGuire's peaceful life is shattered when on the night of her engagement to David Richards, she comes face to face with Chase Porter, a long lost love. India must come to terms with her overpowering feelings for Chase and choose between David, the neighbor who says he loves her, and Chase, the man who broke her heart.

Chase's plans of leaving quietly turn to disaster when he finds that it's impossible to disappear without seeing India one last time. Feelings begin to surface that he believed buried forever and he finds himself fighting to win her back even as David struggles to hold onto her.

India longs to follow her heart, but she's been hurt too deeply. Who will she choose? The neighbor who can provide stability or the man she vowed to love forever who may once again heed to the call of the open road?

What inspired you to write this book?

This Time for Keeps actually started out as a WWII romance. I'm a WWII buff and wanted to write a love story about a man who was missing in action and eventually returns from war to find his girlfriend engaged to someone else. For some reason, the WWII era just didn't seem right for my characters, so it became a contemporary romance.

What draws you to inspirational romance?

I love reading, but so much of what's on the market is so full of smut and cursing that I don't enjoy reading it as much as I would if it were clean. I write what I love to read. I'm a Christian and it seems logical to write for the clean romance for the Christian market. All of my books so far have had a least one Christian character.

Many of my blog's readers like to know about an author's writing process. Do you outline? Do you keep a writing schedule?

I plot a lot before I get started, so much so that I pretty much have the entire book mapped out before my fingers hit the keys. This allows me to write all my books in 30-day marathons, my own person NaNoWriMo, if you will.

What do you do when you're not writing?

When I'm not writing I'm reading or marketing my own work.

What's coming up in your writing future?

I have four releases for 2012. They are:

January 15: Zoe Mack & The Secret of the Love Letters (college-age mystery/romance).
April 15: Shattered Identity (the sequel to Mistaken Identity, young adult romance).
June 15: Zoe Mack & The Case of Fatal Attraction.
December 15: Zoe Mack book 3 (not yet titled).

Any last thoughts?

Thanks so much for hosting me!

How can readers connect with you?

Email: kdawnbyrd@yahoo.com
Blog: www.kdawnbyrd.blogspot.com
Zoe Mack blog: www.zoe-mack.blogspot.com
Website: www.kdawnbyrd.com
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My Blog Wins the Liebster Award

I must admit I'd never heard of the Liebster Award before I received it, but now that I know what it is, I'm grateful to author Lisa Tortorello for selecting me.

Liebster, it turns out, is German for "dearest" (as in "Mein liebster, you make amazing strudel"), and the Liebster Award is given by fellow bloggers to blogs with a following of 200 (some say 300) or fewer people. Here's how it works:

1. When you receive the award, thank the blogger who gave it to you and link back to them.

2. Copy and paste the award on your blog.

3. Choose three to five blogs that deserve a bigger following, give them the Liebster Award, and let them know you've done so by leaving a comment on their blog.

There are so many wonderful "small" (200 followers is small?) blogs out there that deserve bigger followings, but here are my five selections:

Montana Romance: Up-and-coming Christian romance author Cynthia Bruner's blog about inspiration, writing, and her Montana home. A fun (and sometimes serious), eclectic blog.

Something Deep and Witty: A witty (and deep) blog by Amy Maddox, a writer who will one day take the world by storm. And make cool crafts while doing it.

Gwendolyn Gage ~ Serving through Words: Gwen's blog description says it all: "Thoughts on life, faith, books, novel research, and the story world inside my head."

The Eclectic Christian Blogger: Christian romance author Amanda Stephan's blog, chock full of interviews, giveaways, and reviews.

Writin' 4 Him Café: Author Debbie Dillon blogs about her life as a follower of Christ, writer, wife, mom, church secretary, and coffee lover.

Go forth and Liebster!
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Interview: Christian Romance Author Amanda Stephan

[image error] It's a pleasure to welcome my friend Amanda Stephan to my blog today. Amanda is a Christian romance author, the co-founder of Christian Indie Authors , and a homeschooling mom extraordinaire. You can read more about Amanda and her work by checking the websites listed below. And now, without further ado, here's Amanda.

Hi Karin! Thank you for having me here today, I look forward to getting to know your readers better.

Tell us about your upcoming book.

My new release, Lonely Hearts, is a sweet Christian romance about a lonely mother, two matchmaking kids, and three eligible bachelors. Oh yes. And apple pie!

When Becky Callis moves to a new town, she had no intention of becoming romantically involved. Her children, on the other hand, think she's been lonely far too long, and decide to take matters into their own hands. Choices range from handsome cowboy, Scott Boone; local preacher, Jack; or rough around the edges rancher, Pearce Morgan. It doesn't take long before her children find that True love is harder than it looks!

Have you published anything previously?

Thank you for asking! Yes, Lonely Hearts is my second romance novel. My first, The Price of Trust, was released in May 2010. If any of your readers are interested, they can get a sneak peek here.

When did you know you wanted to write?

To be one hundred percent honest, I've just always written. I never thought or even considered writing professionally as it was something I just loved to do. When I finished my first, full length book, The Price of Trust, I was excited and told my husband about it. He asked what I was planning on doing with it, and I said printing it out and hiding it away until our kids were older. He asked me to try to have it published, and the rest is history. Since then, I've been hooked!

What made you decide to write romance?

I am an incurable romantic. There's just something about reading how a couple come together that makes me sigh and dream. But, with that said, I'm not one for edgy or graphic books. I'm super picky about what I read, so if it's inappropriate for my children to read, it's not in my house.

Do you keep a writing schedule?

Ha ha ha! That's what I like so much about you, Karin! Always joking around! I suppose I'm rather eclectic in that matter. I find my best writing comes when everyone is in bed and I can let my imagination run free.

What do you do when you're not writing?

I'm either teaching school (I homeschool), sewing, or reading a book to review.

Name your three favorite books.

My three favorite books? Let's see, Jane Eyre, Pride & Prejudice, and 101 Dalmations. When I was growing up, I absolutely tore my paperback copy of 101 D up.

Name your three favorite authors.

That is not an easy question! Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Karin Kaufman! (She's an up and coming author to be reckoned with, I've heard!) :)

What's coming up in your writing future?

Oooh, I am so glad you asked! I'm currently working on a Christian romance/suspense series.

What would you do if you were tricked into marrying the wrong man? I take that thought and build an entire set up around the couple. As I was writing, new, fresh ideas were coming at me so fast, I had to make it into a series! To tell you the truth, it's my absolute favorite I've written so far. Book one and two are finished, and I'm working on the third now.

Any last thoughts?

Just a quickie before I leave. I'm going to be having a book launch on November 1st, 2011, and I'd love to invite all your readers to participate. There's going to be some pretty awesome prizes, like a Nook, a Kindle, free eGifts from various awesome authors, and more they can win. If they'd like to know more, they can find the information on my website. Again, thank you for having me here, it was a blast!

How can readers connect with you?

You can find me lurking almost everywhere, but here are the places a frequent the most:

Facebook: personal page
Facebook: author page
Facebook: book page
Twitter
Website
Book blog
Personal blog

Interview on K. Dawn Byrd's Blog

Christian novelist K. Dawn Byrd, author of the just-released romantic suspense novel Killing Time and the young adult novel Mistaken Identity , interviewed me on her blog today. Stop by and leave a comment at the end of the interview. One lucky blog reader will win a copy of The Witch Tree!

Interview on Amanda Stephan's Blog

Amanda Stephan, Christian romance author, blogger, and co-founder (with Samantha Fury) of the ever-growing Christian Indie Authors website, was kind enough to interview me on her blog about The Witch Tree and other assorted issues, both serious and fun. Stop by and say hello!

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How to Spot the Christian Villain: Ten Tips

[image error] Piper Laurie as crazy fundie Christian
Margaret White in Carrie. (United Artists)

It happened again. I was watching an episode of the British mystery series Midsomer Murders, one of the best cozy series of all time, and once again the villain of the story was a Christian. And I knew early on, as soon as this character mentioned God, that he would be the killer. Some whodunit, huh?

You'd think TV and movie screenwriters would want to vary the Christian-equals-villain formula just to keep viewers guessing, but the enjoyment they get from sticking their fingers in Christians' eyes seems to overwhelm their sense of storytelling. Even when they stray from their formula and make someone other than a Christian the murderer, the Christian character is still, somehow, at the root of all of the misery (think Mrs. White in Stephen King's novel Carrie).

I love mysteries, so although I like to think I can guess who the murderer is, I don't like to be assured of it almost every time a Christian character appears on screen, and I don't like to waste my time watching a mystery when I know what the outcome will be. So in the interest of saving my fellow mystery lovers time, I've compiled a list of ten ways to spot the Christian villain. When you see one of the following characters, you've found your killer—and you can change the channel or go to the next movie in your Netflix queue:

1. If a character has the impertinence to bring God into everyday conversation—say, at a lunch with friends or during a card game—he's clearly deranged and thus a Christian. At the very least your field of suspects has narrowed. Watch for further clues.

2. If a character is an unbearable prude—often illustrated by her not hopping into bed with a guy ten minutes into their first date—she's a rabid Christian and she's killed somebody.

3. Any character who talks about God and has a southern accent is sure to be the villain.

4. If the above-mentioned character (talks about God, has southern accent) possesses less than a full set of teeth, he is more than a villain. He's a serial killer. The semi-toothed Christian preys on full-toothed agnostics and atheists, particularly attorneys, social workers, and politicians.

5. If a character has "no use for that fancy book larnin' thing," he's a Christian. His ignorance and bigotry may have caused another character to snap and commit murder.

6. Does the character get up early in the morning, own farm animals, or dress like it's 1940? These signify "Christian" to the formulaic screenwriter, so be on the lookout for other important clues. You may have found your killer.

7. Although the religious villain is often portrayed as a cleric in the Catholic Church, if a religious figure is an evangelical, the chances of him or her being the villain more than double.

8. The Christian character will scowl at the mention of sex, alcohol, or laughter (because all three are outlawed by the Bible). Make note and watch for other telling clues.

9. Does a character home school her children? This is a red flag indicating the presence of an unstable Christian mind. Such a character is not only a killer but also a child abuser.

10. If a character says "God," keep an eye on him; if a character says "Jesus," change the channel now, you've spotted the killer. (Note: If a character calls God "the man upstairs," he's probably not your murderer.)

Independence Day

[image error] I've been slack with the blog posting over the past month, but with good reason. My debut mystery novel, The Witch Tree, will be out on Amazon.com (for the Kindle) in mid-July and on Barnes & Noble (for the Nook) shortly afterward. It's been a long road—writing the novel, of course, but also learning about indie ebook publishing, something that just a year ago I didn't know existed as a reasonable alternative to traditional publishing.

As a writer, I can't claim to have a string of query letter rejections behind me. I have a grand total of two. The second one, in fact, wasn't really a rejection because it came from one of those "No answer means no" agents. After writing and rewriting the query and following this agent's extensive instructions to the letter, I got zip in return. Not even a "No thanks" email. That got me thinking.

Then, last January, I came across a post on the indie ebook revolution by author J.A. Konrath on his blog—and that really got me thinking. Konrath has been at the leading edge of this revolution in publishing, and his generosity to other writers in describing his journey—and laying out the hard numbers on it—has amazed me. Frankly, he's changed the lives of many writers.

After reading Konrath's blog (for days), I started reading everything else I could find on indie publishing. And I began to wonder: Should I forsake "legacy" publishing for the indie world? Don't I need the validation of a traditional publishing deal? Well, no. Wouldn't I regret not funneling my work through the traditional gatekeepers? Again, no.

There are many business issues that affected my decision to go indie—the sea change in publishing, the rise of ebook sales, the shrinking number of brick-and-mortar stores, writers' need to maintain their publishing rights, the skimpy royalties in most traditional contracts—but I won't detail those here.

Suffice it to say that as a writer, what I want, first and foremost, is to get my work into the hands of readers. And in mid-July, I'll be able to do that. As a secondary consideration, I want to control my work, from the content to the cover to the day of publication. Independence.

Before I close this post, let me give a long overdue thanks to all of you who have signed up as followers on my blog. I appreciate every single one of you.

Happy Independence Day, everyone!

What's Really Bothering Larry Flynt?

[Sarah Palin] knew from the first month of pregnancy that kid [her three-year-old son Trig] was going to be Down's Syndrome. It's brain dead. A virtual vegetable. She carries it to all these different political events against abortion, she did it just because she didn't want to say she'd had an abortion. How long is it going to live? Another 12, 15 years? Doesn't even know it's in this world.

—Larry Flynt in an interview with Johann Hari, Independent, May 27, 2011

[image error] Larry FlyntLet's leave politics aside. I want to look at the bigger picture here. I don't even want to bring abortion into this. I haven't been able to get Larry Flynt's sickening statement out of my mind since I read it.

Flynt, if you've never heard of him (lucky you), is the producer of hardcore pornographic videos, the publisher of numerous pornographic magazines, including Hustler, and a self-described free-speech advocate (because nothing says free speech like downloaded porn).

Here's the curious thing. Flynt wasn't asked about Palin's son Trig in the interview. He freely, without a hint of reluctance, gave his opinion on the child. The subject of Trig must have been eating away at him for some time for that comment to fly out of his mouth "a propos of nothing," as the interviewer notes.

Of course, this is the man who, in the same interview with Hari, describes his first sexual experience as that of having intercourse with a chicken when he was nine years old. He so injured the chicken that he had to kill it afterward. (Hari asked him if he felt sorry for the chicken. "What?" Flynt replied. "No. It was a chicken.") Obviously this "advocate" has been deeply disturbed since childhood.

So what's really bothering Flynt? Does little Trig's presence on Earth actually distress him? I've thought about this, and I think, when you get down to the nitty gritty, Flynt can't stand the thought that someone chose life and goodness over death and self-interest.

Goodness to Flynt is like Dorothy's bucket of water to the Wicked Witch of the West—and this is especially true if that goodness becomes public. Thus Flynt thinks that Palin is carrying her child to political events to make a political point. It would never occur to him that Trig, as her child, belongs with her, just as her other children do. He doesn't think like that. He needs to grasp for explanations outside decent, loving behavior.

Goodness is an affront to Flynt. It is a mirror, and he doesn't like what he sees in it. Somewhere in his shriveled soul, he knows the depths to which he has sunk. How can someone choose to give birth to a Down syndrome child? It must bewilder him. For his own peace of mind, he has to see that choice as something other than an act of love. He's not capable of such an act, so in his mind no one else is, and if they appear to be capable of it, it's a put-on, a ploy.

In Flynt's upside-down world, he's not the problem. He's a freethinker, a crusader, a wise-cracking guy fighting for free speech. No, the problem is women who knowingly give birth to mentally or physically challenged children. Or believe in God. Or believe women should be treated with dignity. How weird are they?

So Larry Flynt calls evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20). He marinates in the battery acid of a life lived poorly, the knowledge that there are people out there who choose light over dark gnawing at him. I'm not sure he could live in his own skin if he didn't ridicule decency and goodness. And in the end, that makes him a man to be pitied.

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Yang Caizhen Is Free

[image error] Yang CaizhenGood news on Yang Caizhen, the Chinese Christian woman who was imprisoned in November 2009 for organizing a prayer rally at an illegal "house church" in Linfen, China. Prisoner Alert, a ministry of Voice of the Martyrs, received word late last week that Caizhen was released from prison in February, several months ahead of schedule.

Prisoner Alert's press release on Caizhen states: "Praise God that Chinese prisoner of faith Yang Caizhen was released from prison in February. Mrs. Yang Caizhen has been ill and in the hospital several times since her arrest. She was released due to her illness. She is reported to look very fragile. Please continue to pray for her as she recovers. Pray also for her husband, Yang Xuan, and Pastor Wang Xiaoguang, Yang Rongli and Zhang Huamei, who were arrested at the same time as Yang Caizhen, and who remain in prison."

Christians around the world protested Caizhen's imprisonment, sending 544 emails to Chinese government officials and an astounding 1,821 letters to her prison. People in churches across the United States prayed for her, Christian news services worldwide picked up her story, bloggers wrote about her and the Linfen church, videos about her were posted to YouTube, and tweets decrying her treatment spread across Twitter.

It was a drumbeat of faith the Chinese government could no longer ignore.

For background on Yang Caizhen, see here for my original post on her and here for an update.